A war of words has broken out at Westminster between the SNP and the Scottish Conservatives with both decrying each other’s parliamentary performance and voting records while hailing their own.

As the House of Commons broke up for its summer recess, the Nationalists and the Tories each produced a list to prove the point: their opponents had failed Scotland.

The SNP opened the attack by denouncing Scottish Tory MPs as “lobby fodder,” who should apologise for their “shameful voting record,” which showed they had repeatedly broken their vow to stand up for Scotland.

But the Conservatives quickly hit back, saying that the Nationalists had themselves let down their constituents and proved time and again that the only policy they were interested in was: independence.

Kirsty Blackman, the SNP’s deputy leader, accused the 13 Scottish Tories of having “completely ignored the wishes and interests of their Scottish constituents” on key issues from Brexit to austerity as well as the “power-grab” on devolution.

The Aberdeen North MP accused Scottish Secretary David Mundell and his 12 colleagues of “putting the narrow interests of the Tory Party ahead of the jobs, incomes, and livelihoods of the Scottish people”.

The Nationalist list pointed to how Scottish Tory MPs had:

*voted for cuts to Scotland’s budget;

*backed austerity measures that had driven their constituents into poverty and crisis;

*opposed a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal – despite Scotland voting Remain;

*voted for a power-grab from Holyrood;

*broken their promise to secure Barnett consequentials from the £1 billion Tory-DUP deal;

*opposed justice for Scotland’s WASPI women;

*voted against single market and customs union membership – putting Scottish jobs at risk and

*opposed a halt to the disastrous roll-out of Universal Credit.

“It’s no wonder that the Scottish Tories are sliding in the polls when they have ignored voters on the biggest issues facing the country and voted to make their own constituents poorer and worse off. They are completely out of step with the views of people in Scotland,” declared Ms Blackman.

But John Lamont for the Scottish Conservatives insisted he and his colleagues were committed to the mandate they were elected on: opposing a second independence referendum and supporting Prime Minister Theresa May in delivering the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

“The SNP have achieved nothing for Scotland over the last year while Scottish Conservatives have secured a VAT exemption for Scotland’s police and fire services, mitigated the Nat Tax for Armed Service personnel, secured a freeze on whisky duty and supported the oil and gas industry through a brand new tax relief,” declared the MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk.

He went on: “Meanwhile, the SNP have done nothing except stage a walk-out and waste valuable parliamentary time discussing questions about the constitution that were settled years ago. Why not use their parliamentary time to talk about the matters that really affect the Scottish people?

“We have secured dozens of new powers for the Scottish Parliament, including on welfare and in 80 policy areas returning from the EU. Despite screaming about a power-grab, the SNP have admitted they’re ill-prepared to take on all of this new responsibility,” insisted Mr Lamont.

In its list the Scottish Tories said SNP MPs had:

*failed to back Heathrow expansion, which would bring 16,000 jobs, large-scale investment, and vital new flight connections to Scotland, despite having previously reassured voters they supported it;

*abandoned five opportunities to hold the Prime Minister to account on behalf of their constituents in favour of a staged Commons walkout;

*refused to support the UK Government’s Finance Bill, which exempted Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service from VAT, saving them £35 million a year;

*voted against the EU Withdrawal Bill, which devolves more than 80 new powers to Holyrood;

*launched a ‘campaign of disruption,’ holding up key votes and filibustering debates on English-only matters and

*missed, on average, over a quarter of Commons votes, and maintained a “consistently poorer voting record than hardworking Scottish Conservative MPs”.

Mr Lamont added: “In truth, the SNP MPs have been rattled this year by us holding them to account and delivering for Scotland. They are clutching at straws and people are now seeing what they are really about: independence at any cost.”