SPEECH BY NICOLA STURGEON MSP
SNP SPRING CONFERENCE, MARCH 17TH
 "Fellow
nationalists, Welcome to Govan.
Welcome to the seat I am going to win from Labour.
We meet here in Glasgow as a sign of our party's commitment to this
great city.
Glasgow is a city on the up.
Modern, vibrant, diverse.
It is the city that an SNP government will support 100% in its bid to
host the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
And it is the city that will elect, in our own Bashir Ahmad, Scotland's
first ever Asian MSP.
Delegates,
As we meet here in Glasgow, we have every reason to have a spring in our
steps.
We are ahead in the polls.
We are winning the argument.
And every day, more and more people are rallying to our cause.
Yesterday, we had a visit from Tony Blair.
Now, I have to admit that he's not our biggest fan.
But, delegates, he sure is winning us votes, so let's hope he keeps
coming back.
Yesterday, Mr Blair was publishing his latest dodgy dossier and
spreading the usual fears and smears about the SNP.
But he wasn't the only person speaking out yesterday.
Sir George Mathewson, former head of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a man
who knows a thing or two about business - he also had something to say.
He said independence would be good for Scotland.
And, unlike Tony Blair, he CAN be trusted to tell the truth.
Delegates, Successful Scots want a successful Scotland.
George Mathewson, Tom Farmer and, now, today, Brian Souter.
They believe in us because we believe in success for Scotland.
And that's why they are backing Scotland's party.
We offer a positive and exciting alternative to a Labour government
that has had its time.
And, on the 3rd of May, we ARE going to win.
We will win because we have listened.
Listened to the concerns of people in all parts of our country.
We share their anger over the illegal war in Iraq.
And we agree it is time to bring our troops home – and bring them home
now.
We have heard people's fears about the centralisation of our NHS.
And we believe it is time to keep vital health services local.
We despair at the folly of a decision to spend £25 billion on new
Trident submarines.
And we say loudly and clearly here today that with the SNP it will be NO
to new weapons of mass destruction on the Clyde.
Delegates,
We are Scotland's party and we are on Scotland's side.
As Labour descends deeper into the mire of negative campaigning, we
offer new ideas, fresh thinking and real ambition for our country.
The better we do, the more hysterical Labour's attacks become.
And that is the best evidence of all that we are winning the election.
I'll let you into a secret. I don't mind when Labour attacks the SNP.
Because after the lies about Iraq and the corruption of cash for
honours, no-one believes a word they say.
But I do mind – I mind very much – when Labour's talks Scotland down.
And they've been doing a lot of that lately.
Ask yourself what other government anywhere in the world would spend
vast amounts of time trying to prove that, on their watch, their country
had amassed a huge economic deficit and was incapable of running its own
affairs?
And then offer that as a reason to vote for them.
But the joke's on them.
If Labour was right and a huge economic deficit is really what Scotland
had to show for 10 years of Labour government and 300 years of the
union;
Then isn't about time that we got rid of Labour and won back our
country's independence?
Delegates,
Today, there is a great divide in Scottish politics.
A divide between a Labour Party that wants to engender fear and an SNP
that will build confidence.
A Labour Party that highlights failure and an SNP that will nurture
success.
A Labour Party stuck in the past and an SNP looking to the future.
A Labour Party that preaches dependence and an SNP that believes in
independence.
Delegates,
We offer a vision of a better Scotland.
New hope for our country.
Opportunity for all.
We believe that Scotland can match the success of other small,
independent nations like Ireland, Iceland and Norway.
We believe that our society can be fairer, our nation healthier and our
communities safer.
These are our aspirations for Scotland.
We want Scottish families to have more money in their pockets, with
lower local taxes and more and better paid jobs as we deliver higher and
sustainable economic growth.
We are positive about Scotland because we believe in Scotland.
Fellow nationalists,
For this election, we have shaped a policy programme to be proud of.
It will give people the help they need to achieve independence in their
lives.
We want to build a Scotland where every child gets the best start in
life. So we will increase nursery education and cut class sizes in our
primary schools.
We want patients to be treated as human beings not as faceless
statistics. A new Patients Rights Act will give every patient an
individual waiting time guarantee based on need.
And we want fairness for local taxpayers.
The council tax is deeply unfair.
And it hits hardest those who can least afford to pay it.
We want people to pay less. We want half a million pensioners to pay
nothing.
That's why our government will abolish the council tax and introduce in
its place a local tax based on ability to pay.
That's the right thing to do. That's the fair thing to do.
Delegates, Scotland faces some big challenges in the years ahead.
One of these is the fight against drugs.
Representing this city, I see all too often the damage and destruction
that drugs do.
I see too many young people lured by peer pressure, by dealers and often
just by ignorance, into the nightmare of drug addiction.
And I see the heartache and the despair that brings to families and to
communities.
I believe we should be tougher – much tougher - on drug dealers. They
are vile people making a living out of the misery of others.
But I also believe that prevention is as important as cure.
A recent survey showed that 50% of teachers don't feel equipped to
educate our young people about the dangers of drugs.
It's no wonder. A couple of years ago, Labour removed all ring-fenced
funding for drugs education.
I can announce today that an SNP government will restore it.
We will allocate £10m of dedicated funding for drugs education in our
schools.
It will help train teachers and it will equip our young people with the
knowledge they need to combat the scourge of drugs.
