Miliband: it's still all to play for in Scotland

Mr Miliband again drew a clear political demarcation line showing how his party was the champion of ordinary working people while the Conservatives were focused on helping the rich and privileged.

Like Tony Blair before him, the Labour leader painted himself as the agent of change, leading a responsible party that wanted to transform the way Britain was run and who it was run for.

Insisting that he had been tested as the Leader of the Opposition and he was now ready for power, Mr Miliband, flanked by members of the Shadow Cabinet, told a cheering audience of party supporters: "Ready to put an end to the tired old idea that as long as we look after the rich and powerful, we will all be OK.

"Ready to put into practice the truth that it is only when working people succeed that Britain succeeds."

He added: "If you elect me as your prime minister in just over three weeks' time, I will work for that goal. I will fight for that goal every single day in everything I do, in every decision I make. I know Britain can be better."

The 83-page manifesto includes proposals for:

- a £2.5bn NHS fund paid for mainly by a mansion tax on properties valued at over £2m;

- 25 hours of childcare for working parents of three and four-year olds and a new right to before and after-school help, paid for by rise in the bank levy;

- freezing gas and electricity bills until 2017, so they can only fall not rise;

- a Home Rule Bill for Scotland to give Holyrood more powers over tax, welfare and jobs;

- banning exploitative zero-hour contracts and raising the minimum wage to £8 an hour;

- scrapping winter fuel payments for the richest pensioners, capping child benefit rises and cutting ministers' pay by five per cent;

- a 50p tax rate on incomes over £150,000 a year and abolishing non-dom status;

- a cut in tuition fees from £9000 to £6000 for universities in England and

- a one-year freeze in rail fares, paid for by delays to upgrades to some roads.

Later, during a question and answer session, the reference made last week by Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy - that his party would not need to make future cuts - was addressed after Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, confirmed there would indeed be more cuts and Chuka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary, emphasised how the "leader of the Scottish Labour Party will not be in charge of the UK budget".

Mr Miliband said: "I can't, I'm afraid, say to Scotland that you're going to be exempt from spending cuts in unprotected areas."

He pointed to how, under Labour, there would be "extra resources" across the UK, such as spending increases in health and education, which would mean an additional £800m for Scotland.

But the Labour leader also accepted that, because there would be UK-wide cuts, then there would be proportionate ones north of the border. "What happens to the Scottish budget overall depends on other decisions that we make and what happens in these unprotected areas.

"I draw a contrast here. The contrast is this: you have a Labour Party that says the deficit does need to fall. We're not going to pretend there won't be difficult decisions.

"On the other hand, you have two other choices. You've got an extreme prime minister of the Conservatives who wants to double the cuts next year and have bigger cuts in the next three years than the last five.

"And you also have something very important in relation to the SNP. Because what has been exposed about the SNP...is a £7.6bn of cuts because of their fiscal autonomy plan. So ours is the plan for social justice, ours is the better plan for ending Tory austerity in Scotland."

Asked what more Labour could do to tackle the SNP surge after a poll of almost 1000 adults in Scotland - undertaken before last week's televised debates - placed the Nationalists on 52 per cent and Labour on 24, the Labour leader highlighted how the choice of PM was between himself and David Cameron, Labour was the party of social justice and the SNP plans would lead to a £7.6bn black hole for Scotland.

"Let's see what happens on May 7 in Scotland. I believe there are many people still making up their minds," he added.

Afterwards, Douglas Alexander, Labour's election strategist, admitted Labour in Scotland had "ground to make up" but stressed how the party would heavily target the Nationalists' full fiscal autonomy black hole.

"Far from wanting to end austerity, the Nationalists are wanting to extend austerity," declared the Shadow Foreign Secretary.

But Ms Sturgeon seized on the Labour leadership's admission that there would be more cuts in Scotland, saying it was a "direct contradiction" of what Mr Murphy had said last week.

The First Minister insisted: "There is a very clear choice at this election: you can have more austerity with Labour, the Tories or the Liberals, or you can have a clear alternative to austerity with the SNP."

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Ruth Davidson for the Scottish Conservatives said the Scottish Labour leader had "had the rug pulled from under his feet by a panicking and shambolic party which seems to have given up on Scotland".

Scottish Liberal Democrat Party President Sir Malcolm Bruce added: "The left hand of Labour doesn't know what the other left hand is doing.

"In their frenzied attempts to try and restore some economic credibility they have only demonstrated their economic incompetence. Left in charge of the economy on their own, they would borrow even more, putting at risk the recovery."

Meantime, Michael Gove, the Tory chief whip, said Labour's "deathbed conversion" to fiscal responsibility would not be believed.

"It's got no credibility at all. We know every page in Labour's manifesto will be subject to sign off by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Labour cannot get into Downing Street except on the coattails of the SN so every promise they make today is subject to veto or endorsement by the SNP.

"Labour proposals are not funded and they are not underwritten by the credibility of delivering a strong economy," he added.