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Sturgeon Tells Miliband: I Will Make You PM

Nicola Sturgeon laid down an offer to Ed Miliband to hand him the keys to Downing Street at the end of the final showdown between party leaders before the General Election.

The SNP leader demanded Mr Miliband replace the Tories with something better and not just the "Tories light" before she would throw her support behind him.

And she said voters would not forgive him if he missed the chance to lock the Conservatives out of power.

Setting out her key conditions for working with Labour, Ms Sturgeon said the Labour leader needed to be "bolder" in fighting austerity and she could not support his spending cuts.

And she made clear she would not support paying £100bn to retain the Trident nuclear deterrent saying she would rather spend the money on childcare, education and the health service.

:: Kay Burley will be spending the day with Nicola Sturgeon today. Watch live on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

Young people aged between 16 and 25 will be able to pose their questions to Ms Sturgeon during a live online Q&A at 11.30am via Sky's Stand Up Be Counted campaign.

While Ms Sturgeon dismissed suggestions she said there was no difference between Mr Miliband and Mr Cameron, she added: "I say there is not a big enough difference between Ed Miliband and David Cameron."

Making her closing speech she addressed Mr Miliband directly and said: "What I'd say to Ed is I want Ed to replace the Tories with something different and something better, something more progressive because progressive change is what the country is crying out for."

But Mr Miliband said their differences were "fundamental" and he could not be in coalition with a party leader who wanted to break up the Union.

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He said: "I have fundamental disagreements with you Nicola. You have not ruled out having a second referendum on independence in the next five years.

"We have very different views. I respect your view that you want to break up the country but that is not my view.

"I think it would be a disaster for the working people of Britain. So we have profound differences, which is why I will not have a coalition with the SNP."

Mr Miliband was the winner of the debate, according to a Survation/ Daily Mirror poll which showed 35% of people put him ahead.

Ms Sturgeon was a close second on 31% with UKIP's Nigel Farage on 27%.

The same poll, however, showed that more people (35%) thought Ms Sturgeon performed best with Mr Miliband second on 29% and Mr Farage third with 26%.

It also showed 45% of people thought Mr Miliband would make a better prime minister than David Cameron, who refused to take part in the debate.

Mr Miliband has always scored badly in polls over who would make the better leader of the country.

With the SNP looking set to all but wipe out Labour in Scotland and the chances of either Labour or the Conservatives winning a majority, Ms Sturgeon’s party is likely to hold the balance of power.

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Ms Sturgeon implored Mr Miliband: "We have a chance to kick David Cameron out of Downing Street. Don't turn your back on it."

Mr Cameron's refusal to take part in the debate continued to draw criticism, particularly on social media.

Both Labour and UKIP politicians accused him of being chicken and Mr Miliband closed his appeal to voters with a challenge to the Prime Minister.

Staring straight at the camera, Mr Miliband threw down the gauntlet of a head-to-head showdown and said: "Debate me and let the people decide."

The 90-minute so-called challengers' debate on the BBC was the chance for the smaller parties to set out their credentials for coalition agreements.

Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood said "austerity and the old politics" were not inevitable and that voters could make a difference.

Ms Sturgeon made clear she would be willing to work with Ms Wood and the Green Party leader Natalie Bennett to put Mr Miliband in power and "get rid of the Tories".

However, Mr Farage cautioned against a Labour coalition with the SNP and said English voters were "worried about the Scottish tail wagging the English dog" .

He said: "My view for UKIP is that I would happily say to you that UKIP could have worked with a Labour Party that believed in the British people having a say on the greatest constitutional question of the day. They turned their backs on it."