First Minister John Swinney has described Conservative criticism of Sir Keir Starmer's desire to carve out family time as "disgusting."

Speaking to journalists, the SNP leader said Rishi Sunak's party had "lost a lot of sense of decency about what they're saying about people."

The Labour leader - whose wife Victoria is Jewish and observes traditional Shabbat dinners on Friday nights - has a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter.

READ MORE: Labour defends Starmer's 6pm Friday cut-off amid Tory criticism

On Monday, Sir Keir told Virgin Radio: “We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after six o’clock, pretty well come what may.”

“There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.”

The comments led to attacks from a string of senior Tories.

Mr Sunak told reporters: "I haven't finished at six ever."

He said being in Number 10 “entails sacrifice.”

While at late night rally on Tuesday, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson joked with supporters that it was “way past Keir Starmer’s bedtime”.

Mr Swinney told The Herald: "I think this is probably one of the most disgusting things I've heard of the many disgusting things I've heard the Conservative party going on about.

"I can only speak personally, I spend time with my family. I make time for my family. I don't have a rigid routine but there are certain things that we do as a family which take our time.

"But, and my family can testify to this, if something happens, I've got to deal with it. And I'm available to deal with it. And I'm sure Sir Keir Starmer will be available to deal with it.

"So the Conservatives... this is just one of the many reasons why I think they've just lost a lot of sense of decency about what they're saying about people."

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Asked how important it was to him as First Minister and SNP leader to have that family time, Mr Swinney said: "Crucial."

He added: "I couldn't function effectively without feeling that I was doing justice to my family relationship.

"If you're a politician that works 24 hours a day and there's nothing else in your life, I don't think you're a very good politician.

"Because there are times where you need to take stock, you need to be with your family and that balance is critical to every one of us. It's critical to me, I'm going to make no apology for it.

"But as I say, and my family could testify to this, we've had lots of holidays that have been cancelled. Well, actually, this is one of them. We should have been on leave this week, but we're not because of the election.

"So things happen. You have to change your plans. But you've got to understand that you've got to balance it out other times." 

The First Minister was accompanied by his teenage son Matthew during the visit the Scottish Power Training Station in Cumbernauld.

It is the first stop in a tour of key battlegrounds ahead of tomorrow's election.

The SNP has been bolstered by a new poll putting them ahead of Labour in Scotland. However, the concentration of Labour voters in the central belt could still see Anas Sarwar's party win the most seats.

Meanwhile, one of Rishi Sunak’s most loyal Cabinet allies has admitted that Labour is likely to win “the largest majority any party has ever achieved”.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I have accepted that where the polls are at the moment – and it seems highly unlikely that they are very, very wrong, because they’ve been consistently in the same place for some time – that we are therefore tomorrow highly likely to be in a situation where we have the largest majority that any party has ever achieved.”

Ex-home secretary Suella Braverman, a potential contender for the Tory leadership if Mr Sunak quits, has also written off her party's chances.

She wrote in the Telegraph: “One needs to read the writing on the wall: it’s over, and we need to prepare for the reality and frustration of opposition.”

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At his first event of the day on a whistlestop tour of Wales, Scotland and England, Sir Keir said the Tory warnings of Labour winning an unprecedented majority amounted to “voter suppression.”

“It’s trying to get people to stay at home rather than to go out and vote,” he said.

“I say, if you want change, you have to vote for it. I want people to be part of the change.”