Murphy: The Tories must vote Labour if the Union is to survive

SUPPORTERS of the Tories and Lib Dems must give their vote to Labour to save the Union, Jim Murphy claimed yesterday.

The Scottish Labour leader launched a desperate attempt to avoid his party being virtually wiped out in Scotland, by insisting that an SNP success will lead to another referendum.

With Labour facing the prospect of losing most of its 41 seats in Scotland, he said that Labour was the only genuine alternative to the SNP in most constituencies.

He also claimed that Nicola Sturgeon would see success at next month’s General Election as a ‘green light’ to reignite her campaign to tear Scotland out of the UK.

However, his charm offensive has been criticised as ‘desperate stuff from a desperate party’ by the Scottish Conservatives.

Mr Murphy’s plea came as a poll showed that tactical voting could throw him a potential lifeline. YouGov findings reveal that the Labour vote could soar from 25 per cent to 37 per cent – although independent experts insisted yesterday that there is little chance of tactical voting influencing more than four seats.

The Tories and Liberal Democrats are only putting up a strong fight in a dozen seats in Scotland – meaning the vast majority of seats will be a straight battle between the SNP and Labour.

Speaking to The Scottish Mail on Sunday, Mr Murphy said: ‘Everybody knows that, in Scotland, in this election, in almost every seat, it is Labour versus the SNP.

‘Nicola Sturgeon has said if there’s a material difference then they will call a second referendum.

‘Undoubtedly, one of the big differences would be if the SNP could claim to have won more seats in May and then they will pretend that is a material difference.

‘The SNP is itching for a reason to have a rerun of the referendum and they will use almost any excuse to get there. If Labour wins, that doesn’t arise.’

During the first of last week’s two Scottish leaders’ television debates, Nicola Sturgeon appeared to backtrack on her pledge that the referendum would be a ‘once in a generation opportunity’ by refusing to rule out another in her manifesto for the 2016 Holyrood elections.

The following evening, she said that she would only press for another poll if something ‘material’ changed.

Mr Murphy refused to say whether Labour could agree to another referendum, if the SNP wins next year’s Scottish parliament election after making such a commitment in its manifesto.

But he said: ‘ If the SNP put it in their manifesto, we would be determined to beat their manifesto and make sure they didn’t win the election. The best way to prevent a second referendum is to vote Labour.’

He also insisted that there is ‘not a hope in hell’ of a Labour/ SNP coalition after next month’s General Election – and said Labour would not consult the SNP on policy issues even if Ed Miliband leads a minority government.

He added: ‘When it comes to individual issues, we will publish our legislation. If Liberal Democrats or the SNP want to vote for it, that is up to them. We won’t ask them, we are not going to beg.’

A senior MP in the Labour Party last night claimed that it has now accepted it will lose at least half of its 41 seats in Scotland, with the party now focusing resources

‘Best way to prevent second referendum’

on around 20 constituencies. But Mr Murphy denied the claim, saying that although Labour faces an ‘uphill battle’ with less money and fewer members than the SNP, it can still hold every one of its seats.

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: ‘Scottish Labour has pressed the panic button. Now that its own supporters are deserting it in droves, it is turning to others for help. It is desperate stuff from a desperate party.

‘The truth is that, in seats right across Scotland, Labour is now a

‘Desperate stuff from

a desperate party’

lost cause – independent analysis shows that it is too weak for tactical voting to make any difference.’

SNP campaign director Angus Robertson said: ‘Cosying up to the Tories again is a huge blunder by Jim Murphy – no wonder his candidates are in despair.

‘The more Jim Murphy tries to get Tories to vote Labour, the more Labour voters will decide to vote SNP. This election is about Scotland having a strong voice at Westminster with a team of SNP MPs – not about independence or another referendum.’