General Election campaigning was less than 24 hours old when the first angry exchanges were heard in the marginal Ochil and South Perthshire constituency.
A spat erupted between Labour and SNP rivals after a trip to the Highland Spring plant in Blackford.
Among those visiting was Labour’s Holyrood leader Iain Gray, who claimed his party will bring “at least” 100,000 skilled jobs to Scotland if Gordon Brown is returned to power. He was joined by the Labour candidate, Gordon Banks.
However, they were accused of having “brass necks” by SNP candidate Annabelle Ewing.
She claimed Labour has put thousands of Scots jobs at risk and warned of stringent cuts if the party wins on May 6.
Mr Gray and Mr Banks insisted the extra 100,000 skilled jobs would be delivered over the next five years and claimed further construction jobs and apprenticeships could also be delivered “with the right policies.”
It forms part of Labour’s plan to secure Scotland’s economic recovery.
Mr Gray criticised Alex Salmond and his SNP party, insisting his leadership north of the border had caused a devastating economic “slump.”
“Labour will bring at least 100,000 skilled jobs to Scotland by building a high-tech economy,” he said.
“That is our promise to the people of Scotland in the face of the ‘Salmond Slump’ which has cost 30,000 jobs.”
Mr Banks added, “Businesses like Highland Spring are growing in strength as a global brand and show that Scotland can thrive with the right help to secure the recovery.”
Ms Ewing, who needs a swing of just a few hundred votes to secure the seat, said, “Labour’s Scottish puppet has a real brass neck coming to Blackford to talk about jobs after the state his party has left the economy in.
“Iain Gray and his group in the Scottish Parliament voted against the Small Business Bonus which has saved thousands of pounds for small business across South Perthshire and Ochil while Labour’s Chancellor has already conceded he would cut ‘tougher and deeper’ than Thatcher if re-elected.”