David Cameron has urged Labour and the SNP to rule out doing a “grubby deal” to form the next UK Government.
The Prime Minister hit out after former shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox asked him to forgo any coalition deal which would see the Trident nuclear deterrent on the Clyde scrapped.
The issue has been cited as a potential deal breaker for the SNP should they end up in talks to support Ed Miliband after May’s General Election.
Mr Cameron said: “It is concerning that nearly three quarters of Labour candidates oppose the renewal of Trident.
“I think that now is the time for Labour to rule out any agreement with the Scottish National party, because no one wants to see some grubby deal between the people who want to break up the United Kingdom and the people who want to bankrupt the United Kingdom.”
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said stopping the renewal of Trident would be an “absolute priority” of any MPs elected for the Nationalists this year.
He added: “No sensible UK Government would develop a nuclear weapons capability now if one didn’t exist. Therefore, a strong group of SNP MPs in a hung parliament can help bring sanity to bear now – and halt Trident renewal in its tracks.”