Will the publication of the SNP manifesto stop it losing seats on 4 July? Probably not.

But since the party can’t form the next Westminster government, its manifesto would never be a fully costed set of plans for the whole UK. Instead, it is a mix of policies for running Scotland and demands for higher spending by the likely winners at Westminster. It’s. confusing – like all post-devolution Westminster elections – and unlikely to set the heather alight.

So, manifestos don’t really cut it in Scotland at general election time. Allocating blame for service delivery failures north of the border is the name of the game. Is the fault mainly with Westminster or Holyrood? The SNP is trading on its record in Scotland and the stark contrast with British norms that has been revealed in every leaders’ debate.

While the Tories are proposing more benefits cuts and Labour is noncommittal, the SNP mitigated the bedroom tax out of existence here 10 years ago – few Scots realise it still operates down south. The Tories and Labour will maintain prescription charges for England – they’ve been free here since 2011. The Scottish government resolved all NHS pay claims through negotiation while the British government is still battling junior doctors.

Indeed, many of the big announcements daringly revealed by Westminster rivals during various leaders’ debates are already up and running in Scotland: council house building restarted when the right........

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