SIR John Major has made an impassioned plea to Ed Miliband to rule out any post- election deal with the SNP in order to protect the survival of the United Kingdom.

 

The former Tory Prime Minister warned the Nationalists would enter any deal with the "overriding aim" of "prising apart" the 300-year-old Union.

Stressing how it was "shameful" the Labour leader had not already ruled out a power-sharing deal with Nicola Sturgeon, Sir John said: "They would be relying on support from a party that will use every strategy it can to break free of the UK.

"Labour now have to make a choice. They must summon the courage of their convictions and declare their intent. The British people - north and south of the border - do not deserve to be misled. Labour must remove any doubt."

He asked if the outcome of the General Election were inconclusive, would Labour refuse to govern with the support of a party whose principal aim was to break up the UK?

The ex-Tory leader warned a Labour-SNP coalition would "penalise UK citizens outside Scotland" and worsen cross-border relations.

But as Mr Miliband prepares to travel to Edinburgh for a keynote speech at a one-day Labour conference tomorrow, the party north of the border appears divided on how to approach the issue of a potential power-sharing deal with the SNP following the election.

While there was a strong consensus among several Scottish Labour MPs that neither Labour nor the SNP would want a full-blown coalition - one Labour backbencher insisted: "Hell will freeze over before we do that" - there is a division on whether Mr Miliband should rule out a deal before polling day.

Thus far, the party leadership has made clear it does not want and is not contemplating what David Cameron this week branded a "grubby deal" between Labour and the Nationalists.

Jim Murphy, the Scottish Labour leader, believes the current debate is just "shadow boxing" and that the SNP, in wanting to scrap the Barnett Formula and lose Scotland billions of pounds a year, has suggested a deal Labour could simply not agree to.

Given the SNP leader has said her party would not support the Tories, then Mr Murphy feels all the Nationalists could do when a future Labour government put forward proposals would be to vote for them or abstain.

However, one senior party figure suggested most Scottish Labour MPs did not want Mr Miliband to rule out a deal with the SNP before the election while stressing that any post-poll deal that could be cobbled together would at best be minimal and time-limited.

He said ruling out a deal with the Nationalists before May 7 was "not a sensible thing to do" but, equally he stressed, any fulsome arrangement with the SNP would not be practical or desirable either.

"We would not want a long-term confidence and supply deal because that's about people having a hold over you for as long as possible."

The frontbencher accepted some Scottish colleagues did want Mr Miliband to rule out any deal at any price with the SNP ahead of the election but stressed: "That's not the view among the majority. A lot of people understand the dangers of doing this and putting yourself in a cul de sac when the party should be fighting to get a majority."

Yet a senior Scottish colleague argued ruling out a deal was not about if but "when and how".

The MP stressed if any deal were contemplated, then what was most likely was a vote by vote arrangement or Labour simply putting forward policies and asking the SNP to back or oppose them. But he added: "The SNP can't be trusted."