Conservatives right to distance themselves from deal with SNP

IT WAS never likely that Alex Salmond would be the first person to whom the Conservatives would turn in the event of a hung parliament. Certainly, nothing can be taken for granted in the febrile atmosphere that a hung parliament would bring. We can expect manic activity by the main parties scrambling to secure support to form an administration, however frail and vulnerable the accord being struck.

But in his interview with The Scotsman today, William Hague, the Conservatives' unofficial deputy leader, indicates that he is ruling out doing a deal with the SNP. He knows that his party needs to secure a strong presence north of the Border to be a credible UK government. But that does not extend to striking an accord with the Nationalists, even assuming one could be reached. Given that the SNP is a left-of-centre party, it would be hard to fathom the basis of agreement between the two, especially as they are directly opposed on an issue so fundamental as the Union.

This distancing from deal-making with the SNP may be little more than a confirmation of the obvious. But it does make sense for the Conservatives to make the position clear, on two counts.

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First, by letting speculation grow on the reverse – that the Conservatives would, indeed, consider a deal with the SNP – Mr Hague has removed the danger of Conservative supporters voting tactically for the SNP, but still having the comfort that such a vote could be of help to the Conservatives in the event of a hung parliament.

And second, it strikes a blow against the colourful imagery of Mr Salmond, portraying the SNP as a deal-maker, as Westminster hung by a Scottish rope. This would not be the case, it seems, were the gallows painted blue.

However, Mr Hague at least spared Mr Salmond the blunt put-down yesterday from Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, of being a "two-bit player" – a taunt from one who should know.

Mr Salmond is not standing in the UK election and the SNP will not be forming the next UK government. But he is the First Minister of Scotland. And his party poses a formidable threat to Labour in areas where the Lib Dems have little prospect of making headway. This was an ill-judged remark, unbecoming of Mr Clegg who, in launching the Scottish Lib Dem campaign, seems to recognise that there is a different political configuration in Scotland, even if he shows little respect for it.

As it is, the Lib Dems appear to have problems with their own platform before they start conjoining with someone else's. On the issue of VAT, Mr Clegg says there is no possibility of a rise in the unlikely event that his party comes to power. However, Vince Cable, the Lib Dems' widely respected Treasury spokesman, says that it is a possibility. It is not the first time Mr Cable has struck a note at odds from his colleagues, and it may not be the last.

Given the party's critique of the "same old" obfuscation from the two main parties, the Lib Dems' own confusion hardly enhances their claim as a credible alternative.