“WE do not want, we do not need and we do not plan to have any coalition with the SNP,” was the catchphrase for the Labour party yesterday, as shadow cabinet ministers Margaret Curran, Caroline Flint and Ian Stewart each repeated the line during interviews.
This was the closest that party have come to ruling out any form of serving in coalition government with the SNP.
The statement lost some of its power after Ian Murray categorically ruled out of a coalition with the Conservative Party, but refused to do the same with the SNP.
On the Scottish opt-out of the BBC1 Politics Sunday show, the Shadow Trade and Investment Minister was asked 24 times by host Gordon Brewer to rule out a coalition with the SNP. The Edinburgh MP never did.
In the bad-tempered exchange Murray did rule out a Labour coalition with David Cameron: “Let me give you a categoric assurance and rule out a coalition with the Tories.
“There’s your categoric assurance of coalition in terms of this particular election.”
Murray was then asked to give the same assurance that his party would not join forces with the SNP if, as polls predict, the SNP become the party with the most seats in Scotland, and neither Ed Miliband or David Cameron have a majority.
When pushed Murray replied: “What most people on the doorstep say to me is that they don’t like backroom grubby deals.” However, the flustered MP did appear to suggest that if the Conservatives received the most votes then the Labour Party would not form a coalition: “It’s quite clear that if the Tories are the largest party come the eighth of May they will form the government of the United Kingdom.”
Speaking to Andrew Neil, on BBC1’s UK-wide Sunday Politics, Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran repeatedly did not rule out a deal with the SNP, but insisted that a vote for the SNP was a vote for the Conservatives. Ms Curran told the programme: “We don’t want, we don’t need and we are not planning for coalitions.
“When I’m out on the streets of Glasgow, as my colleagues are out in their constituencies, they understand – and I think voters understand – that every Labour seat lost is a boost to David Cameron.”
Earlier on in the day, Shadow Energy Secretary Flint also told Andrew Marr that Labour “are focused on winning a Labour majority government. Let me say this. We do not want, we do not need and we do not plan to have any coalition with the SNP.”
With both Scotland-wide and UK-wide polls remaining close, the question of who will form the government after the May 8 election has so far dominated the campaign.
Both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party have used the successful polls for the SNP as means of shoring up their base.
It was Lord Ashcroft’s latest polling results on Tuesday night that predicted near wipe-out for the Scottish Labour Party, with some sites predicting the SNP could take 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Cameron Miliband to make the commitment.
He said: “If you thought the worst outcome in this election is a Labour government led by Ed Miliband, think again. You could end up with a Labour government led by Ed Miliband, propped up by Alex Salmond and the Scottish National Party.”
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