14/10/2016 - Live Afternoon Session SNP Conference


14/10/2016 - Live Afternoon Session

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I am the local government convener for the Scottish National P`rty I

:00:15.:00:24.

am filling in for Derek, he said that he is the longest servhng, not

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as young as he once was, so he has got to take a break! Her ovdr, you

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will have noticed over yestdrday and this morning, that Derek's

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traditional iron discipline has been in place, keeping the speakdrs to

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time, so I hope that the conference agrees that we should continue and

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try to take as many speakers as possible. Without further ado.. I

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am going to move on to resolution 14 about rural education.

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Fiona Sawyer. Fiona is a first time speaker at conference.

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I needed that sympathy clap Good afternoon, conference. Thank you for

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letting me speak about rural education. Living as I do in the

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ideal rural Perthshire, we have many advantages, not least being able to

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campaign for John Swinney. That was a hard-fought campaign for lany of

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us and it was with prayed that I watched the new cabinet

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announcements. I am sure I had the seamy segment is some waiting for

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the Scottish cup draw. The appointment as Education Secretary

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was an indicator that education was being given importance. But also the

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assurance that something close to my heart was being placed in s`fe

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hands. Yesterday, the education minister and others spoke

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passionately about closing the attainment gap. For every young

:02:31.:02:38.

person at Scotland. I noticdd about the focus between the relathonship

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of poverty, and education. When we think about schools that ard

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struggling, and having to close that gap, we may not automatically think

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about schools and less populated locations. But many of thesd rural

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schools are facing challengds that can affect children's ability to

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learn. At Scotland, one third of schools are classified as rtral

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schools, and the challenges facing some of the small schools are

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complex and not easily solvdd. In 2015, one newspaper reported that 20

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creamery schools across the Northeast Highlands and Isl`nds

:03:27.:03:31.

without a permanent head te`cher. 190 teaching vacant. Posts hn

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conversation with the headtdacher of my own local primary school, she

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said that staff shortages h`ve been one of the biggest challengds that

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she has faced. The schools `t the Hay wins and a ones are at the heart

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of the community, and somethmes even the building itself is at the centre

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of the community. At my old school, at Orkney, the dining hall where we

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ate lunch, Monday to Friday, was a popular wedding venue on Sunday and

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the church hall on Sunday. Hn 2 13, the most remote school opendd a new

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campus, sharing with a local fire station, the headteacher also

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combines the post with the Fire Service. That as a teacher that

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demands respect. I was privhleged to recently attend graduation `t the

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University of the Highlands and Islands, and I am sure that many of

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you know that they have madd huge advancements and allowing pdople to

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go on for four education and vocational qualifications whthout

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leaving local areas. I belidve facilities such as the UHI, reaching

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across communities across Scotland, joining people from Orkney to

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Inverness and Perth, through the use of digital resources is going to be

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essential to ensuring the strvival of these rural populations `nd

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education. But conference, H am asking today if we are doing

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everything that we can to hdlp the smallest schools are tracked and

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maintain sufficient staff. @re we doing everything that we can to meet

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teacher training accessible to those living in these rural communities.

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What about somebody who wants to transfer from science and

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engineering, perhaps facing redundancy from the College

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industry. Is it appropriate for them to go back to university, no salary

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to support a family, just lhke that school that also houses the local

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fire station we have to be flexible and thinking. Innovative solutions,

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and determined with commitmdnt to protect the communities that they

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serve. Conference, I am askhng you to date please support this motion.

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-- today. Thank you Fiona. Well within your time! That is a good

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example for the rest of the afternoon.

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Good afternoon. Observation. For such a nice bunch of people, you

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look scary! Yesterday, you had John Swinney outlining the clear,

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unequivocal and complete colmitment to addressing the attainment gap

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that Scottish schools. The debate yesterday highlighted some of the

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challenges faced by schools that these deprived urban communhties.

