Nicola Sturgeon says SNP could back Corbyn as PM in a hung parliament

Some polls suggest Britain is heading for a hung parliament with no party having overall control.
SNP say they would back a minority Labour government on an issue-by-issue basis.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would challenge smaller parties to back him or take blame for a Tory government.
Conservatives accuse Labour of plotting a "coalition of chaos" with smaller parties.

LONDON — The SNP would back a Corbyn-led government on an "issue by issue basis" its leader Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday.

Speaking on the Today programme, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon suggested her party would enter talks with a Labour government in order to prevent another Tory governement.

She added: "If there is a hung parliament... then I would want the SNP to be part of a progressive alternative to a Conservative government."

She said she did "not envisage any formal coalition," with Labour but would back a Corbyn government on issues they agree on, saying she would want to see a "progressive agenda" in the UK.

Sturgeon's comments comes as a series of polls in the past week have suggested that the election could result in no single party being able to form a majority government.

When this last happened in 2010, Conservative leader David Cameron was forced to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

However, speaking at an event in Essex on Thursday afternoon, Corbyn ruled out going into a formal coalition with other parties.

"We're not doing deals. We're not doing coalitions," he said in response to questions from journalists, adding that he was "in it to win it."

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry added that Labour would challenge other parties to back their manifesto in a hung parliament.

"If we end up in a position where we are in a minority we will go ahead and we will put forward a Queen's speech and a budget and if people want to vote for it then good and if they don't want to vote for it they will have to go back and speak to their constituents and explain ton them why we have a Tory government instead," she said.

"But if we are the largest party then we go ahead. No deals, with our budget and our Queen's speech and those are the conversations we've had. No deals, that's it, no deals."

There were loud boos and shouts of "idiot" from Corbyn's supporters when the Times journalist Frances Elliott asked whether he would ask Sinn Fein MPs to take their seats in the event of a hung parliament — something they do not currently do.

Thornberry asked the crowd not to jeer, but added that Elliott's question was "stupid". Corbyn repeated that he would not do any deals with other parties.

The Labour leader was greeted with a standing ovation by his activists yesterday following a series of polls showing the gap rapidly narrowing with the Tories.

Corbyn said he would not comment on polls, but said that he was "looking forward to next Thursday" when the general election is held and suggested that the prime minister "may regret" her decision to call the election.

Corbyn also announced that Thornberry would form part of Labour's new Brexit negotiations team along with shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer and Shadow energy secretary Barry Gardiner.

Labour's opponents mocked Corbyn's new "London-centric" advisers.

"I thought this was the Labour Party's M25 Steering Group not a genuine proposal - let alone on Brexit. This is useless, gesture politics of the worst kind," Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said.

"Labour threw in the towel the moment they joined Theresa May and the Conservatives in voting to trigger Article 50 without any conditions attached.

"You wouldn't trust this lot with an abacus, let alone the most important negotiation in history. They are out of their depth and history will not forgive their utter inability to oppose the Conservative's extreme Brexit agenda."

Nicola Sturgeon says SNP could back Corbyn as PM in a hung parliament

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