ED Miliband has been “bullied” into ruling out a coalition with the SNP and has allowed himself to be “kicked around” by the Tories, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister said that while he is currently “trying to cling to the pretence” that Labour will win a majority of seats, he will be saying very different things after the election.
Sturgeon also yesterday attacked claims that this election is about another potential referendum, saying that even if every single seat in Scotland is won by the SNP it is “not a mandate” for another independence referendum.
When pressed about Miliband’s recent apparent ruling-out of a deal with the SNP, the First Minister said the Labour leader “should be a bit tougher” and not allow himself to be “kicked around so much by the Tories”.
“He’s in an election campaign, he’s trying to cling to the pretence that he is going to get a majority. Everyone else knows that’s not looking likely,” the First Minister told the BBC’s Evan Davis.
“But what I am saying is I think a vote-by-vote arrangement is both most likely and probably the way in which a big team of SNP MPs can wield maximum influence for Scotland’s benefit.”
“I think what he says the morning after the election will probably be different to what he says now,” she added.
Also featuring on Radio One’s Newsbeat programme yesterday evening, the First Minister said that “people are in charge” of any future referendum, “not the politicians”.
“What I’m very clear about is that this General Election is not about having another referendum,” the First Minister said.
“Even if, and I’m not saying we will incidentally, even if the SNP was to win every single seat in Scotland on May 7, I would not take that as the green light to have a referendum.
“That’s not a mandate for another referendum, because this election is not about independence, it’s about giving Scotland stronger clout in a stronger voice in the House of Commons,” she said. In a busy day of campaigning, Sturgeon was grilled on several issues such as the SNP’s performance on the NHS, her stance on Faslane naval base and the growing housing crisis.
The First Minister said she supports an additional £9.5 billion for the NHS across the UK by 2020-21, as well as implementing an £8.70 minimum wage by the same year.
She also pledged to support the target of 100,000 more affordable homes across the UK, which she claimed will support around 6,500 jobs. “In Scotland we have shown that investment in affordable housing can keep costs down, create jobs and importantly help people to live better lives,” the First Minister said.
Despite wishing to scrap the nuclear weapons on site, Sturgeon said that she “doesn’t want to see Faslane go” but instead wants to see it become a conventional naval base.
She added: “Faslane as a facility employing people is something I want to see continue, I just don’t want to see it be home to nuclear weapons.” Sturgeon also confirmed that she would be leading any potential post-election negotiations, saying that her most pressing priority would be to “get rid of the Tories”.
She said: “I want to see the Tories replaced by something better, not by a watered down Tory-lite Labour government.
The First Minister said she would use her influence to force a minority Labour Government “to be better and bolder and more progressive”.
“We won’t prevail on everything but in a minority parliament that bloc of SNP MPs can force some really good changes, she said. “I think that has got to be good for Scotland. But that could be good for other parts of the UK as well.”
She added that if the people of Scotland do deliver a high number of SNP MPs then she “would expect the Westminster system to reflect the fact that that is how people in Scotland have voted and show some respect to the democratic decision aspirations of people in that election”.
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