Also the Tory voters in Scotland had to go somewhere, they didn't just vanish (or vote Lib Dems)

Listen to the underlying message from the SNP, cut business taxes, cut air transport duty, increase spending on infrastructure for businesses, all sounds very Tartan Tory.

Looks like it's only the tories that now refuse to accept that the FPTP system is way past its sell-by date.

Abolish the HoL and replace it with a Regional Parliament and introduce PR for the HoC.

For those who maintain PR would only lead to confusion and obfuscation, I suggest they look at some of our European neighbours, they seem to make it work

It's actually something I've changed my mind on.

I used to support FPTP, thinking it's simpler, everyone votes for the 3 main parties anyway, and it means you know who (individual) you're voting for.

But after seeing the effect that minor parties can have and the support they have I would now support PR.

As an example, let's say you're a left wing voter who support virtually all the Green Party policies and would love to vote for them, or alternatively you're a right wing voter who supports UKIP. Under FPTP it's highly likely your vote will be wasted in your constituency as those parties are highly unlikely to get the MP and, by voting for your favoured party you could help your least favoured party (Labour or Tory) get in.

Under PR you can vote for your favoured party.

I've always thought we needed a different House of Lords. It's a complete mish mash of a system. I've always wondered whether it would be an option to have some kind of "Expert" House of Lords. Whereby the members would be a variety of experts in different fields. From Health, Education, Science, Business, Social, Sport, Defence, Religion etc. But it's probably impractical.

Other than that I'd favour some kind of regional representation but would serve for say a 10 year rather than 5 year term.

They won't. If the SNP want a different direction and to keep the Tories out as they say they do then [iit is they[/i will have to align with Labour which means support the Labour policies they agree with and vote against those they don't.

What they won't be able to do is prevent the Trident renewal for example. Whether you are for or against that I don't know but what is bound to happen is Labour will vote for it, the SNP against it but it will go through because the Tories will vote for it. 100% nailed on certainty. All the stories about Britain's Nuclear deterrent being at risk due to a Labour/SNP alliance are complete hogwash for this reason.

Will the SNP try to influence policy of the Labour govt? Well of course. If they have 40 odd seats they would try to influence the direction of any government but without being in a formal coalition they only way they can really do that is vote on a policy by policy basis because it won't be them writing the Queens Speech and voting like that gives very little influence anyway. They only way they "win" a vote under those circumstances is if the Tories they profess to hate vote with them.

I doubt they would even get far by proposing amendments to bills either because to get them through they would have to have the Tories supporting SNP amendments to Labour bills the Tories will undoubtedly completely oppose. The SNP won't be able to force Labour to do anything much for this reason.

If the SNP start horse trading with the Tories to try and extract concessions or amendments to Labour bills they supposedly support their credibility goes down the pan.

No doubt the SNP will try and portray things like the repeal of the health and social care bill as something only voted through because of them and that may well be true purely on the numbers but in reality they will have to follow the Labour lead.

Yep. The SNP aren't going to be able to force Labour to do anything they don't really want to.

The same is true of UKIP and the Tories.

Where it gets tricky/interesting is the role the Lib Dems might play.

As for Trident, you're right, it's going to be renewed but I wonder if the basis of some kind of Labour/SNP deal might be that they'll move the weapons out of Scotland.

The SNP will support Labour in the first couple of years. They're not going to vote against a budget that includes increased top rate tax, a mansion tax, abolition of the bedroom tax, a bankers bonus tax etc.

But they will fall out eventually. All of those Scottish Labour voters that have switched to the SNP havent done so in the expectation that the SNP will simply have a cosy relationship with Labour. The SNP will have to be able to show that they have advanced the cause of independence or clearly obtained a better deal for Scotland if they are to keep those votes. And Labour will not be re-elected if they blatantly pander to the SNP. There isnt really a win win outcome for the two parties. One of them has to have beaten the other by 2020.

The SNP's biggest weapon is in the votes of confidense. They're not going to bring a Labour government down, at least not for a couple of years. But when the Trident vote goes through they'll probably start to abstain. They'll make sure that the threat of bringing down Labour hangs over the government in the second half of the parliament. It will all end in tears.

The SNP will not be allowed to forget what happened in 1979 when they helped bring down the Labour government. What followed hit Scotland particularly hard and there'll be no wish to repeat that experience

I don't see it that way at all. Labour and the SNP don't need to "beat" each other. All the SNP need to do is extract either one major or several minor concessions from Labour.
The SNP and Nicola Sturgeon herself, have already admitted they can't do anything about independence because it requires another Scottish Parliament.
As I said, I wouldn't be suprised to see a concession from Labour that the nuclear weapons will be moved out of Scotland. That would give the SNP a "win" so to speak. Plus a few tax and spend things that in reality Labour would like to do anyway.

There is no way whatsoever the SNP will bring down a Labour government to let the Tories in. They'd be finished as a party.

If the SNP play it right, extract a few concessions, appear sensible and as if they are helping "govern" the country then it massively enhances their position in Scotland and enhances their case for independence.

They might not vote to bring down Labour, just severely disrupt them.

When the Trident vote goes through they could announce that they will revert to their traditional stance of only voting on matters that affect Scotland. That doesnt bring the government down, just emasculates them.

And there will be a whole raft of stuff that Labour will want to do that isnt in anyone's manifesto, perhaps not even on the radar yet. Foreign affairs, criminal justice stuff, anti terrorism etc, etc The SNP can easily take a contrary position on them.

The SNP have to differentiate themselves from Labour, move the independence movement forward.

And I dont really think Milliband will move the Trident base a hundered miles down the road to England. It will cost a pile of cash in addition to the replacement missiles, is very time consuming, will not make anyone feel safer and is clearly a very expensive bribe of the SNP. Could cost him the next election.

Surely that is not in Labour's longer term interest in Scotland. If they allow the SNP to grow credibility how do they improve their popularity in Scotland where they desperately to reverse the current trend if they are regain the seats they will lose this time?

It's not, in Scotland. But it is for Labours interest in the UK as a whole because it gets them into government. And if Labour and the SNP work relatively amicably together then it provides an option for Labour in future general elections.

It seems that both Milliband and Sturgeon are busy painting themselves into corners so that any co-operation, even informal, means that one of them will sufffer a severe loss of credibility.

I think its increasingly likely that Labour will go it alone and run a minority government. Dare the SNP to vote against, or abstain, a budget with plenty of left wing measures. Eventually they'll fall out over Trident and Devo Max but by then I dont think Milliband will be too bothered if he needs to engineer a second election in about 18 months.

Labour have again ruled out a deal with the SNP and so it won't happen. The SNP will have to tread very carefully on what they oppose a Labour government on. If they are policies their former Labour voters support and they oppose Labour for political reasons they will soon lose their newly gained support.

I think Labour will be quite prepared to suffer the odd defeat with the SNP voting against them to show both English and Scottish voters what happens if you vote SNP. For English voters it shows them the govt isn't in hock to the SNP as it hasn't done dirty deals and sold out English interests. For the Scottish voter it would illustrate if you want a Labour govt the way to get it is vote Labour not SNP.

Labour has to keep the SNP at arms length so in the next election after this the charge from the Tories about Labour/SNP alliances holds no sway at all.

The effect of the fixed term parliament act on any minority govt, Labour or Tory, is going to be interesting. It might be impossible to get a majority in a no-confidence vote as don't you need 66% now not just a simple majority?