Sturgeon plan to divide Labour
First Minister admits party would seek support of Miliband’s backbench rebels
NICOLA Sturgeon has revealed how the SNP would seek to split Labour to impose SNP policy on a minority Ed Miliband government after the election.
The SNP leader admitted she would need Labour rebels to join her “progressive alliance” to win concessions from a Labour government, if Mr Miliband enters Downing Street but cannot command a Commons majority.
In an exclusive interview with The Herald, Ms Sturgeon also hinted she will not fight next year’s Holyrood election on a clear cut pledge to hold a second independence referendum.
She denied she would come under irresistible pressure from within her party to include the promise in her 2016 manifesto, insisting SNP members were a “pragmatic bunch” who understood that the country would not be rushed into a re-run of last year’s historic vote.
Polls suggest the SNP will win upwards of 50 seats in Scotland and take their place in a House of Commons where neither the Conservatives nor Labour command an outright majority.
Last night Labour’s support was polled below 30 per cent for the first time in a General Election campaign. The Survation survey put the party on 29 per cent - down four points in one week.
In a hung parliament, Ms Sturgeon has said her MPs would vote against a Conservative Queen’s Speech in a bid to “lock out” a Tory government and allow Mr Miliband to become prime minister.
But she admitted SNP policies could only be carried if Labour rebels also backed them. She said: “If we are in a minority Labour government situation, with a big team of SNP MPs, what we will be doing is trying to build alliances on an issue by issue basis.
“That will be trying to win support from Labour backbenchers as well as from Greens, if there are Greens and from Plaid Cymru MPs.”
In East Anglia today, David Cameron will launch the first ever Conservative manifesto for England, making clear, if he wins power, he intends to introduce English Votes for English Laws within 100 days and an English income tax rate by the Budget of March 2016.
In a campaign speech, the prime minister will deny the Labour charge that he has become an English Nationalist and insist how he is a Unionist “through and through” .
Ms Sturgeon says her first priority will be to secure support for her plan to raise
public spending by 0.5 per cent per year over the next parliament.
She said: “I suspect there will be a lot of people on Labour’s back benches who think that is the right thing to do. I think there will be a lot of opportunity, if there is a minority Labour government, to shift Labour into that position.
“That’s part of the building alliances. In a minority parliament you build alliances to shift the position of the government.
“And the beauty of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act in the House of Commons is you can change the direction of a government, you can defeat the government on particular issues, without brining down the government.”
Ms Sturgeon’s appeal to Labour backbenchers was undermined by the independent IFS think tank, which yesterday concluded that overall spending was likely to be lower under the SNP’s plans than Labour’s by 2019/20, based on the two parties’ manifestos.
Her comments reinforced her pledge to be a “constructive” force at Westminster but also illustrated the limits to the SNP’s possible influence, even it secures the overwhelming majority of Scotland’s 59 seats.
The Conservatives have claimed a minority Labour government would be dragged to the left as it was forced to “dance to the SNP’s tune”.
But Ms Sturgeon said: “I want us to go into this to effect positive change.
“It is not a case of us going to disrupt or bring down government at the first opportunity, or bring down a budget, we’re trying to use whatever influence people here give us positively to get the kind of changes we are arguing for.”
The First Minister said victory for the SNP in Scotland on May 7 would not give her a mandate for a second independence referendum. She has warned previously that David Cameron’s proposed in-out referendum on the UK’s EU membership could trigger a second independence vote.
However, she talked down the prospect of making a clear cut referendum promise ahead of the next Holyrood election.
She said she was “not at this moment planning another referendum” and denied she would be unable to resist pressure from her party’s 100,000 members to promise a re-run after 2016.
In a message designed to dampen expectations among the party faithful, she said: “My experience of the members, and I can’t claim to have spoken to all of them but I have spoken to a significant number, is they are a very pragmatic bunch, who understand the realities of politics. They also understand this democratic point: That Scotland will only be independent when a majority of people want Scotland to be independent.
“No matter how much we might want to rush that process the Scottish people will not allow it to be rushed.”
TO her excited followers she has become “The Sturgeonator,” an unstoppable, super-human champion leading the SNP to previously undreamed of success. To the Conservative-supporting Press, she is “the most dangerous woman in Britain,” ready to drag a feeble Labour government far to the left, wreck the economy and dismantle the UK into the bargain.
