First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted to end the 'obsession of benefit caps' as part of any deal to lock the Tories out of power . The SNP today demanded the end of the £26,000 cap on benefits claims as a price for supporting Labour, as a new poll confirmed a surge in support for the nationalists. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted to end the 'obsession of benefit caps' as part of any deal to lock the Tories out of power. A new opinion poll shows a 19-point swing from Labour to the SNP, as pressure grows on Ed Miliband to stem the haemorrhaging of support north of the border. The SNP have vowed to do whatever it takes to keep David Cameron out of Number 10 after the election on May 7. Mr Miliband has ruled out a formal coalition, but could be forced to rely on the support of SNP MPs if, as the polls suggest, he falls short of a majority. Alex Salmond has already vowed to hold a Labour minority government to ransom to secure a £180billion debt-fuelled spending spree in Scotland. Today Ms Sturgeon called for an end to the freeze on benefits payments, and said they should rise by more than inflation, making welfare claimants better off each year. She told BBC Radio Scotland: 'We've got a situation where the poorest in our society are plunged being deeper into poverty, where in-work poverty is on the rise. 'So I don't agree with the obsession of benefit caps. I want to look at how we lift people out of poverty.' She called for the minimum wage to rise to £8.70 per cent hour by 2020, adding the Westminster parties were 'scapegoating and penalising the poorest'. She added: 'I've said repeatedly that we shouldn't be holding benefit increases below the rate of inflation because if you do that, and you continue the freeze that we've seen, you drive people on the lowest incomes deeper into poverty.' A new ComRes opinion poll for ITV News looked at voting in 40 Labour-held seats in Scotland. It found that the SNP is backed by 43 per cent of voters in the seats, up from 18.9 per cent in 2010. At the same time, support for Labour has dropped from 51.3 per cent five years ago to only 37 per cent now. However, 49 per cent of people in the battleground seats want Mr Miliband as Prime Minister, compared to only 29 per cent who want Mr Cameron. A new ComRes opinion poll for ITV News looked at voting in 40 Labour-held seats in Scotland. It found that the SNP is backed by 43 per cent of voters in the seats, up from 18.9 per cent in 2010 . The SNP insists it can end the shared 'ideological commitment to austerity' of both the Conservatives and Labour if enough of its MPs are elected to Westminster. SNP deputy leader Stewart Hosie said MPs from his party would work together with 'allies from across the UK' such as the Greens and Plaid Cymru to achieve this as he argued swapping the current Conservative-led government for a Labour one would not see a major shift in policy. He said: 'Westminster's obsession with austerity is holding back Scotland's economy and damaging communities across the country - pushing 100,000 more children in Scotland into poverty and seeing a 400 per cent increase in people forced to rely on food banks. 'Austerity is failing on every level and people are crying out for a real alternative. 'The Tories are determined to ignore the fact that their austerity policies have failed even by their own standards - and, despite claims made in recent days, Labour can't hide the fact that they have shamefully backed George Osborne's plans for a further £30 billion of cuts. 'That both these parties are wedded to the same austerity agenda while supporting spending £100 billion on a new generations of weapons of mass destruction isn't just economically illiterate - it is morally indefensible.' Mr Hosie added: 'Under the SNP plans set out by Nicola Sturgeon, we could see a modest increase in public spending, allowing us to protect our NHS budget, invest in education and childcare, and create more job opportunities for our young people. 'A strong team of SNP MPs working with progressive allies from across the UK will put an end to the ideological commitment to austerity of both the Tory and Labour leaderships - delivering real support for businesses, protecting our public services and creating more opportunities for our young people.'
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon wants to end the 'obsession of benefit caps'
Poll shows a 19-point swing from Labour to the SNP in 40 key seats . SNP vowed to do whatever it takes to keep David Cameron out of No.10 .