SNP ADMIT: WE’LL PROP UP CORBYN

Sturgeon vows to help Labour leader win keys to Downing St

NICOLA Sturgeon would strike a deal to hand Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No 10 if Theresa May fails to win a majority – raising fears Britain could be run by a ‘coalition of chaos’.

The SNP leader yesterday admitted that she would try to form a ‘progressive’ alliance with Labour in order to defeat the Conservatives if there is a hung parliament.

It would result in one of the most Left-wing governments Britain has ever seen – and almost inevitably set Scotland on course for another divisive independence referendum.

It would also result in many hardworking families being forced to pay more tax.

Miss Sturgeon even claimed that she would be ‘flying in the face of what the electorate had wanted’ if there is a hung parliament and she refused to team up with Mr Corbyn.

Her comments make clear that every Westminster seat won by the SNP will boost the Labour leader’s

hopes of securing power. And, with Mr Corbyn admitting earlier this week that he would begin discussions with the SNP about a second referendum if he wins the election, it would put Scotland on the path to another vote on separation.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘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 Tory government; not in a coalition, I don’t envisage any formal coalitions, but on an issue-by-issue basis to put forward progressive policies and see a progressive agenda.’

Asked about a hung parliament, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I’m sure there would be all sorts of talks if that was to happen.

‘If a scenario like this has arisen, it’s because that’s what the electorate want. They want parties to talk to each other. So the idea that parties would refuse to do that would, I think, be flying in the face of what the electorate had wanted.’

She also pointed out that Labour and the SNP’s policies are very similar.

John Lamont, Scottish Tory candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, said that top of Miss Sturgeon’s ‘shopping list’ in a deal with Labour would be a demand for a second referendum, which risks ‘dragging Scotland back to yet more division’.

He added: ‘As today’s poll reveals, Labour is too weak to take on the SNP right across Scotland. That means there is only one way to stop Nicola Sturgeon in her tracks next week and that is by voting for Ruth Davidson and the Scottish Conservatives.

‘It’s quite clear after today: a vote for

‘A disaster for ordinary working families’

Labour risks a second referendum. A vote for the Scottish Conservative can stop it.’

Earlier this week Mr Corbyn was asked how he would respond to Miss Sturgeon’s demands for a referendum if he became Prime Minister. He said: ‘I’ll obviously open discussions with the Government in Scotland and listen very carefully to what the Scottish parliament says.’

When pressed on whether she would demand another referendum as a condition of any deal to prop up a Labour government, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘If there is any chance of a progressive alliance that locks the Tories out I would want to get as much of the SNP manifesto implemented as possible.’

The SNP’s manifesto, published earlier this week, claimed that the party would complete a ‘triple lock’ on its independence referendum demands if it wins a majority of Scotland’s seats in the election.

Tory Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said: ‘This admission from Nicola Sturgeon underlines the very real risk that Jeremy Corbyn could be Prime Minister next Friday – propped up by the SNP and in charge both of Brexit and our economic security.

‘That would be a disaster for ordinary working families – soaked with higher taxes on their income, their savings and even their gardens to pay for Corbyn’s reckless spending promises.

‘With the stakes so high, and with the Brexit negotiations starting just 11 days after the election, it is simply not worth taking the risk of waking up to Jeremy Corbyn and his coalition of chaos.’

On Thursday, the Labour leader

‘We’ve had cuts every single year’

confirmed that if there was a hung parliament he would seek to form a minority government and rely on the votes of the other parties.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: ‘No ifs, no buts, there will be no deals with the SNP. Jeremy Corbyn and I could not be clearer – we are not doing deals, we’re not doing coalitions, we’re not doing any agreements with the Nationalists.

‘There is nothing progressive about the SNP, which talks Left in Westminster but acts Right in government in Holyrood. Nicola Sturgeon wants to break-up the United Kingdom and inflict further austerity on working families across Scotland – that is not progressive.

‘Labour will never support independence and is firmly opposed to an unwanted and unnecessary second independence referendum.’

Last night Mr Corbyn, speaking during BBC One’s Question Time Leaders Special, said: ‘We are looking to form a Labour government – with a majority – to deliver our programme.’

Meanwhile, Miss Sturgeon was criticised by teachers over the SNP’s decade of failure in charge of schools. During a live TV appearance in front of a studio audience on BBC One Scotland, she was accused of imposing damaging cuts. One headteacher said: ‘Over the last ten years, since you came into power, every single year there has been cuts in budget, cuts in staffing, cuts in every service that supports us in education.

‘Austerity has been part of that but you can’t expect the children to meet the same levels of attainment if you don’t fund them.’

She added: ‘In this ten years children have lost opportunities and that has been a sad business that here we are today with such a loss of attainment for young people.’

One recently retired maths teacher, who worked for 37 years in the Renfrewshire Council area, said class sizes in her area had increased from 20 in S1 and S2 before the SNP came to power to 33 now. She added: ‘The SNP council in Renfrewshire decreased the number of teachers, they took away our classroom assistants.’

Asked to rate the SNP’s record in charge of education, she said: ‘Two out of ten.’

Responding, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I am not going to argue with your experience. I’ve got to listen to your experience and my job is to respond to that and make sure that, if there’s things we have not got right, we get them right.’