Britain should “not pretend to be a world power” and curbing interventionism would be a key plank of any post-election deal between Labour and the SNP, the head of the nationalists in the UK parliament declared yesterday.
The collaboration between the SNP and Labour to block military action in Syria in 2013 provides a template for future foreign policy co-operation between the two parties, according to Angus Robertson, the SNP leader in Westminster.
His move comes as a new Times poll by YouGov shows that Labour has made no progress clawing back votes in Scotland. Westminster voting intention figures have Labour on 27 per cent, unchanged since the start of February, the SNP are on 46 per cent, down 2 points, Conservatives on 18 per cent, up 3 points and the Lib Dems unchanged on 4 points. If there were a vote on whether Scotland should be an independent country, 49 per cent would vote “yes”, 51 per cent “no”.
Mr Robertson said that his party would act to curb interventionist foreign policy after the election, and would encourage Labour to make greater co-operation key to any post-election confidence and supply deal.
With the SNP on course to become the third biggest party in the Commons, the 45-year-old former journalist, who was born in Wimbledon, southwest London, is likely to feature heavily in post-election discussions. Mr Robertson said they “will not assist, actively or passively, the Conservative party remaining in No 10”, even if they put forward an enhanced federalism deal.
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The SNP has also made clear it is all but certain not to go into formal coalition with the Labour party, fearing it would suffer like the Lib Dems. Instead it is proposing a looser relationship, voting Ed Miliband into Downing Street if the parliamentary arithmetic allows, then deciding how much of its legislative agenda to back.
The SNP is hoping this will include making a “big deal” with Labour in the weeks after the election over the extent of legislative co-operation. The deal could include elements on further powers to Scotland, slowing austerity, reform of the House of Lords and the voting system and foreign affairs.
“I think there are two potential outcomes of the general election, regardless of which party is the biggest. One is to think small, not embrace the challenge of the issues we face domestically and internationally, and to try and manage one’s way through a parliament with different arithmetic,” Mr Robertson said.
“Or one can embrace the opportunity and say domestically we have to acknowledge the growing gulf between haves and have nots, between nations and regions, reforming medieval decision-making and an electoral system which is not fit for purpose.”
Foreign affairs could be a key link between the SNP and Labour, with a less adventurous approach to defence and security than seen under the past three governments. He said: “[We want to] reset the approach to foreign affairs away from a misguided post-imperial pretence and exploring the options of how one can be a force for good that leads by example, and part of that equation is scrapping nuclear weapons and engaging with the international community to try and break a cycle of justification for weapons of mass destruction which will become infectious unless we decide to do things differently.”
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Mr Robertson highlighted how the SNP helped to persuade Ed Miliband to vote against military action in Syria.
“I’m confident that we can work on the basis of trust and mutual respect. The joint approach we took on Syria is an example where I worked with Ed Miliband and others. I spoke to Ed Miliband a number of times and with other colleagues. We did on Syria, I believe we can on other things too. “