LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE..

With the Tories in meltdown and the SNP still finding their feet under John Swinney, Sir Keir Starmer looks destined to march into Downing Street, but he is braced for one of the most brutal campaigns in British history. Political Editor Paul Hutcheon examines the key issues that will determine this historic election

-  Paul Hutcheon

COST OF LIVING CRISIS

LIVING standards will be the top issue for voters and also the subject the Tories will want to talk about the least during the campaign.

Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss was responsible for a budget of such disastrous proportions that it affected nearly every Scot.

Her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's reckless proposals for tax cuts for the rich spooked the markets and sent the economy into a tailspin.

Those crazy plans, even though they were dumped, sent interest rates spiralling and mortgage payments soaring.

The mini-budget also put rocket fuel under inflation, with Scots feeling the pinch every time they went to the supermarket.

Sunak will boast that inflation has come down on his watch but previous price rises are already baked in.

June's campaign will be a reckoning for this economic carnage.

The Tories used to fight elections believing the economy was their strongest suit. Now it is an issue they run from.

Labour's strategy will be to contrast the chaos of the Tory years with promises of renewal and growth.

The economy is Sunak's Achilles' heel.

CRUMBLING PUBLIC SERVICES

SOME Labour strategists believe the election will be a referendum on the Tory stewardship of crumbling public services.

Millions of people across the UK are languishing on NHS waiting lists, councils have been starved of resources and the justice system is on its knees.

But with public services devolved to Holyrood, the Westminster poll is also likely to raise tough questions about the performance of the SNP government.

Although Swinney is now in charge, he inherits a situation where patients are struggling to get appointments with their GP and enduring horrible waits in A&E.

The CalMac ferry scandal continues to rumble on and Holyrood's world-leading climate targets have been ditched.