SNP/Labour deal a ‘recipe for mayhem’ - John Major

FORMER Prime Minister Sir John Major will enter the general election campaign today warning that the prospect of an SNP/Labour deal will create “weak and unstable government”.

Sir John Major will return to the political scene to air his thought on Labour and the SNP. Picture: Getty

Sir John believes the “political blackmail” deal will jeopardise Britain’s economic recovery and prove to be “a recipe for mayhem”.

The ex-Tory leader who was at the helm when his party’s MPs were wiped out in Scotland in 1997 will give his warning at a speech in Solihull today as he tries to help David Cameron get back into 10 Downing Street.

He will claim that the SNP would “hold Labour to ransom” and push the government further left.

Sir John Major will return to the political scene to air his thought on Labour and the SNP. Picture: Getty

Sir John will say: “If Labour were to accept an offer of support from the SNP, it could put the country on course to a Government held to ransom on a vote by vote basis.

“Labour would be in hock to a party that – slowly but surely – will push them ever further to the left.”

He will warn that the whole country will “pay the price”.

He will say: “We would all pay for the SNP’s ransom in our daily lives – through higher taxes, fewer jobs, and more and more debt.

“But that isn’t all. The SNP’s driving ambition is an independent Scotland and – as the price for their support – they will demand policies that favour Scotland at the expense, quite literally, of the rest of the UK. That is no way to run a country. And nor is it remotely fair to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

He will also attack Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy for promoting the Mansion Tax which mainly hits the south east of England but would pay for 1,000 nurses in Scotland.

Sir John will say: “The Labour leader in Scotland has already suggested a similar ploy [to the SNP].

“He’s proposed that Labour’s new tax on the family home in England would raise funds forScotland. The point is this: if a Labour leader asks for that, how much more will the SNP demand? And if this is the way Labour intends to behave towards England – how can they say ‘No’ to the SNP? And if Labour didsay “No”, the SNP could withdraw support and bring down the Government at any time.

“This is a recipe for mayhem. At the very moment our country needs a strong and stable Government, we risk a weak and unstable one – pushed to the left by its allies, and open to a daily dose of political blackmail.”

He will add: “In 16 days’ time, the people of the United Kingdom will elect our next Government.

“There is a simple choice to make: do you vote for the Party that presided over economic chaos: or the Party that has led us out of it?”