Ed Miliband challenged Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday to “come clean” about the prospect of a £7.6 billion public spending cut in Scotland as a result of the SNP policy of seeking full fiscal autonomy.

The Labour leader said the nationalists’ plan to make Holyrood responsible for all the money it spends would cause “dramatic reductions in public spending” and be a “devasating blow” to working people in Scotland.

Campaigning in Edinburgh, Mr Miliband said: “You can’t build social justice with a £7.6bn funding gap.”