Responding to Labour's bizarre claims on the East Coast Main line SNP MP John Mason said: "Labour have been caught totally unawares.  London has pulled the rug from their campaign in Glasgow North East. They have been reduced to bluster in the face of the news that a key service from London to Glasgow is being axed by their government.

"It is clear from today's reports that there will no longer be a service from Glasgow Central to King's Cross on the timetable.  That is a disgrace and a sign of Labour's real attitude toward Glasgow.

"The London Labour Government would have happily kept this scrapping of the Glasgow to King's Cross route quiet until after the by-election.  They have been rumbled and their campaign has been de-railed.

"This kind of deception is typical of Labour's campaign and Labour's attitude to Glasgow North East."