Alex Salmond has said that the public spending outlook for Scotland is the worst it has been since the end of the Second World War.

The First Minister said: "Everything we do in this session of Parliament and every legislative programme for many years to come will be set against that context."

Mr Salmond made the comments as he unveiled a list of 10 bills that will form the SNP’s programme for government over the coming months.

The Scottish Parliament heard plans to crack down on unscrupulous landlords along with a Bill to end double jeopardy - the ancient law that prevents someone being tried twice for the same crime.

Legislation is also planned to keep Scottish Water in public hands and allow it to expand into renewable energy.

But opposition parties seized on the decision to shelve the long-promised referendum on independence. It will still be published this year but not voted on at Holyrood before the election in May.

Labour said the Scottish Government had failed to deliver while the Tories said the programme "reeks of inertia".

The Liberal Democrats said jobs should be at the core of plans while the Greens complained the Nationalists had "fallen short" in office.

Unveiling his programme at Holyrood, the First Minister said: "Now that we face a public sector hurricane, never was the case for independence and financial responsibility more obvious and true.

"For make no mistake: devolution, as we knew it, is over.

"When the money from London, or rather delivered via London, is being cut, then the game has changed, and changed totally."

He called for the Scottish Government to be given the power to raise cash, arguing: "Scotland needs control of its own resources and the ability to grow revenue, rather than just cut expenditure.

"We need control over both sides of the Scottish balance sheet."

Mr Salmond said his Government will submit its Budget Bill within four weeks of the Comprehensive Spending Review at Westminster, which is due to take place on October 20.

The Scottish Water Bill was highlighted in the programme following calls for the utility company to be privatised.

Mr Salmond argued such a move would be "like selling Saudi Arabia's oil reserves on the eve of the invention of the combustion engine".

Further bills cover forced marriages, reservoir safety and housing.

Labour's Holyrood leader, Iain Gray, said his party will propose amendments to the Alcohol Bill - which is already going through Parliament - to end "price-based" alcohol advertising in print media.

He criticised the SNP's record, saying: "This government undoes things. It undid the capital programme of schools and hospitals and transport projects. It is undoing ten years of economic progress. And it has undone every single promise it ever made.

"Increasingly, the First Minister gives the impression of being in office but not in power."

Nail in the coffin

Tory leader Annabel Goldie described the statement as "the final nail in the coffin" for Mr Salmond's political credibility.

She added: "It reeks of inertia, exhaustion, escapism and atrophy."

Ms Goldie also hit out at the SNP administration over "broken promises" on previous pledges to write off student debt, introduce a local income tax, grants for first-time house buyers, class-size reduction and health checks for 40-year-olds.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott accused the SNP of putting party before country, highlighting the "lag" in Scotland's economic growth, low business start-up record and productivity levels.

Mr Scott said: "Mr Salmond has talked the talk, he always does, but there has been no real change, no fundamental move away from a stark record that stretches back too long."

He welcomed moves to "push hard" on renewable energy businesses, attempts to limit the harm caused by alcohol and the decision to shelve plans for a referendum on independence.

Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said: "The decision not to bring the referendum to a vote now means we face yet another SNP campaign about it next year instead of the responsible debate we need about the economy, public services and building a sustainable Scotland.

"When the SNP chose to work as a minority administration they knew they would not see the whole of their agenda passed, but they have nevertheless fallen short in office and failed to come to Parliament with imaginative and practical proposals."