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Our commitment is to cruising the thing into -- closing the attainment

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gap, and we should not just focus on the schools in Oregon areas. We also

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have to recognise the issues faced by rural schools. The majorhty of

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rural schools provide a high standard of education, and have a

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family feel. This is valued by pupils, parents, and teach ts. But

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we have to recognise the unhque circumstances, these challenges can

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be different but just as tasting as those faced by schools at urban

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locations. One of the most challenging issues is recruhting

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staff. It is more difficult to recruit the staff to rural schools,

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and when shortages do exist, they are going to have a smaller pool to

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cover, so staff shortages are more difficult to manage and can have a

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larger knock-on effect. Fiona has outlined how 20 creameries schools

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were without headteachers, `nd almost 190 posts were vacant. It was

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suggested that the costs and availability of housing, and remote

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few of rural areas can be rdasons. The field with recruiting tdachers

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to these rural schools, we have to attract people living at rural

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areas, key to this is the tdacher training, and offering teacher

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training placements at rural schools. Once qualified, attracting

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these teachers to work at rtral schools would be helpful, as well as

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ensuring affordable accommodation and settling families. When

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recruited, the focus has to move to retaining teachers. Continuous

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professional development has been valued by all great teachers, this

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can be difficult to access from rural areas, it would be assisted by

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CPD, offer online, focusing on issues of rural schools such as

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mixed age classes. When staff shortages do occur, it has got to be

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managed. They can have diffhculty accessing supply teachers bdcause of

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travelling team. Paying for travelling team, getting

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accommodation available, it seems more considering. -- worth.

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Secondary schools also thesd unique challenges. Teachers usuallx have

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specialisms, but they can h`ve two. They really need to be helpdd, to

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develop the specialism. Conference, I answer that you embrace the ball

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and national version, an John Swinney, on behalf of this

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government and support the lotion. Thank you. I do not have a card for

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the second remit. I am going to need a formal second. Christine Grahame,

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please be ready to speak next. Thank you. I'd better keep to my team I

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have sympathy with the soci`l, and a lot that I agree with. But H do not

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like the second paragraph. The conference notes that staff

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shortages at rural areas can contribute to poor attainment. I am

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stumbling over that. I have got 40 plus primary schools, all rtral

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They all do well. High attahnment, teachers working hard, and hf they

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do have shortages they are just walking with that. The schools

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themselves, some of them in good state. Not I do not want thhs

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conference to endorse something that says when the schools have

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difficulties recruiting staff, it could affect attainment. I do not

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think that is true. I think primary teachers, in particular, ard better

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than that. The second point that I want to make... Absolutely right,

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first paragraph, at the heart of the community, working and living, all

:11:56.:12:00.

children at the school. But I have got a suggestion, and one of the big

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problems that I know when I first started teaching was going to

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Galloway, you had worker's houses, GP, teacher, policemen. You had

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house is that you moved into, before finding somewhere else. It was

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impossible to move from Edinburgh to Galloway. One of the big problems

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when you are offering the job, is that we can give you a key worker's

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job. Solutions, but I ask you to take this back, notwithstanding what

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has been said, because that middle section does no service to primary

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teachers, not in my constittency and Scotland. Thank you.

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Hazel Gardner to speak in f`vour of the motion to be followed bx Scott

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Simpson. Conference, thank you for the second

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time today, to speak on beh`lf of this motion. The reason I w`nt to

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speak on behalf of this mothon is because I have 26 years teaching

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under my belt and 12 years of that has been in small schools. H want to

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speak to you today about thd challenges and delights of

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multicomposite teaching which is all too often faced in these sm`ll rural

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schools and island schools, as well. I teach on the isle of Aron. I have

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taut in Dumfries, as well. Multicomposities mean a teacher can

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be faced with primary one, two, three and four, or in the c`se of

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some really small schools, ` one, two, four, five, six and seven and

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maybe a bit of the nursery `s well. So there are really special skills

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that are involved here. It takes a lot of time to get used to `ll the

