Nicola Sturgeon responded to Theresa May's outlandish remarks on a possible post-election deal between Labour and the SNP on Sunday calling the Tory Home Secretary "utterly stupid." Writing in the Daily Mail, the senior Tory said that a Labour/SNP government could be ''the biggest constitutional crisis since the abdication.'' That’s the constitutional crisis sparked by King Edward VIII giving up the throne in 1936 on the eve of the Second World War.
Responding to the hyperbole, Sturgeon told Sky News: "Theresa May has made herself look completely and utterly stupid with ridiculous over the top comments like that. This is the same Theresa May that tried to tell the people of Scotland during the referendum campaign that if we voted Yes we would lose our passports and have border controls. People will look at these silly comments, and I was going to say they will treat them with contempt, but that actually attaches too much seriousness to them. People will just laugh at her."
Theresa May attending the Asian Business Awards and annual Asian Rich List 101 gala ceremony at Westminster Park Plaza, London
Earlier, Sturgeon Peddled her now standard line on Labour, predicting that Ed Miliband will be forced to deal with the Scottish Nationalist Party after the May vote. The First Minister has a case too, with polls suggesting Labour won’t get anywhere near the majority that would allow them to form a government without help from one or more of the smaller parties.
Labour is expected to suffer heavy losses in Scotland -- where it won 41 seats in 2010 - with forecasts suggesting Sturgeon's party could see as many as 50 MPs elected. After the Labour leader restated his opposition to doing any kind of deal with the SNP, Sturgeon said "I suspect Ed Miliband will change his tune once the votes are cast."
The latest UK-wide polls indicate that the General Election race is still neck-and-neck, with the country heading for a probable hung parliament and coalition negotiations after the vote. Pressed on whether he would consider a confidence-and-supply deal with the SNP to ensure backing for a Queen's Speech and Budget if he failed to secure an overall majority, Miliband said: ''I am not interested in deals, no.''
The Labour leader told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: ''If it is a Labour government it will be a Labour Queen's Speech, it will be a Labour Budget. It will not be written by the SNP.''
But Sturgeon told Sky News: "On May 8 once the votes are cast, once the people have cast their verdict, Ed Miliband, just like the rest of us, will have to respect the wishes of the people in a democratic election. If there is a minority government, if no party has an overall majority, then it's simply not possible to ignore the views of other parties -- I know that, I was part of a minority government at the Scottish Parliament. So if the SNP has a large number of MPs, firstly we can use that clout to keep the Tories out, and secondly we can use it to ensure the Tories are replaced with something better, bolder and more progressive.
The Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson pose for photographers in a garden of the Chateau de Cande, France, May 7, 1937
She added: "If that remains the case on May 8 if he doesn't have a majority, what he will be saying to the people is rather than work with the SNP if there is an anti-Tory majority, he'd rather watch David Cameron waltz back into Downing Street. I don't want that and the SNP will use our votes to stop a Tory government getting off the ground if there is that anti-Tory majority. It's the people who are in charge and the politicians have to respect the democratic wishes of the people, if Ed Miliband doesn't get a majority, as the polls are all saying he won't, then he'll have to work with other parties."
The latest opinion poll in Scotland shows Labour remains on course for heavy losses to the Scottish nationalists in its heartlands north of the border - keeping hold of as few as five seats. Just over a quarter (27%) of Scots say they will be voting for Labour in the election, according to the Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times, down two on earlier in the month, with the SNP up three points to stand at 48%.
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