Salmond appeal to England - put me out of the game

I'm struggling to follow the logic of Alex Salmond's appeal to English voters to outflank Labour and the Tories by voting Lib Dem.

I'm quoting the reliable Severin Carrell from the Guardian here who says Salmond made an explicit call to block Labour and Tory candidates today.

Salmond said: "Voting for the objective of denying the Labour or the Tory parties an overall majority would be a legitimate and proper thing to do. It also seems to be one idea which is gathering a great deal of strength."

My thinking is that the bigger the block of Lib Dem MPs the fewer votes from other minority parties a coalition government would have to find.

A Lib Dem surge in a hung parliament cannot be good news for the SNP at all.

The nationalists would be left as onlookers in the maths of a hung parliament on current polling performance. The SNP wouldn't have Westminster "hanging by a Scottish rope" so much as be left holding onto a piece of loose string.

However,the Labour party has found a Westminster function for SNP MPs - as voting fodder for the Conservatives.

Consider these stats unearthed by Scottish Labour that show the SNP's Angus Robertson outperformed Tory David Mundell in his support for the Conservatives last year.

Since 1st April 2009, David Mundell has voted with the Tories 95 times.

Since 1st April 2009, John Mason has voted with the Tories 101 times (including 5 times when acting as a teller with the Tory vote)

Since 1st April 2009, Angus Robertson has voted with the Tories 98 times

Source: publicwhip.org.uk, drawn from Hansard data