LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer is “planning to take an axe to public services” after the election, according to the SNP.

Think tank the Institute of Fiscal Studies accused both Tories and Labour of a “conspiracy of silence” last week after it calculated that the “fiscal rules” each have committed to could result in £18 billion in cuts to public spending over the lifetime of the next parliament should they be kept.

Writing to the Labour leader, SNP leader John Swinney has now challenged Sir Keir to admit his cuts plans, adding: “Voters have a right to know where the axe would fall under the Labour Party’s plans to impose another decade of cuts.”

Responding, Labour’s shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray accused the SNP of “empty rhetoric and shameless hypocrisy.”

 “The SNP has butchered funding for local government, taking Tory austerity and amplifying it,” he said.

“John Swinney was the architect of austerity for council services across Scotland.

“Our NHS is fighting for survival on their watch, with private healthcare soaring and one in six Scots stuck on a waiting list.

“The SNP has no credibility and no vision.”