Red Ed and the politics of panic...

ED Miliband’s promise that, under a Labour government, benefits in Scotland could be higher than those paid south of the Border is desperation dressed up as compassion.

If he becomes Prime Minister next month, Mr Miliband will give MSPs the authority to set welfare rates at Holyrood, which could see payments, such as jobseeker’s allowance, rocket.

Labour strategists claim the plan – which they describe as The Vow Plus – is designed to give Scotland greater influence but the reality is that this is an ill-considered move by a party under relentless pressure from the SNP and terrified of losing the support of Scots voters.

For decades, Labour could depend on returning an army of MPs in Scotland – but poll after poll suggests those days are over and that the Scottish Nationalists will take the lion’s share of the popular vote.

Without his friends in the North, Mr Miliband will struggle to achieve a result that might hand him the keys to 10 Downing Street. This proposal – this bribe – is the act of a politician in a panic.

Labour purports to be on the side of working families, but giving the Scottish parliament the power to hike benefits would do nothing to encourage people into employment. Instead, it would make life on handouts look more attractive.

Not only is this proposal shameless in its attempt to buy votes, it’s reckless in the division it would cause across the United Kingdom.

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy spent months last year touring Scotland, fighting against the Yes campaign and championing the Union. His was a significant role and everyone who opposes Scottish independence owes him a debt of gratitude for a job well done.

Now Mr Murphy and Mr Miliband stand ready to undermine the UK with a plan that would cause resentment beyond our Border and play into the SNP’s hands.

Mr Miliband is clearly desperate to become Prime Minister – but advancing a policy which could only foster a sense of ‘them and us’ between Scotland and England seems a peculiarly foolish way to go about achieving this aim.