SNP hit back at Theresa May comments

The SNP has hit back after Theresa May claimed a Labour SNP deal would be the “biggest constitutional crisis since the abdication”, with SNP MP Angus Robertson arguing the comments reveal panic at the heart of the Conservative Party.

Meanwhile Ed Miliband has ruled out any kind of deal with the SNP, even including a loose ‘confidence and supply’ deal.

Appearing on the Andrew Marr show, Miliband was asked what arrangement could be reached between Labour and the SNP.

He said: “I want to be clear about this: no deals, no tie-ins. I'm not doing deals with the SNP, I want a majority Labour government. If there is a Labour government, it will be a Labour Queen's Speech, it will be a Labour Budget, it is not going to be written by the SNP. I can't be clearer than that.”

The Scottish Liberal Democrats responded to May’s comments by warning the Conservatives against “stoking the fires of nationalism”.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, May questioned the legitimacy of a Labour-SNP deal.

She said: “There would be a very real feeling this was something people did not want to see, had not voted for and would find very difficult to accept.

“It would raise difficult questions about legitimacy. A lot of English people would question that.”

Robertson said: “If one thing has been made abundantly clear, it is just how alarmed the Tories are at the prospect of SNP MPs preventing them from returning to Government.

“The comments from Theresa May are quite frankly bizarre, and speak of real panic in Tory circles at the prospect of a strong team of SNP MPs locking them out of Government.

“If there are more anti-Tory MPs than Tory MPs elected on 7 May, we can lock David Cameron out of Downing Street and work together to pursue a progressive alternative to cuts.

“In such a situation, the only way David Cameron could return to office is if Ed Miliband preferred to see the Tories re-elected rather than working with the SNP to keep them out.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “People who voted for Scotland to remain part of the UK, including conservative voters, will be aghast at the hyperbolic rhetoric the Tories are using to stoke the fires of English nationalism.

"Their shameful tactics are putting party politics before the future of our country"

“The Tories' whole strategy is seeking to divide rather than unite. Their shameful tactics are putting party politics before the future of our country.

“We now have the SNP seeking to pull the union one way and the Tories putting party before country and pulling it in another direction. If you want to see a stronger Scotland in a strong UK - if you want unity and stability for Scotland - then you need to back the Liberal Democrats.”

Rennie also criticised a poster by the Conservatives which depicts former SNP leader Alex Salmond stealing a wallet. 

"Stirring up English nationalism within months of defeating Scottish nationalism is not something I thought I would see from a so called Unionist party," he said.