Sturgeon To Make Manifesto Offer To The North

The SNP will offer to help the North of England "rebalance Britain" as it makes manifesto pledges about public spending south of the border for the first time, Sky News has learnt.

Nicola Sturgeon's party will promise to be "natural allies" of MPs in the North with pledges of increased spending on infrastructure – specifically high-speed rail.

There will also be promises over infrastructure spending in Wales, and a commitment on UK-wide health spending.

It comes as David Cameron warned a deal between the SNP and Labour, which would put Ed Miliband in power, was a "frightening proposition".

The party, which is tipped to win as many as 52 seats at the General Election making it a significant force in the House of Commons, will present its eagerly awaited manifesto today.

It will say: "While a strong London is good for the UK, also having a strong Cardiff, Newcastle and Leeds is even better."

Senior SNP sources said: "The north of England would be another big winner from SNP success in Scotland."

They added that a "strong team of SNP MPs" in Westminster would help "rebalance the UK - both politically and economically - from the chronic over-dominance of the City of London (LSE: CIN.L - news) , which has harmed the overall UK economy and left regions of England neglected".

The SNP's ambitions for the rest of the UK outside Scotland, might provide more fuel for the Conservatives.

The Tories have made the possibility of a Labour government supported by the SNP a central plank of their campaign for a majority with a number of attack adverts, including a new one on Sunday depicting Mr Miliband as Ms Sturgeon's puppet.

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Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Cameron said a Labour/SNP deal – even if it was "vote-by-vote" would wreck the country.

He said Scottish MPs would not care about what happened in England and voters would struggle to get their bypasses and hospitals built.

He said: "Frankly (CDNX: TLK.V - news) , this is a group of people that wouldn't care what happened in the rest of the country. The rest of the United Kingdom - England, Wales, Northern Ireland - wouldn't get a look-in."

On the same show Ms Sturgeon said it was now her job to persuade voters in England that the SNP would not be a "destructive force" in Westminster.

The SNP leader also refused to rule out another referendum on Scottish independence saying she had no immediate plans for a second referendum on independence – unless there was a "significant change".

In the wake of successful TV debate performances Ms Sturgeon is proving increasingly popular at least in parts of England.

The Labour hierarchy is deeply suspicious of the SNP's motives - the nationalist party is likely to all but wipe out Labour MPs in Scotland. But senior SNP figures argue that the party has a positive agenda for the whole of the UK.

Speaking on Sky News' Murnaghan Programme, shadow chancellor Ed Balls appeared to go further than simply ruling out a coalition with the SNP by saying the nationalist party would have no say in the Labour Budget.

He said: "Absolute 100%, total firewall", and added: "We will not get involved with coalitions or deals with a political party which wants to break up the United Kingdom."

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Northern MPs have long-argued that Scotland (alongside Greater London) enjoys much higher than average public spending per person than Northern English regions, partly as a result of the Barnett Formula.

In its manifesto on Monday, the SNP will, like Labour promise to reverse the 2012 Health and Social Care Act - which is legislation impacting the English NHS.

It argues the move will protect Scotland's budget by "stopping the process of privatisation and patient charging in England which threatens future public finding".

The SNP will also argue that cancelling Trident (BSE: TRIDENT.BO - news) will free up £3bn to £4bn per year for increasing spending across the UK on health, education and childcare.