Holyrood: Partnership with London under threat?

The SNP has said it is seeking to hold Tony Blair to account for Iraq, but Scottish Labour has warned against ending the current partnership between London and Edinburgh.

Nationalist leader Alex Salmond was on Tuesday urging voters to "make Scotland count" in the final days of the election campaign.

Saying he was seeking the trust of the Scottish people, Salmond said each vote for the SNP would hold the prime minister to account for Iraq and the performance of Scotland's health service.

However, Labour was instead focussing on on its economic record north of the border.

Scotland secretary Alistair Darling and first minister Jack McConnell were visiting the site of a new development in Glasgow.

They were set to argue that the regeneration showed the benefit of "the genuine partnership" between Labour in Holyrood and Westminster.

And Labour was also turning its fire on Michael Howard's party, saying that Labour was making progress in a part of Glasgow left derelict by the Tories.

But dismissing the Tory challenge, the SNP was insisting that only it could "beat Labour across Scotland".

"In these last few days of the campaign, I will be asking the people of Scotland to trust me to win for Scotland. Every vote for the SNP will help me hold Tony Blair to account for the war and Labour for their waiting list failure," said Salmond.

"Each and every SNP vote will add strength to our campaign to win a better deal for pensioners and secure more help for first time buyers.

"Every SNP vote can help save Scotland's regiments and protect us from Labour's nuclear nightmare."