LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn has claimed the election is a straight choice between him and Theresa May as he criticised the SNP for failing to use devolved powers to ease austerity north of the Border.

The SNP is currently leading opinion polls in Scotland, where it held 54 of 59 seats when the snap election was called, with the Tories in second and Labour trailing a poor third after winning just one seat in 2015.

But last night in front of hundreds of cheering supporters in Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket, Mr Corbyn said Nicola Sturgeon’s party was “refusing” to use its powers to “solve the problems on the doorstep”.

Yesterday, the First Minister pledged to spend £118 billion over the next parliament to “safeguard our public services, protect household incomes and put the UK’s finances back on a stable footing”.

Mr Corbyn told Labour Party members: “I ask the people of Scotland – who is it to be? A Labour Party for the many not the few, or a Tory Party only concerned with protecting its powerful and wealthy friends and donors to the Conservative Party.

“In Scotland I know you have the added dimension in the shape of the SNP, I’ve made my views absolutely clear over the past few months about their obsession with referenda, unwanted and unnecessary.

“It’s a tragedy that Scots have not used the full powers of the [Scottish] Parliament to tackle poverty and inequality.

“Recent figures show the number of children living in poverty has gone up 40,000 in the past year to 260,000 – that is 260,000 young people in Scotland right now as we speak disadvantaged from the very start of their lives as a result of political and economic decisions made because of Holyrood and Westminster.”

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson spoke yesterday of a straight choice between Prime Minister Theresa May and the Labour leader, echoing Mr Corbyn’s “simple choice” comments.

But Mr Corbyn insisted only Labour’s manifesto would provide the billions of pounds of investment needed for Scotland. He added: “So I say directly to those people who voted Tory or SNP, have a look at our manifesto, listen to our vision for our society and compare that with the records of the SNP at Holyrood or the Tories at Westminster.”

Labour candidate Ian Murray, the only Labour MP in Scotland after the last General Election, is facing an uphill struggle to be returned in Edinburgh South on June 8.

Mr Corbyn was asked about what Labour would count as a success in Scotland during an interview with Sky News yesterday.

He failed to mention Mr Murray, saying: “I’m here, excited, the Labour Party in Scotland is excited, it’s out on the streets in towns and cities all across Scotland. Watch out on June 8.”

Mr Corbyn also took a moment to reflect on last week’s Manchester bombing and paid tribute to the city’s “unwavering defiance”.

He said: “Today’s event and the way the General Election campaign restarted on Friday are an essential mark of our country’s determination to defend our democracy and the unity that the terrorists have sought to attack. Terror will never prevent us going about our daily lives nor will we allow it to derail our democratic process.”

Meanwhile, Labour elections and campaign coordinator Ian Lavery suggested Mr Corbyn will continue as Labour leader, even if the party is defeated in the General Election. Mr Corbyn has previously come under pressure on the issue.

Mr Lavery told last night’s rally that “whatever happens” the “Corbyn project” is only beginning.

Mr Corbyn has come under pressure to say whether he will stand down if the party is defeated in the June 8 election.

Earlier this month, he was forced to clarify comments to BuzzFeed News in which he suggested he would look to carry on in the role even if Labour loses the election, later claiming he was speaking only about a victory for his party.

Before the Labour leader spoke in Scotland, Mr Lavery said the party was in the “long, long, long process of changing politics here in Britain”.

He added: “Whatever happens in the election isn’t the end in the Corbyn project, it’s only the beginning in the Corbyn project.”

Mr Lavery’s comments will worry Mr Corbyn’s internal critics, who are likely to call for leader to stand aside if he does not win power.

A Labour source later said: “Ian was talking about our transformative manifesto and its policies for the many, not the few.”