LAST Thursday, I took part in the ITV General Election Leaders' debate in Manchester.

 

It was a nerve-wracking experience - but one that I really enjoyed. I have also been really touched by the amazing feedback I've had since - not just from people in Scotland, but from right across the UK. In fact, I've been overwhelmed by people in other parts of the UK saying that they wish they could vote SNP!

I am very pleased with that reaction because although people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can't vote SNP (despite the encouragement from many, we will resist the temptation to stand candidates there!), it is important to me that they see us as potential allies in trying to change the Westminster system for the better.

That's why I went in to the debate with a two-pronged message. Firstly, I wanted to make clear that a vote for the SNP on May 7th is a vote to make Scotland's voice heard at Westminster more loudly than it has been before. If there is a big team of SNP MPs, then no longer will our interests be able to be sidelined or ignored. But the second part of my message was that the SNP would be a voice for more progressive policies for everyone across the UK. After all, it's not just people in Scotland who feel let down by out of touch Westminster politics. Many people, in every part of the UK, want to see an alternative to the pain of austerity, an end to heartless policies like the bedroom tax, higher living standards for ordinary people and the protection of public services like the NHS. And many people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland agree with us that the precious resources of the country should be spent on health and education rather than on a new generation of nuclear weapons.

These are exactly the kind of policies that SNP MPs will pursue at Westminster.

And the debate made very clear that there will be an opportunity for a party like the SNP - if people vote for us - to wield real influence.

With seven party leaders taking part in the debate, it is clear that the days of the two big parties dominating Westminster are over. It is also clear from the polls that neither of the big parties will win a majority on their own - there will be a hung parliament.

That means it is the party that can command a majority by getting support from other parties that will get to be the government.

The SNP will never, ever, help the Tories put together a majority. We want to see the Tories - who have done so much damage to Scotland - kicked out of government. And the fact is that if there are more anti Tory MPs than Tory MPs after the election, we can kick them out.

I have said clearly to Ed Miliband that if Labour and the SNP - perhaps with the Greens and Plaid Cymru - have more MPs combined than the Tories then, even if the Tories are the largest single party, we should vote together to lock them out of Downing Street. The SNP will certainly vote to stop a Tory government getting off the ground.

Getting rid of the Tories is clearly in the interests of Scotland.

However, it would also be good for Scotland if a strong group of SNP MPs was then able to force a minority Labour government to deliver the real change that people want - for example, get them to abandon their plans for further spending cuts.

So far Ed Miliband has failed to confirm that he would vote with the SNP to keep the Tories out. That raises the suspicion that he would rather stand back and watch David Cameron be Prime Minister than work with the SNP.

If that was the case, I don't think people in Scotland would ever forgive Labour. An opportunity to rid us of a Tory government would have been squandered just because Labour don't like the SNP.

So I hope I'm wrong about Labour - I hope that they are in fact able to put the interests of the country above party politics.

I therefore issue my invitation again - if, as the polls suggest, Labour can't beat the Tories alone but are able to do so with the support of the SNP, and even if the Tories are the largest party, will Labour vote with us to keep the Tories out? Scotland awaits an answer.