The Scotsman cartoon: SNP message for Miliband

By voting SNP in next May’s UK general election, people in Scotland could seek to win more powers for Holyrood, the First Minister has said.

Illustration: Iain Green

Nicola Sturgeon added that if Labour needed the support of the SNP to form the next government at Westminster Ed Miliband’s party would “have to seriously up its game in terms of the powers it was promising to the Scottish people”.

The SNP is expected to perform well in the general election and if Labour fails to win an outright majority Ed Miliband could look to Ms Sturgeon’s party to deliver him to Downing Street.

The First Minister said: “My message to people across Scotland, even if they’ve never voted SNP in a Westminster election in the past, is in May next year lend us your vote to allow us to make sure that Scotland’s voice is heard and Scotland’s interests are protected.”

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