Sitting down with such a formidable figure should be a daunting experience. But of course it isn’t. “Nicola,” as she is universally known, is that rare thing, a politician whose popularity transcends her own tribe. Where Mr Salmond inspired visceral loathing among opponents, Ms Sturgeon wins admirers. Since becoming Scotland’s first woman First Minister last November, a ripple of approval has grown into a wave of public affection. The election has seen her riding higher than ever thanks to a series of polished television performances seen across the whole UK. Much of her appeal is down to the fact she is open and engaging, rather than the intimidating presence the headlines might have us believe.
Ms Sturgeon, 44, laughs off the suggestion she should have become a rock star to guarantee the kind of reception she has been receiving on the campaign trail.
“I can’t sing, so it was never open to me,” she jokes.
“It’s not rock and roll, it’s politics. It’s the substance and the issues that matter.
“But having been in politics now for 25 years or so I’ve never known a time when people are as receptive to political discussion and debate.
“I like the fact that political debate seems to have come alive in Scotland.
“There is a hugely different feel to this campaign from any other campaign I’ve been involved with, apart from the referendum which was a slightly different kind of campaign. “Am I enjoying it? “I’m enjoying feeling that you go out to campaign and you’ve got a population that wants to talk to you about it and is interested in it. I’m thoroughly enjoying it.”
The latest poll of polls puts support for the SNP at a record high of 49 per cent, on course to win 54 of Scotland’s 59 seats.
She admits she had expected the polls to narrow – so far there had been no sign of that – but says feedback on the doorsteps is “very positive” and she is “very optimistic” about the result on May 7. She stresses, though, her party must keep campaigning.
She makes no predictions about outcome across the UK, insisting the tight race between Labour and the Conservatives is a sign neither can fully convince the country of its merits.
She believes the Tories are panicking because Ed Miliband has failed to crumble as they hoped. David Cameron’s repeated – and increasingly hyperbolic – warnings about a weak Labour government propped up by a dangerous cohort of SNP MPs – are a sign of desperation.
Ms Sturgeon does not accept her equally frequent forays south of the border and messages reaching out to voters in England, are helping the Conservative cause.
“From my point of view it’s great. The SNP is the story, that means Scotland is the story,” she says.
“If you want Scotland’s voice to be heard, vote SNP. They are all making that case for us right now.”
At the SNP’s spectacular manifesto launch at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena on Monday, Ms Sturgeon was at pains to cast her party as a “constructive and responsible” ally for a minority Labour government.
If neither Labour nor the Conservatives command a Commons majority after May 7 her plan is this: her MPs would not support a Conservative government but would seek to make a minority Labour administration “bolder and better”.
She says: “If we are in a minority Labour government situation, with a big team of SNP MPs, what we will be doing is trying to build alliances on an issue by issue basis.
“That will be trying to win support from Labour backbenchers as well as from Greens, if there are Greens and from Plaid Cymru MPs.”
Her top priority is to force Labour to adopt the SNP’s plan to increase public spending.
Sturgeon’s call for Labour rebels to back the SNP’s economic plans was undermined yesterday by the independent IFS think tank, which concluded that overall spending could be higher by 2020 under Labour’s model.
It also illustrated the possible limits to SNP influence at Westminster even if the party takes the vast bulk of Scotland’s seats.
But repeating her pledge to be constructive allies, she said: “I want us to go into this to effect positive change.
“It is not a case of us going to disrupt or bring down government at the first opportunity, or bring down a budget, we’re trying to use whatever influence people here give us positively to get the kind of changes we are arguing for.”
Another priority for SNP MPs will be to push for full fiscal autonomy, now rebranded as full financial responsibility.
Devo max, as it’s also known, would blow a £10billion hole in Scotland’s finances by 2020, according to the IFS, mainly because the country would rely on a trickle of oil revenues.
The SNP insist they can move to FFA (or FFR) gradually.
Mr Salmond has claimed the UK Government would be obliged to do that under a “no detriment” clause in the Smith Agreement on further devolution drawn up last year, a position dismissed by Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander.
Ms Sturgeon said she will “negotiate” for the UK to fill any hole in the finances.
She said: “That is part of the negotiation.
“As powers are devolved that is one of the principles the Smith Commission set out.”
The SNP’s plans for full fiscal autonomy have come under sustained attack from opponents but Ms Sturgeon says Tory and Labour spending cuts are bigger issue for voters.
“That’s where this election is being fought,” she says.
Her party’s commanding lead in the polls suggests her instincts are right on that.
‘‘ Having been in politics for 25 years I’ve never known a time when people are as receptive to political discussion ‘‘ If we are in a minority Labour government situation we will try to build an alliance on an issue by issue basis