Fears the SNP could help hand Sir Keir Starmer the keys to No 10 deepened last night amid claims would-be Nationalist MPs are being asked if they would agree to prop up a minority Labour government.
The Mail on Sunday has been told potential candidates are being secretly screened to see if they would back a Labour Budget even if Sir Keir refused to agree to a key SNP demand to scrap a cap on family benefits.
Candidates who rejected the proposal were ruled out for selection, a Nationalist source said.
Last night, Tory Party chairman Greg Hands said: ‘If these claims are true, then we have a blatant case of voter deception.
Sir Keir Starmer, right, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar
Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy said Labour have helped the SNP pass reckless and flawed legislation
‘It’s one thing for the SNP to seek to pull the wool over their own supporters’ eyes.
It’s quite another to be complicit in a bid to con the entire British electorate over just who would call the shots in an enfeebled Labour administration with no Commons majority.
‘We all know what the SNP’s price for co-operation is: a totally unnecessary and divisive second Scottish independence referendum.’
Mr Yousaf has previously made clear he would work with a Labour Government at Westminster that did not have an overall majority.
But he has also pointed out that it is ‘deeply shameful’ Sir Keir had not committed his party to scrapping a 2017 Tory measure which restricts child tax credit and universal credit payments to the first two children in a family.
The SNP claims the benefit cap has plunged 20,000 more children into poverty in Scotland.
But a source close to the SNP selection process in the new seat of Dunfermline and Dollar claimed prospective candidates were specifically asked if they would vote for a minority Labour government’s Budget that did not remove the benefit limit.
That would be in a situation where the SNP had agreed a so-called ‘confidence and supply’ deal with Labour to back them on specific votes to keep the government functioning, such as a Budget.
The source said SNP officials asked candidates that ‘if there was a confidence and supply agreement with the Labour Party, would you agree with the SNP group [at Westminster] to cut social care to get their Budget through?’
The insider said those who did not agree, including one who cited the ‘devastating consequences’ for families of such a move, did not get through to the next stage.
They said such ‘screening’ of would-be candidates about a future pact with Labour was widespread across Scottish seats.
Labour has dismissed the idea of any deal with the SNP, with supporters pointing to the latest UK-wide opinion poll showing the party 24 points ahead of the Tories and on course for a Commons majority.
However, many polling experts expect the gap to narrow as the next General Election approaches.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is pinning his hopes of a Tory recovery on fulfilling his pledges to halve inflation, grow the economy and stop Channel migrants.
If Labour’s poll lead starts to dwindle then Sir Keir may find himself dependent on Nationalist MPs after the next election, which must be held by January 2025.
Concerns have been raised that any agreement with the SNP would see Mr Yousaf demand that Labour support his plans for a second independence referendum.
Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy said: ‘This secretive and cynical plan exposes the fact Humza Yousaf and the SNP are betting on Labour again being weak on the Union.
‘Time and time again Labour have helped the SNP pass reckless and flawed legislation like the Gender Bill and the Hate Crime Act.
‘In key constituencies in the next General Election, only the Conservatives can beat Humza Yousaf’s SNP and get the focus onto Scotland’s real priorities, like the mounting crisis in our NHS.’
The SNP last night insisted the claims made by a source within the party were ‘false’ and added that Labour’s commitment to the two-child cap was ‘shameful’.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Both Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar have repeatedly said there will no deals with the SNP going into an election and no deals coming out of one.
‘We’re campaigning for a majority Labour government and the recent Rutherglen by-election shows we are the change Scotland needs.”