John Swinney is spreading “misinformation and lies” about Labour’s spending plans, Anas Sarwar has said, as he disputed SNP attacks on his party’s manifesto.

The Scottish Labour leader said new spending powers his party is proposing for the Scotland Office would be used to help the most deprived communities north of the border.

A newspaper report has suggested Ian Murray, currently Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary, would have a £150m “war chest” from what is currently levelling up funding.

The SNP has repeatedly accused Labour and the Conservatives of seeking to usher in austerity, claiming both parties are refusing to level with the public that £18bn of spending cuts are required.

First Minister Swinney and Sarwar had a heated exchange on the issue during a BBC Scotland election debate earlier in the week.

Sarwar said the Labour manifesto explicitly rules out austerity.

He was asked about the issue while campaigning on Thursday in North Berwick, East Lothian, with Labour candidate – and former UK government minister – Douglas Alexander.

Asked about the First Minister’s comments, Sarwar said: “John Swinney continues to spread misinformation and lies to the public because it’s a desperate politician desperately trying to find a message and desperately trying to make himself relevant in this election campaign.”

A record number of people are running to be an MP in this election.

It's also the first election that will use the UK's new constituency boundaries.

Scotland has been using the same map since 2005 but this election will see the creation of new constituencies while many others will be changed.

If you're not sure which constituency you now live in or would like to find out the candidates running in your area you can visit the Electoral Commission's site here and use their candidate look-up tool.

Scotland is losing two of its seats at Westminster this election following a boundary review across the UK.

The nation will return 57 MPs after the July 4 ballot - two fewer than before.

It's not just the number of MPs that's changing though.

The vast majority of constituencies in Scotland will change, incorporating new areas, shrinking or expanding.

Some constituencies, such as Glasgow Central, will be completely abolished.

You can read more about the changes here.

Tax hikes and spending increases within the Labour manifesto are “trivial” and do not address cuts already faced by buckling public services, economic experts have said.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), suggested that delivering “genuine change” in Britain – Keir Starmer’s flagship promise to voters – would require more funding than the policy document proposes.

Johnson said some of Labour’s plans were better than “a shopping list of half-baked policy announcements” – an apparent reference to the Tories’ offering – but warned it would need to put “actual resources on the table”.

“And Labour’s manifesto offers no indication that there is a plan for where the money would come from to finance this,” he said.

In a response to Starmer's launch of the policy document on Thursday, the IFS director said: “This was not a manifesto for those looking for big numbers. The public service spending increases promised in the costings table are tiny, going on trivial – the tax rises, beyond the inevitable reduced tax avoidance, even more trivial.

“On current forecasts, and especially with an extra £17.5bn borrowing over five years to fund the green prosperity plan, this leaves literally no room – within the fiscal rule that Labour has signed up to – for any more spending than planned by the current government, and those plans do involve cuts both to investment spending and to spending on unprotected public services.”

Scotland will benefit from an extra £320m if Labour wins the general election, according to the party's manifesto.

In the fine print of the fiscal planning section, it says Scotland will receive £320m in Barnett consequentials.

That's because when new cash is spent in England, Scotland receives additional funds under a process known as the Barnett formula.

The Labour manifesto restates its opposition to Scottish independence but says it will take a different approach to devolution than the current Tory government. 

"We will protect and respect devolution and reset relations between governments," it says.

"Labour will strengthen Scottish democracy and devolution, championing Scotland at home and abroad. We will ensure the devolution settlement for Scotland enables collaboration on Labour’s national missions for government. We will maintain the arrangements in the new Scottish fiscal framework."

The manifesto pledges a more collaborative approach to working with the Scottish Government.

It signals a change of tact from the current government, as relations between Holyrood and Westminster become increasingly strained.

The Labour manifesto says: "In respect to wholly devolved issues, Labour will support the Scottish Government to partner with international bodies where relevant and appropriate, for example, to collaborate on global health initiatives. The UK Government will retain full responsibility over foreign policy."

In a swipe at the Tories, the party says that under a Labour government the Scotland Office "will once again become an advocate for Scotland, both at home and abroad".

Keir Starmer launched Labour's manifesto on Thursday as he put "wealth creation" front and centre.

But, unlike the Conservatives' more policy-heavy manifesto, there were no big revelations from the Labour leader.

Removing the VAT exemption for private schools or setting up a Great British Energy company have already been core parts of the campaign.

But to recap, here's a list of the main policies in Labour 2024 manifesto:

• Private schools to pay VAT 
• Publicly-owned Great British Energy headquartered in Scotland
• Windfall tax on oil and gas firms
• Decarbonise electrcity supplies by 2030 - five years before current targets
• No rises in VAT, income tax or national insurance
• Change tax rules around non-doms
• Raise £5bn by tackling tax avoidance
• Overhaul of workers' rights that includes banning zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire contracts and better sick pay
• Give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote
• Reduce immigration
• Scrap Rwanda policy and use money to set up a new border security command
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP
• Remove right of hereditary peers to vote in the House of Lords
• Set up £7.3bn national wealth fund

Most of Labour's big manifesto pledges will only apply to England, with health, social care and education being devolved.

