Ex-Scotland footballer Murdo MacLeod backs Tories

Murdo MacLeod is lending his support to the Conservatives

Former Celtic and Scotland football player Murdo MacLeod has given his backing to the Conservative Party.

Mr MacLeod said it was time to give the Tories "a kick of the ball" as the SNP and Liberal Democrats would not get Labour out of power.

Elsewhere, the SNP leadership team was in constituencies across Scotland.

Lib Dem treasury spokesman Vince Cable visited Aberdeen and Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy was in Edinburgh to unveil Labour's latest campaign poster.

Mr MacLeod joined the Tory campaign in Argyll and Bute, saying: "It's time we gave the Conservatives a kick at the ball. Labour have had their chance over the last 13 years and they've run out of puff and have no new ideas.

"The best thing we can do is to vote for the Conservatives to give Britain a fresh start. The only way of getting a new government is to vote for the Conservatives.

"The Lib Dems and the SNP can't get Labour out of power. A vote for them will risk another five years of Labour and we don't need that."

Campaigning is continuing in the wake of BBC Scotland's main election debate programme, which was held in Edinburgh on Sunday evening.

The poster of David Cameron was unveiled by Labour

The Liberal Democrat's Mr Cable spoke with business leaders and students in Aberdeen to discuss economic concerns.

He said: "The concerns I heard today echo those I have heard across the country. Banks are not lending to viable small businesses.

"The banks in public ownership should be lending, to stimulate the economy. Liberal Democrats have the vision and the economic plan to steer Aberdeen and the whole country through these turbulent times."

For the Tories, Ms Goldie was campaigning in Argyll and Bute.

SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has started a whistle-stop tour of key seats in Dundee, Aberdeen, Ochil and Falkirk, while his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, has been visiting constituencies in the west of Scotland.

Vince Cable was in Aberdeen and Alex Salmond began his key seats tour

On Monday, Mr Salmond told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that his party could balance the budget.

He said: "Over the last two years we have had a programme of 2% efficiency savings, that has worked, it has been proven. That has improved frontline services in Scotland.

"What we have to do with the Westminster black hole, of course, is use the same programme which has been established to be part of the contribution to closing that black hole, along with the cuts in things that don't matter - like Trident missiles - so that we can concentrate on the things that do matter, like health and education, to every family."

Undecided voters

In Edinburgh, Mr Murphy unveiled Labour's latest poster, an image of Tory leader David Cameron laughing beside the statement: "If you don't stop him no one will."

He said: "Many people in Scotland are afraid, they're very afraid of a Tory government.

"We don't want to go back to the old Tory divisions of the 1980s. Scotland's worked too hard to go back to those days of a government that couldn't care less about the poor or didn't do much to support families."

And he added: "I think we can still win this. There's still a huge number of undecided voters across the whole of the country."