Nick Clegg says his party has been tainted by time in Government and pledged never to make a tuition fees-style "mistake" again.
In his final conference speech before the General Election, the Liberal Democrat leader admitted he was no longer the "untainted ... fresh-faced outsider" who rode into the coalition on the back of "Cleggmania" in 2010.
Mr Clegg accused the Conservatives of lurching right and Labour of lurching left to combat the threat of UKIP, claiming the middle ground for his party ahead of the vote in May.
He thanked Ed Miliband for forgetting to mention the deficit and he thanked the Chancellor George Osborne for announcing he would take away benefits from working age poor - making the party's job easier.
Mr Clegg said the Liberal Democrats were the only party to stand for "decent British values" and against the politics of "blame and grievance and fear" on offer from the other parties and he would "keep hammering away at the system every single day".
And he said he had debated UKIP's Nigel Farage on the European Union because someone had to stand up for "liberal Britain".
The Deputy Prime Minister listed all of the Lib Dems' triumphs while in Government including increasing the personal tax allowance - effectively awarding tax cuts to millions - free childcare, better parental leave, gay marriage, and the pupil premium for disadvantaged children.
And he said he wouldn't stand by and see the Tories claiming the credit for all the Liberal Democrats had done while in Government telling activists: "David Cameron you can copy our ideas but you will never imitate our values."
Mr Clegg vowed to increase the personal tax free allowance to £11,000 by 2016 and £12,500 by 2020.
He accused the Conservatives of plagiarising Liberal Democrat policy with David Cameron's conference pledge increase the amount people can earn without being taxed to £12,500 by 2020, which would mean a tax cut for 30 million people.
Increasing the personal allowance was part of the Liberal Democrats' manifesto pledge in 2010 but in the televised leaders debates Mr Cameron told Mr Clegg his plans were unaffordable.
Mr Clegg disclosed a conversation with Mr Osborne in which the Chancellor told him: "I don't want to deliver a Liberal Democrat budget"
In his speech, Mr Clegg also hit back at Home Secretary Theresa May accusing her of "playing on people's fears simply to try and get your own way".
In her speech to the Tory conference last week, Mrs May accused the Lib Dems of putting children's lives at risk by opposing measures that would allow intelligence agencies access to all phone, internet and email records.
Mr Clegg said: "Your Communications Data Bill was disproportionate, disempowering - we blocked it once and we'd do it again.
"There are times when the state needs to keep its nose out of our lives, to give us the freedom to make the most of our lives. There are times when the state needs to extend a helping hand so that everyone can make the most of their lives. That is a smart, liberal, enabling state."
He also had a rebuke for Mr Cameron over his attitude to environmental policies telling party activists: "It's not green c*** to us" as he made a manifesto pledge to five new green laws.
The Prime Minister was reported last year to have said: "We've got to get rid of all this green c***."
Mr Clegg also promised the vow on the devolution of powers to Scotland promised by the three party leaders would not be broken.
And he paid tribute to the two Britons killed by Islamic State terrorists saying their deaths had provided British forces in Iraq with a "clear, single objective".
He also announced there would be national waiting times for mental health patient and, like Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband, he pledged to increase spending on the like DNHS.
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