NICOLA STURGEON DELIVERS CONFERENCE SPEECH
SNP Depute Leader Nicola Sturgeon MSP has delivered her keynote address
to the Scottish National Party Conference in Perth. Ms Sturgeon said
that it was time to persuade the people of Scotland that the SNP
represents the change people want – for themselves, for their families
and for Scotland.
She said:
"Fellow nationalists,
201 days from now, we have the chance – our best chance ever - to
realise the dream of generations of nationalists who have gone before
us.
A chance to win government.
And from there to persuade our fellow Scots to choose an independent
future.
We have every reason to have a spring in our steps.
The SNP offers a positive and exciting alternative to a Labour
government that has had its time.
And that is why we are going to win.
The polls show that our leader, Alex Salmond, is the nation's choice for
First Minister.
A Sunday newspaper recently asked people how they rated Alex against Mr
McConnell.
The findings came as no surprise to any of us.
They think Alex is stronger, more likeable and intelligent, more in
touch, more honest and has better ideas than Jack McConnell.
Apparently, they'd also trust him more with their wallets.
But we should give credit where it's due. It wasn't all bad news for Mr
McConnell. He did beat Alex in one category.
It seems the Scottish people think Jack McConnell is more conceited than
Alex Salmond.
And, let's be frank - that takes some doing.
Delegates, Scotland needs a strong leader.
And Alex Salmond will be a First Minister this country can be proud of.
The polls are good. Very good.
But we know that polls don't decide elections.
It is real contests that count.
Like the one two weeks ago in Fife.
An election won for the SNP by John Beare with a massive 30% swing from
Labour.
What a result that was.
And it's only the start.
Because next May, Tricia Marwick will deliver another victory in Central
Fife when she wins the Scottish Parliament seat from Labour too.
Delegates,
Some people – even now - say Gordon Brown will be the saviour of Labour
in Scotland.
Well, I say, bring him on.
Because what that victory in Fife tells us, what all the by election
victories all over Scotland have told us, is this.
It's not just Tony Blair that people are fed up with.
They are sick of what he represents.
The let downs, the lies, the broken promises, the corruption of the cash
for peerages scandal.
That's what people are scunnered with.
And Gordon Brown has been part of all of it.
He has never urged a different path. Not once.
Not on the war in Iraq – which he funded. Not on Trident. Not on nuclear
power.
And, make no mistake, just like Blair, Brown will be Bush's poodle,
lapping obediently at his heels.
So, no, it's not just Tony Blair.
What people the length and breadth of Scotland are fed up with can be
summed up in just one word.
Labour.
Scotland has had enough of Labour.
And, next May, it is up to us to give the Scottish people the confidence
to kick them out of office.
Delegates,
There is nothing more frustrating than sitting on the opposition benches
in Holyrood.
Knowing what needs to be done but not able to do it.
I'm proud of what we have achieved in opposition.
Holding the government to account when they get it wrong.
And providing some backbone when they fail to stand up for Scottish
values on dawn raids, on rendition flights, and on the war in Iraq.
But being a good opposition also means finding opportunities to make a
positive difference.
We have done that too.
The ban on smoking in public places. It would never have happened
without the perseverance of Stewart Maxwell.
Bringing business rates into line with England. Our policy, derided by
Labour…until they nicked it.
And free personal care for the elderly. It was our motion that forced
Labour into a U-turn.
Just as it will be our government that makes sure free personal care is
delivered to those who need it, when they need it.
Yes, we have made a difference in opposition.
But it is only in government that we can really begin to change our
country for the better.
So for every one of the next 201 days our job is to demonstrate, in our
words and in our actions, that we are ready to govern.
To show that we have policies that will make a real difference to
people's lives;
That we will provide leadership the country can trust;
To show that we have a vision for Scotland that will let us compete with
the best in the world.
Not with one hand tied behind our back, but on an equal footing as a
fully independent nation.
The manifesto we present to the country next year will be right for
Scotland and the challenges we face.
It will be ambitious but realistic.
We won't promise what we can't deliver.
Money spent on one priority can't be spent again on another.
We have shown already that we can and will take tough decisions.
We have made it clear that we will not waste money on an expensive and
ill-conceived plan for an Edinburgh rail link.
We faced flak for that decision.
But there is no doubt that it is the right one.
Because it is only by making the hard choices that we will have the
money to spend on what we think matters most to people in Scotland.
And I can promise today that the SNP in government will make the hard
choices for Scotland's priorities.
We have taken great time and care over the last few months in shaping a
policy programme with a purpose.
That purpose is to help individuals achieve the same independence in
their lives as we aspire to for our country.
That must start with education.
Our government will provide more nursery education because we know that
what happens in the first few years of a child's life is vital to their
future prospects.
So I can announce today that we will increase the provision of free
nursery education for all 3 and 4 year olds by 50% - an extra 200 hours
every year - making a real difference to children and families.
We will also work with parents and teachers to help our education system
adapt to the challenges of the 21st century.
Jack McConnell has made two major statements about education in the last
two weeks.
The first was that our education system fails young people who struggle
academically.
The second – just last Sunday – was that our education system fails
young people who do well academically.
It makes you wonder what on earth Labour has been doing for the last ten
years.
