THE General Election may be 100 days away but the key themes of the campaign in Scotland are already clear.

The SNP have put three bold demands at the centre of their strategy.

They want devo max (Holyrood control over all policy areas apart from defence, foreign affairs and the currency), an end to economic austerity, and the UK's proposed new generation of nuclear weapons scrapped.

In most elections, this would appear an unrealistic hope.

But the SNP are riding high in the polls while Labour and the Conservatives remain neck and neck across the rest of the UK and under those circumstances, the Nationalists hope to persuade Scots they could hold the balance of power and wield considerable influence propping up a minority Ed Miliband government.

Jim Murphy, the Scottish Labour leader, insists his party is not looking for a deal.

His main General Election message will remain a simple warning that a vote for the SNP will increase David Cameron's chances of returning to Downing Street.

Between now and May 7 Mr Murphy will continue to argue that the Conservative leader could become the "accidental victor" if the SNP take Labour seats.

He marked the 100 days to go milestone yesterday by repeating some already well-worn sound-bites. "Only Labour is big enough and strong enough to defeat David Cameron. Scotland can protest against the Tories by voting for any party but only Labour can replace them," he said.

Labour promises to raise the top rate of income tax, freeze energy bills and crackdown on zero hours contracts apply across the whole of the UK.

Ed Miliband's pledge to invest an extra £2.5billion in health will also feature prominently in the campaign - as Scotland would receive a £250million share.

Mr Murphy has already vowed to spend £30million of it hiring 1000 new nurses though, of course, he would need to win next year's Holyrood election if he is to spend the money.

The Conservatives hope to improve on their solitary Scottish seat by scaring voters about the prospect of a Labour-SNP alliance. Ruth Davidson claims it would not only be left-wing, it would also undermine the Union.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats will attempt to revive their fortunes by taking credit for the Coalition's income tax cuts.

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