Growing number of senior politicians say Labour leader cannot deny himself chance of being prime minister by refusing to talk to SNP

Senior Labour politicians have expressed reservations about Ed Miliband flatly ruling out any kind of deal with the Scottish National party in order to govern after the election.

Henry McLeish, a former first minister of Scotland, on Saturday joined a growing number of party figures saying the Labour leader could not deny himself the chance of being prime minster by refusing to talk to the SNP.

Andy Burnham, Labour’s health spokesman, said on Friday the party would “of course” have a dialogue with the nationalists, while Caroline Flint, the shadow energy secretary, suggested the parties could make informal arrangements.

Their comments contrast with the hardline stance taken by Miliband, who in a Question Time interview on Thursday ruled out any Labour-SNP pact, even if it cost him the chance to form a government.

McLeish told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I can’t bind Ed to anything but, look, you know well enough that the pragmatic political side will say: ‘I’m going for a majority, all this talk of speaking to anyone is out of the question.’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Henry McLeish speaks in Kirkcaldy during Labour campaigning. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

“On the other hand, the politics of reality say I would rather see Ed Miliband in No 10, no matter the conditions. But certainly that’s the big alternative to David Cameron.

“At the end of the day, Ed is not going to exclude himself from being prime minister by not talking to anyone.”

Opinion polls suggest the SNP could win up to 50 seats, and could hold the balance of power after 7 May.

Miliband repeated his position in a Guardian interview, saying: “The SNP are not going to have leverage in a government led by me. If it took coalition with the SNP to have a Labour government, there is not going to be a Labour government. I could not be be clearer than that. My Queen’s speech will not be shaped in any way with the SNP in mind.”

Labour’s campaign has been dogged by what Cameron has dubbed a “dangerous alliance” after opinion polls suggested that Miliband would be unable to form a government without the support of Nicola Sturgeon’s party.

Conservatives keen to attack Labour over a possible SNP alliance have pointed to Burnham’s response when asked if there would be “dialogue” with the SNP as a minority Labour administration tried to get its policies through the House of Commons.

“Of course,” Burnham told BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday. “Parties talk in the House of Commons about government business, that’s what happens, all parties talk.”

Flint, speaking to journalists just after Miliband’s Question Time interview on Thursday, suggested the two parties could work together on a vote-by-vote basis.

“What [Miliband] ruled out was this idea that, somehow, to have a Labour government we’re prepared to do a coalition or some other kind of confidence and supply deal [with the SNP],” Flint told Buzzfeed News.

“But, at the end of the day, whoever forms a government, parties will get a chance to vote for a Queen’s speech, vote for budgets, and vote for policies – that’s the same with any government.”



The comments open a chink in the party’s defences against Tory claims a future Labour government would by forced to give concessions to the SNP in exchange for support in the Commons.

Another Labour former Scottish first minister, Jack McConnell, suggested it would be hard for Miliband to seek to govern if losses north of the border meant Labour was not the biggest party in the Commons.

“Even if Cameron was to lose a few seats, if he still has a few seats more than Labour then public perception will be that he has won,” Lord McConnell told BBC2’s Newsnight.

“Therefore the SNP argument that everybody else could gang up on him will not work. Anyone who tries to get around that, to get a deal to get a different PM, will be in trouble.”

Cameron pressed the issue on Saturday: “If you want to avoid a Labour government propped up by the SNP – which is not just a possible outcome, but frankly a very possible outcome because Labour can’t cross the line on their own – if you want to avoid that because, like me, you worry about having the government being held to ransom by a bunch of people that don’t want our country to succeed, indeed they don’t want our country to exist, then the answer is to vote Conservative,” he said.

After the Conservatives chalked up a five-point lead in one poll on Friday, the party fell back into second place in two later surveys.



YouGov’s daily poll for The Sun had Labour in the lead with 35%, one point ahead of the Tories’ 34%, with Ukip on 12%, the Liberal Democrats on 8% and the Greens on 5%.

Meanwhile, internet-based researchers Panelbase had Labour on 34%, the Tories on 32%, Ukip on 17%, Lib Dems on 8% and Greens 4%.