SNP GAIN MOMENTUM AS LABOUR IN FREEFALL

SNP GAIN MOMENTUM AS LABOUR IN FREEFALL

SALMOND TO MAKE WHISTLE-STOP RAIL TOUR OF KEY SEATS

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 today (Sat).

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 tomorrow, 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 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.

"The SNP is best placed to seize on that vulnerability, because we have
moved back into a clear second place in the Scottish opinion 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 and their support is now evaporating. The SNP
is the now 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 the
savage cuts agenda of all the London parties.

"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.

"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."