By Karim Adel El-Sayed

ANKARA

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today program on Wednesday, Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy warned Scots against voting for the separatist Scottish National Party.

The U.K. general election campaign, which officially kicked off two days ago, has heated up - not least in Scotland where Labour are under severe pressure from the SNP.

“David Cameron can’t win seats in Scotland,” Murphy claimed. “So he needs someone else to win seats for him in Scotland and beat Labour for him.”

“The SNP are playing the role of David Cameron’s little helpers,” he added. 

The center-right Conservative Party only have one seat in Scotland, which has historically seen solid support for the center-left Labour Party.

The left-wing SNP have seen a surge in support following their defeat in the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014. 

The Labour Party and both the Conservative and Liberal Democrats parties campaigned against Scottish independence.

The Conservative and Liberal Democrats parties entered into a coalition five years ago after the 2010 general election resulted in a hung parliament.

An ICM poll conducted for the liberal-left Guardian newspaper on March 26, 2015 suggested the real possibility of electoral annihilation for Labour in its Scottish heartland.

The poll gave the SNP 43 percent and Labour trailed 16 points behind with 27 percent.

If correct, the SNP would take 43 of Scotland’s 59 seats, up from six seats in 2010.

Labour would lose 29 of the 41 seats it won in 2010, leaving it with only 12 Scottish seats and likely unable to form a majority government.

The U.K. general election will take place on May 7, 2015.