Labour will need to hold talks with other parties in the event of a hung parliament, an adviser to the party has admitted.

Both Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's position and the prospect of a second Scottish independence referendum would "no doubt" form part of those conversations, according to Lord Kerslake.

The former head of the civil service - who is now advising Labour on their preparations for government - told Sky News it was "clear" Labour would not form a coalition government in the event the general election didn't produce a majority for any party.

Instead Labour would seek to form a minority government, the crossbench peer said.

Lord Kerslake told Sky News: "To be able to do that, they would need support from the other parties in what's called 'confidence and supply'.


"That's to say, supporting them in a vote of no confidence, or a vote of confidence indeed, and backing them for support in a budget for a government.

"Those are the two key things that they would need the other parties to support them on.

"They would then need to have conversations with those parties to really establish on what basis they would give that support.

"We don't yet know in truth how that would play out, although the Liberal Democrats have said they could not support a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government and the SNP have said they would want a second referendum.

"All of that, no doubt, would form part of the conversation that Labour would be having informally with those two parties."

Image: Jeremy Corbyn was coy on Labour's post-election position

A senior Conservative minister claimed Lord Kerslake had "let the cat out of the bag" with his comments.

Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, added: "Corbyn's Labour have already begun discussing a deal with the SNP to hold another referendum on Scotland as well as another referendum on Brexit.

"As Kerslake makes clear, a vote for Jeremy Corbyn is a vote for dither, delay and the chaos of two more referendums in 2020.

"We will spend all of next year in circular arguments rather than tackling the real challenges that we face.

"Only the Conservatives will get Brexit done and allow the whole country to move forwards and focus on the people's priorities like improving our NHS and our schools."

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Earlier on Monday, Mr Corbyn insisted Labour was "not negotiating with other parties" ahead of polling day, as he remained coy on how the party would act in a hung parliament.

Speaking on a campaign visit to north-east Derbyshire, he said: "We're fighting this election to win.

"We're fighting in every constituency, we're putting forward our campaign plans, which are very obvious, about bringing greater social justice to this country.

"We're not negotiating with other parties, we're fighting it to win it on our manifesto.

"And I don't think it's right for people ahead of elections to announce what negotiations they might do after an election.

"I want to go into government on our manifesto to deliver real change for the people of this country."

He added: "We're not negotiating with the SNP, we're fighting as the Labour Party all across the country."