VOTERS in Scotland who want to help Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street on Thursday should back the SNP, not Kezia Dugdale’s party, Tommy Sheppard has said.

The former Scottish Labour assistant general secretary said his SNP colleagues would be better allies to Corbyn at Westminster than those from Dugdale’s party.

“If you look at the individual candidates involved and the manifestos on which we’re standing, the SNP candidates have got more in common with Jeremy Corbyn than the Scottish Labour candidates,” Sheppard said in an interview with The National.

“Actually what would be more helpful for Jeremy Corbyn after June 8 if the Tories don’t have a majority would be to have a block of SNP MPs who are prepared to back up a fairly radical programme, given that half of it we’ve already implemented in Scotland anyway, and the other things we would have done in Scotland had we the powers to do so.

“Is that more helpful, or do you want a bunch of right-wing Scottish Labour MPs who are just going to undermine Jeremy Corbyn and prevent him from forming a progressive alternative?”

Dugdale and Ian Murray, Scotland’s sole Labour MP in the last parliament who is fighting to be re-elected, have been fierce critics of Corbyn.

Murray took part in a botched parliamentary coup against Corbyn last summer, while Dugdale famously said a Labour party under Corbyn would be left “carping on the sidelines”.

Last week Dugdale said Scottish Labour would never support a “progressive alliance” with the SNP which she claimed is not an “anti-austerity” party.

But yesterday Sheppard stated there were more differences in policies between UK Labour and Scottish Labour than there were between UK Labour and the SNP, and pointed to the rejection of Trident by Corbyn and the SNP, while Dugdale supported Trident renewal.

He also underlined their apparent differing stances to a new independence referendum.

“[On] independence Jeremy Corbyn has said he would not obstruct the will of the Scottish Parliament on having another independence referendum, whereas Kezia Dugdale is going out of her way to obstruct the will of the Scottish Parliament and in fact getting involved in a grotesque race to the bottom with Ruth Davidson as to who can be the most anti-independence or anti-choice,” he said.

“It’s beyond belief. Davidson says there shouldn’t be a second referendum for 35 years, Dugdale says an eternity. Both of them ought to get a grip of themselves. The Scottish people will have a referendum when they want to and it’s not up to Davidson and Dugdale to stop it.”

Scottish Labour today unveiled digital campaign billboards attacking Nicola Sturgeon and urging the SNP to get “back to the day job”.

Sheppard hit out at Dugdale for framing the election in such a way, rather than as a bid to get the Tories out of power at Westminster.

“There are clearly two Labour parties in this election,” he said.

“There is the Labour party in England which is doing its best to provide a coherent alternative to the Tories and there is the Labour party in Scotland which doesn’t seem to care one iota about fighting the Tories and is obsessed about stopping the Scottish people having a new choice in a second independence referendum.

“What is absolutely bizarre ... is that the Labour party in Scotland is not saying anything at all about attacking the Tories and is instead trying to use this election to attack the SNP which is attacking the Tory government.”

A Scottish Labour spokesman responded: “This is utter nonsense from Tommy Sheppard, but it is encouraging to discover how much the SNP is panicking.

“The UK Labour manifesto is 100 per cent clear — we oppose a divisive second independence referendum because it is unwanted and unnecessary.

“There are only two outcomes in this General Election: a Labour government for the many, not the few, or a Tory government intent on a hard Brexit. Voting SNP will just risk letting Theresa May back into Downing Street.”

Speaking ahead of the billboards being unveiled in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scottish Labour’s General Election campaign manager James Kelly said “the tide has turned against Nicola Sturgeon”.

“Voters want to tell her to get on with the day job,” he continued.

“We have 4000 fewer teachers under the SNP, more than 90,000 patients had to wait longer than four hours at A&E last year, and local services like care for the elderly and schools will be hit with nearly £170 million of cuts this year alone.

“This has happened because Nicola Sturgeon spends her time campaigning for a divisive second independence referendum that is unwanted and unnecessary.”

Sheppard said: “These posters say it all about the Scottish Labour campaign.”