SCOTLAND “holds the keys” to Labour getting back into power, Jeremy Corbyn insisted today as he prepared to take his summer campaign north of the border with a five-day visit.

The party pointed out that of the 64 extra seats it needed to win to secure a parliamentary majority at Westminster, 18 – more than a quarter – were in Scotland.

But it also noted how a swing of less than one per cent would be required to win seven more Scottish seats such as Glasgow South West and Glasgow East, Airdrie and Shotts, Lanark and Hamilton East and Inverclyde. In the June election, Labour increased its number of MPs from one to seven.

Speaking ahead of the tour, which begins on Wednesday with a trip to the Western Isles, the Labour leader said: “Scotland holds the keys to delivering a Labour government for the whole United Kingdom.

“We have stayed on an election footing all summer and nowhere is more important to delivering another Labour government than Scotland.

“Labour has the policies to build a fairer Scotland for the many not the few with a £10-an-hour minimum wage, a ban on zero hour contracts, a jobs-first Brexit deal and taxing big corporations and the highest paid five per cent a bit more to fund our schools, hospitals, emergency services and social care.”

The Labour leader added: “The only way to deliver the truly radical change that Scotland needs is to back Labour in Scotland.”

Mr Corbyn will hold a rally at Drygate in Glasgow on Thursday night. He will then travel to target seats held by the SNP in Lanarkshire on Friday, Fife on Saturday and end the Scottish leg of his summer campaigning in Edinburgh and the Lothians on Sunday.

It has been announced that the Labour leader will also speak at the Festival of Socialism at Glasgow University on Saturday night and at the Govanhill Against Racism Festival in the Queen's Park Arena on Sunday.

Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, echoed Mr Corbyn’s point, saying that Scotland would be “crucial at the next General Election, whenever it comes”.

She went on: “Labour has a message that resonates with people across Scotland and that saw seats won and majorities slashed across Scotland.

“Next time around, we are ready to win those seats and help deliver a government that works for the many, not the few.”

The Lothian MSP added: “After years of false promises from the SNP people in Scotland see what a truly radical agenda looks like. Only Labour can and will deliver the change Scotland needs.

But Miles Briggs, the Scottish Conservative MSP, suggested Mr Corbyn would be ready to see Britain broken up.

“It wasn’t so long ago Scottish Labour dreaded the thought of Jeremy Corbyn coming north. In fact, Kezia Dugdale still does and having travelled to New Zealand she literally could not be further away.

“Had he won the General Election, Corbyn would have sold Scotland out in a heartbeat and that ambivalence to Scotland’s place in the UK hasn’t changed,” he added.

Labour’s main target seats in Scotland; ranking in brackets.

*[2]Glasgow SW, maj 60; swing needed to win 0.08%.

*[3]Glasgow E, maj 75; 0.1%.

*[5]Airdrie & Shotts, maj 195; 0.26%.

*[10]Lanark and Hamilton E, maj 360; 0.36%.

*[12]Motherwell & Wishaw, maj 318; 0.38%.

*[13]Inverclyde, maj 384; 0.49%.

*[19]Dunfermline & Fife W, maj 844; 0.83%.

*[29]Edinburgh N & Leith, maj 1,625; 1.44%.

*[33]Glasgow N, maj 1,060; 1.58%.

*[42]Glasgow S, maj 2,027; 2.27%.

*[47]Dunbartonshire W, maj 2,288; 2.60%.

*[49]Linlithgow & Falkirk E, maj 2,919; 2.60%.

*[51]Paisley & Renfrewshire N, maj 2,613; 2.80%.

*[55]Paisley & Renfrewshire S, maj 2,541; 3.05%.

*[56]Glasgow C, maj 2,267; 3.15%.

*[58]Glasgow NW, maj 2,561; 3.30%.

*[60]Na h-Eileanan an Iar, maj 1,007; 3.40%.

*[64]East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, maj 3,866; 3.57%.