THE SNP was last night accused of "shaming Scotland" and cynically exploiting poverty to boost a Yes vote as the fallout continued from most of its MPs missing a crucial Westminster vote against the bedroom tax.

Despite making the housing benefit cut a theme of the Yes campaign, four of the SNP's six MPs were absent on Friday when the Commons voted 306 to 231 in support of a private member's Bill which would protect those affected by the bedroom tax, including the disabled.

Last October, Alex Salmond told the SNP conference the bedroom tax, which cuts up to 25% of housing benefit from social housing tenants deemed to have too many rooms, was "a symbol of why independence is necessary."

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, who had previously attacked Labour MPs for missing a vote on the issue, was among those absent.

Pete Wishart, Angus MacNeil and Stewart Hosie were also missing, leaving just Mike Weir and Eilidh Whiteford representing the SNP.

All 40 Labour MPs from Scotland were present, and all voted against the bedroom tax.

The new Bill would protect tenants from the policy until they had a "reasonable offer" of alternative accommodation with the "correct number of bedrooms", and exempt tenants who needed an extra room for medical reasons.

SNP sources said MPs had missed the vote because it had been brought forward two hours.

But after a week of bad poll figures, Better Together gleefully seized on the Westminster vote as an example of SNP "hypocrisy".

In a speech aimed at wavering Labour supporters yesterday, shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said the gap between the SNP's rhetoric and action had exposed the Yes campaign's talk of independence as a route to greater social justice as mere posturing.

He told an audience at Glasgow University: "This week the SNP shamed our nation by their failure to turn up and defeat the bedroom tax. They have proved that they care more about ending Britain than ending poverty.

"The Nationalists didn't just let down Scotland. They let down the disabled, the vulnerable and the poor across Britain. The Nationalists have shown their creed is synthetic concern and their only priority is separation. They see poverty as a circumstance to be exploited - not a condition to be ended."

Whiteford said: "Douglas Alexander's hypocrisy is absolutely breathtaking - he is working hand-in-glove in the No campaign with the same Tory government who imposed the bedroom tax in the first place. The SNP in government has already done far more with our limited powers to divert spending in Scotland to fully mitigate the impact of the bedroom tax.

"The only way we can guarantee an end to the bedroom tax in Scotland is to vote Yes and get rid of Westminster Tory governments forever."

l Campaigning in Glasgow yesterday, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said independence would give younger people more chance of work. Nearly 40,000 people aged 16 to 34 leave Scotland for work each year.

l Sixteen footballers yesterday declared their support for No, urging "every patriotic Scot to help maintain Scotland's place in the United Kingdom which has served Scotland so well". The squad includes Lisbon lion Bertie Auld, Manchester United legend Denis Law, former Rangers players Barry Ferguson and Ally McCoist, former Old Firm bosses Walter Smith and Billy McNeill, ex-Aberdeen stars Alex McLeish and Willie Miller, and ex-Liverpool defender Alan Hansen.

l Yes Scotland is launching a campaign aimed at pensioners that features former Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party MSP John Swinburne. In 2003, Swinburne called gay people "sick" and said he would "not support these queer folk" while speaking at an election hustings.

He later apologised and claimed he did not have a "homophobic bone in his body".

Asked if she was comfortable with Swinburne's involvement in the Yes campaign given his previous comments, Nicola Sturgeon said: "John Swinburne is well thought of among pensioners.

"Our commitment to equality for gay and lesbian people stands on its own record. We are the government that very rightly legislated for gay marriage. We are beyond reproach on that."

l Ahead of a visit to Scotland, Welsh National Party Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said only a Yes would save Scotland's NHS from the impact of Westminster spending cuts.