SNP leader John Swinney has accused Labour and Tory parties of “concealing” cuts plans amid a “conspiracy of silence” on economic policy.

The First Minister, who presided over swingeing cuts to public service budgets leading to more than 20,000 jobs lost from Scotland’s public sector during his nine-year tenure as finance secretary, used a campaign speech in Glasgow today to take aim at the spending plans of both parties.

Referring to a recent report by the economic think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which not only claimed that Labour and Tory spending plans could lead to “sharp” cuts after the election, but argued the parties were “avoiding the reality” of the situation, Mr Swinney said the economy would be the “defining issue of the election.”