SNP leader: Miliband was bullied into rejecting deal
ED Miliband has been “bullied” by the Conservatives into ruling out a coalition deal between the SNP and Labour in the event of a hung parliament, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said.
Scotland’s First Minister said the Labour leader had allowed himself to be “kicked around” by the Tories and called on him to be “tougher” and “bolder”.
With polling suggesting no one party will have a majority after May 7 and support for the SNP riding high in Scotland, the Conservatives have ramped up warnings about a post-election deal between Labour and the Scottish nationalists. Labour leader Mr Miliband insisted at the weekend that he is “not interested in deals” with the SNP.
In the latest of BBC One’s series of leader interviews with Evan Davis, Ms Sturgeon said Westminster politicians are in danger of being “insulting” to Scottish voters.
She said: “I have not ruled anything out here. I have always said a coalition with Labour is highly unlikely. Ed Miliband has since said the same because he has been sort of bullied by the Tories to rule these things out.”
The SNP leader said she had not ruled out a so-called confidence and supply deal to prop up a minority Labour administration.
When it was put to her that Mr Miliband had, she said: “I think what he says the morning after the election will probably be different from what he says now.
“He is in an election campaign, he is trying to cling to the pretence that he is going to get a majority. Everyone else knows that is not looking likely.
“But what I am saying is I think a vote-by-vote arrangement is both most likely and probably the way in which a big team of SNP MPs can wield maximum influence for Scotland’s benefit.”
A Conservative spokesman said: “Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that she now has Ed Miliband wrapped around her little finger — and will use SNP MPs to ‘wield maximum influence for Scotland’s benefit’.
“That means more debt, higher taxes, unlimited welfare handouts and weaker defence — so we will all pay. The only way to stop this happening is to vote Conservative on May 7.”
Ms Sturgeon also called for Mr Miliband to be “a bit tougher in not being kicked around” by the Tories. She said: “He should be bolder in saying that he will respect the wishes of voters because there is a more fundamental point than just how people in Scotland vote.”
Referring to the Labour leader’s insistence that his government would do no deals with the Nationalists, the FM observed: “Ed Miliband can say what he wants right now; he is entitled to do so but he cannot deny reality.
“If there is a situation after the election where neither of the big parties has a majority, then they will have to reflect how people have voted and they will have to, on a practical level, be prepared to talk to others and compromise with others in order to get their policies through.
“Whether that is part of a formal deal or on an issue-by-issue basis, it gives parties like the SNP enormous clout and enormous influence.”
Ms Sturgeon argued that as the election campaign enters its final phase, it is “clear the Westminster parties have hit the panic button”.
She said: “Instead of embracing the multi-party election that the public want, Labour and the Tories are clinging to the idea that they are entitled to a majority in Westminster, which every poll indicates is not going to happen.”
Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said: “Working people will pay the price for an Ed Miliband government that is propped up by the SNP; through more debt, more borrowing and more taxes. There is only one way to stop this big risk to our economy — vote Conservative on May 7.”
Meantime, a Comres poll has shown that most people believe a Labour-SNP alliance would be a legitimate government.
‘‘ Ed Miliband has been sort of bullied by the Tories to rule these things out. I think he should be a bit tougher