General election diary: The ENP | Miliband’s texts

Jim Murphy on the campaign trail during what will surely be known in years to come as the 'Ice Cream Election'. Picture: Hemedia

Tweet of the day

Comment really is superfluous. Isn’t Scottish politics fantastic?

Step away from the computer, CCHQ

Remember David Cameron’s ‘clickbait’ video of Alex Salmond joking about writing the Budget (this video ‘will shock you’)? Well, the Conservative Party HQ went one better (worse? - Ed.) with a mocked up text conversation supposedly between Ed Miliband and Alex Salmond which still harped on about Salmond’s Budget joke.

Some elements of this general election campaign have been great, others entertaining.

This was just cringeworthy though.

The Tories have become an ‘English Nationalist Party’, claims Gordon Brown

In quite possibly the strangest intervention in the election yet (although it’s true, there are several candidates), Gordon Brown last night accused the Tories of becoming ‘English Nationalists’, hell-bent on stirring up anti-Scottish sentiment prior to May 7.

Speaking in Kirkcaldy, Brown said: “The Conservative party have retreated to the most base tactic imaginable. The purpose is to whip up anti-Scottish feeling in England to bolster their vote against UKIP in England.”

He continued: “They want to give the Scottish National party a boost in Scotland at the expense of a Labour party. We will not allow this to become a debate about English nationalists against Scottish nationalists.”

HSBC threaten to hop it

HSBC’s decision to consider shifting its base from the UK had an effect on the election campaign, with David Cameron saying insisting that the news reinforced the need for the UK to remain ‘business-friendly’.

He added: “It is an important reminder of how vital it is that we keep a pro-enterprise, pro-business, pro-employment policy in our country. We need to keep taxes low, make this an attractive place to invest.”

HSBC chairman Douglas Flint said that the prospect of an in/out referendum on the EU - one of Cameron’s key campaign promises - would heighten risks for business in the UK.

Labour pull ahead in new poll

LABOUR moved to three points ahead of the Tories according to a Populus poll published on Friday.

The poll put Labour on 35 per cent, up one point, and the Tories on 32 per cent - unchanged.

Ukip was down one point at 14 per cent while the Lib Dems remained the same on 8 per cent.

However, polls throughout the past week have had Labour and the Conservatives neck-and-neck. One poll on Thursday had Labour ahead by three while another had the Tories out in front.

News in brief

• Margaret Curran has said she wants to see the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act repealed, arguing that it has done nothing to reduce bigotry or intolerance since it was brought into play

• Nicola Sturgeon has accused the Tories of breaking their promise on powers with David Cameron’s English votes for English laws that would ultimately restrict Scots MPs’ voting rights in the House of Commons

• There was no ice lolly activity today on account of the haar in Edinburgh, we’re told