THE Liberal Democrats are mounting a Stop the SNP election strategy in their 11 Scottish seats, believing it is the Nationalists and not Labour or the Conservative Party, which now pose the greatest threat of a Lib Dem meltdown in Scotland.
The strategy comes as a poll due out this week from Tory peer Lord Ashcroft examining a clutch of individual Scottish constituencies is expected to confirm the Nationalists are on course to have their most successful General Election ever and that some of Scotland's most senior politicians, including the Lib Dems' Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, face losing their seats in May.
In most of the Lib Dem-held constituencies, the threat in the past has mainly come from Labour or the Tories but now SNP HQ believes the party can take a number; most notably Gordon, where Alex Salmond, the former First Minister, is seeking to become an MP again.
Last week, Lord Ashcroft appeared to tease anxious MPs, tweeting: "My, my, these Scottish polls are looking interesting." He said the SNP surge was "real", adding: "You could say if you voted Yes to independence why now wouldn't you vote for the SNP in the Westminster Parliament."
One senior figure in the Liberal Democrats, which has a total of 56 MPs, including 11 out of 59 Scottish ones, suggested it would be "good news" if the party were able to hold onto half of its seats given the dire state of the opinion polls. Its strategy both north and south of the border is one of consolidation ie holding onto what the party already has.
With surveys in Scotland now regularly suggesting a dramatic rise in SNP fortunes, nerves are jangling across all the other parties faced with the prospect that the result of the 2015 General Election could see a dramatic transformation of fortunes; in stark contrast to the last UK poll in 2010 when the parties north of the border showed no change.
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, made clear that the focus of his and his colleagues is now firmly on stopping the rising Nationalist tide in Scotland.
"It is now clear that the threat in almost every Liberal Democrat seat at the General Election comes from the SNP. Other parties are now retrenching to protect what they already hold rather than seeking to grow their numbers at Westminster," the MSP said.
"Despite the result of the referendum the independence issue has not gone away; so the risk from that remains. The SNP want to win every seat in Scotland now with the aim of securing independence by the back door. The best way to stop the SNP and their plans is to back the Lib Dems."
Mr Rennie insisted that, in all 11 Lib Dem seats, the party had excellent local campaigning MPs and new candidates. "They will stand up for their constituency unlike the SNP, who are only really interested in Independence," he declared.
"It is encouraging that so many people, some who have previously voted for other parties, are backing the Liberal Democrats to stop the SNP. Even people who voted SNP are alarmed that the Government took their eye off the ball during the referendum resulting in cuts to colleges, a crisis in the NHS and missed cancer waiting times."
He added: "We are campaigning locally harder than we ever have before promoting the local record of our MP and the action in government to cut taxes, expand childcare, increase pensions and get the economy back on track. We can hold all our seats. We'll be no pushover in the General Election."
The Lib Dem Scottish 11.
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) maj: 2184; 2010, Lab second, SNP fourth.
Alain Reid(Argyll and Bute) maj: 3431; 2010, Con second, SNP fourth.
Sir Robert Smith(West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) maj:3684; 2010, Con second, SNP third.
Michael Crockart(Edinburgh West) maj 3803; 2010, Lab second, SNP fourth.
John Thurso(Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) maj: 4826; 2010, Lab second, SNP third.
Michael Moore(Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) maj: 5675; 2010, Con second, SNP fourth.
Sir Malcolm Bruce(Gordon) maj: 6748; 2010, SNP second.
Danny Alexander(Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) maj: 8765; 2010, Lab second, SNP third.
Sir Menzies Campbell(North East Fife) maj: 9048; 2010, Con second, SNP fourth.
Alistair Carmichael(Orkney and Shetland) maj 9928; 2010, Lab second, SNP fourth.
Charles Kennedy(Ross, Skye and Lochaber) maj: 13,070; 2010, Lab second, SNP third.
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