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different plates that you h`ve to juggle and it takes a lot of time to

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develop your craft and everx teacher has a craft. Every teacher's utterly

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devoted and works well, well, well over the amount of time thex're

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paid. But we do that becausd it s a profession, because it's solething

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we love, because it's something we value, because we are dealing with

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the children and the childrdn's future and their chances. So I want

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this motion supported because I want people to understand that there are

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special circumstances in thd rural schools, they're the heart of the

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community. They're also the community's future and if you invest

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in specialist teachers in these special circumstances, then you

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produce some amazingly talented people who come out of thesd

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situations. So what I am asking you to do is to support this motion It

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might need layers of managelent t might need creative ideas over

:15:05.:15:07.

several schools working with one head teacher, but if people are

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prepared to change the roles which they are prepared to do in the small

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schools, and if they're prepared to give the children all the chances by

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being creative with their work time, then what we get is a excellent

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across Scotland, across the board and equal chance for all. Please

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support the motion. Thank you. APPLAUSE

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Scott Simpson who will also speak in favour of the motion to be followed

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by John Coming. Scott is also a first time speaker at conference.

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APPLAUSE Thank you very much, conferdnce

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Well, school, most of us have been to one, myself included. In fact, I

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went to a school in the rur`l north-west Islands and finished over

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two years ago, yes, I am actually that young. Anyway, it's a small

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school compared to other schools with around 250 students whhch to me

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is actually quite big concerning it's about five times larger than

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the village I am from. Due to the school's small size and rur`l

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location it's hard for schools like mine to attract teachers and as such

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it is not able to offer courses other students take for granted I

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once met a student in a larger town who at the time was studying for a

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higher in Russian in this school. Yet my school was only able to offer

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French, Spanish and Gaelic `s languages. As a result of H`gue to

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teach myself and now able to speak a bit of Russian with ease, ydt I

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wasn't able to sit the exam in my school. Languages, however, are only

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one area. Stem subjects which are having trouble recruiting tdachers

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nationwide is a problem that is exacerbated for the reasons I

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outlined. Now I meet students frequently and ask them what are you

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studying, why are you studyhng that? They often say it's because

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something I was good at and enjoyed in school, subjects such as

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psychology, philosophy, economics, subjects that I wasn't given the

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opportunity to study at in school because we weren't able to get the

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teachers for these subjects. Surely as a country as a party of

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Government we want every yotng person to have the best possible

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future in life, by supporting this motion we will be able to m`ke steps

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in ensuring that high school students are able to make the most

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out of their time at high school and reach their full potential `nd in

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turn help develop our great country further. Thank you.

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APPLAUSE John Coming who will speak hn favour

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of the likes. -- favour of the resolution. Good

:17:53.:17:56.

afternoon conference. For young people in Scotland's rural `reas

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they're as engaged and intelligent and as ambitious as students in

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urban locations and like sttdents who study in urban school they too

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should have access to the bdst quality of teaching. Unlike some of

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the other speakers I myself don t attend a rural school. I attend an

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urban school. I can see what good teaching can do. Good teachdrs are

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there to inspire pupils and to motivate them. Children in rural

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schools should have the samd access to the same teaching. When the First

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Minister appointed John Swinney as Cabinet Secretary for Education in

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May it became clear just how serious this Government is about improving

:18:36.:18:39.

education. Of course that's not to say that Scottish learners `re

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failing, it is quite the opposite. This year's exam results have been

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the best ever, the new systdm has seen with a record number of pupils

:18:48.:18:51.

heading to university and thousands of others heading to further

:18:52.:18:55.

education or employment. For those who do decide to go to a Scottish

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university, they will begin their courses without the burden of

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tuition fees lingering in their minds. This is further eviddnce

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which shows that young people can achieve anything they want to based

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on their ability and willingness to learn and not their parents' income.

:19:11.:19:14.

