Scotland: neither LibDems or Tories will join a coalition to keep SNP out of power
Two stories in Friday's papers show that neither the 3rd or 4th party will join a coalition with Labour just to keep the SNP out of power. The Scotsman reported: THERE will be no Unionist coalition to keep the SNP out of office, Nicol Stephen revealed yesterday.
The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader said the largest party in the parliament would have the "moral authority" to govern.
If that party was the SNP then the Liberal Democrats would find it "very difficult" to do deals with Labour to prevent the Nationalists from taking power.
Mr Stephen said that if the SNP emerged as the biggest party he would try to do a deal with the Nationalists. But if that foundered because of divisions over an independence referendum, then it was likely he would take his party to the "opposition benches" without trying to form a coalition with Labour. -- The Scotsman - Politics - Lib Dem leader insists largest party has authority
And the Herald reported: Annabel Goldie yesterday launched a vehement defence of the Union but refused to commit her party's support for an anti-Nationalist coalition to defeat the SNP's plans for independence.
In a keynote speech in Edinburgh, the Scottish Conservatives leader said Scotland was currently able to "shape the world" through the UK's membership of Nato, the G8 and the UN Security Council - all of which independence would put under threat.
She predicted that there would be "a clear Unionist majority" in the Scottish Parliament after May 3, with the Tories, Labour and the Liberal Democrats taking most of the seats. But she stopped short of pledging to join forces with Labour and the LibDems to secure an anti-independence majority at Holyrood. -- Goldie defends Union, but won’t join coalition