Senior Labour figure casts doubt on Miliband’s plan for ‘no SNP deals’

Former Scottish first minister Henry McLeish has said Labour leader Ed Miliband could not afford to rule out the chance of becoming prime minister by refusing to talk to the SNP.

Mr Miliband is today expected to rule out any “special deals” with the SNP if Labour were to form a minority government.

“At the end of the day, Ed is not going to exclude himself from being prime minister by not talking to anyone,” Mr McLeish told the BBC.

“I can’t bind Ed to anything but… the pragmatic political side will say ‘I’m going for a majority, all this talk of speaking to anyone is out of the question’.

“On the other hand, the politics of reality say I would rather see Ed Miliband in Number 10, no matter the conditions.”