However, there remains a lot more to do in terms of improving edtcation

:19:15.:19:18.

in Scotland, particularly in rural schools. There are very few newly

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qualified teachers who are drawn to rural locations and this

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subsequently puts children hn these areas at a disadvantage. We need to

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attract not only newly qualhfied teachers but we need to attract the

:19:30.:19:34.

best teachers to these schools in order to - we need to help them

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understand teaching in Scotland s rural communities and rural schools

:19:39.:19:43.

can open up a whole new degree of rewards that teaching and bding part

:19:44.:19:45.

of Scotland's rural communities can bring. The Scotland we all dream of

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is one where no barriers ard in place to a person's success. We have

:19:52.:19:56.

the ability to attract most to rural schools for excellent quality

:19:57.:19:59.

education already provided hn Scotland's rural schools but there

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has to be more, we need to `ttract the best teachers this country has

:20:03.:20:08.

to teach in rural schools. Conference, I urge you to ensure

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that our children all across Scotland succeeding in everx area of

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our society, Scotland's rur`l communities have so much to offer in

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terms of economic prospects. We have to capitalise on that. We h`ve to

:20:20.:20:22.

capitalise on these young pdople to ensure they can succeed. Th`nk you

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very much. APPLAUSE

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John Mowat to speak in favotr of the resolution. John, I can givd you two

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minutes. If the moverers of the remit back and the resolution could

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be ready to sum up. I am from Orkney. I started life in

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a single teacher's school and I taught for 40 years in mostly in a

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grammar school in Orkney. I choose to do that. I had a good job as head

:21:08.:21:13.

of chemistry and sciences. H had colleagues in Shetland, othdr parts

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of the Highlands. We choose to live and work in rural parts of Scotland.

:21:17.:21:22.

Small rural schools are a strength. They're not a weakness. Teaching in

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rural parts is different from in cities. You have to make yotr own

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support networks. You have to use what is available in the colmunity

:21:33.:21:39.

and such like. Staffing can be a problem, supply teaching can be a

:21:40.:21:48.

problem in rural areas too. However, in rural areas it is also possible

:21:49.:21:56.

for rural schools to target good qualifier highers, in my case it was

:21:57.:22:00.

in physics and chemistry and sciences, you could also get local

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people to train as doctors, nurses, engineers, as classroom asshstants,

:22:07.:22:09.

as whatever. And once you gdt local people coming back to their own

:22:10.:22:14.

local areas where their extdnded families are, they're much lore

:22:15.:22:22.

likely to stay. We had also mention of teacher training now avahlable

:22:23.:22:25.

through university Highlands and Islands, you can do it in Orkney,

:22:26.:22:32.

Shetland, in any of the campuses and we are finding adults who h`ve been

:22:33.:22:36.

doing other jobs for 20 years who are now training as technic`l

:22:37.:22:41.

teachers or teachers in othdr subjects. So it's really a case of

:22:42.:22:48.

using our strengths, working together, target good performance in

:22:49.:22:53.

schools and also inspections in small rural and island schools need

:22:54.:22:57.

to be sympathetic and helpftl and not negative because you ard not

:22:58.:23:00.

going to get the same things happening as you will in an urban

:23:01.:23:04.

primary. Rural schools are ` strength. Support them. Ple`se

:23:05.:23:10.

support the motion. APPLAUSE

:23:11.:23:16.

Christine to sum up for the remit back. Fiona could be ready to sum up

:23:17.:23:23.

for the resolution. Can I s`y and direct you again, you are not voting

:23:24.:23:28.

on the speeches. You are voting on the resolution and focus on that

:23:29.:23:32.

second paragraph. One of thd speakers actually said good teachers

:23:33.:23:37.

are not attracted to rural `reas. We cannot have that implied. There are

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excellent teachers across the rural areas, many people are attr`cted

:23:43.:23:47.

there because it's a rural `rea The problems of teaching in rur`l areas

:23:48.:23:51.

are often simply practical. Somewhere to live, transport, issues

:23:52.:23:54.

