Salmond Says PM Has Humour Failure Over Video

Alex Salmond has accused David Cameron of suffering a "sense of humour bypass" after the Prime Minister tweeted his "shock" over a video featuring the Scottish politician.

Mr Cameron posted a clip of the former SNP leader, who is running to become a Westminster MP, joking in front of activists that it would not be Labour's leader in Scotland, Jim Murphy, writing the party's first budget but him.

The Conservative leader and PM wrote: "This footage will shock you: Alex Salmond laughs & boasts he'll write Labour's budget. Vote Conservative to stop it."

Mr Salmond's joke about the issue does reflect a genuine sentiment - which he has expressed before - that the SNP could hold the balance of power in May.

Stressing that possibility feeds into a Tory strategy to highlight the likelihood of a post-election deal between Ed Miliband's Labour party and the Scottish nationalists, who could win over 50 Parliamentary seats.

Conservatives believe that issuing the warning repeatedly plays well among English voters in key marginal seats. A number of Tory MPs have told Sky News that it is the most powerful message for wooing back people considering UKIP instead of their party.

But political opponents have hit out at the Prime Minister for posting the tweet. Mr Cameron was also caught out insulting the SNP politician after an interview on ITV's This Morning.

Presenter Philip Schofield was introducing a "man who can pinch your wallet, your watch and even your tie without ever noticing". Mr Cameron - still on a microphone - can be heard saying "who's that, Alex Salmond?"

Mr Salmond hit back by accusing the Prime Minister of failing to hold public meetings and instead limiting himself to "carefully stage managed appearances".

He said: "The Tories have been picking Scotland's pocket for years, and have been well and truly rumbled - which is why David Cameron and the rest of the Westminster gang are sinking like a stone in Scotland."

He added that the video was a "light-hearted" dig at Mr Murphy, who he claimed had been slapped down by party bosses at Westminster and been told he wouldn't have a role in the first budget.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "There's me and David Cameron in this campaign.

"I'll let people at home decide this question: Who's really standing up to the SNP and who's talking up the SNP? The Prime Minister is spending his time trying to set one part of the United Kingdom against another. He's trying to stir up English hatred of the Scots and Scottish resentment against the English."

Tory grandees including former Scotland Secretary Lord Forsyth and former party chairman Lord Tebbit have criticised the Conservative leadership for talking up the SNP.

Others came to the Prime Minister's defence. Boris Johnson said: "Many a true word was spoken in jest."

It came after the London mayor laid into the SNP during an interview with Sky News, and former Tory leader John Major said the party was planning to effectively "blackmail" Labour in parliament.