However, extra cash south of the border would result in more money for Holyrood due to the Barnett formula.

Starmer has said he would provide an extra two million NHS England operations, scans and appintments within the first year of a Labour government.

He has also promised another 700,000 dental appointments south of the border.

And on education, he said he would recruit 6,500 teachers in England alongside free breakfast clubs in primary schools.

Keir Starmer said Labour had a plan to turn the country around after 14 years of Tory “chaos” but cautioned that there would be “no quick fix” if he is handed the keys to No 10 by voters on July 4.

Launching a manifesto which contained no new policy announcements, Starmer denied he was being overly cautious in his efforts to put his party back in power for the first time since 2010.

Repeatedly stressing how he had changed Labour since taking over from Jeremy Corbyn, he said he was now offering a “serious plan for the future of our country”.

The manifesto focused on a goal of generating economic growth and making Labour the “party of wealth creation”.

But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Labour plan would result in “the highest taxes in history”.

Starmer warned that there was no “magic wand” and the problems an incoming Labour administration would inherit will not “disappear overnight”.

He said: “We must rebuild our country. It will not be easy. Not only because there is no quick fix to the mess the Conservatives have made.

“But also, because their failures have sapped our collective confidence that Britain can still achieve great things.”

He rejected that defeatism, insisting that there was a brighter future: “A new Britain, where wealth is created in every community.”

The Scottish Conservatives have backed a campaign by the private nursery sector.

Speaking on a visit to a nursery in North Lanarkshire on Thursday, the party’s deputy leader Meghan Gallacher called for an end to “disparity” of funding through the Scottish Government’s provision of 1,140 hours of free childcare per year.

Operators in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) nursery sector have long complained of issues with staffing due to higher wages available at council-run facilities, with local authority nurseries receiving more funding for their part in the childcare expansion.

During her visit, Ms Gallacher pledged her party’s support for the 2020 Together group and said it will match the UK Conservative commitment to provide 30 hours of free childcare per week for youngsters under nine months.

A video produced by the campaign claims private staff are paid up to £4 less per hour than those in local authority-run facilities due to “significantly more” money going to the council services.

Ben McLeish, the owner and managing director of Almond Park Nursery in Musselburgh, East Lothian, said: “We’re receiving about half the money that a public sector organisation receives to provide the same service, using staff with the same qualifications, the same experiences.”

Martin Elliot, the owner of Cairellot Nursery in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, said children at his facility would be “valued 50% less than if they attend a local authority nursery”, adding that money should be distributed “equally and fairly” to every child which would then allow PVI providers to match council nurseries.

Ms Gallacher said nurseries in Scotland are “struggling”.

She added: “As a mother myself, I am acutely aware of the pressures facing families when it comes to childcare costs, and the need for reliable nursery providers in their local area.

“I have repeatedly heard from private, voluntary and independent nursery providers that they are not being treated equally when it comes to the SNP’s flagship free childcare scheme.

“Many of these providers have been forced out of business and others have been pushed to the brink.

“This funding disparity must end. We are fully committed to expanding free childcare further and would match the UK Government’s commitment to roll out 30 hours of free childcare per week from nine months.

“However, that will not be possible if the SNP don’t start engaging with private, voluntary and independent providers and listen to their concerns.

“Scotland’s nursery sector should be cherished, but is being neglected by a SNP Government who have repeatedly failed to back up their warm words on childcare.”

Communities near renewable energy installations must benefit from the power they produce, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have said.

The party’s candidate for Edinburgh West, Christine Jardine, said large energy suppliers must sell the power generated by wind farms directly to customers nearby, with money also going to community benefit funds.

On Thursday, she visited Aikengall Community Wind Farm in East Lothian, which provides a community benefit of £120,000 per year.

The Lib Dems say they would empower local authorities to develop local renewable electricity projects.

Ms Jardine said: “Scotland’s renewable energy is incredible, but people living locally need to get the full benefit of these opportunities.

“At the moment, any contribution from developers to the community is voluntary.

“The wholesale price of electricity has soared but the benefits for the communities have not, with little of that windfall actually trickling down to those who have the downside of living near wind farms.

“Liberal Democrat proposals would see communities getting the financial help they need to bring down fuel bills for locals, build more affordable homes, fund things like local swimming pools, playgrounds and community halls.

“Our approach would put communities at the very heart of Scotland’s bright renewable energy future.”

A full list of candidates for Edinburgh West is - 

• Labour, Michael Davidson

• Independent, David Henry

• Independent, Nick Hornig

• Scottish National Party, Euan Hyslop

• Reform UK, Otto Inglis

• Liberal Democrat, Christine Jardine

• Scottish Libertarian Party, Tam Laird

• Green, James Puchowski

• Conservative, Alastair Shields