Nationalist ministers are misleading the public over their deliberately misleading response to Lord Adonis's announcement this morning, said Tom Harris, MP for Glasgow South.

"They're claiming they welcome the new direct services on the East Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Leeds and Sheffield.

"Yet, they're also claiming they're still pushing for the continuation of direct Glasgow-King's Cross services, despite the fact - undisputed by transport minister Stewart Stevenson - that it is not physically possible to provide both services to the North East of England and the existing services to London.

"Stewart Stevenson understands the pressure on both rolling stock and capacity on the ECML makes his demands unrealistic.  I can only conclude, therefore, that he is trying to play politics with the railways."