The truth, of course, is that Scotland has a good education system.
But it must be even better and work for all our children.
We must stretch every child to the limits of their academic ability.
But schools must also prepare children for the practical challenges of
the modern economy.
Science, IT, modern languages and vocational skills must be at the heart
of the school curriculum.
And getting to university should depend on your ability to learn not on
your ability to pay.
Free education was pioneered here in Scotland. We should be proud to
defend it.
I am proud that our government will get rid of graduate debt.
We are right to do so.
Right for graduates setting out in life and right for an economy that
depends so much on their talent and innovation.
I am proud too that our government will reinstate grants and abolish
tuition fees – front door, back door, any door.
Let there be no doubt: our government will make education free again.
We will also keep life-saving health services local.
Let us never forget that it is patients who pay the price of the
centralisation of hospital services.
That's not just my view. It is the expert opinion of the Academy of
Medical Royal Colleges in a report just this week.
They call it "distance decay", a rather clinical term to describe the
effect on patients of having to travel too far to hospital.
The message to be drawn from that report could not be clearer or more
serious.
The closure of local accident & emergency departments in Ayr and in
Monklands will put lives at risk.
That is not acceptable to the SNP and it is why our government will keep
them open.
We will also give a helping hand to small businesses because their
success is vital to our economy.
Our commitment to abolish business rates for 120,000 small businesses
shows that we are on their side.
I know from people around the country struggling to survive on the High
Street against the might of the supermarket that it will make a real
difference.
It will help some of our small businesses become the major enterprises
of tomorrow.
And it proves that, unlike Labour, we don't just say that economic
growth is our number 1 priority.
We have the ideas and the will to make it happen.
Delegates,
One of the key policy battlegrounds next May will be local taxation.
Labour and the Tories are stuck in the past. They cling to the
discredited Council Tax.
No matter how they dress it up, they can't hide the reality.
Council Tax has increased by 60% since 1997. Four times the rate of
inflation.
Council Tax is deeply unfair.
It hits hardest those who can least afford to pay it.
The SNP has a fair alternative.
Our government will abolish the council tax and introduce in its place a
local income tax based on the ability to pay.
Over half a million pensioners will pay nothing and most will pay less.
But today I can announce that we will go further.
We will give councils the funding to cut local tax across the board.
And we will guarantee that the benefit is passed directly to taxpayers,
by putting a ceiling on the level of local income tax.
Be in no doubt: our government will deliver fairness for local taxpayers
AND we will put a stop to the local tax hikes that Scotland
has suffered for far too long under Labour.
Delegates,
I believe we have the policies that are right for Scotland.
But a government is more, much more, than the sum of its policies.
It is the voice of the nation.
Judged by that standard, Jack McConnell's government has failed
Scotland.
This week a report told us that more than 600,000 people have died in
Iraq.
The number of deaths has increased year on year since the illegal
invasion in 2003.
Even the head of the army now says that our continued presence there is
making matters worse, not better.
Surely it is time for Scotland to have a First Minister who will raise
his voice and say enough is enough.
A First Minister who will speak for this nation and say, loudly and
clearly, bring our troops home.
Of course, if Tony Blair was telling the truth when he said yesterday
that he agrees with the army chief, he would now be starting a
withdrawal from Iraq.
But he wasn't. It was just another lie to save face.
It is inconceivable that both the head of the army and the prime
minister can now stay in office.
So, faced with a choice of sacking a soldier telling the truth and a
prime minister telling lies, I say it's the prime minister who should
go.
And he should go now.
Delegates,
You might have noticed that I enjoy my weekly jousts with Jack
McConnell.
But I'd enjoy them even more if he'd occasionally – just once in a while
- give a straight answer to a straight question.
I ask him if he thinks Scotland should have new nuclear power stations.
And he says – after long consideration - "Mebbes aye, mebbes naw".
I ask him if he thinks we should spend £25 billion on a new generation
of Trident nuclear weapons – the biggest moral issue of our time.
And he sits on the fence.
Well, let me make it clear.
With the SNP, it will be NO to nuclear power.
NO to wasting £25 billion on weapons of mass destruction.
NO to new nuclear weapons on the Clyde.
Delegates,
There is no doubt that it is time for a government with the will to
speak out and the power to act.
It is time for an independent government.
Independence is the biggest and best idea in Scotland today.
Popular support for it is stronger than ever.
Which makes it all the more absurd that Nicol Stephen says he won't go
into coalition with us unless we ditch our commitment to a referendum.
Well, let me say this to him.
Making promises in an election campaign and then reneging in office –
that's what Liberals do.
The SNP is different.
When we win the election, there will be an independence referendum.
It is not for the Liberals to decide the future of Scotland.
It is for the people of Scotland to decide the future of our country.
And that is what will happen.
Fellow nationalists,
As we move closer to the election, closer to government, our opponents'
attacks on independence will grow.
We must be positive about what we stand for.
When they say Scotland can't be independent, let us point to the success
of Ireland, Norway, Iceland and say with pride that if these countries
can do it, Scotland can too.
After a decade of Labour, there is a now a growing mood for change right
across this nation.
It is up to us – no-one else - to persuade the people of Scotland that
we represent the change they want – for themselves, for their families
and for our country.
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."
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