'Tsunami' of support for SNP could cost Ed Miliband victory, says David Blunkett

Former cabinet minister says SNP's ascendancy is 'dangerous' for Britain

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett (Getty) (Getty Images)

The “tsunami” of support for the SNP could cost Ed Miliband outright election victory and threaten the United Kingdom’s future, a former Labour Cabinet minister has warned.

David Blunkett claimed Labour was suffering north of the border because Scottish voters had stopped listening to rational argument.

The former Home Secretary said: “Labour could win literally scores of seats in England and Wales and see themselves unable to offer a majority Labour government because of what has happened in just one part of the United Kingdom.

“Once people stop listening, once their minds have switched off to even rational argument, then it is extremely difficult to win that back.”

He told BBC Radio 4: “It is as though a great part of the Scottish nation have switched off and that is so dangerous for the Union and the future of Britain as a whole.”

---

Are you undecided about who to vote for on 7 May? Are you confused about what the parties stand for and what they are offering? Take this interactive quiz to help you decide who to vote for...

Click here to launch

---

The Tory chairman, Grant Shapps, said his comments were an admission that Ed Miliband could only become Prime Minister if he was “propped up” by the SNP. He added: “This is the first crack in Labour’s dam.”

A Labour spokeswoman said: “We are fighting hard for every seat, to win a majority. This is yet more scaremongering from the desperate Tories.”