The door to a possible deal between Labour and he SNP was first opened – tentatively – by Alex Salmond a couple of weeks ago, when he announced he would be prepared to “listen to other counsel” on the issue of voting on English legislation to prop up a future Labour government. His comments followed a speech by his successor, in which Sturgeon told her party "Scotland could well hold the balance of power in a Westminster parliament with no overall majority. If that happens, I promise our country this. You won't need to have voted Labour to keep the Tories out, because that's what we'll do.”