SCOTLAND would be handed an additional £70 billion over 10 years under a Labour government, the UK shadow chancellor has said.

John McDonnell pledged a raft of investments as he addressed Scottish Labour's conference in Dundee.

He accused the Scottish Government of being "a conveyor belt for Tory cuts" – and insisted his party offered a new path through socialism.

He said: "Both north and south of the border, lives have been destroyed and millions left in despair thanks to the failed economic dogma of neo-liberalism and austerity.

"Austerity was always a political choice, not an economic necessity. The Tories and the SNP chose austerity. We choose socialism."

Mr McDonnell said Labour's investment plans included £20 billion in capital from a Scottish Investment Bank.

An extra £20 billion would also be unlocked through a "National Transformation Fund", while £30 billion would come from Barnett consequentials – cash linked to spending decisions taken by the UK.

Mr McDonnell also pledged to bring high-speed rail to Scotland, as well as rebuilding "crumbling infrastructure".

Addressing delegates on the last day of conference, he said marginal seats in Scotland held the key to victory at the next election.

He said: “Only by working together across Britain can Labour confront austerity, and launch a new political era.

"We began to do that in the General Election last year, when we saw six new Scottish Labour MPs.

"This was among the many other electoral victories thanks to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and inspiring manifesto.

"And of course with your hard work and idealism we came so close to winning so many more Scottish seats that are now considered marginal. It is these seats that will hold the key to us winning the next election.

"Scotland will decide whether we have a Labour or Tory government. You will be the people who will make a difference."

He added: “Taken together, our commitments over a decade could mean an additional £70 billion for the Scottish economy.

“That’s £70 billion of potentially additional spending to support a Scottish industrial strategy, to support renewable energy generation, to build more houses, create jobs, and support growth.

"That's why we need Labour governments – in London and Edinburgh – to reverse the damage that has been done to Scotland."

He compared the spending from Labour's planned UK Investment bank with the SNP's "measly £340 million'' of initial capital for the "so-called Scottish Investment Bank''.

He told the nationalists: "If you are going to steal our ideas, for goodness' sake do it with a bit of style.''

Mr McDonnell's speech came at the end of Scottish Labour's three-day conference in Dundee's Caird Hall.

He said a "new society" was in sight across the UK, adding: "A society which is –in other words – socialist."

Last week, Jeremy Corbyn sparked controversy after he insisted his party's Brexit vision must include barriers to prevent employers "being able to import cheap agency labour".

The UK leader argued any deal with the EU must be compatible with Labour's radical socialist programme.

Meanwhile, Scottish leader Richard Leonard outlined his "mission" to "fundamentally change" the economic system on Saturday.

He said the party would lodge new legislation to reform the private rented sector – while also banning any future private finance deals.

His new "Mary Barbour law", named after the activist who played a leading role in the 1915 rent strikes in Glasgow, would link rents to average wages to keep them affordable.