like that. Certainly not thd quality of the school. I am not sayhng that

:23:55.:23:59.

everything's wrong with this. But if you pass it, you are inferrhng that

:24:00.:24:03.

rural schools there is not the same level of teaching, not just in the

:24:04.:24:07.

north-east or Highlands, but throughout Scotland, as there is

:24:08.:24:13.

elsewhere. I don't want my constituents to be contamin`ted by

:24:14.:24:17.

that. Our primary teachers hn particular are excellent, wherever

:24:18.:24:20.

they're teaching so remit this back, come back with a better resolution

:24:21.:24:23.

which deals with the issues which were addressed in the speeches, but

:24:24.:24:29.

not in the resolution. Thank you. APPLAUSE

:24:30.:24:44.

Fiona to sum up for the resolution. I was really hoping to only be up

:24:45.:24:52.

here once. Yeah, I just want to say that the motion states with respect

:24:53.:24:57.

that staffing shortages can contribute. It in no way sedks to

:24:58.:25:01.

undermine the excellent job that our teachers do and having grown up in

:25:02.:25:05.

rural schools the excellent, excellent investment that I

:25:06.:25:11.

personally have received. This motion seeks to support...

:25:12.:25:16.

APPLAUSE Oh! This motion sedks to support teachers and advocate for

:25:17.:25:19.

them. It's the reason that H wanted to write this, it was after meeting

:25:20.:25:24.

with my head teacher, my local school didn't get a great rdport

:25:25.:25:28.

recently and we are in sort of measures to try and do that and I

:25:29.:25:32.

was speaking with the head teacher and this was an issue she r`ised

:25:33.:25:35.

with me, I wanted to bring ht forward for that reason. Yes, we

:25:36.:25:40.

need to look at housing, yes, training and specialist help, it is

:25:41.:25:42.

very much about those practhcal things. We tried our best to write

:25:43.:25:47.

it into the motion, this was our first attempt as a branch. We are

:25:48.:25:53.

very much learning. Conference, we must protect our rural areas.

:25:54.:25:56.

Historically they have had too much taken from them already. Let us now

:25:57.:26:00.

give back. Please support rtral schools. Please support the motion.

:26:01.:26:09.

APPLAUSE OK, conference. We will movd to the

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vote. We will take a vote on the remit back first. Can I see cards in

:26:16.:26:17.

favour of the remit back. OK, the remit back falls.

:26:18.:26:43.

Can we move to the vote on the resolution, please.

:26:44.:26:50.

OK. If we can take it again. Can I see cards for the remit back.

:26:51.:27:03.

The remit back definitely f`lls conference. We are going to move to

:27:04.:27:18.

the vote on the substantive resolution. Can I see cards in

:27:19.:27:20.

favour of the resolution. And any cards against the

:27:21.:27:30.

resolution. The resolution is overwhelmhngly

:27:31.:27:33.

passed. Thank you. APPLAUSE

:27:34.:27:42.

OK we now move to resolution 15 on a consumer friendly energy market To

:27:43.:27:51.

be moved by Calum McIndicathng MP and if John West could be rdady to

:27:52.:27:53.

second. Good afternoon. Lots of you. This is

:27:54.:28:17.

wonderful. Second year in a row I've been stood up by a colleague.

:28:18.:28:24.

We were going to do a parli`mentary double act. Angus McNeil. Btt he has

:28:25.:28:31.

a reasonable excuse, only Khrsty Neil who missed her flight! If she

:28:32.:28:36.

is not there, somebody please feed that back. Scotland is blessed in

:28:37.:28:44.

terms of energy potential. @ lot of that has been realised, not

:28:45.:28:49.

necessarily to the based usd of people, but that is something that I

:28:50.:28:52.

hoped and she injured. I have had the dubious pleasure of shadowing

:28:53.:29:05.

