Labour has claimed that a vote for the Scottish National Party is a vote for austerity north of the border, as Ed Miliband warned of a £7.6 billion black hole in Nicola Sturgeon’s spending plans which would deliver “a devastating blow to working people”.
But the SNP leader dismissed Mr Miliband’s attack as “desperate”, insisting that the only cuts facing Scottish voters were “the ones that the Tories are proposing and Labour are backing”.
Mr Miliband made his first campaign visit to Scotland as a poll suggested that his party is facing near-wipeout at the May 7 general election at the hands of a resurgent SNP, which recorded 49% support in the YouGov survey for The Times, with Labour down four on 25%, Conservatives up two at 18% and Lib Dems up one at 4%.
The visit came days after Ms Sturgeon said on a televised election debate that nationalist MPs at Westminster could vote for full fiscal autonomy for Scotland as early as next year.
Speaking alongside Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy and shadow chancellor Ed Balls in Edinburgh, Mr Miliband said: “On Wednesday night, the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon repeated her commitment to full fiscal autonomy, meaning an end to the pooling and sharing of resources across the United Kingdom.
“I believe this is one of the most significant events of the campaign so far in Scotland.
“Full fiscal autonomy will mean a £7.6 billion hole in Scotland’s finances.
“Today I challenge Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP to say how they will fill this £7.6 billion gap. Which services will be cut? Which taxes will be raised? And what cuts will it mean for pensioners in Scotland when they are taken out of the UK pensions system?
“The SNP claim in this campaign to be proposing no reductions in spending, but in fact they are planning dramatic reductions in spending. They must now come clean.”
Mr Miliband pledged: “I will never sell Scotland short by signing up to the SNP’s plans. And I will never sell Britain short by abandoning the pooling and sharing of resources. Because this is a pooling and sharing which benefits all parts of our country, because we look after each other and we know we can only tackle the problems our country faces across the whole of the United Kingdom.”
Speaking ahead of Mr Miliband’s speech, Ms Sturgeon claimed that Labour was “wrong” in its analysis.
“This is desperation on the part of the Labour Party,” the SNP leader said during a campaign visit to Stirling.
“Instead of putting forward a positive case of their own, they are resorting to the same fears and smears that they resorted to during the referendum.
“The truth is, the only cuts on the horizon for Scotland are the ones that the Tories are proposing and Labour are backing.”