TODAY’S election is a huge opportunity for the people of Scotland to give Scotland a strong voice at Westminster.

With the polls narrowing across the UK in recent days, the size of Theresa May’s majority – or even whether she retains a majority at all – could come down to the outcome in Scotland.

But it’s clear that Labour can’t win the election here in Scotland – and that means that voting Labour risks inadvertently letting Tory MPs in by the back door.

By electing a strong block of SNP MPs, we can ensure that progressive voices are heard at Westminster – keeping in check a Tory government that has caused so much damage, especially to the most vulnerable in society, over the last seven years.

SNP MPs have forced the Tory government into U-turns on a range of issues, including child tax credit cuts and national insurance rises.

Our team at Westminster have also brought to light some of the most regressive and unfair policies of this Tory government, from the rape clause to the pension changes which have left more than 250,000 women across Scotland short-changed.

Our manifesto contains key pledges that would make Scotland and the UK as a whole better places to live for everyone. We have a responsible fiscal plan which will end austerity and free up resources to invest in public services, protect family budgets and call a halt to cuts in social security support for working families and the disabled.

We will support a fairer tax system, so that those with the broadest shoulders bear the biggest burden – in stark contrast to Conservative plans to give tax breaks to the very wealthiest while at the same time putting the squeeze on the household budgets of everyone else.

We will tackle poverty and inequality, argue for fairer pensions, focus on jobs, growth and productivity, and make work fairer by tackling low pay – ensuring the minimum wage is at the level of the real Living Wage.

And we will do all we can to protect Scotland’s place in the European single market.

This was an election called entirely for cynical party political advantage, and not in the national interest – but the wheels have come off the Tory bandwagon. It may still trundle over the finishing line, but it will be a hollow victory for Theresa May if she is returned with a majority any less than, or barely bigger than, the one she could muster at the start of the campaign.

Make no mistake – while Theresa May might still win this election, this campaign has destroyed forever the claim that the Prime Minister provides strong and stable leadership. Weak and wobbly are the new watchwords.

But the effects of a lame Tory win would be far more profound and far-reaching than just the personal status of the PM. It would, for a start, be a humiliating rejection of her call to “strengthen her hand” for the crucial Brexit talks to come.

And it would signal that voters across the UK remain extremely wary of the Tories’ plans to take Britain out of the single market – and potentially to walk away from Europe with no deal at all, in an extreme hard Brexit which no one voted for and which would be potentially catastrophic for jobs, investment and livelihoods.

That extreme version of Brexit threatens to see 80,000 jobs lost across Scotland over a decade, and cost our economy up to £11 billion a year by 2030.

But a Tory failure to make gains would also suggest that voters are deeply unimpressed by the arguments from both the Conservatives and Labour.

The SNP offer a centre-left alternative, and our manifesto has pledged to restore fairness to our social security system, including our guarantee for the triple lock on the state pension. That is a direct counter to the Tories’ plans to dismantle the post-war welfare state.

A vote for the SNP today will help keep the Tories firmly in check – but a vote for Labour anywhere in Scotland just risks letting Tory MPs in the back door.

Our manifesto also makes clear that Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands, and that an SNP victory in this election in Scotland will underline the existing mandate to give Scotland a choice on its future – not now, but when the terms of Brexit are clear.

The Tories’ efforts to thwart that mandate, and to stand in the way of democracy, are truly jaw-dropping in their arrogance.

We know that any Scottish Tory MPs elected at Westminster will simply rubber stamp anything that Theresa May wants.

Now, more than ever, it is vital to have strong voices standing up for Scotland at Westminster.

People across Scotland should vote SNP today to give Scotland that strong voice.