LIBDEM leader Nick Clegg has accused the SNP of walking away from its responsibilities in government if the choices it faced did not fit its separatist agenda.
Mr Clegg claimed yesterday that with the local government elections just a few weeks away the "real motive" in the SNP's campaign was "not to take responsibility for the difficult decisions councils have to make for the communities but to further their aim of breaking up the United Kingdom".
The Deputy Prime Minister said that before its victory in last year's Holyrood election the SNP had "shouted" about council tax, the NHS and policing.
He said: "They said these big prizes would be won with an SNP Government. They only spoke in whispers about independence. Since they were elected they have only whispered about the domestic agenda but shouted very loudly about breaking away from the rest of the UK.
Mr Clegg said: "We know from experience that if the choices facing the SNP do not fit with that separatist agenda, they walk away rather than face up to their responsibilities as elected representatives."
He claimed that in Aberdeen the SNP refused to reorganise local schools and build new ones because it was too difficult.
He attacked its record of investment in services in the Highlands, and claimed "it was the same in Edinburgh where they turned their back on a new model for service delivery that would protect local services and in Argyll and Bute they didn't have the bottle to even consider important decisions".
He added: "On councils across Scotland it's all about splitting up the UK rather than taking important and often difficult decisions.
"For the SNP nothing should ever get in the way of the march towards their only ambition. For the SNP, independence is more important than home helps in Aberdeen or schoolchildren in Inverness or the jobless in Edinburgh."
Mr Clegg said his party recognised most Scots wanted more powers for Holyrood, but insisted the debate on additional powers was separate from the independence issue. He added that for the economic stability of the UK the questions should be settled "sooner rather than later."
He said: "The results of the UK Government consultation show clearly the people of Scotland want that debate resolved and resolved soon. They want a single question, yes or no, to give us a clear, unambiguous answer."
He was speaking ahead of an expected visit to Scotland by David Cameron this week during which he is likely to attack SNP claims that the local government election is a springboard for independence.
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