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SCOTTISH Labour are set to turn up the heat on the SNP by tearing apart some of their main policies.

They will tell the Nationalists it’s time to get real, insisting the fight to lift people out of poverty is more important than free university places and free care for the elderly.

Deputy leader Anas Sarwar MP says there is no point funding free care for the elderly when half the people in the poorest parts of Scotland do not live long enough to take advantage.

In a major speech on Monday, the Glasgow Central MP will also argue that few kids in his constituency will gain enough qualifications to get to the gates of university and benefit from free tuition fees.

Sarwar will claim the referendum debate that dominates Scottish politics is far removed from the needs of the majority of voters.

And he will deliver a stark challenge to the SNP and his own party to get over the “disconnect between politicians and the reality of life” and focus on making Scotland a more equal society with the powers already available to Holyrood.

Sarwar will say: “We live in a country where today, the only growth industry is inequality. Not a place where whatever your background, whatever your circumstances, opportunities, rights and responsibilities are shared evenly.

“Men and women living in the most deprived areas have life expectancies almost 20 years less than those in better off areas.

“Yet we focus on providing free care for the elderly when, for so many people, statistically speaking, living long enough to qualify for free personal care will be hard.”

Sarwar will challenge the SNP’s relentless focus on free tuition fees.

He’ll tell an audience at Gorbals Parish Church in Glasgow: “The fact is that in 2011, only 50 young people from Scotland’s poorest areas got five As at higher Level. In 2011, only 220 pupils, or just 2.5 per cent, of pupils from the poorest areas got three As at higher.”

He will accuse the SNP of repeating a health mantra of “free prescriptions for all” while ignoring the need to break the cycle of deprivation.

“Children, through their circumstances at birth, already have their life mapped out – poorer health, poorer education outcomes, reduced social opportunities, higher rates of alcoholism, addiction and mental illness,” Sarwar will say.

“So while Alex Salmond plays politics by talking about the right to a free education being written in to a Scottish Constitution, by his own actions now in failing to tackle inequalities he is actively denying thousands of young people access to something he says is a right.”

His comments will re-ignite the debate on spending priorities at Holyrood as budgets get tighter over the next five years. When Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont made a speech questioning free services in Scotland last year, she was attacked by the SNP for setting up a “cuts commission”.

Labour are now attempting to regain the momentum of having an “honest” conversation with voters.

The move follows a report by a Glasgow University think tank warning that Holyrood ministers will face stark choices of cutting NHS spending or a 30 per cent cut in funding for services provided free.

The economists said the worst of the spending cuts were being delayed until after the 2104 referendum on independence.

Research, including the Record’s Priorities poll this week, show that independence is only an important issue for one in four voters and more than 70 per cent are more worried about the cost of living, health and education.

These are themes Sarwar is clearly picking up on. He will challenge the SNP, demanding: “Use the powers you have to do the job you were elected to do.”

Sarwar will also quote the recent anti-poverty research of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Their report said: “With the political debate dominated by the referendum on independence, it’s important to point out that the issues that are central to tackling poverty – such as health, childcare, schools and housing – fall within current legislative powers of the Scottish Government.

“The problems highlighted cannot wait; action can and should be taken now.”