Labour faces 'tough' by-election

The Glasgow East by-election will take place on 24 July Glasgow East candidate profiles

Labour is facing a "hard, tough fight" to keep its seat in the Glasgow East by-election, the party's campaign chief has told BBC Scotland.

Scotland Office Minister David Cairns said he distrusted opinion polls which had given the party a clear lead.

Meanwhile, all parties were campaigning in the constituency before voters go to the polls on Thursday.

The by-election followed the resignation of Labour MP David Marshall, on health grounds.

The party is defending a majority of 13,507 over the SNP.

As campaigning entered its final week, Mr Cairns told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "It's going to be hard and it's going to be tough."

The SNP is still trying to be the criminal's best friend Davena Rankin Tory candidate

The announcement of UK Government plans to get hundreds of thousands of people off benefits and into work is an important issue in Glasgow East, an area where thousands receive incapacity benefit.

The benefit is to be abolished under reforms which aim to simplify the system.

"They (the reforms) will be welcomed by the people who are on incapacity benefit - we know the vast majority of people when they go on to incapacity benefit fully intend to come off it again," said Mr Cairns.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg told BBC Scotland there was a need to strike the right balance in welfare reform.

"I sometimes worry that the rhetoric, at least, is all about trying to look tough to Middle England, if you like, about the benefit system rather than really helping the people who need the help," he said.

'Positive future'

Meanwhile, the SNP highlighted efforts to tackle drug addiction in Glasgow East.

Candidate John Mason and deputy SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon joined players from the Calton Athletic Recovery Group, which supports those with drug and alcohol addiction.

"The SNP is on the side of people in Glasgow East and Calton Athletic is one of the great projects in this area that is giving people in the east end a new start and a positive future," said Mr Mason.

Senior Conservatives aimed to bolster their campaign by sending shadow chancellor George Osborne, shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve and former party chairman Theresa May to the area.

Scottish party leader Annabel Goldie and candidate Davena Rankin accused the SNP of creating a "soft touch Scotland" and wanted to send thousands of prisoners into communities.

Ms Rankin said: "Here, in Glasgow East, the SNP is still trying to be the criminal's best friend. They advocate community sentences instead of jail, extending home detention curfews to allow even earlier release.

"They cannot come here and masquerade as being tough on crime."