Lib Dem leader condemns bankers as 'Scargills in pinstripes' and says electorate, not him, will decide who is next PM

Nick Clegg is to call for a 10% tax on bank profits to fund a £2bn job creation programme to rescue victims of the recession.

In a Guardian interview, the Liberal Democrat leader condemned bankers for behaving like ''Arthur Scargill in pinstripes'', and vowed his party would be "a radicalising, rather than moderating force" in the event of a hung parliament so long as the majority party was committed to bring the deficit under control.

On the eve of his party's pre-election spring conference, he insisted he will consult his party fully before joining a coalition or supporting a Queen's speech tabled by a minority government.

Clegg insisted it is not for him, but for the electorate to decide whether David Cameron or Gordon Brown becomes prime minister. However, he also attacked Brown in contemptuous terms: "It's very difficult to invest much hope or faith in a man who could not even maintain relations with his own colleagues".

He said Brown was not a credible figure to rebuild the economy. "This is the man who wrought the damage, he should not be the person to do the repair work".

Brown's late conversion to electoral reform was "hardly a hallelujah moment". He added: "There is no point anyone clinging to power when it's obvious the British people don't want you ... they'd prefer someone else.

"That's where constitutional nicety bumps up against political reality. It's not for me to decide. We give the electorate the cards, they deal them".

Clegg said he remained, on balance, "a huge critic" of Margaret Thatcher, but admitted Britain needs to rediscover the zeal she showed when she tackled the unions.

The banks, he said, have now become Britain's great contemporary vested interest. He said: "Bankers are Scargill in pin stripes. Scargill's stated aim was to challenge who runs the country. The bankers have behaved in the same arrogant way ... to benefit only themselves ...

"The banks have basically been given untrammelled support by both Labour and Conservative governments to do exactly what they like, and take massive risks with our livelihoods and savings.

"They have been holding a gun to the economy. A progressive liberal like myself is not going to be squeamish about blowing the whistle on a vested interest."

In the only tax rise proposed by his party, he now backs a 10% tax on bank profits, a break up of the banks' investment and retail arms, and finally a requirement on banks owned by the taxpayers – RBS and Lloyds – to be required to behave in the public interest on issues such as take-overs of UK firms.

He also proposes tighter requirements on banks to lend. "What I hear from the Conservatives is ... 'we've got to wait for the rest of the world'. I really don't think the Tories get how much we're skating on thin ice as an economy.

"If we don't take on this vested interest ourselves, now, unilaterally, immediately, we're asking for trouble. The liabilities of British banks are now four and a half times the size of the British economy. We are like a large version of Iceland. We are not sheltered in any way".

In his interview Clegg also:

• dismisses Tory plans to open new schools and rejects profit-making firms opening new schools. "I keep reading that we and the Tories have identical policies on schools but it's complete rubbish."

• insists he will not ringfence the NHS from cuts. He said: "We need to make significant savings to safeguard the GP surgery or A&E or the maternity ward".

• promises "to slash the headcount of the Department of Children".

He tried to defuse the issue of whether he would back Cameron or Brown in a hung parliament saying: "I think these constitutional niceties will be swept aside if it's obvious that there's one party that enjoys a mandate, if not an actual majority. I don't think there will be a photo finish."

• Decision taken in the interests of the club
• Storrie will stay on as a consultant

Peter Storrie's reign at Portsmouth has come to an end after the club announced that he had stepped down as their chief executive.

Portsmouth's administrator, Andrew Andronikou, said Storrie made the decision after consulting his friends and family and decided it was in the best interests of the club if he were to leave full-time employment at Portsmouth.

"The administrators would like to thank Mr Storrie for his undivided assistance and support over the past few weeks," read a statement on Portsmouth's website.

Storrie will be kept on at the club in a consultancy role and the administrators expect him to assist on a "wide range of matters" including the sale of the club, the FA Cup semi-final arrangements and other projects. The administrators say he "will be remunerated accordingly".