'Join forces with us' to keep Cameron out, Sturgeon urges Labour

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy claims "no-one will be fooled" by Nicola Sturgeon's claim her party will help "shake-up" Westminster to the benefit of the rest of the UK.

In a response to the SNP leader's party conference speech, Murphy added that Sturgeon's plans to fight austerity ignored "the austerity max that would be inflicted on Scotland" if the country achieved her party's aim of fiscal independence.

And after Sturgeon urged Labour to "join forces" with the SNP to keep the Conservatives out of power after the General Election, Murphy responded: “Despite all the cheering and backslapping the facts remain only Labour or the Tories can form the next UK government.

"Any seat taken from Labour by the SNP or anyone else simply helps David Cameron to stay in power."

Nicola Sturgeon has made a direct appeal to Labour to "join forces with us" in a bid to keep the Conservatives out of government after the General Election.

Speaking at her party's Spring conference, Sturgeon said: "If there is a hung Parliament, SNP MPs will vote to stop a Tory Government even getting off the ground.

"I call on Labour, today, to match that pledge - to make clear that if Labour and the SNP combined have more seats than the Tories, they will join forces with us in a vote of confidence to lock David Cameron out of Downing Street," she said.

After huge cheers from the party's amassed membership, Sturgeon added: "If Labour fails to make that commitment, the only conclusion people will draw is that Labour would rather have the Tories back in power than work with the SNP."

Nicola Sturgeon has assured the rest of the UK that the Scottish National Party will help "shake up" the political system.

In a speech to the party's Spring conference, Sturgeon said that even though her party still sought independence from the UK, she also aimed to help seize power back from Westminster.

She added that her party would "demand an alternative to slash and burn austerity", but hinted that her party could still wield power in a minority-led House of Commons.