text: Ed Balls (pictured) said he would not allow Nicola Sturgeon's party to insist on a deal that would see Scotland benefit at the expense of England . Ed Balls has ruled out any post-election pact with the SNP that would put Scotland ahead of England - insisting it would be a 'betrayal of the English vote.' The shadow chancellor said he was 'unequivocal' that he would not allow Nicola Sturgeon's party to dictate a deal at England's expense. Ed Miliband has insisted Labour will not form a coalition with the SNP but has so far stopped short of dismissing a looser arrangement that could prop up a Labour administration. Mr Balls told Wolverhampton's Express and Star newspaper: 'On the SNP point, there is absolutely no possibility of any vote being put to parliament or any budget measure in a Labour budget which would in any way disadvantage the West Midlands or any other part of England, because that's what the SNP demand. 'No way. Unequivocal. I'm not going to do it and Labour won't do it. We've been very clear we won't have a coalition with the SNP and the reason is that the SNP - they can't stand up for the interests of people in England because they want to break up the UK.' He went on: 'Now, we will put a vote to parliament to abolish the bedroom tax. I want a Labour majority to get that through. If the SNP decided to vote against it, that's up to them. 'But the idea that we would ever be in a position where the SNP come along and say, "we want you to advantage Scotland against the West Midlands in return - in order to win our support", that would be a betrayal of these constituencies here in the Black Country and the West Midlands, it would be a betrayal of the English vote and we will not do it. Unequivocal.' Yesterday, it was revealed that more than half of Scots plan to back the SNP in the general election, shattering Ed Miliband's hopes of securing a Labour majority. Nicola Sturgeon has been buoyed by a series of TV debates opposing austerity cuts, despite threatening another referendum on independence. A  TNS survey shows the SNP has almost doubled its lead over Labour in a month, with 52 per cent now backing Ms Sturgeon with only 24 per cent of Scots planning to vote for Mr Miliband. The Scottish nationalists’ surge in the polls comes amid signs of a split between Labour leadership in London and Jim Murphy, the Labour leader in Scotland. Mr Murphy has suggested that the party would not need to make ‘further cuts to achieve our spending rules’ in the next parliament. But yesterday Chuka Umunna, Labour’s business spokesman, slapped him down; telling the BBC’s Daily Politics programme that cuts would have to be made throughout the life of the new parliament. Nicola Sturgeon has offered to work with Labour's Ed Miliband to lock the Tories out of power, even if David Cameron wins more seats on May 7 . Ms Sturgeon has offered to work with Labour to lock the Tories out of power, even if David Cameron wins more seats on May 7. But Labour and the SNP have clashed on Ms Sturgeon's call for full fiscal autonomy for Scotland, and her suggestion that another referendum could be held before 2020. In March, Mr Miliband flatly ruled out going into coalition with the SNP as he attempted to draw a line under weeks of Tory jibes. The Labour leader insisted there would be no power-sharing deal with Nicola Sturgeon's party and he would not lead a government that included SNP ministers. However, he stopped short of dismissing a looser arrangement that could prop up a Labour administration, such as the 'confidence and supply' agreement. This would essentially see Scottish MPs supporting Labour by helping to get legislation through the Commons.
target: Ed Balls rules out any SNP pact benefiting Scotland at England's expense .
  Ed Miliband has ruled out forming a coalition with Nicola Sturgeon's party .
  But  stopped short of dismissing deal to prop up a Labour administration .