The Conservatives have been accused of putting “party before politics” by fuelling support for the SNP.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the Tories were trying to undermine his party’s chances of holding onto the 11 seats it won in the last general election, threatening the union and the economy.
The charge brought an angry rebuke from Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson who accused Mr Rennie of resorting to “pygmy politics”.
In a fierce attack Mr Rennie said within minutes of the independence referendum result, David Cameron sought to bolster Conservative support south of the border by calling for England votes for English laws, helping to “fuel the rise of support for the SNP”.
An in a “bizarre tactical game”, George Osborne praised the performance of Nicola Sturgeon in the UK leaders’s debates, he said.
Now the Scottish Conservatives were “getting in the way of our battles to stop the SNP in the 11 Westminster seats we hold in Scotland”, Mr Rennie said.
“I don’t doubt the Conservatives’ loyalty to the United Kingdom but their actions show they are putting their party before their country,” he said.
“It’s a dangerous game to play that can only serve to boost the SNP and risk the economic recovery.
“In the eleven Liberal Democrat seats in Scotland the best way to stop the SNP is to vote Liberal Democrat.”
Ms Davidson said earlier this week she warned of the “increasing desperation of the Lib Dems as they are set to lose their deposit all across Scotland”.
“The pygmy politics of Willie Rennie to suggest that I should not be allowed to campaign on my home town patch with my mum and dad, in the area I grew up in, is utterly pathetic,” she said.
“Everybody is clear that the Scottish Conservatives are the most pro-union party and I stand by my record in the referendum.
“Independent individual seat polling shows a number of sitting Lib Dems are already on third place and out of the race.
“People should vote for what they believe in at this election and not have their head turned by desperate parties peddling half-truths to try and save their own skins.”