David Cameron has warned that a Labour government backed by the SNP would bring 'chaos' to Britain, as he stepped up his attack on Ed Miliband following the televised opposition leaders' debate. The Prime Minister claimed that only a Conservative majority could prevent what he described as a 'coalition of chaos' between Labour and the Scottish nationalists.
Speaking in the West Midlands on Friday, Cameron said: 'The fact is that Labour cannot win a majority on their own. They can only get into Downing Street with the support of the SNP. What is it that the SNP want? They want more borrowing, they want more taxes, they want more unlimited borrowing – they want all the things that got us into this mess in the first place.' He added that the Tories were only 23 seats short of a majority.
Nicola Sturgeon continued to appeal for a post-election deal with Labour to lock the Conservatives out of government, asking whether Miliband would refuse to work with her if the two parties together had more MPs than the Tories. However, Miliband firmly rejected the idea, saying: 'The first budget of a Labour government is going to be written by a Labour government. It is not going to be written by Nicola Sturgeon or Alex Salmond or anybody else in the SNP.' He repeated his message to Sturgeon: 'thanks, but no thanks'.
Labour is warning voters in Scotland that voting for the SNP could allow the Conservatives to become the largest party, and that if neither main party wins a majority, Labour could form a minority government without SNP support. Such a move would force Sturgeon to decide whether to vote down a Labour government, something she has previously said she would not do.
Cameron defended his absence from the opposition leaders' debate, calling it a 'challengers debate' to which he was not invited, and dismissed Miliband's call for a head-to-head encounter. He concluded: 'I think a very clear message will come over in the next few days that there is only one way to stop this coalition of chaos and that is to have a Conservative majority government.'
