SCOTTISH Nationalists have “quadrupled” Tory austerity in council budgets, Jeremy Corbyn said on a visit to Glasgow at the weekend.

The Labour leader met volunteers working with foodbanks, toy donation appeals and credit unions in the south-west of the city.

Joined by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard and local Westminster candidate Matt Kerr, Mr Corbyn said only a general election would offer Scots the chance to change society.

“It is a disgrace that people are living on the streets and forced to rely on foodbanks in one of the richest countries in the world,” he said.

Paying tribute to volunteers and charities, the Labour leader stressed that “people should not have to rely on the voluntary sector.”

And he said the cuts inflicted by the SNP government on council budgets went even further than the funding constraints imposed by Westminster.

“The SNP government has not just passed on Tory austerity, it has quadrupled it for local councils,” Mr Corbyn said. “And this week's budget will mean another £230 million in cuts that will hit local services the people of Scotland rely on.

“There is a clear choice between more austerity or a Labour government that will put an end to austerity and build a country for the many, not the few."

Meanwhile, a row erupted after the Herald on Sunday newspaper reported that Scottish Labour’s membership fell from 25,836 in January 2018 to 21,162 last month.

SNP MP Kirsty Blackman claimed that it showed Labour was “on the path to terminal decline and total irrelevance in Scotland.”

However, the higher number was recorded shortly after last year’s Scottish Labour leadership election. It is understood that large numbers of people signed up to join the party but subsequently did not renew after leftwinger Richard Leonard won the contest.