Labour and the Liberal Democrats will “sink without a trace” at the general election, according to Scotland’s Deputy First Minister.
John Swinney slammed the economic policies of all three of the UK’s main parties as he addressed delegates at the SNP spring conference in Glasgow.
The Perth and North Perthshire MSP also pledged the SNP in Holyrood would “fight tooth and nail” to protect vulnerable Scots from “swingeing welfare cuts”.
He said: “Westminster’s austerity is economic madness. It has to stop.
“On May 7 the people of Scotland have a chance to end the madness. We have a chance to stop the cuts.
“We have a chance to bring sanity back to the public finances of the United Kingdom.”
Mr Swinney claimed both Labour and coalition partners the Liberal Democrats were “up to their oxters in Tory cuts”.
“But come this May, they will sink without trace as the people of Scotland deliver their verdict on the austerity agenda of the Westminster parties,” he said.
The Finance Minister added: “Lost growth and higher debt are just the financial costs of Westminster’s failure.
“The human cost has been higher still. The disabled, the poor, the vulnerable have been targeted.”