SNP says it will work to benefit all UK

The Scottish National party has used the launch of its election manifesto to sell itself as a "positive and constructive" national force that will use its expected influence in the next parliament to bring "progressive change" across the UK.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said that while her call for higher taxes, increased government spending and an end to nuclear weapons was "first and foremost" aimed at Scottish voters, it "has real relevance and can bring real benefits to the whole of the UK".

"I'm not seeking to impose policies on anyone," she said. "I want to seek to build common cause with people of like mind across the UK."

Ms Sturgeon appeared anxious to calm fears raised mostly by the Conservatives but also by Labour about the power the nationalists could wield in Westminster. Polls show the SNP may win more than 50 of the 59 seats in Scotland, with Labour losing virtually all of its 41 seats.

SNP MPs will not be going to Westminster to "be destructive or disruptive" or "bring down governments and block budgets", she said, but seek "positive and sensible change".

The tightness of the race, in which both Labour and the Conservatives are within a few percentage points of each other, "sends a strong message that neither is offering what the people want", Ms Sturgeon said, as a way to justify pushing her party's policies on a national stage.

The manifesto, entitled Stronger for Scotland and launched at a rock climbing centre in Edinburgh, redefines the party's goal to "full financial responsibility" and seeks to ward off worries of a budget crunch by making clear the priority is for more targeted devolution of powers.

Ms Sturgeon said that while she wanted Scotland to become an independent country, she stressed: "This election is not about independence.

"For as long as Scotland remains part of the Westminster system we have a shared interest in making that system work for the many not the few. It's right that those with the broadest shoulders pay a little more."

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The manifesto promises to end austerity, support a reinstatement of the 50p income tax band, introduce a tax on bankers and a mansion tax, and provide £24bn more for the National Health Service by 2020.

Ms Sturgeon insisted that despite the nationalists' spending plans, the deficit and national debt would still fall every year of the next parliament.

The SNP will also vote against any measure to renew the UK's Trident nuclear weapons programme, which is based in Scotland, to cut university fees in England and to increase government departmental spending by 0.5 per cent above inflation.

The Conservative party tweeted it was appropriate that the SNP launched its manifesto at a rock climbing centre because "it wants to push the country over the edge".

Labour also attacked the nationalists, saying: "The SNP want to break up our country. Labour wants to make our country work for working people."

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