Any deal between Labour and the SNP is inconceivable, insists Balls
SHADOW Chancellor Ed Balls has said that any deal with the SNP after the election is “inconceivable” because Nationalist MPS will only be there to disrupt parliament and push for a second independence referendum.
In the strongest rejection yet by a Labour frontbencher of any deal with the SNP, Mr Balls made it clear that a Labour minority government would let the SNP decide among themselves whether to back Ed Miliband as prime minister, without agreeing to concessions.
Mr Balls also warned that he has “no doubt” that the Tories will offer the SNP a version of full fiscal autonomy for Scotland, to cut £8 billion from the Scottish budget and bring an end to the Barnett Formula which has given Scotland a higher share of public money from Westminster than England and Wales.
The shadow chancellor also made it clear that he does not believe the new powers agreed by the Smith Commission will mean Scotland has its own income tax, as claimed by others.
Rejecting Tory calls for an English rate of income tax, he said the proposal was “ridiculous” and “based on a flawed premise” because the Smith proposals “do not create a Scottish income tax”.
Instead he claimed that “income tax is a UK tax which the Scottish Parliament will have powers to vary”.
But amid continued claims by the Conservatives that “Alex Salmond will write a Labour Budget”, the shadow chancellor insisted that he sees no room for deals with the SNP.
He told The Scotsman: “I think that it is not only unlikely there will be a deal, but it is inconceivable.”
He went on: “We know from the SNP depute leader Stewart Hosie what the gameplan is for the Nationalists.
“They just want to do anything they can and disrupt parliament to be able to get their second referendum.”
He added: “There is no way a Labour government could compromise or make agreements with a party set on breaking up the United Kingdom.”
With Labour set to lose many or all of its 41 seats in Scotland, Mr Balls also suggested that the SNP’S preferred option was for the Tories to return to government.