The SNP has pledged to support the creation of more and better paid jobs in Scotland and across the UK, including a promise to raise the minimum wage to £8.70 by 2020.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney launched the party's jobs manifesto at an event in Edinburgh today.

He said the SNP's plans would end austerity and increase investment to support job creation.

The manifesto states the party will "force an end to Tory-Labour austerity cuts" and support a public spending increase of 0.5% to enable investment in jobs and public services.

The SNP will also support an increase in infrastructure investment, and make the case for Scotland to remain part of the EU.

It wants the minimum wage to be increased to £8.70 per hour by 2020 to "ensure that a fair day's work is always rewarded with a fair day's pay", and seeks an end to "exploitative zero-hours contracts".

Labour has also pledged to raise the minimum wage to more than £8 an hour by 2019, and abolish the practice of zero-hours contracts.

Mr Swinney said: "Austerity cuts have stopped our economy reaching its full potential for too long - holding back job creation and stifling growth. It couldn't be clearer that we need to take a new direction and invest in the economy and jobs.

"But we are absolutely clear that creating jobs is only the first challenge - and that we need to do everything we can to ensure that work always pays. Far too many people in Scotland and across the UK are suffering from the scourge of in-work poverty - the very idea that people go out to work every day and still can't make ends meet is nothing less than a disgrace.

"SNP MPs will ensure that Westminster is forced to take a different approach - promoting the principles behind Fair Work, abolishing exploitative zero-hours contracts and supporting a minimum wage of £8.70 by 2020.

"And the SNP will support an increase in the Work Allowance - providing a major boost to the incomes of workers on low wages and making sure that work always pays.

"Hard-working people have been paying the price for Westminster's failures for far too long. A strong team of SNP MPs will ensure we take a new, fairer, more progressive direction - not just creating jobs but ensuring that the principles of Fair Work are firmly on the agenda at Westminster for the first time in generations."