Would a SNP/Labour coalition be such a bad thing in May?

[MaggieGreene]

After reading Lord Baker's comments about a Labour/Tory coalition would a SNP/Labour coalition be a bad thing?

Not surprisingly him being a Tory he seems to think so. But I'll be honest as someone from England I don't really know a whole lot about the SNP other than they supposed to further left than Labour?

I've always voted Labour and still will again in this election even though I am completely disheartned with them. I feel like we need something new in Westminster but don't know where it should come from. Definately not UKIP and another Tory government would be bloody devastating for the working classes and probably loads of middle class people too. Lib Dems are a joke now, so who does that leave us with?

Would it be the wrong thing for the UK to have the SNP in Westminister? As a leftie I can't see how it could be a bad thing? But I'm not very knowledgeable about politics really.

Could someone explain it, please?

I'd be a lot happier with a large cohort of SNP MPs shoving Labour to the left than a majority Labour Government. I can't abide the Tories or UKIP, and haven't ever voted for the SNP until now.

I'm not sure if the SNP are really all that left wing. However, a bloc of 50+ SNP MPs would be a great new broom sweeping away the cobwebs at Westminster.

However, there are risks. As the outgoing PM, Cameron has first dibs on forming a new government. A Labour majority would immediately mean a change of government, and Labour would get this if they kept all their Scottish seats.

Anything short of this, and Cameron gets to put together a fresh government unless / until Labour and the SNP force a vote of no confidence. Could be months down the track.

If SNP had clout after the election, it would be similar to the LibDem clout under Cameron.

Did the Lib Dems change much? They talk of getting poorly paid people out of income tax. But they also supported the bedroom tax. (which seems anything but Liberal to me)

On reflection, think Doris Day......"whatever will be, will be."

I think it would be very good for Scotland but a recipe for disaster for a great part of the UK. Still it would be an interesting excerisce to make parties show their true colours.

Politics needs to be shaken up big time in Westminster and the SNP are the perfect party to try form a coalition with. Big changes need to be made, because the current system isn't working for the majority of people.

the problem is that there is no indication there will be a coalition.

Milliband says he won't do a deal. Fair enough, opinions can change.

However, the SNP, who say they will, have only ever said that they will keep the Tories out and support Labour on a vote-by-vote basis. All that really amounts to is a promise to exercise their votes at Westminster in the way they see fit.

That's not a deal. They aren't actually offering Labour anything that they wouldn't do anyway.

By refusing a deal, and by saying that Labour will do what it thinks best, Miliband is doing exactly the same as Sturgeon except he's not pretending that he's offering a genuine deal.

I have always voted labour since 1979 but will be thinking twice this time.l I do not want to be governed by a party that does not want to be part of the UK and ultimately only has Scottish Interests at heart.

The truth is that Scotland has been ruled by Westminster for a very long time. I wonder how Westminster will like being ruled by Scotland. Not much I expect. I wonder if there will be the SNP landslide predicted in the polls. If so I expect there will be a coalition with Labour except it will probably be called an agreement.

The truth is that Scotland has been ruled by Westminster for a very long time.

Yeah - since 1707 I believe. That's when the Scottish parliament and crown decided to dissolve itself and unite into a bigger state with its capital at Westminster.

I wonder how Westminster will like being ruled by Scotland [sic]. Not much I expect.

If all the SNP do is support and encourage Labour to take a more tax and spend approach to things, they will have a lot of support across the UK as they do now. The common belief that Scots are more left-wing than the English is untrue, as various surveys have found. While the English might collectively identify as further to the right, their attitudes to specific things like tax, benefits, social housing, Europe and so on, is the same. The only real exception is immigration. That is hardly surprising as southern England has had so much more of it than Scotland.

On the other hand, if the SNP attempt Alex Salmond-style mayhem, then they will not, and rightly so: they would be impeding responsible government of the UK.

Come to think of it, I remember a government in recent memory that contained so many Scots that it was nicknamed the "Scottish Raj". It won 3 3 elections on the trot, including majorities in England in the first two.

I wonder if there will be the SNP landslide predicted in the polls. If so I expect there will be a coalition with Labour except it will probably be called an agreement.

If the SNP stick to their current position of supporting Labour on a vote-by-vote basis, there is no need for an agreement. Labour already know that the SNP are pretty much obliged to back them. The SNP's only alternative is supporting the Tories, which would be electoral suicide.

Most people in Scotland voted Labour last time but 35% voted for either Lib or Con so we aren't all Socialists we just never get Tory MPs

LAB 42.0%
SNP 19.9%
LD 18.9%
CON 16.7%

The SNP while nominally socialist are a mix of various middle to left who were they to ever win independence would tear themselves apart in weeks.

They are full of contradictions, independence (but only from England not the EU); named person or each child up to 18 (but plan to allow them to vote at 16); no nuclear weapons (but in NATO so would have to allow nuclear weapon carrying vessels to dock); a green agenda (but with an oil based economy).

I find it a bit strange that SNP are so left wing nowadays. Historically speaking somebody told me they were a very right wing party.

This is actually a very good article on the establishment reaction to a possible Labour / SNP coalition.

Relevant for the voting reform thread, too:

The British Establishment Is Losing Its Shit at the Thought of a Labour-SNP Government

The British establishment is in a state of panic. Each passing day, each new opinion poll and each unsuccessful policy briefing has brought the unthinkable closer: a government of the unelectable propped up by the unspeakable. Short of some major shifts between now and the 7th of May, Miliband will be Prime Minister with the support of the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon. What's shaping up is not just a Tory defeat, but something much bigger: the end of the Tories as the dominant party of government, an unprecedented phase of constitutional crises in the UK. Things are about to get very messy.

Assuming the outcome described above, it will be 23 years since the Conservatives last won a majority in a general election. A majority in the 2020 election would be the first for 28 years. I'll go out on a limb and say a 2020 victory is not going to happen – the fragmenting of the vote, the loosening grip of the three big parties is a long term and growing trend. It's unlikely to reverse. We may not see another Conservative majority ever.

www.vice.com/en_uk/read/queen-palace-coup-miliband-snp-cameron-huitson-345