Speaking in Edinburgh this morning Salmond called on Brown to “respect Scottish democracy” by withdrawing his statement that “I cannot work with a party that wants the break up of Britain” and urged Tony Blair to apologise for the war in Iraq during his last ever visit to Scotland as Prime Minister.

Salmond said: “Scotland has the opportunity to vote for a new government on Thursday, and it is quite extraordinary for a future Prime Minister Gordon Brown to say that he will not work with an SNP administration, if that is what the people choose.

“In effect, Mr Brown is saying that Scots can have a parliament, but we must always vote Labour – a ridiculous attempt to bully Scotland into doing what he wants, which will backfire badly in these last 48 hours of the campaign. The SNP have made it clear that we will seek a co-operative and constructive relationship with the Westminster government, in the interests of Scotland.

“And to the man who still is Prime Minister, he has one last opportunity while still in office to apologise to Scotland for the war in Iraq. After all of the carnage and chaos, the least he can do is say sorry, which would help to draw a line under this bleak chapter.”

Meanwhile the SNP received a boost from two new supporters - film star Robert Carlyle and former NFUS president John Kinnaird.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Carlyle said he had always been "a Labour man", like his father and grandfather, but was now voting SNP for the first time.

"I'm going to go SNP this time because I've got no confidence left in the Labour Party.  If I can be very, very fair about it, when Tony Blair first arrived I was all for it, he was a breath of fresh air, but I think he's made some monumentally bad decisions and it's time for a change."

Carlyle also said he despaired about the state of the British film industry and criticised the lack of support it received from the government.

Kinnaird said the SNP’s manifesto and in particular its farming manifesto set out a positive vision and policy base for making rural Scotland more successful.
 
"This is about dealing with today's challenges and opportunities as well as building for the future. It is important for our rural industries and the wider Scottish economy that we get the right policies for rural Scotland, because when Scotland's rural communities succeed Scotland as a whole succeeds. Thursday is about electing a Scottish government that will be good for rural Scotland, and is not about independence - that debate can come later."

He added that over the past few years there had been a lack of direction and vision for rural Scotland and rural industries such as farming, fishing, forestry and those supplying food and drink producers.

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