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| Blair focusing on Holyrood poll | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Prime Minister Tony Blair is due to visit Scotland in the hope of helping Labour see off the challenge of the SNP in the forthcoming Holyrood elections. | Prime Minister Tony Blair is due to visit Scotland in the hope of helping Labour see off the challenge of the SNP in the forthcoming Holyrood elections. |
| He is expected to meet campaigners and activists in Glasgow with First Minister Jack McConnell. | He is expected to meet campaigners and activists in Glasgow with First Minister Jack McConnell. |
| Mr Blair last visited in November, when he warned of a constitutional nightmare if the SNP win power in May. | Mr Blair last visited in November, when he warned of a constitutional nightmare if the SNP win power in May. |
| SNP leader Alex Salmond is expected to describe the prime minister as an asset to the Nationalist campaign. | SNP leader Alex Salmond is expected to describe the prime minister as an asset to the Nationalist campaign. |
| Mr Salmond will describe him as "boomerang Blair". | |
| 'Fantastic benefit' | |
| Mr Blair told the Herald newspaper: "What I am more interested in doing, instead of explaining the disbenefits of separation, is to try to get across the fantastic benefit of being together. | |
| "If you take the financial service sector to give one example, there is no doubt Scotland is one of the leading centres of financial services in Europe. | |
| "We can't ignore the fact that the SNP's raison d'etre is separation but actually I would prefer to focus on the strength we get, economically, socially, in terms of investment, in terms of what we can do on issues like poverty and social justice because we are together." | |
| A Labour spokesman said the Scottish campaign visit was by "the most electorally successful leader the Labour Party has had - three elections in a row and the party on course for a fourth under its next leader". | |
| He added that Mr Blair would set out the "positive" case to vote Labour. | He added that Mr Blair would set out the "positive" case to vote Labour. |