Ed Miliband is being warned by anxious Labour figures that he needs to adopt sharper tactics towards Nicola Sturgeon in their next television debate. Senior Labour figures are calling on Miliband to spell out in clear terms that a Scottish National party success will only help David Cameron.
The Labour leader steered clear of criticising Scotland’s first minister in the debate, instead focusing his criticism on the prime minister, David Cameron, and his deputy Nick Clegg. There were times when Sturgeon was not challenged on her government’s policies on NHS funding, which gets a lower share of overall spending than in England, or over mushrooming student debt and deep cuts in college places.
One Labour source said: “Nicola Sturgeon was just completely let off the hook. We should have pressed home more strongly the point that there is going to be one prime minister, and it is going to be Miliband or Cameron. You do not have to be aggressive to expose the false populism of the SNP and how they are doing Cameron’s dirty work for him.
“If the SNP get what they want, billions of pounds will be taken away from Scotland – they are the party that will lead to austerity, not the party that will fight against it. You can clearly and calmly, but forensically, expose the reality of the SNP’s position. That was not done by any of the main leaders.”
Sturgeon faces two back-to-back debates against all of her Scottish party leaders in Edinburgh and Aberdeen next week. The first minister will next face Miliband in a “challengers’ debate” on 16 April, which will include the party leaders from Thursday’s ITV debate except Cameron and Clegg.
The Labour source denied that Sturgeon’s assured performance in Thursday night’s debate and Miliband’s failure to challenge her were problems. “In a word, no – I don’t think it has put us on the back foot.”
But the strategist conceded: “We’re not going to deny it gave her an advantage. Of course it gave her an advantage, [but] in terms of Ed versus the SNP, it’s not just about last night. There will be a number of interventions in Scotland and he has another debate up against her on 16 April.”
