Tony Blair has hit out at the SNP and the idea of another Scottish independence referendum as he joined Labour's election campaign trail.

 

The former Prime Minister said that the economic case for leaving the UK had "collapsed along with the oil price".

He also claimed that the Conservatives planned public spending cuts would be "dwarfed by the SNP cuts necessary to keep the Scottish economy afloat" if Scots had decided to go it alone.

In a speech in the north of England he also predicted that "reason" would drive Scots voters back to Labour and argued against "periodic" votes on independence.

His intervention was designed to praise Labour leader Ed Miliband's decision not to back a referendum on the UK's European Union membership.

Mr Blair told an audience in his former constituency of Sedgefield that the rise of China and other emerging economic powerhouses meant that the case for Europe had never been stronger.

David Cameron's pledged EU referendum in 2017 was "risky" and could damage the economy, he said.

He added: "I am aghast at some of the arguments used as to why having such a vote is 'a great idea for democracy'. Apparently we should have a referendum because its 40 years since we last had a vote. That is seriously an argument for doing something of this magnitude and risk? "

Referencing Scotland, he said: " So should we do the same for NATO? Or have periodic referendums not just in Scotland but all over the UK just to check popular feeling?"

He added that there should only be an EU referendum if it was genuinely a national priority to leave Europe if the UK's went unmet.

At the start of his speech Mr Blair said there was a "Herculean task" to face down independence.

He added: "The economic case for separation was always weak... now that case has collapsed along with the oil price."

He went on: "The reality is that, had Scotland voted to exit the UK, it would now be in economic trauma... Never mind Tory cuts, they would be dwarfed by the SNP cuts necessary to keep the Scottish economy afloat."

He also suggested that the rest of the UK would have suffered following independence, "relegated" from the "premier league of nations".

On his party's current struggles north of the border, Mr Blair said that Scottish Labour had a "great" case to make, adding he was optimistic "that in the end reason breaks through".

But he was forced to say he backed Ed Miliband "100 per cent" following questions over why the two men were not sharing a platform.

Mr Blair said the Labour leader was campaigning in the West Country, adding: "We are a party that can do more than one thing at once."