SNP in call for civil service talk before poll

THE SNP should be included in pre-general election talks with the UK Civil Service, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The first minister, in a letter to Britain’s top civil servant Sir Jeremy Heywood, said polls suggested all parties with MPs could be in a position of power after May 7.

By convention, opposition parties are entitled to enter into confidential discussions with senior civil servants in the run-up to a general election but talks must be sanctioned by the prime minister.

The letter said: “The SNP programme includes a substantial alternative to the austerity cuts supported by the UK Westminster parties, cancelling the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system, and a requirement that each and every constituent nation of the UK would have to vote to leave the European Union in any in/out referendum before the UK could exit.

“These and other policies which we will seek to advance in the next parliament are obviously of UK-wide application, and I believe that the Whitehall system would benefit from becoming more familiar with our propositions.”

Commons leader William Hague said civil servants will make plans for what could happen if the SNP prove influential after the election.

Asked if the SNP would be given Civil Service access, Mr Hague said: “That will be up to the cabinet secretary. We are a very democratic country and we do indeed open up to opposition parties. We benefited from that before the last election.”

A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office said: “We can confirm that we have received the letter, it is a matter for the Prime Minister and he will respond in due course.”