Desperate Humza Yousaf pleads with SNP voters not to defect to Labour claiming Keir Starmer doesn't need Scotland to beat the Tories at the next election - and pledges to work with him if he takes power

SNP leader Humza Yousaf today made another desperate plea for party voters not to abandon it to back Labour – as he wooed Keir Starmer and vowed to work with him if he becomes PM.

The First Minister insisted that Scots do not need to move their vote away from the scandal-riddled nationalists in order to get rid of the Tory government of Rishi Sunak.

Mr Yousaf is under mounting pressure with polls suggesting that the SNP may not be Scotland’s largest party at Westminster after the next election, with Sir Keir’s route to power coming through a resurgence north of the border.

In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Yousaf said Sir Keir ‘will undoubtedly be the next prime minister’ even if Scots don’t swarm to back his party, in a clear attempt to cling on to seats.

But it was also revealed he has written to the Labour leader, offering to work with him after the election if he wins, saying differing political views should not ‘prevent us being able to work together’. 

However he also suggested that the price of his help would be a new referendum on Scottish independence. 

Sir Keir has previously ruled this out, and polls suggest that he probably will not need SNP help after the election. 

The First Minister insisted that Scots do not need to move their vote away from the scandal-riddled nationalists in order to get rid of the Tory government of Rishi Sunak.

In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Yousaf said Sir Keir ‘will undoubtedly be the next prime minister’ even if Scots don’t swarm to back his party, in a clear attempt to cling on to seats.

In an appeal to SNP voters, he told BBC Radio Scotland’s The Sunday Show: ‘I think there’s still a raging debate in the country around the constitution, but that is not what this general election is going to be about.

‘I’ve been really clear that I’m not going to turn my back, close my eyes, or shut my ears to any voter in the country, whether they voted Yes or No (to independence).

‘I want to reach out to people across the country to say ”I understand why so many people have wanted to run a million miles from this rotten Tory Government”.’

Asked whether his party will use a Labour win to ‘endorse the Union’, Mr Sarwar said: ‘No, because I want to persuade people that we can make Scotland work within a devolved settlement.’

In his letter to the Labour leader, Humza Yousaf said differing political views should not ‘prevent us being able to work together’.

He wrote: ‘I hope you will accept this invitation to meet and that we can establish a working relationship in the interests of the people we represent.’

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Mr Yousaf appealed to Sir Keir to work with the SNP on reducing child poverty and strengthening relations between the UK and Scottish governments.

He told the programme Sir Keir will ‘absolutely’ be the next UK prime minister, and said he must tackle child poverty by committing to scrap the two-child benefit cap – which the Labour leader has previously not committed to.

The policy prevents parents from claiming child tax credits or universal credit for a third or subsequent child born after April 2017. A so-called rape clause, which requires women to declare their child was conceived as a result of rape in order to maintain the benefits, should also be scrapped, the First Minister said.

Previously, Mr Yousaf said the SNP’s conditions of working with Labour would be Sir Keir paving the way for a future Scottish independence referendum.

In his letter, published on Sunday, the First Minister made clear independence is still a priority.

‘My Government is clear that Scotland’s future is as an independent country in the European Union, and that there is a democratic mandate for a referendum on independence which should be respected,’ he said.

He later told Kuenssberg: ‘I’d like to speak to Keir Starmer as the man who will undoubtedly be the next prime minister.’

In a direct appeal to the Labour leader, he said: ‘SNP MPs will work with you.

‘When it comes to Keir Starmer being the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, which I think he absolutely will be, I should say I’m very willing to work with an incoming Labour government.

‘I think there’s plenty that we can work on. There will be disagreements – the constitution perhaps being the obvious one.’