Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has described as "damning" a leaked UK government memo suggesting that Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon privately said she would rather see the Conservatives win the general election.
Ms Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, has firmly denied the allegation and her version of events has been backed up by the French consul-general in Scotland, who said she expressed no preference regarding the outcome of the election in a meeting with his country's ambassador in February.
But Mr Miliband said that the document revealed that the SNP was saying different things in public and in private, and made clear that the only way for Scottish voters to get the Conservatives out of office was to vote Labour.
The memo was published in the Daily Telegraph at a time when polls suggest that the SNP is on track to seize dozens of Labour seats north of the border, and Ms Sturgeon’s personal popularity is soaring in the wake of a well-received performance in this week’s televised leaders’ debate.
The note was written by a British civil servant following a conversation with consul-general Pierre-Alain Coffinier regarding the meeting between Ms Sturgeon and ambassador Sylvie Bermann, who was on her first visit to Scotland.
According to a copy published on the Daily Telegraph website, it said: "Discussion appears to have focused mainly on the political situation, with the FM stating that she wouldn't want a formal coalition with Labour; that the SNP would almost certainly have a large number of seats ... that she'd rather see David Cameron remain as PM."
The note went on to say that Ms Sturgeon had said she did not think Labour leader Mr Miliband was “prime minister material”.
Doubt cast
However the civil servant appeared to doubt whether the report accurately conveyed Ms Sturgeon’s comments, adding: “I have to admit that I’m not sure that the FM’s tongue would be quite so loose on that kind of thing in a meeting like that, so it might well be a case of something being lost in translation.”
Ms Sturgeon, who has publicly said the SNP would act to “lock out” Mr Cameron from government if the May 7th election result is inconclusive, said the story was “categorically, 100 per cent, untrue”. But she is likely to be pressed to explain her position further when she attends an anti-nuclear rally on the campaign trail.
Mr Coffinier, who was present at the meeting, confirmed that he had talked “in broad terms” to the UK government’s Scotland Office about the ambassador’s visit, but denied saying that Ms Sturgeon had expressed a preference about the election outcome and said he could not recall any casual comment which could have been interpreted in this way.
Mr Miliband said: “I think these are damning revelations. What it shows is that while in public the SNP are saying they don’t want to see a Conservative government, in private they are actually saying they do want a Conservative government. It shows that the answer at this general election is if you want the Conservatives out, the only answer is to vote Labour for a Labour government.
“I’m very clear that there won’t be a coalition with the SNP. That’s not going to happen. As for how other parties will end up voting on a Labour Queen’s Speech, that’s a matter for them. I want a majority Labour government.”
Mr Miliband did not rule out an informal post-election deal, short of coalition, under which the SNP might prop up a minority government in a hung Parliament, saying: “What I’m saying very clearly is we are not going to have a coalition with the SNP. As for other post-election possibilities, I’m not getting into that.”
PA