Nicola Sturgeon accused by Scottish Labour of 'stealing' Margaret Thatcher's 1979 campaign slogan

Labour said the move echoed Alex Salmond's stance that Scots actually 'didn't mind' Thatcherite economics

The SNP has been attacked by Labour before for supposed tax-cutting and free market-friendly policies (REUTERS/Russell Cheyne)

Nicola Sturgeon has dismissed criticism that she is running a campaign on catchphrases taken directly from Margaret Thatcher.

The First Minister of Scotland was attacked by the Scottish Labour Party for launching adverts with the slogan "Don't just hope for a better Scotland, vote for one", accompanied by a picture of her face.

Similar posters were put up by the Conservatives during the party's 1979 election campaign, showing Mrs Thatcher's face accompanied by an almost identical catchphrase.

"Don't just hope for a better life. Vote for one," was the wording for the Iron Lady's campaign that saw the biggest swing from Labour to Conservatives among voters since 1945.

Ms Sturgeon has dismissed the accusation by Labour as "desperate" (Scottish National Party)

But Ms Sturgeon said the accusation that she was copying lines from her ideological nemesis was "desperate".

"If Labour are saying that is just shows beyond doubt how desperate Labour are," she said.

"We're fighting a positive campaign, full of hope and optimism the future of Scotland."

Alex Rowley, the Scottish Labour deputy leader and campaign director, implied that Ms Sturgeon and the SNP were moving away from their left-wing commitments.

"We knew the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon had ditched the left-wing rhetoric, but we didn't expect them to start stealing Thatcher's lines.

"Maybe Alex Salmond's view that Scots 'didn't mind' Margaret Thatcher's economic policy is alive and well in the SNP."

The slogan during an election campaign that saw Mrs Thatcher gain thousands of seats from Labour

The former leader of the SNP said back in 2008 that that Scots "didn't mind the economic side [of Lady Thatcher] so much. But we didn't like the social side at all."

He was responding to criticism that the SNP had adopted a more free-market, tax-cutting agenda, as his successor continues to do from Labour now.

The next Scottish election is on May 5 2016 with official campaigning underway since 24 March this year.

Additional reporting from the Press Association