"SCOTLAND NEEDS SNP CHAMPIONS NOW MORE THAN EVER"

"SCOTLAND NEEDS SNP CHAMPIONS NOW MORE THAN EVER"

SNP GAIN MOMENTUM AS LABOUR IN FREEFALL

The SNP is set to seize the initiative in the last few days of the
election campaign in Scotland by capitalising on the collapsing Labour
vote and the evaporating Lib Dem bounce north of the border, party
leader and First Minister Alex Salmond said

The SNP has moved back into a solid second place in the opinion polls,
overtaking the Lib Dems after the temporary benefit they were handed
through their inclusion in the TV leaders' debates.

Mr Salmond will now lead the SNP's bid to capitalise on the opportunity
presented by Labour's UK-wide collapse. He will take part in BBC
Scotland's leaders' debate at Edinburgh's Festival Theatre today, and
will then undertake a whistle-stop rail tour of key constituencies on
Monday, taking in seats including Dundee West, Ochil, Stirling and
Falkirk.

Mr Salmond said:

"The next few days present a massive and vital opportunity for the SNP
and for Scotland. The whole basis of Labour's campaign in Scotland has
unravelled as their campaign collapses south of the Border and voters
desert them.

"Their entire strategy in Scotland has been based on stopping the Tories
by returning a Labour Government at Westminster, but now that they are
obviously a busted flush at UK level their Scottish vote is extremely
vulnerable - and Scotland needs SNP champions more than ever.

"The SNP have moved back into a clear second place in the Scottish
polls, overtaking the Lib Dems after the temporary bounce they got from
the TV leaders' debates."

Mr Salmond added: "The Lib Dems have not been able to sustain that
advantage here in Scotland. The SNP is now the party which is best
placed to make a real surge in the final days of the campaign and our
sights are set on catching Labour. We were shut out of the air war but
our ground campaign in the next few days will be the most active in
Scotland.

"We are asking the voters who are deserting Labour not just to sit at
home, but to come out and vote for SNP local and national champions who
will help protect their communities and the country as a whole from
Westminster's savage cuts agenda.

"Labour, the Tories and the Liberals all plan to slash funding to vital
public services in Scotland. But it is now a near certainty that there
will be a balanced parliament, which will mean that every single vote in
the House of Commons will count - so that the axe falls where it should,
such as on Trident nuclear weapons.

"That means a strong bloc of SNP MPs, along with our Welsh allies in
Plaid Cymru, can help protect our nations from the cuts agenda of the
London parties. In the last few days of this campaign, there is
everything to play for in Scotland - and if Scots voters want a balanced
parliament, redolent with opportunity for Scotland, they should vote
SNP."


The Scottish polls today - a TNS-BMRB survey and a YouGov poll - have a
combined sample size of more 2,500 and overall they show the SNP has
regained second place from the Lib Dems. The combined polls give an
average support as follows:

Labour: 40%
SNP: 22%
LDs: 19%
Tories: 15%