JIM Murphy has denied that Labour's new focus on fiscal competence is unhelpful to his battle with the SNP north of the border because "Scots have a tradition of being canny about wanting to balance the books".

 

The Scottish Labour leader insisted that he and shadow chancellor Ed Balls were "singing from the same hymn sheet", the day after three senior figures in the UK party denied his suggestion, made in a televised debate, that an Ed Miliband-led administration would not have to make spending cuts after 2016.

Mr Murphy said he had been quoting the Institute for Fiscal Studies when he made the claim, but maintained that he had always been clear about the need to make savings and balance the books.

Speaking during a visit to a nursery school in Cumbernauld, he said: "I said on Sunday's tele we'd cap child benefit payments. I said in the debates we've been having that we'd balance the books and identified some of the savings we'd make at the MoD and elsewhere.

"Ed and I were campaigning last week and the week before in Scotland and we've both been very clear that we have to make savings... but it isn't all about cuts. We want more people out earning decent wages rather than subsidising low pay. That's a much more effective way of having economic growth."

The comments came the day after shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said "the leader of the Scottish Labour Party will not be in charge of the UK budget" after he was challenged over Mr Murphy's statements during the TV debates. Mr Miliband and Mr Balls also confirmed that savings in unprotected areas would be passed on to Scotland.

Labour's opponents seized on the comments, claiming Mr Murphy had been "hung out to dry" by the UK leadership while the party also faced claims it had "given up on Scotland".

However, Mr Murphy said while the size of the budget would be decided by the UK party, how it was spent would be "a decision for the Scottish Labour Party."

Asked whether the shift in focus to fiscal competence and an emphasis on the need to make further cuts was unhelpful to Labour in Scotland, he responded: "Scots have a tradition of being people who are canny about wanting to balance the books. I know that's a generalisation but it's part of our Zeitgeist that we want to balance the books and that's what we'll do.

"The issue is about how you do it. On the one hand you've got the Tories saying 'cuts, cuts, cuts', and you've got the SNP with a different type of cut. The Tories want to cut public spending ever deeper. The SNP want to cut Scotland off from the rest of the UK when it comes to pooling and sharing resources and taxes.

"There's a different way of doing it, which is balance the books through targeted savings that are fairer, and then continued economic growth. Ed Balls and I last week were out campaigning together, and we're singing from the same hymn sheet on this."