Sturgeon: Miliband Will 'Change Tune' On Deal

Ed Miliband has for the first time explicitly ruled out even a loose post-election deal with the SNP in the event of a hung parliament.

But the Scottish nationalist leader Nicola Sturgeon told Sky News she believed the Labour leader would "change his tune" once the votes had been counted following the 7 May poll.

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The latest twist in the closely fought campaign came as David Cameron defended his warnings over a minority Labour government propped up by the SNP.

"It is the right and responsible thing to point out the dangers of that," the Prime Minister told Sky News.

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Mr Cameron also dismissed claims he had been running a negative campaign insisting the party had presented a "positive vision" for Britain.

Mr Miliband, pressed on whether he would consider a confidence-and-supply deal with the SNP to secure backing for a Queen's Speech and Budget, said: "I am not interested in deals, no."

"If it is a Labour government it will be a Labour Queen's Speech, it will be a Labour Budget. It will not be written by the SNP," he added.

But Ms Sturgeon told Sky News: "He is saying he wants a majority.

"He is entitled to say that, but the polls show that he is not going to get a majority.

"Once the people have cast their verdict Ed Miliband, like the rest of us will have to respect the wishes of people in a democratic election, and if there is a minority government then it is not possible to ignore the views of other parties.

"I suspect Ed Miliband will change his tune once the votes are counted."

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Mr Cameron had earlier told Sky News the prospect of Labour forming a government with SNP assistance was a "very disturbing development".

He said: "The SNP don't come down to Westminster to make our government stronger or make our country stronger, they come down to Westminster to break it up."

But Mr Miliband has dismissed the "desperate" Tory claims and accused the party of having "given up" on talking about key issues in favour of a negative campaign.

He said the Conservatives had been "reduced to trying to set one part of the country across another".

It came as two Tory donors accused Mr Cameron of lacking energy and vision, amid speculation Boris Johnson is being lined up to take over as leader, although the London Mayor dismissed the claims as "nonsense".

Responding to suggestions the Conservative campaign had been "lacklustre" and "negative", Mr Cameron told Murnaghan: "People talk about this campaign but there's nothing more positive than let's get another 2 million jobs, fund another 3 million apprenticeships, let's let you to keep more of your own money to spend as you choose, let's build those homes you want to live in, let's make sure there are good schools for your children.

"That's the most positive vision could possibly be."

He insisted the Tory campaign will focus on the economy "to the exclusion of everything else".

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Mr Cameron said: "In these eleven days, there is one issue more than any other at the heart of this campaign, and it is the economy.

"The economy isn't just lines on a graph or numbers in a book, the economy is every job our people have, the economy is the money you take home at the end of the month, the economy is cutting taxes to help people in their lives."

Addressing a rally in the Tory target seat of Yeovil, Mr Cameron defended himself against claims of running an overly safe, boring election battle.

He said: "If you want political theatre, go to Hollywood. If you want political excitement, maybe you could go to Greece - but I don't think that's exciting, I think that's terrifying.

"What excites me is the idea of being able to say to another person 'you've got a job'."

Out on the campaign trail, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg warned only his party could prevent an "extreme coalition" running the country after 7 May.

Warning over the threat posed by a Tory-UKIP deal or a Labour-SNP alliance, the Deputy Prime Minister said: "Ed Miliband and David Cameron won't come clean with you about their plans and they won't come clean with you about what sort of Government they might form."