At the SNP manifesto launch, SNP leader and first minister John Swinney said: ‘The choice the SNP offers to Scotland in this election is that we are the only party offering an end to austerity cuts – we are arguing for new fiscal rules.’

The central plank of SNP proposals focused on major investment in NHS in Scotland, the end of the two-child benefit cap, and independence for Scotland in a slim line 32-page manifesto.

It also called for full tax devolution, abolition of the House of Lords and an end to the building of a new generation of nuclear submarines.