Brown: I will save the union

GORDON Brown last night revealed he was placing himself at the heart of Labour's Holyrood election campaign, declaring it was his "duty" to save the Union from the SNP.

In an exclusive interview with Scotland on Sunday, Brown pledged to spend the six weeks before polling day "explaining and exposing" the Nationalists' "disastrous" plans.

The Chancellor ruled out any plans to give more power to the Scottish Parliament saying it was not necessary.

Instead, Brown - now almost certain to become Prime Minister later this year - revealed he wanted to create a deeper partnership between England and Scotland than ever before.

Brown's salvo comes with the Scottish Parliament preparing to dissolve on Thursday, to make way for what is widely expected to be the most keenly fought campaign in its short history. Election day is set for May 3.

Current polls show the SNP are as much as six points ahead of Labour, and within touching distance of their dream of power. With the Nationalists in the ascendency, Labour campaign insiders say they fear voters in several key seats are already slipping from their grasp to the SNP. The seats include Glasgow Govan, seen as a key 'bellwether' constituency, and the scene of previous famous Nationalist victories.

But Brown said he would now be focusing on slashing the SNP's lead. In the interview, he said:

"I think I have got a duty over to tell people about both the benefits that the Scottish economy can have in the future if we can focus our attention on education and on science and innovation, as against the problems and the difficulties we would have with the disastrous policies of the SNP."

He added: "I feel very strongly that anything that puts the hard-earned prosperity of the Scottish economy at risk has got to be explained and exposed."

Brown's status as Labour leader-in-waiting was confirmed last night after Leader of the Commons Jack Straw wrote to Labour MPs to inform them that he would be leading Brown's campaign once Tony Blair finally leaves Downing Street.

In his letter to the MPs, Straw declares that Brown is "supremely well qualified" to lead the nation. He added: "It will be a personal pleasure for me to help ensure Gordon Brown becomes the next Prime Minister."

Over the coming weeks, Brown is expected to give several keynote speeches throughout the campaign, including one alongside former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The Chancellor conceded the Natonalists had been hard to pin down so far in the campaign. He said: "It takes time for the argument to become clear because the SNP don't want to talk about independence. The SNP want to avoid difficult questions."

He also claimed his increased role did not mean he was to take over the campaign. He insisted that Jack McConnell was "the leader of the campaign". However, he then set out the party's plans to oppose more powers for Holyrood. He said: "The issue for the parliament and the election manifesto of the Labour Party is how existing powers are better and best used."

He went on: "What Labour is looking to is greater partnership between the devolved parliament and the UK government."

A spokesman for the SNP said: "The SNP welcome Gordon Brown's involvement in the Scottish election - particularly now that his Budget has bombed as people realise that taxes are actually going up, and it becomes clear that it will hit low-paid workers in Scotland particularly hard. It also just confirms that Labour don't think Jack McConnell is up to the job of running his own campaign."

He added: "Brown is also making a big mistake in rejecting from on high more powers for the Scottish Parliament. In so doing, he is painting Labour into a corner backed by only 12% of people in Scotland, and rejecting the consensus for more powers supported by 70% of Scots."