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Stephen opens door to coalition talks Print E-mail
Tuesday, 29 May 2007

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen has re-opened the door for negotiations with the SNP over a possible coalition agreement, saying they having nothing to lose by dropping their plans for an independence referendum in the current term of the Parliament.

Stephen told Holyrood  that if the Nationalists were to drop their demand for the referendum, the Lib Dems would be happy to enter into coalition talks.

“There is still the opportunity, and I have made this clear to Alex Salmond and the SNP that if they were to change their position then we would have discussions with them, we would have talks.

“The pledge that we made was that we would not be able to work with the SNP unless or until they set aside their independence referendum for a full four-year term. And it’s not such a high hurdle for them to pass because there won’t be a referendum because there is no parliamentary majority but clearly the SNP want to work towards one,” he said.

Stephen also disputed claims that the SNP had indicated to the Lib Dems that they would be willing to make a compromise on any potential referendum.

“There was no compromise offered to me. As you know, I had several discussions with Alex Salmond and there were rumours, there were hints but there was no specific proposal put to me,” he said.

In the meantime, Stephen said the Lib Dems would not unduly obstruct the SNP minority government:

“It’s new territory and it’s exciting for Scotland. The level of expectation is high and as Liberal Democrats we will do what we can to give a fair wind to the new minority government and to ensure success but we will also challenge that government if we think the policies don’t add up.”
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