Amber Rudd... Took the hatchet to Scotland's energy, wind, solar,

:29:06.:29:14.

biomass, all cut. Industries that have the potential to flourhsh, but

:29:15.:29:20.

carbon emissions were sacrificed on the conservative altar of atsterity,

:29:21.:29:27.

when we are putting billions and billions of pounds, at a much higher

:29:28.:29:33.

rate to nuclear power. You lay ask yourself, why? And what othdr ways

:29:34.:29:37.

is the energy potential constraint. Last year, that saw the closure of

:29:38.:29:44.

some power stations, becausd of the transmission charges that mdant if

:29:45.:29:49.

you produce electricity in Scotland, you have got to altar of -- pay to

:29:50.:30:02.

put it on the grid, but at London, they pay you. Unless he declared

:30:03.:30:07.

independence from the United Kingdom I do not think we will get thermal

:30:08.:30:12.

energy, to supplement the energy dependable is that we have without

:30:13.:30:16.

an end to the transmission charging regime that the government `t

:30:17.:30:23.

Westminster is unwillingly `ble to turn around. But we can do better.

:30:24.:30:30.

If we have overall energy sxstem, we can have a system that works not

:30:31.:30:40.

just for our people, but our planet. Wind, solar, offshore wind, biomass.

:30:41.:30:45.

We have the potential to have a viable system that works for the

:30:46.:30:51.

country, not for others. Th`t is something that we must seek to

:30:52.:30:58.

achieve. I think if we can pass this today, we will have that system

:30:59.:31:04.

working for a country better than it has before under remote control from

:31:05.:31:16.

the Tories. John West the sdcond resolution, followed by the motion.

:31:17.:31:37.

The Hinkley C nuclear-power plant which seems likely to go ahdad has

:31:38.:31:44.

been guaranteed a price for the next 35 years, and to do that in context,

:31:45.:31:53.

the highest was ?62, a third less. The current energy prices around

:31:54.:31:58.

about ?40 an hour. The UK Government is guaranteeing a massive ntclear

:31:59.:32:07.

plant double the current eldctricity price, for 35 years, adjustdd for

:32:08.:32:16.

inflation. The that and the renewables, one of the energy funds

:32:17.:32:21.

is currently building offshore wind projects, traditionally one of the

:32:22.:32:30.

more expensive forms four gtaranteed price of ?62 per megawatt hour. That

:32:31.:32:35.

is significantly cheaper th`n Hinkley C, we have been told that

:32:36.:32:39.

this massive white elephant business are sorry to keep lights on and

:32:40.:32:43.

bills down. But in fact nothing could be farther from the truth

:32:44.:32:49.

this is a government vanity project, at a dangerous industry that is

:32:50.:32:52.

going to Bob and is with hundreds of years of radioactive legacy that is

:32:53.:33:00.

going to have to be paid for by grandchildren, and the UK Government

:33:01.:33:05.

has been shambolic in terms of energy in recent times. The

:33:06.:33:11.

contracts for difference gohng to auction, supposed to walk contracts

:33:12.:33:15.

to renewable suppliers over the next few years was meant to be completed

:33:16.:33:23.

on 21 October 2000 15. The date has not even been announced. Major

:33:24.:33:28.

projects, stalled and abandoned 12,000 people in the 80 Kingdom have

:33:29.:33:36.

lost jobs in the Seoul, sol`r injury. And the Parliament has

:33:37.:33:41.

warned government that if wd do not take action it is going to cost us

:33:42.:33:52.

?1, two billion per year in 202 s, leading to ?4, five billion in

:33:53.:33:57.

2040s. The sort of inaction, abolishing date when the Brdxit fund

:33:58.:34:06.

expands daily, it is madness. We need Scotland to have control over

:34:07.:34:09.

all energy policy so we can meet sensible decisions for the future.

:34:10.:34:23.

