Jim Murphy says Ashcroft poll “bad news for Scottish Labour but great news for the Tories”

As we covered last night, yesterday’s Ashcroft polling showed Labour doing extremely badly in Scotland.

Of the five Labour seats polled north of the border, Ashcroft showed the party losing all but one – Jim Murphy’s seat East Renfrewshire. And the Scottish leader is only ahead by one point.

Ashcroft also found Labour losing Kirkcaldy – the seat from which Gordon Brown is stepping down in May – where Labour were 50 points ahead of the SNP in 2010.

In response to this, Scottish Labour Leader Jim Murphy has admitted that “there is no gloss that can be put on these polls”, going on to say that “This is bad news for Scottish Labour but great news for the Tories.”

He explained how if this polling is anything to go by, the way people in Scotland vote, could help Cameron back into Downing Street:

“David Cameron will be rubbing his hands with glee when he sees these polls, because any seat the SNP take from Scottish Labour makes it more likely the Tories will be the largest party across the UK.

“It is a simple fact that in every election since before the Second World War the largest party has gone on to form the government. In May’s election the biggest party will be either Labour or the Tories. This election is too close to call with Labour and the Tories running neck and neck. This poll makes clear that only Labour is big enough and strong enough to beat the Tories across the UK.

“We need to do everything we can to stop the Tories being the largest party, and the way to do that is to vote for Scottish Labour.

“We can’t let David Cameron back into Downing Street by the back door. That would be a disaster for Scotland, but it looks like that is what might happen if these polls in Scotland are repeated on election day.”