The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has branded Home Secretary Theresa May “hyperbolic” after she suggested a Labour government backed by the SNP would be about the worst “constitutional crisis” the UK has faced for almost 80 years.
Ruth Davidson slapped down her senior party colleague after she told a Sunday newspaper that an alliance between the SNP and Ed Miliband would be “the biggest constitutional crisis since the abdication”, when King Edward VIII gave up the throne in 1936.
The Conservatives have repeatedly warned of what they see as the risks to the UK if the SNP is left holding the balance of power after the election.
David Cameron has likened Mr Salmond to a pickpocket, and a new Tory billboard advert shows him dressed all in black, reaching out to steal the wallet of a passer-by.
In a television interview, Ms Davidson defended her party’s overall approach to the campaign but admitted Ms May’s comments were “perhaps a bit hyperbolic even from Theresa and even from the Daily Mail who’ve been spinning it.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Home Secretary had “made herself look completely and utterly stupid” with the comments.
She added: “People will look at these silly comments, and I was going to say they will treat them with contempt, but that actually attaches too much seriousness to them. People will just laugh at her.”
Former SNP leader Alex Salmond insisted that the party could have a “substantial influence” at Westminster after May 7 as he laughed off Ms May’s claims. Mr Salmond said that a substantial group of SNP MPs at Westminster would be good, not just for Scotland but for “progressive politics” across the whole of the UK.