THE possibility of any sort of arrangement between Labour and the SNP after the General Election grew more unlikely yesterday after SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon ruled out any arrangement that would involve the renewal of Trident.
Last week, during his television interview with Jeremy Paxman, Ed Miliband insisted Trident was a non-negotiable issue.
“No,” he said bluntly when asked if he would contemplate changing his party’s policy.
Now Sturgeon has said that “under no circumstance” would the SNP vote for the renewal of Trident or any spending related to its upkeep.
She said: “In terms of any formal arrangement with Labour, I’ve made clear and I can’t make clearer, Trident is a red line.”
On a vote-by-vote basis however, the First Minister said there is common ground between the two parties and she believes SNP MPs have to be in Westminster to ensure Labour stick to their promises on new taxation rates and the abolition of the so-called bedroom tax.
Sturgeon said: “I don’t want to see another Tory Government but nor do I want to see a Labour government left to its own devices.
“The last Labour government was elected on a wave of hope and optimism and ... started the process of privatising the National Health Service and it took us into an illegal war in Iraq.”
“We said at the weekend we would support Labour in reintroducing the 50p top tax rate, for example. I think there are many things we could work together on.
“We know from past experience that Labour oppositions promise big and then they get into government and they don’t deliver.”
“I want to see them come up with a clear alternative to austerity.
“Right now they are committed to spending cuts over the life of the next parliament. I want to see modest spending increases over the life of the next parliament,” she added.
Sturgeon was also quick to dispel any claims that next month’s vote would lead to another independence referendum saying: “We’re not going to get a referendum as a result of this Westminster election and that’s not one of the issues that we would be seeking to secure”.
Also on the campaign trail in Gordon Brown’s former seat in Kirkcaldy, deputy SNP leader Stewart Hosie attacked the Tory and Labour support for Trident as “morally indefensible”.
Hosie claimed Westminster’s “obsession with austerity” was restricting the growth of Scotland’s economy and pushing more children into poverty. He also gave austerity economics as the reason why there has been a “400 per cent increase in people forced to rely on foodbanks”.
Hosie said: “Austerity is failing on every level and people are crying out for a real alternative.”
“The Tories are determined to ignore the fact their austerity policies have failed even by their own standards – and despite claims made in recent days Labour can’t hide the fact they have shamefully backed George Osborne’s plans for a further £30billion of cuts.”
“That both these parties are wedded to the same austerity agenda while supporting spending £100bn on a new generation of weapons of mass destruction isn’t just economically illiterate – it is morally indefensible,” he said.
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