London: The Scottish National Party has drawn up secret plans detailing how it will broker a deal to support a minority government led by Ed Miliband, The Daily Telegraph disclosed Saturday.
The documents, circulated internally in the SNP, highlight the areas identified by the party as shared common ground with the Labour Party. They also pinpoint the policies it will attempt to force Miliband to adopt as its price for making the Labour leader prime minister in the event of a hung parliament.
They say that the SNP will “work to support Labour on a case-by-case basis”. And they add that SNP MPs will “use our influence for an end to austerity, investment in growth, powers for our parliament and an end to Trident”. The documents give an insight into what life would be like under an SNP-backed Labour government.
The Scottish nationalists will attempt to force Miliband to increase spending on the health service and welfare in exchange for support on policies such as the introduction of a 50p top rate of tax and the scrapping of the so-called “bedroom tax”.
The plans also highlight the parties’ shared goals. Spending on benefits would increase and spending cuts designed to reduce the deficit would be scrapped, the documents state.
They add: “By electing SNP MPs, the people of Scotland can vote to get rid of the Tories, protect the welfare of everyone who lives here, and promote progressive politics across the UK.”
On Thursday night’s BBC Question Time Miliband refused to rule out a vote-by-vote arrangement with the SNP — the type of deal suggested in the plans. Yesterday many of Miliband’s senior colleagues suggested that any deal would be on a vote-by-vote basis.
The documents suggest that Nicola Sturgeon’s party will force Miliband to increase borrowing and welfare spending in exchange for the support of the scores of SNP MPs who are expected to be elected next week. The pledge Miliband made on Thursday that he would not do “any deal” with Sturgeon after the election unravelled hours later as he and three of his closest allies conceded that their party will hold talks with the SNP on a vote-by-vote basis if there is no outright winner.
Miliband said: “It will always be a matter for the House of Commons how they vote on the Queen’s Speech, for example.” Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, said there would be “dialogue” with Sturgeon in order to get policies through the Commons. With polls predicting a Labour wipeout in Scotland, election experts have said that Miliband will be unable to take power unless he has the support of Sturgeon’s Westminster MPs.