Delegates,
Tackling the menace of drugs is a national challenge.
Tackling climate change is our global challenge.
Scotland has a huge part to play in meeting it.
We have the technology and the natural resources to be a world leader in
renewable and clean energy.
Each and every one of us can change our own behaviour to help safeguard
our planet
Scotland's government can and must lead by example.
An SNP government will introduce a Climate Change Bill with binding
annual targets for carbon reduction.
And I can announce today that we will pioneer an innovative carbon
offset scheme.
It will require us to assess the carbon footprint of every policy and
look to offset it elsewhere.
So our commitment to a new Forth road crossing will go hand in hand with
increased investment in our railways.
Real, concerted action to put Scotland at the forefront of meeting the
climate change challenge.
Delegates,
Our government will also put Scotland on the map.
Today we wish Ireland a Happy St Patrick's Day.
Of course, for Ireland, St Patrick's Day is about much more than
sentiment.
The St Patrick's Day celebrations generate 100m euros for the Irish
economy every year.
And they project an image of Ireland right across the globe.
I don't know about you but I think it is time we had a full public
holiday in Scotland to mark our national day.
A real national holiday to celebrate St Andrew's Day.
Delegates,
Putting Scotland on the map is not just about who we are. It's also
about what we do.
As we meet here in Glasgow's fabulous science centre, let's remember our
proud tradition as a nation of innovators.
The telephone and the television, penicillin and the thermometer, the
steam engine and the pneumatic tyre, the Bank of England and the
overdraft – well, I didn't say it was all good.
The list is endless.
It's time to rekindle that spirit of innovation and invention.
The next generation of Alexander Graham Bells and John Logie Bairds is
out there.
It's up to us to find and support them.
But, today, the number of postgraduate science students in our
universities is falling.
One of the main reasons is massive and growing student debt.
We want graduates to be free to make decisions about the future without
the burden of debt.
So we will restore grants, abolish tuition fees and meet the debt
repayments of all Scottish graduates working in Scotland.
Delegates, mark my words, with the SNP, education will be free again.
Fellow nationalists,
There is no doubt that on the 3rd of May, the Scottish people have a
real choice about the future of our country.
A choice of governments, a choice of policies and a choice of leaders.
Each week I sit across from Mr McConnell at First Minister's Questions –
yes, I know what you are thinking, it's a tough job but someone has to
do it.
But each week I think how much better, how much stronger and how much
more effective an SNP government led by Alex Salmond would be.
May's election is about choosing the best government for Scotland.
It is about choosing a team of ministers who will lead Scotland forward
with confidence into the second decade of the 21st century and stand up
for our national interest.
No-one will ever relegate SNP ministers to a side room in Brussels when
vital Scottish interests are at stake.
But this election is also about leadership.
In Alex Salmond we have a leader Scotland can be proud of.
More and more Scots are giving their support to the SNP – many for the
first time – because in Alex Salmond we have a man of ideas, energy and
conviction.
A First Minister in waiting.
On May 3, the first vote will decide who is First Minister.
It is an important decision.
So I can confirm today that our regional candidates in that first vote
will stand under the banner of Alex Salmond for First Minister.
Delegates,
Alex Salmond is the right choice and on the 3rd of May he will be the
people's choice as First Minister of Scotland.
Delegates,
You will have heard some discussion lately about our policy to let the
Scottish people decide their own future in an independence referendum.
It seems the other parties aren't too keen.
I've never understood why they won't trust the judgment of the people of
Scotland.
But let me tell you a story that might throw some light on it.
Over the last few weeks, pupils at Kelso High School in the Borders have
been involved in a project to mark the 300th anniversary of the Treaty
of Union.
They decided, first of all, to declare independence. Then they
interviewed people from the EU and the UN, and studied what independence
would mean for Scotland. And finally, when they were all much more
informed, they had a referendum to decide if they wanted to stay
independent.
They even got John Curtice down to do some opinion polls. And the polls
were really close. A third of the pupils said they were undecided.
But when the referendum took place earlier this week they voted by a
margin of 3 to 1 to stay independent.
So I say, well done, Kelso High.
Now, you might ask, what does that have to do with the real Scottish
election?
Well, these young people are Scotland's future.
And the reason our opponents don't want a referendum is that they know
they are losing the argument about Scotland's future.
The fears and smears don't work any more because people in Scotland are
growing more confident.
And they want the right to decide their future.
So, let me make it clear.
An SNP government, in our 4 year term of office, will take the decision
on independence out of the grip of politicians and put it firmly where
it belongs – in the hands of the Scottish people.
And we will bow to no party that seeks to deny the people of Scotland
the right to choose.
Friends,
There is a quotation on the wall of the Scottish Parliament that has
been catching my eye rather a lot lately.
It is by Alasdair Gray.
It says:
"Work as if you are living in the early days of a better nation."
Delegates,
We are living in the early days of a better nation.
After ten years of Labour there is a growing mood for change right
across this country.
And in the next 47 days, it is up to us – each and every one of us – to
work like we have never worked before.
To persuade the Scottish people that we have the vision and the ideas to
build a Scotland to be proud of.
It is up to us to say with confidence and conviction that it IS time.
Time for Scotland.
Time for freedom.
Time for the SNP.
Fellow nationalists,
More than anything it is time to WIN.
So let's go out and do it."
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