THE SNP was accused of “childish scaremongering” last night after it used a 26-year-old study to claim that Labour intends to turn Scotland into a nuclear dumping ground.

Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, had claimed that 22 of 33 sites being considered as nuclear dumps are in Scotland and accused Labour of making Scots pay for its “nuclear madness”.

The SNP cited as evidence a new report from the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), which has been asked by ministers to look at options for the disposal of Britain’s nuclear waste.

However, CoRWM denied that finding locations for the dumps was part of its remit and said there had been no discussion about where the waste should go.

“We are not making any recommendations on sites,” said a spokesman. “Our final report will be handed to the governments in July 2006.”

Later it emerged that the SNP’s list of 22 possible sites in Scotland was based on a 1979 study by the Institute of Geological Sciences. o Jack McConnell has been branded “a liability” by some of his own senior party colleagues who believe he wrecked Labour’s Scottish election manifesto launch.

The first minister forced the party to mount a damage limitation exercise last week when he struggled to explain at the launch in Edinburgh why NHS waiting time targets could be twice as long in Scotland as in England. The gaffe overshadowed an otherwise smooth launch led by Alistair Darling, the Scottish secretary.

McConnell’s performance has dismayed Labour ministers and infuriated some MPs who say it is hampering their election prospects. oCharles Kennedy’s promise that the Lib Dems would abolish tuition fees in England caused severe embarrassment yesterday for Jim Wallace, leader of the Scottish Lib Dems and deputy first minister in the Scottish executive.

Wallace was forced to admit that Kennedy’s manifesto commitment would leave Scottish students £2,000 worse off than their English counterparts.

The Lib-Lab coalition in Edinburgh abolished upfront tuition fees during the first term of the Scottish parliament. But Labour insisted every student must instead pay a one-off endowment of £2,000, payable on graduation towards a system of grants for poorer students.

Charles Kennedy’s manifesto for the May 5 election promises fees would be scrapped in England and no additional payment would be required from English students. Wallace yesterday admitted he was unable to give a commitment that a Kennedy government at Westminster would mean the scrapping of the endowment payment in Scotland.

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