Ed Miliband has today ruled out a formal coalition between Labour and the SNP. Labour hope that this will draw the sting from Tory claims that if you vote Labour, you’ll get SNP and put pressure on Cameron to rule out any deal with Ukip.
But, as Nicola Sturgeon has been quick to point out, the SNP weren’t keen on a formal coalition. Rather, what has been talked about is something more akin to a confidence and supply deal with the SNP agreeing to vote for Miliband’s Queen Speech and Budget in return for specific concessions. This is something that Miliband, for the obvious reason that he might need it in the event of a hung parliament, doesn’t want to rule out. So, expect the Tory attacks to keep on coming.
What Miliband’s statement has done, though, is given Labour a line to take when asked the SNP question. They can now say that they’ve ruled out any coalition with them and that there’ll be no SNP ministers in a Labour government.
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