Tom Gordon

ALEX Salmond has said Ed Miliband will find it hard to avoid a deal with the SNP in a hung parliament and said the Labour leader was "foolish" to rule out a coalition while "under pressure from a Conservative press".

The former First Minister Salmond told BBC Radio 4 yesterday the "most likely" outcome of the election was an agreement by the SNP to support Labour on a vote-by-vote basis.

"I think that after the election every Westminster politician will have to come and face the reality of the electorate's judgment. There is no disrespect or disgrace in any politician coming to terms with the democratically expressed position of the electorate."

He also indicated SNP MPs could try to change the Budget of the next government "for the betterment of their own constituents and indeed... politics across these islands".

WITH Labour and the Conservatives still neck-and-neck in the polls, Tory Chief Whip Michael Gove insisted his party would not do a deal with Ukip.

Pressed in a newspaper interview on whether the Tories could make agreements with Ukip on a vote-by-vote basis, he said: "No, no, no. I'll be perfectly civil with any Member of Parliament from any party after the next General Election and if they want to vote for Conservative policies, then great. But we're not going to get into bed with them, no."

DAVID Cameron said he would make the pensions campaigner Ros Altmann a Tory peer if his party wins the election.

The Prime Minister said Altmann, a former director-general of Saga who was appointed the government's business champion for older workers in 2014, was the "country's leading expert" on pensions and he wanted her "at the heart of government".

Altmann would lead a review of financial fairness for consumers to give people "more power to save, to access their pension, and to pass their pension on to their children".

ED Miliband has pledged a crackdown on the illegal exploitation of migrant workers.

The Labour leader said if he became Prime Minister he would create a 100-strong task force to boost prosecutions and fine bad employers who undermined the minimum wage.

Miliband also promised Labour would do more to secure the UK's borders - with 1,000 extra staff at ports - and do more to help the integration of migrants.

He said: "The days when Labour didn't talk about this issue are gone and it's right that they are gone."

Ukip leader Nigel Farage accused Miliband of "a big diversion", saying: "The main issue is we have too many people allowed to come here which is pushing down people's wages."

THE LibDems said they would double the number of employers offering apprenticeships to young people if the party gets back into government.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said 360,000 firms would offer on-the-job training, with exemptions from National Insurance and apprenticeship grants as incentives.

Mr Cable said: "The world is changing at an accelerated rate and we need to equip our young people with the skills they need for the future, to ensure they can compete in a global marketplace, in ever- changing technologies and the digital economy."