THE SNP has described the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives as “allies” as it looks to hold off a Unionist challenge in East Dunbartonshire.
Won by the party for the first time in 2015, the SNP is now in a fight to hold onto the seat at the General Election and yesterday Nicola Sturgeon joined candidate John Nicolson to campaign in the constituency he won by about 2,000 votes two years ago.
Formerly a LibDem seat, the party has targeted it again, with former UK Government minister Jo Swinson returning to challenge Nicolson.
After making pies with the First Minister in a Kirkintilloch cafe, Nicolson said the LibDems’ time in coalition between 2010 and 2015 showed they could not be trusted.
He said: “We all know that at this election Theresa May wants a huge majority and doesn’t like to debate or to be challenged.
“That’s why we need to have the strongest possible opposition at Westminster to keep her in check – and SNP MPs have led the way on providing effective opposition to the Tories.
“By contrast, the LibDems propped up the Tories in government - slashing welfare spending, implementing the bedroom tax, privatising the Royal Mail and breaking their solemn promise on tuition fees.
“The LibDems have shown they can’t be trusted – but the SNP will stand up to the Tories at every single turn in the Scottish Parliament, at Westminster and in our communities.”
Sturgeon said: “The key issue at this election is do we have MPs like John Nicolson here in East Dunbartonshire that will stand up for Scotland’s interests or do we have MPs, such as Lib Dem MPs were in the last parliament, who will be a rubber-stamp for the Tories?
“We need strong voices given the challenges we know we face over the next few years.”
Alex Cole-Hamilton, chair of the Scottish LibDem General Election campaign, said: “The SNP have spent years promising to stand up for Scotland but all they have done is obsess about independence.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale met members of the Royal College of Nursing in Edinburgh where she pledged to raise NHS pay.
“The choice in this election is clear – Labour will fight for better wages and a stronger NHS, or the SNP who will fight for another independence referendum that Scotland doesn’t want,” she said.
Today, the former campaign director of Better Together Blair McDougall, will return to the campaign trail when he visits Thornliebank in East Renfrewshire.
McDougall, who is being backed by ex Better Together chair and former Chancellor Alistair Darling, will be taking his anti-independence message to the streets once more. The area is being closely contested by the SNP, Labour and the Tories.
The SNP’s Kirsten Oswald is fighting to hold the seat which she took from ex Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy in May 2015 with a majority of 3,718. But the Tories also believe they have a strong chance of winning the seat with the party taking the largest number of council seats last Thursday.
Also on the campaign trail today Labour’s health spokesman Anas Sarwar will raise the issue of child poverty, claiming the SNP has not done enough to combat it. Labour has said it would increase child benefits to help address the problem.
The move comes as a report by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) warns of rising levels of child poverty and its adverse impact on children’s health.
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