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Exclusive: Michael Gove says 'no deal' with Ukip after election
Tory Cabinet minister rules out any type of deal with Nigel Farage in the event of a hung Parliament, saying that 'we’re not going to get into bed with them, no'
The Conservatives will not “get into bed” with Nigel Farage by making a deal with the UK Independence Party after the general election, Michael Gove has said.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Gove became the first senior Tory to rule out any kind of deal with Mr Farage's party in the event of another hung Parliament.
He said that Ukip has now "peaked" and suggested that the party could even be left with no MPs after the election.
His comments will intensify pressure on Ed Miliband to rule out an electoral pact with Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the SNP.
The Labour leader has said he will not form a coalition with Ms Sturgeon but on Friday refused four times to rule out a deal with the SNP after the general election.
Senior Tories including George Osborne, the Chancellor, have in recent weeks failed to categorically rule out a deal with Nigel Farage's party after the May 7 vote and Mr Farage has said that he would consider an alliance if the Tories offered an immediate EU referendum.
But Mr Gove insisted that there is no “appetite, interest or inclination towards” forming a pact.
Ms Sturgeon on Thursday used a live televised debate to set out the terms of a deal to work with Mr Miliband and “lock David Cameron out of Downing Street”.
The SNP leader used a series of interviews on Friday to taunt Mr Miliband, warning that “the only way David Cameron gets back into Downing Street is if Ed Miliband is prepared to stand back and let him back in” by refusing to work with the SNP.
She also threatened to order her MPs to interfere with the English NHS and accused politicians of hypocrisy for campaigning for Scotland to remain in the UK last year but now trying to stop "its voice being heard" in Westminster.
In a further blow to Mr Miliband, polling by Lord Ashcroft found that the party is facing wipe-out in Scotland at the election, including the seats currently held by Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary.
As Labour struggled over its message on Scotland, the Conservatives celebrated good news over the British economy.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble praised the Government's handling of the economy, saying Mr Osborne has done a “wonderful job” and has a “very good plan for the future”.
In another pre-election boost to the Tories, statistics also showed that UK unemployment fell by 76,000 in the three months to February.
Mr Gove accused Mr Miliband of “attempting to pull the wool over people’s eyes” and “misleading” voters by failing to rule out a “confidence and supply” deal with the SNP, whereby Scottish MPs could help Labour pass legislation in the Commons.
“He’s quite clearly saying that he’s not going to go into coalition and hoping that people will take that to mean that he’s not going to have a relationship with Nicola Sturgeon,” Mr Gove said.
“But it’s manifestly clear that a coalition is not the way in which they would seek to work together. They would have a working relationship which would put our economic recovery and our constitutional stability in peril.”
Asked to rule out Mr Farage’s offer of a deal after the election, Mr Gove said: “Yes. It’s very nice of [Nigel Farage to say he would do a deal]. I don’t want to say anything disobliging about Nigel Farage or about people in Ukip, but I’ve got no appetite, interest or inclination towards doing a deal with anyone.”
Pressed specifically on whether the Tories could make agreements with Ukip on a vote-by-vote basis, Mr Gove said: “No, no, no. There won’t be. Firstly, I don’t think there will be many Ukip MPs – if any – after the election.
“I can’t influence how other parties choose to vote. So in this Parliament, we’ve had in the final months two Ukip MPs, and sometimes they’ve voted with the Conservatives and sometimes against.
“But we’re not going into talks with them, no. I’ll be perfectly civil with any member of Parliament from any party after the next general election and if they want to vote for Conservative policies, then great. But we’re not going to get into bed with them, no.”
