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DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Well now, on last week’s programme I spoke to the former SNP leader Alex Salmond and he made the prediction that his party would hold the balance of power after the election but if that’s the case, what will they ask for in return for their support, what are the red lines?  I’m joined from Glasgow by the current SNP Leader and Scottish First Minister of course, Nicola Sturgeon, a very good morning to you Ms Sturgeon.  Just first of all, it may sound a strange question but confirm for the English that you are the leader of the SNP because Alex Salmond, who I mentioned there, has been stomping around in London the last week selling his book and saying what the SNP will and won’t do after the election.  

NICOLA STURGEON: What an absurd question.  Yes, I am the leader of the SNP and more than that, I’m the First Minister of Scotland and I look forward to leading this campaign and I look forward to doing that with having Alex Salmond very firmly on my team.  Alex Salmond is an enormous asset and the SNP is a team.  I know people perhaps south of the border, as indeed in Scotland, are used to seeing politicians like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown tearing lumps out of each other but in the SNP we actually like each other, we get on with each other and we campaign and operate as a team.

DM: Okay, so post the election who negotiates with Ed Miliband if it comes to that, Alex Salmond or Nicola Sturgeon?  

NICOLA STURGEON: Me.  

DM: You, okay, you’ll won’t be an MP and this is the capital of a country you want to be a foreign country.  

NICOLA STURGEON: Look, I want Scotland to be an independent country, there’s no question about that, I don't think I’ve ever made any secret of that.  I campaigned passionately for a yes vote in the referendum, Scotland didn’t vote yes in the referendum so at this stage we are not going to be an independent country, we remain part of the Westminster system and of course during the referendum campaign we had Westminster politicians telling us that our voice mattered in the Westminster system, that our influence mattered.  I think the slogan they used at the time was Scotland shouldn’t leave the UK, we should seek to lead the UK.  So now that Scotland is looking as if we might take these Westminster politicians at their word by voting for a party that will make Scotland’s voice heard, I think it is really quite outrageous for these Westminster politicians to be throwing their hands up in horror.  Scotland wants to make its voice heard in Westminster and … let me finish this final point, and we will pursue progressive policies that I know will have significant support in other parts of the UK as well.

DM: Okay but just in terms of the personnel who negotiate with Mr Miliband if it comes to that, if he’s elected what role with Alex Salmond play?  Will he be at your right hand?  He won’t even be leader of the SNP in Westminster will he?

NICOLA STURGEON: Well Alex Salmond I hope will be a member of the Westminster parliament, he’s standing in Gordon constituency, I hope the people in that constituency vote for him.  He will be a big voice in the Westminster parliament, I think you can see by the reactions of both the Tories and Labour that Alex Salmond frightens the life out of them and long may that continue.  I’m the leader of the SNP, I will lead negotiations, I will lead my party and hopefully I will continue as First Minister of Scotland even after the Scottish Parliament election next year to lead my country.  So these are questions that I think are rather strange, I’m more interested in what we can win for Scotland if we get a big team of SNP MPs – an alternative to austerity, common sense on the renewal of Trident, keeping public services in public hands – these are issues that yes, are very popular in Scotland but I know people of progressive opinion right across the UK I think will welcome having more progressive voices arguing for them.  

DM: Okay, you made that very clear.  Let’s say it’s a red line then that whoever you deal with has to abandon the austerity programme.  Well I’ve just had it from Lucy Powell who is co-ordinating the election for Labour saying there is no compromise on that, the SNP are not the king makers.  

NICOLA STURGEON:  Labour of course is going to say that right now, they are still clinging to the pretence that they can win a majority but I think most people look at the polls and say that that is not going to happen.  Also we had the Institute of Fiscal Studies saying last weekend that Labour could adopt the SNPs policy on spending which just to make clear is for modest increases in public spending each year of the next parliament which would still see the debt and deficit reduced as a share of national income but would allow us to invest in infrastructure, in skills and in protecting public services so the IFS …

DM: That’s 0.5%.   

NICOLA STURGEON:  0.5%, so the IFS said that Labour could adopt that and still meet their own fiscal targets and I suspect there will be a lot of people in the Labour party, perhaps a lot of MPs elected for the Labour party, who would far rather see their party putting forward that responsible approach to deficit reduction rather than seeming to boast about the fact, as Ed Miliband did in the so-called debate the other night, by saying we will have spending reductions.  These spending reductions are really hurting people, they are hurting our public services and they are stifling economic growth and we really need an alternative to that.

DM: What about Parliament itself, that’s the Labour party but what about Parliament itself if the SNP becomes the third biggest party in Westminster, would you want to see the SNP having a seat on all the select committees?  

NICOLA STURGEON: If the SNP is a big force to be reckoned with, and can I just say I take nothing for granted, we have to work hard for every vote and every seat and we will do that with humility but we will do that with determination but of course if the SNP is elected in numbers, if we were to be a significant force in the House of Commons then it is absolutely right that that is recognised in the decision making structures of the House of Commons.  One of the things I was saying in my speech to the SNP conference …

DM: So is that a yes?  

NICOLA STURGEON: Well why would it be anything other than a yes?  We would want to take a part in select committees, we would want to play a full part in the democratic arrangements of the House of Commons …

DM: Well the reason why it could be something other than a yes – sorry to interrupt Ms Sturgeon but just to clarify this, the reason why is of course there are select committees which have no bearing on what goes on in Scotland which has devolved powers particularly when it comes to health and education.    

NICOLA STURGEON: Well I have made this point previously and I’ll make it again just now, if there are matters that are English only matters, that have no impact on Scotland than I wouldn’t expect SNP MPs to vote on those matters.  I think in those circumstances there is a strong case for English votes for English laws but if you take health and education as just two examples, votes on matters relating to the English health service do have an implication for Scotland because they directly affect the budget of Scottish government.  If we see the continued privatisation of the health service in England that has a direct knock-on effect to how much money we’ve got in Scotland to spend on our NHS so on these matters it is not only perfectly legitimate for SNP MPs, indeed all Scottish MPs to vote on these matter, I would say it’s vital that we vote on these matters to protect Scotland’s budget and I guess if we were voting against the tide of privatisation of the health service in England we’d have a lot of people in England who would be backing us on that as well.

DM: Okay, Nicola Sturgeon, thank you very much indeed, the First Minister and Leader of the SNP.  

NICOLA STURGEON: Thank you, Dermot.