GE2010: Tories on track to turn back time on Scotland

Deadline reporter PAUL THORNTON joined SNP leader Alex Salmond for an interview on the campaign trail during his journey between Edinburgh and Glasgow as the countdown to polling continues.

THE SNP has warned that Scotland is on track to be dragged back into a Thatcher like era even if the Tories fail to win any seats north of the Border.

During a coast to coast rail journey between Edinburgh and Glasgow, Nats leader Alex Salmond said only the prospect of a hung Parliament through voting for his party could stop that from happening.

Mr Salmond said: “We are now certain that there are only two possible outcomes to this election.

“One is a balanced Parliament.

“But we also have to look at the possibility that there is a Tory government.

“We are hoping for a balanced Parliament because that would allow for a strong block of SNP and Plaid Cymru, a Celtic block to get success for Scotland.

“David Cameron has refused to answer the question whether he is going to tear up the funding formula and have a special Scottish cut in addition to all the other spending cuts.

“It is an incredible claim by the Conservatives that even if they get no MPs at all in Scotland they will rule the country on the back of anyone who votes Liberal or Labour.

“That is what Margaret Thatcher used to do in the 80s and David Cameron seems to want to take us back to the 1980s.

“What we have got from Labour now, it looks like the last desperate throw of the dice, if they had said this at the start of the campaign then there might have been some logic to it but now in the last few days it looks like ‘oh dear, we are getting beat what can we think of to try to prop up our position?’.

Salmond snubs Cameron’s early talks plan

By Rory Reynolds

ALEX Salmond has snubbed an offer from David Cameron to discuss devolution under a Tory government.

The Conservative leader had wished to hold early talks to discuss how relations could be improved between the Scottish Government and Westminster – but the offer was rejected by the SNP leader.

A spokesman for the nationalist first minister slammed Cameron for taking next year’s election for granted, saying, “David Cameron is strutting around like he is already the Prime Minister.”

“We will meet with and work with whoever is prime minister in the best interests of Scotland -but let’s see what happens.”

The spokesman went on to say, “the priority is electing a big block of SNP MPs to make Westminster dance to a Scottish jig.”