Labour leader Ed Miliband has ruled out any form of deal with the SNP, even if support is needed for his policies to be voted through at Westminster.
Despite support slumping in Scotland again, he claimed his party could still win the election north of the border. London mayor Boris Johnson said the prospect of a minority Labour government backed by the SNP on a vote-by-vote basis was “very deeply alarming”, suggesting Mr Miliband would have the Nationalists “crouching on his back like a monkey” if he made it to Number 10.
National polls have consistently indicated the general election race is still neck and neck, with the UK heading for a probable hung parliament.
Pressed on whether he would consider a confidence-and-supply deal with the SNP to ensure backing for a Queen’s Speech and Budget if he failed to secure an overall majority, Mr Miliband told the Andrew Marr Show: “I am not interested in deals, no. If it is a Labour government it will be a Labour Queen’s Speech, it will be a Labour Budget. It will not be written by the SNP.”
The latest poll in Scotland, for the Sunday Times, showed Labour is on course for heavy losses, keeping as few as five of the 41 seats won in 2010.
Just more than a quarter (27%) of Scots say they will be voting for Labour in the election, down two from earlier in the month, with the SNP up three points to stand at 48%, the research found.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It’s the people who are in charge and the politicians have to respect the democratic wishes of the people, if Ed Miliband doesn’t get a majority, as the polls are all saying he won’t, then he’ll have to work with other parties.”