Spending cuts are pushing children into poverty and fuelling a growing dependence on food banks, Nicola Sturgeon claimed yesterday.
The first minister said austerity was having a devastating impact on communities and could only be reversed by SNP plans for extra spending.
While out campaigning in Lanark, she said 100,000 Scottish children had been pushed into poverty and there has been a 400% increase in people forced to rely on food banks.
Ms Sturgeon said all three of the main Westminster parties had signed up to Chancellor George Osborne’s plans for £30billion more cuts.
“In a wealthy country like Scotland that is nothing short of a disgrace – and shows exactly why we need a real alternative to the Tory-Labour cuts consensus,” she said.
“We already know that the Tories are intent on balancing the books on the backs of the poor, with £12billion of cuts to spending in Scotland planned over the next five years, which is equivalent to some £2,300 per person.
“David Cameron needs to tell us exactly where his axe is going to fall. The relentless Tory attack on the poor simply has to stop – and the SNP is the only party with the backbone and a plan to take a genuine new direction.”