Sturgeon says SNP will help Corbyn into No10

NICOLA STURGEON yesterday pledged to help Jeremy Corbyn become prime minister if the General Election results in a hung parliament, as the Tories warned the prospect of a “coalition of chaos” is now a “very real risk”.

The First Minister said she would expect “all sorts of deals” between her party and Labour, amid concerns that Mr Corbyn will cave in to her demand for a second independence referendum in return for the keys to No10.

Although she ruled out a formal coalition, she said she would want the Nationalists to be part of a “progressive alternative to a Conservative government” and they would prop up Mr Corbyn on an “issue-by-issue” basis.

Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, insisted her party would refuse to negotiate with Ms Sturgeon but would lay down the gauntlet to her to back Mr Corbyn or explain to Scots why the SNP had let in a Tory government.

But the Conservatives said Ms Sturgeon’s intervention underlined that Mr Corbyn could be Prime Minister next Friday, only 11 days before the Brexit negotiations start, in a “disaster for ordinary working families”.

The SNP leader’s intervention came amid opinion polls showing that the Tories’ once commanding lead has been annihilated and Mr Corbyn confirming he would “open discussions” with the Scottish Government over a second independence referendum if he becomes Prime Minister.

However, the prospect of a Labour government propped up by the SNP mortified many English voters in the election two years ago, helping David Cameron win an unexpected majority.

On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Sturgeon said: “I’ve said very clearly, I said this many times during the 2015 election, that if there was to be a hung parliament – if the parliamentary arithmetic allowed it – then I would want the SNP to be part of a progressive alternative to a Conservative government.”

She added: “Not in a coalition, I don’t envisage any formal coalitions, but on an issue-by-issue basis.”