The best thing the Tories, Labour and the LibDems could do would be to get together and vote through an immediate referendum bill. Salmond's strategy will be to spend the next three years picking carefully chosen fights with Westminster to try and heighten the Scottish sense of being hard done by and bring about a climate where a vote for separation can be maximised because he knows there is no demand for it at the moment. It would be a risky strategy in a way, but the result would most likely be a no vote, burying the issue for a long time to come.

It's unlikely that any SNP coalition with any of the other major parties would survive long, given the absolute hatred SNP members show for anyone not of their faith, so an SNP minority administration seems almost inevitable.

Mac, Glasgow,

The largest party may wish to try to form a government but it is likely only to be the largest MINORITY party under the electoral system, and we should remember that the Parliament's composition would be broadly reflective of the totality of the Scottish electorate. In those likely circumstances a "rainbow pact" - if it commanded a majority on the floor of the Parliament - would be just as accurate a reflection of the will of the Scottish people as any other composed majority. Whether it would survive the tensions is another matter. Those tensions would not be so much between Labour and Conservative (who now have a great deal in common as responsible parties united on the wisdom of nuclear defence policy, nuclear power, reform of the public services and, at least in theory, crime policy) but between these two parties and the Lib Dems, who - with the glaring major exception of the independence question - are now closer to the SNP than to any other party and vice versa on most issues.

Guy Rowlands, Anstruther, Fife, UK

If the SNP refuse to drop the referendum policy the Lib-Dems will be left with no other option and they are making their position clear before the election unlike some other parties.

Darryl Matheson, Elgin, Morayshire, UK

after 30 years offighting for true nationhood for scotland it does not surprise me that the london based unionist parties would try anything to stop scotland becoming a nation again they have so much to lose oil revenues somewhere to stick trident , scotlands vast renewable energies, our water ,and on and on thease people ,and i use the term with reservatiions will stoop so low in order to preserve there interests

david cunningham, inverness, scotland

What a ridiculous complaint. With the bizzare proportional representation system Scotland has, any coalition able to stop the SNP would necessarily represent more of the population than the SNP. As such, the only direction for Scotland's wrath would be at themselves, which of course would not happen, because Scotland does not want independance.

Adam, Oxford, England

Will in Bristol, said "Perhaps if Labour didn't rely on scotland so much to win elections then there probably wouldn't be this issue"

A common myth, told over and over again.
Check out the results for seats in England since '97.
3 general elections and 3 Labour majorities in the green and pleasant land.

Graham Hood, Dundee.,

The sooner Scottish MPs are out of Westminster and not voting on English and Welsh issues the better. They have their own parliament (which cost the English tax payer millions more than it should have) they set laws for scotland and then interfere over here as well but they do not represent English Voters/constituents. I question of whether MR Reid and Mr Brown should be in postions of such standing.

I am for the SNP separating Scottland, the sooner the better. Perhaps if Labour didn't rely on scotland so much to win elections then there probably wouldn't be this issue.

Will, Bristol,

Quote from an interview in todays Scotsman newspaper
"The Tory leader has made regular visits north of the Border during the campaign, and today's trip will not be the last. "One of the reasons I go a lot to Scotland is that I really do think that a Conservative recovery is part of saving the Union. I think Scotland needs a strong centre-right voice," he said.

He also confirmed the Tories' commitment to the Union would mean that, in the event of a hung parliament, their MSPs would vote to prop up a Labour-led Executive in order to stop the SNP taking power. "

Martin, East Kilbride, Scotland

If the FibDEms and the Joke McConnel try any such thing they might find that Scots take t the streets. I shall and I am not an SNP supporter.

Miles Better, Edinburgh, Sctland

Surely the largest party gets first shot at forming a government, and so if the SNP is the largest party it can try to form a coalition with the Greens, the SSP, and various other small groups which might win seats in order to form a majority administration.

Even if a rainbow coalition came into being, a Lab-Tory alliance could not last long as the mutual loathing is so strong, and so very quickly the SNP could pick this alliance apart.

Martin, Hereford, England

if the unionist parties gang up to keep the SNP out of power, there is a very real chance that support for the party and for independence will skyrocket. The irony would be if the SNP then won a landslide victory in the subsequent Westminster election. It has long been accepted that if the SNP won a majority of the Westminster seats, this would in itself suffice for independence. if you think this fanciful, look at other first past the post systems such as that of Canada, in which their conservative party was wiped out almost entirely some years ago. A similar fate may await the Labour Party in Scotland.

alex skinner, london, england