The tartan elephant in Labour's room

The contest is on and the hopefuls are entering the ring. All, so far, speak of the electoral disaster and the need to reach out to 'aspirational' voters. Look, for instance, at Chuka Umuma's article. He takes 10 paras to argue for a move to the right and dismisses Scotland in one sentence.

Yet it is in Scotland that Labour lost 40 seats - in England and Wales it actually gained two!

So a serious analysis should start with Scotland. Why doesn't he?

I think there are two reasons. First Labour finds it hard to even think about the Scottish losses - the wound is too raw. Labour thought it had a right to its 41 Scottish seats. It's still in shock.

Second, serious analysis would lead to unwelcome conclusions. The SNP's attraction was part nationalist and part political. The SNP's policies (eg against austerity and Trident replacement) were generally left of Labour's so the way to get those seats back would be to move Left. The current leadership contenders fear that that would lose them English votes.

It's also possible that some of them actually believe in the Blairite doctrines of free enterprise, privatisation and 'liberal interventionism' - that they really are red Tories - but I see little sign of any principles at the momemnt.

Which is doubtless good for parties of principle, such as the Greens.

What Ed should say to Nicola and Alex

Cameron demands that Miliband exclude the possibility of a deal with the SNP. Miliband duly does so.

Cameron's motive is clear - he wants to prevent Miliband from forming a government with SNP support (or in any other way, of course). But what is Miliband playing at?

We all know that Labour hates the SNP for stealing its votes in Scotland. The imminent loss of so many Scottish seats will prevent Labour from winning outright - possibly from winning at all. So we can hardly expect goodwill. But why should a desire for independence put the SNP beyond the political pale? 

Independence is a legitimate political desire. It's one we often support, at least abroad, and sufficiently legitimate that Scotland was allowed a referendum to decide if it wanted it. It's not like support for terrorism or torture or racism - positions that ought to make collaboration unthinkable.

So if the election gives the SNP 40 seats it may well have more than the LibDems. It will be the third largest UK parliamentary party with a just claim to be considered as a coalition partner.

So what Miliband should be saying to the SNP NOW is.

We agree with you on many issues. We disagree with you on issues like Trident and independence but if you become a major UK party and Labour is the largest party we will talk to you. You mustn't expect to get independence that way; remember you lost the referendum! But politics is the art of the possible and if we can't defeat you we'll just have to negotiate.

That's not just necessary and inevitable, it's also right. If the SNP wins 40 seats it will have a mandate to represent those voters. Miliband should swallow his pride and listen.