SCOTLAND cannot afford the havoc of a "Tory decade" under David Cameron that would result in more than £1 billion being wiped from the nation's NHS budget, Ed Miliband will warn today.

 

The Labour leader, whose party, polls suggest, is facing a potential meltdown north of the border on May 7, will insist Scotland could hold the key to the outcome of the General Election and that even the loss of a single Scottish Labour MP would make it more likely for the Conservative Prime Minister to cling onto power.

In a keynote speech to a one-day pre-election party conference in Edinburgh, Mr Miliband will say: "The Tories can wreak havoc in Scotland without winning a majority. They can do it simply by being in government as the largest party.

"It would mean a Tory decade for Scotland: 10 years of David Cameron in Downing Street; 10 years of injustice; 10 years of unfairness; 10 years of attacking everything we hold dear in our country."

Pointing to an overall reduction in public spending in Scotland of £2.7bn should the Conservatives win power - £500 for every man, woman and child - the Labour leader will say: "If the cuts are spread evenly, it would mean over £1bn of cuts to the NHS. This is the equivalent of 15,500 nurses and 3,500 GPs."

He will tell the party faithful: "Let's sound the alarm across Scotland about what these deep Tory cuts would mean for our NHS and public services. Let's sound the alarm across Scotland that they could do it without a majority. Let's sound the alarm across Scotland that this could happen in less than nine weeks' time. Let's sound the alarm across Scotland, defeat their austerity plan and stop a Tory decade."

But Stewart Hosie, the deputy SNP leader, accused Mr Miliband of "utter hypocrisy".

He said: "In the final days and hours of the referendum, Labour told voters that Scotland's NHS was safe with a No vote and they have now performed a complete U-turn.

"Ed Miliband should issue an immediate apology for Labour so shamelessly misleading the people of Scotland in the referendum."

In his first keynote speech to a Labour conference as Scottish Labour leader, Jim Murphy will insist a Labour Government would call time on the "cold and callous" policies of the Tories, which were doing so much harm to the country.

Accepting that some Labour voters were thinking of switching to the SNP because they were desperate for change, he will make clear that Labour is desperate for change too.

"I hear your sense of frustration about how you work harder and feel no better off. What I want to set out to you and the rest of Scotland is that Labour is that change. We will stop a decade of Tory rule and end Tory austerity," Mr Murphy will insist.

While Mr Miliband will rage against the 1930s-scale of proposed Conservative cuts and their risk to public services in Scotland, he is not expected to touch on the controversial issue of whether or not Labour would be prepared to do a post-poll deal with the SNP.

In a significant move, Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, signalled unexpectedly that the Nationalists' previous red line of wanting the scrapping of Trident as a condition of any deal with Mr Miliband had been rubbed out. "It's more likely to be an arrangement where we would support Labour on an issue-by-issue basis," she said.

"On that arrangement, there would be many things we could agree on that we would support but we would not vote for Trident."

Grant Shapps, the Conservative Chairman, expressed alarm at the development, saying: "Ed Miliband and the SNP have signed the pre-nup and are now halfway up the aisle."

At his adoption meeting as the Nationalist candidate for Gordon, Alex Salmond, the ex-FM, insisted neither Labour nor the Tories were "fit to govern" and that with more SNP MPs Scotland would "call the tune" at Westminster.

Earlier, a stark warning against a Lab-SNP partnership, which some Tories have branded the ultimate nightmare for Britain, was issued by Sir John Major.

The former premier said it was "shameful" Mr Miliband had not already ruled out a power-sharing deal with the SNP, whose "overriding aim" was "prising apart" the Union.

"Neither history, nor electors, would forget if Labour facilitated the break-up of the UK. We have a tragedy in the making...the alienation of the Scots from the English," declared Sir John.

But Mr Hosie decried the ex-PM's intervention, saying he wanted Labour to rule out an agreement with the SNP because that would stop the Tories. "It is time Labour faced reality," insisted the Dundee MP, "they are not going to win a majority in the House of Commons and will need the votes of others to govern."

Scottish Labour is torn over whether Mr Miliband should or should not rule out a deal with the SNP before polling day.

Ian Murray, the Shadow Business Minister, when asked about it, held the party line, saying: "We don't want it, we don't need it and we are not thinking about (it)."

But his Labour colleague Ian Davidson, the MP for Glasgow South West, was unequivocal, saying: "Any deal with the SNP is not credible." "They are simply not trustworthy," he added.