SCOTTISH LABOUR accused the SNP today of being “out of touch, out of steam and out of ideas,” following the party’s latest strategy on independence.

It came after SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said that winning most Scottish parliamentary seats at Westminster in the next general election would be seen as a mandate for leaving the union even if the party won fewer seats than in the last general election.

That outcome looks likely following the party’s disastrous Rutherglen by-election defeat and the continuing police investigation into its finances.

Mr Brown told BBC radio today: “The next election in Scotland will be a clear choice between Westminster control and independence.

“Now, with the party united behind the independence strategy, our job is to take the substance of the independence debate to the people — to build support and to deliver independence.”

On Sunday the SNP’s annual conference in Aberdeen endorsed the leadership’s motion on the next steps in its push for Scottish independence.

But Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “From putting independence before the needs of the Scottish people to parroting desperate Tory attacks on Labour, it is obvious that the SNP is a busted flush that has become completely disconnected from the concerns of the people of Scotland.

“While the SNP and the Tories offer nothing but more strife and incompetence, Scottish Labour is offering the people of Scotland a fresh start and real action to tackle the cost of living.

“Labour will make work pay, drive down bills and make Scotland a clean energy superpower.”