As Jim Murphy launched his third election pledge yesterday – he will spend £1bn to create “a Scotland of opportunity for the next generation” – it emerged that almost 70 per cent of voters in Scotland believe Labour has “seriously lost touch with ordinary working people”. The same poll also revealed

53 per cent of Scots want to stay in the EU – more than the rest of the UK – and that two thirds believe Ukip is a party “for oddballs and extremists”.

“Jim Murphy’s reverse honeymoon is going from bad to worse,” said Angus Robertson, the SNP’s leader at Westminster. “The fact that people in Scotland would overwhelmingly vote to remain in the EU shows that people recognise the real danger that comes from the Westminster establishment’s threats of withdrawal, and underlines why any referendum on membership must have the backing of each of the UK’s four nations.”