Sturgeon gets tough, paving way for SNP-Labour coalition

Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the SNP, has flexed her muscles and positioned her party to hold the balance of power in the next Westminster parliament by announcing that the Scottish Nationalists will routinely vote on English-only matters after the election.

Until now, SNP members have operated a self-imposed ban on voting on flagship English issues such as the NHS. No longer.

If you thought Alex Salmond was formidable, his successor as SNP leader is proving more than his equal. Her move is designed to reinforce the SNP message that the party is willing to work with a minority Labour government, and to blunt Labour claims that a vote for the SNP in Scotland will put the Tories in No 10.

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In doing so, she has outraged Tory MPs who want to block Scottish MPs voting on English laws in Westminster. She also defies David Cameron who is going to Scotland today to unveil the controversial draft bill giving Scotland more powers - which she will tell him do not go far enough.

Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said it was a "massive transfer of powers" to Holyrood which for the first time "will have full power to determine how income tax works in Scotland." Alexander told Radio 4’s Today programme: “The SNP wants a further referendum [on independence]. They don't want this to work.”

Sturgeon's confidence will be boosted by a new Ipsos-MORI voting intention poll which gives the SNP a stunning lead of 28 points over Labour. If this translates into actual votes on 7 May, the SNP could win 55 of Scotland’s 59 Westminster seats, leaving Labour with only four. The Lib Dems – and the Tories, of course – would have none.

It is as if the SNP never lost the independence referendum.

Sturgeon explained her plan to vote on English-only matters at Westminster to the BBC's Nick Robinson last night: “On health, for example, we are signalling that we would be prepared to vote on matters of English health because that has a direct impact potential on Scotland’s budget.

“So, if there was a vote in the House of Commons to repeal the privatisation of the health … we would vote for that because that would help to protect Scotland’s budget.”

As The Times reports, her comments “ignore the prime minister’s promise to restrict votes on English-only laws to English MPs, as pledged after the Scottish referendum last year.”

Labour's new leader in Scotland, Jim Murphy, is campaigning on the message to Scottish voters that the best way to get a Labour government at Westminster is to vote Labour - not SNP - to give Ed Miliband an outright working majority. By saying the SNP is prepared to vote on English issues, Sturgeon is showing that a vote for the SNP is not a wasted vote at Westminster where the Tories are likely to command a majority of English seats.

• Countdown to 7 May: check The Week's daily election round-up

Cameron’s trip north today is about fulfilling the pledge of more powers over tax and spending for Scotland that was given by Gordon Brown, the former Labour Prime Minister, when there was a panic over the likelihood of a Yes vote in the Scottish independence referendum.

The Prime Minister is expected to announce that the Scottish parliament will be allowed to raise 60 per cent of its spending on top of its existing powers over education, health and justice.

It is unclear whether Labour voters will be turned off or attracted by the prospect of a minority Labour government under Ed Miliband being kept in power by Scottish Nationalist MPs at Westminster – doubtless led by a reincarnated Alex Salmond, who is contesting the Scottish seat of Gordon on 7 May.

Ed Miliband refused four times on the Andrew Marr Show earlier this month to rule out a power-sharing coalition with the SNP. It is even possible that Salmond could become deputy prime minister.