PERTH – UKIP are a "shower of xenophobes" and should be nowhere near government, according to an SNP minister.
Humza Yousaf, international development minister, told BuzzFeed News the threat of UKIP being part of a Westminster coalition government is spurring on his party.
"Would I rather the SNP held the balance of power than UKIP? You're damn right I would," said Yousaf. "That shower of xenophobes should be nowhere close to holding the balance of power."
Instead, The SNP wants to be the party which holds the "balance of power" to help force through its proposals to the Smith Commission – the cross-party consultation on devolution which was set up in the wake of the referendum to deliver more powers to Scotland.
"What we want is in our submission to the Smith Commission. Give Smith a chance," he said. "But if it gets caught up about an agenda of English votes for English laws, then we would have serious questions."
Talk of taking up government is commonplace at this weekend's SNP conference. The SNP faithful is buoyant following a huge membership boost and impressive polling results, but Yousaf describes himself as "an electoral pessimist" and is concerned his party is getting ahead of itself.
"We need to 'keep the heid'. I'm a natural pessimist and I don't get carried away with polls," said Yousaf. "52%, 59%, these figures knock your feet off the ground. We need to go out and do what we do in every election; work our arses off, make sure there are no soles left on our trainers, pound those doors, and deliver a win."
He said there "are a number of circumstances" in which there could be a second referendum, and points to two milestones in the very near future – May's general election, and the proposed EU referendum in 2017 – as potential catalysts.
"We want independence, we want it in our lifetime, there's almost an impatience – but we need to keep the heid, the time is going to come," he said.
Yousaf also told BuzzFeed News that, last week, he went for dinner with Alex Salmond and Salmond spent the entire time scrolling through @angrysalmond tweets and "roaring with laughter".