Nicola Sturgeon has criticised Ed Miliband after the Labour leader declared that he would rather not be in power than do a deal with her Nationalists after next week's General Election.

 

The SNP leader hit out after Mr Miliband declared he would rather Labour missed out on governing after the poll on May 7, adding that he was not prepared to "sacrifice the future of our country" to become a Labour Prime Minister.

Ms Sturgeon warned that voters in Scotland would never forgive Mr Miliband if the Conservatives returned to power as a result of his refusal to form any kind of formal alliance.

The Labour's leader's comments in a BBC Question Time election special in Leeds paved the way for a potential Labour minority government at Westminster if there is a hung parliament after next week's General Election.

Asked about the SNP, Mr Miliband said: "If it meant we were not going to be in government by not doing a deal then so be it.

"I'm going to sacrifice the future of our country, the unity of our country if it means deals or coalition with the SNP."

He added: "There is no easy route to a Labour government, if you want Labour you have to vote Labour."

Pushed by presenter David Dimbleby, Mr Miliband said: "If the price of having a Labour government is a deal or coalition with the SNP it's not going to happen."

He said the SNP were "die hard opponents" of Labour.

Mr Miliband's position would put pressure on the SNP to back a minority Labour government or risk a backlash if they refused.

However, the SNP warned it would further damage Scottish Labour's chances of saving seats next Thursday.

Ms Sturgeon, who faced an audience in Glasgow immediately after Mr Miliband, David Cameron and Nick Clegg took questions separately in Leeds, said: "It sounded as if he was saying he would rather have David Cameron and the Conservatives back in government rather than work with the SNP.

"If he means that, I think people in Scotland will never forgive Ed Miliband."

A Labour source denied that Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy had been hung out to dry.

"This is not about throwing Jim under a bus," he said, adding that the party north of the border had known what Mr Miliband was planning to say.

"This is about a Team Labour approach"

Mr Miliband also defended his decision by saying Ms Sturgeon had opened the door to a second referendum in the next five years, after promising it was a once in a generation event in the run up to last September's poll.

Indicating his preference for minority government, with no formal alliance, he said he would not "start bartering away my manifesto."

He added that he would still want to put forward his party's legislative programme in a Queen's speech.

Stewart Hosie, the SNP's deputy leader, said: "This makes it even more important that Scotland unites to elect a big team of SNP MPs, so that we are in a decisive position at Westminster and Scotland can never again be ignored.

"Labour already had huge problems in Scotland - Ed Miliband has just made them a whole lot worse."

Mr Miliband has faced increasing pressure on the issue south of the border amid signs the row over the influence of SNP is starting to eat into support for Labour in England.

Yesterday a new poll suggested that the Tories had taken a five point lead, after Labour dipped five points in the last fortnight.

It follows weeks of a sustained campaign by the Conservatives that English taxpayers would be worse off if the SNP propped up a Labour government.

During the special, Mr Cameron was accused by a member of the audience of "deceiving the British public" over planned welfare cuts.

Another claimed he had allowed people to die because of the bedroom tax.

The Conservative rounded on the SNP, accusing the nationalists of wanting to ruin the UK's economy as he waved around the infamous "there's no money left" memo left by a Labour MP Liam Byrne in the Treasury in 2010.

Ms Sturgeon yesterday began a week-long helicopter tour of Scotland, taking off from Prestonfield hotel in Edinburgh where Alex Salmond flew in after election victories in 2007 and 2011.

Speaking at her first stop, in the Borders, she again called for Scotland to "come together" to vote SNP.

Mr Miliband will today rally supporters in Glasgow as part of a whistle stop tour around the UK.

He will make an emotional appeal to families who have backed the party for generations.

Invoking past leaders from Kier Hardie to John Smith and Donald Dewar, he will also say: "Imagine all the people you know who have built Labour in Scotland.

"Your grandparents who fought for their rights in the shipyards and mines across this country.

"What would they want today? We could be on the verge of electing a Labour Government.

"They would want to be part of it."

Earlier, Ms Sturgeon came under pressure from her political opponents to clarify whether the SNP would promise a second independence referendum within in the next few years.

Labour and the Lib Dems claimed the SNP was planning another poll amid growing calls for a swift re-run from Nationalist election candidates.

Meanwhile, a source Labour source focussed on Mr Cameron's apparent failure to rule out cuts to child benefit if re-elected.

The insider said: "Cameron again failed to answer the question on cuts to child benefit. Three times he was asked and three times he did not give a clear answer. People will be able to make up their own minds."

Meantime, a Tory insider was adamant that the Prime Minister had been transparent on the issue of cutting child benefit. "Labour are just putting about scare stories on benefits and the NHS. It's just part of their relentlessly negative campaign."