Labour on the rack over fake broadcast

LABOUR'S troubled Holyrood campaign hit a new low last night after it emerged a party official had posed as a member of the public in an election broadcast.

The former party chief posed as an ordinary voter who was worried about what an SNP administration might cost his family in extra taxes.

Opposition parties said the incident showed the Labour campaign had descended into chaos. It follows a series of dismal opinion poll ratings and showpiece events which have fallen flat.

Recent polls have regularly placed Labour behind the Nationalists, and senior party insiders recently described their own campaign as "uninspired and clueless."

The broadcast - to be shown tonight - shows "Murdo", married with one child, worrying about the SNP's plan for scrapping council tax and replacing it with a local income tax.

Labour claims the change will cost a family 5,000, a figure hotly disputed by the SNP. Murdo is shown as wondering whether there is any point working because of the tax.

But it has emerged the "ordinary member of the public" is actually Murdo Mathieson, the former assistant general secretary of the Scottish Labour Party and still a card-carrying member.

The broadcast makes no mention of the fact that Mathieson ever worked for the party or is even a Labour supporter.

Angus Robertson, the SNP's campaign director, said: "After so many dodgy dossiers it maybe shouldn't be a surprise that Labour are now misleading voters with bogus broadcasts. Obviously Labour has turned off so many ordinary voters they now can't find any ordinary members of the public to support their policies. It's no wonder no one believes a word they say any more."

A Labour Party source said there was no question of them withdrawing the broadcast. He confirmed: "Murdo Mathieson did take part in the broadcast, but he left his job at the party two years ago."

The broadcast will be shown at 5.55pm on BBC2, 6.25pm ITV1 and 6.55pm BBC1.