LONDON should not be regarded as a “great, big evil thing” but as a source of economic opportunity that must be exploited to the full if Scotland is not going to lose out to England’s burgeoning Northern Powerhouse, a new SNP MP has warned.

Stewart McDonald, one the SNP’s new intake of MPs, said that while his party clearly had many political problems with the London-based Conservative Government, this should not blind it to the fact that the UK capital was a global financial hub, which presented economic opportunities to Scotland, whether it became independent or not.

The backbencher, who represents Glasgow South, said: “We should not look at dealing with London as if it was a boil on the back of our leg; we need to look at it as a source of opportunity”

“We have to look at the new challenge of the Northern Powerhouse and how we deal with the new shift in powers going to places like Manchester and Birmingham; particularly with high-speed rail,” he explained.

The MP suggested some Nationalists viewed London in a very narrow, negative way but he wanted to start a new conversation about how, with growing competition accelerated by increased devolution to England’s northern cities, the economic dynamo that was London could benefit Scotland to help make it a “Scottish Powerhouse”.

He went on: “We’ve always had this thing in Scotland that London is this great, big evil thing but we need to learn how to deal with it. The reason for making the argument for HS2 to start in Scotland as well as London is we need to begin looking at the opportunities this can bring.

“Of course, having this major financial centre less than 400 miles away is a challenge but we need to be asking ourselves what are the opportunities in terms of business and, say, attracting international students to Scotland, as well as professionals, who might want to live and establish families in Scotland.”

Mr McDonald said the conversation about Scotland’s relationship with London had to involve a wide range of people from industrialists, trade unionists, business leaders as well as politicians so that it could generate the ideas to make Scotland more competitive with England.

“We have talented people in Scotland; we have a good skills base in Glasgow. It would be a real shame if we were to miss out on investment in such things as science, research and the financial sector because of the growth in England’s Northern Powerhouse and if we miss out on high-speed rail connections to London. These things really matter in terms of connecting your economy up.”

The MP, a member of the Commons Transport Committee, said creating a Scottish Powerhouse not only involved gaining enhanced Smith-plus powers for Scotland but also ensuring HS2 not only began its life in England but Scotland too.

“The UK Government has to get its act together to ensure there is high-speed capacity across the whole of Britain; we’re so far behind Spain, France and the America, countries that understand the benefits of high-speed rail. We should not be scared of learning lessons from the continent or the wider world."

He added: “At the moment, we are running a 21st century economy with a Victorian rail infrastructure; it needs to change and Scotland cannot miss out. HS2 cannot simply be an infrastructure project for England; it should start from Scotland so that Scots get the full benefits too.”

Yesterday, Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, was in north west England, promoting the UK Government’s Northern Powerhouse strategy.

In March 2014, Alex Salmond famously described London as the “dark star”, which had a tendency to suck in talent and money from other parts of the UK; what was needed, he argued was a “Northern Light” to rebalance the “economic centre of gravity of these islands".

But Mr McDonald fears that if Scotland does not exploit the opportunity offered by the financial hub of London, then the Northern Light will not be the likes of Glasgow or Edinburgh but Manchester and Birmingham.

Last month in the City of London, Nicola Sturgeon also took a different tack from her predecessor. The First Minister argued that the UK capital should be “embraced” and that Scotland should use its proximity to it as a “selling point” to attract more investment.

ENDS