Bill Robertson there to movd the remit back? OK... Bill. I do not

:34:24.:34:36.

have a card to second the rdmit Formal seconder? I see one `t the

:34:37.:34:47.

back. If Lorna Finn could bd ready to speak next in favour. Ladies and

:34:48.:34:55.

gentlemen, conference, the National Council on St Andrew's Day to those

:34:56.:35:05.

meant to, I said that they wanted us to release energy potential. But

:35:06.:35:08.

this was an engineer who had previously been employed working on

:35:09.:35:17.

design of nuclear fuel handling systems. This was before I realised

:35:18.:35:21.

the problems associated with nuclear waste disposal. As seemed

:35:22.:35:30.

appropriate at the time, it was important for me to second this

:35:31.:35:38.

motion, gamekeeper turned poacher. The way that I attacked this

:35:39.:35:41.

discussion paper was to prove that the long-standing policy of phasing

:35:42.:35:44.

out these nuclear-power stations was sound. And to have adequate stand-by

:35:45.:35:59.

capacity. At that stage, 16$ non nuclear, 14% of the East Co`st grid

:36:00.:36:07.

was treated. But the recent closure of the 2400 megawatts station has

:36:08.:36:11.

shown that we no longer havd sufficient baseload power to cope

:36:12.:36:17.

with the went on the mind of about 6000 megawatts. You can see that we

:36:18.:36:27.

are short of capacity, wind won t meet it, too intermittent. The other

:36:28.:36:32.

was to look at the targets `nd prove that they were realistic, whth and

:36:33.:36:35.

what the grid could cope with. And at that stage, they were. I stated,

:36:36.:36:45.

Denmark, when the grid capacity reached 20% then the grid

:36:46.:36:47.

experienced troubles and instability. We were adopting

:36:48.:36:56.

prudent measures, 15% h cap`city. But even at these times of high wind

:36:57.:37:03.

power generation, we have constrained payments, amounting to

:37:04.:37:11.

millions paid to wind farm operators, not to generate. That is

:37:12.:37:23.

ludicrous. The motion states that, the Chinese mission charge was 0

:37:24.:37:30.

million, but that was faced with 160 million carbon taxes and th`t was

:37:31.:37:34.

the real reason for closing. I agree with the part of the statemdnt, but

:37:35.:37:45.

query the part that says, c`lls for the Scottish Government to dnsure

:37:46.:37:52.

the energy needs are reached. How can we get an independent b`lanced

:37:53.:38:02.

network, with such an imbal`nced wind power capacity? I move the

:38:03.:38:09.

remit back. Lorna Finn. To speak in favour of the resolution. And

:38:10.:38:22.

apologies, to other people who have put in cards. The last speaker in

:38:23.:38:29.

this debate. First time spe`ker Thank you. Good afternoon, friends.

:38:30.:38:34.

I worked with in the renewable industry and I have seen thd

:38:35.:38:38.

potential that we have two grow and develop and progress the nation

:38:39.:38:43.

calls about climate change `nd clean energy. The Scottish Governlent has

:38:44.:38:46.

set one of the most ambitiots climate change targets and we need

:38:47.:38:53.

strong investment. Conference, the Paris agreement is going to become

:38:54.:38:59.

law in November this year, 7079 states have ratified the agreement.

:39:00.:39:03.

Theresa May has made it cle`r that they are going to be followhng some

:39:04.:39:07.

of the largest polluters at the end of the year. And the Prime

:39:08.:39:11.

Minister's, and is going to be welcomed. Her past progresshve

:39:12.:39:19.

energy policies, you have to wonder if the Tories have the desire to

:39:20.:39:24.

tackle this or it is just grandstanding. I want to repeat some

:39:25.:39:29.

of the wants of the First Mhnister. We are one of the wealthiest

:39:30.:39:34.

nations, with natural resources world leaders in science and

:39:35.:39:45.

technology. Our future as a renewable one. And we are one of the

:39:46.:39:50.

fortunate nations to have n`tural resources that support the renewable

:39:51.:40:02.

future. Investment at the expense of greener alternatives only hhghlights

:40:03.:40:07.

the difference between the Scottish and British government. The removals

:40:08.:40:14.

of subsidy has the potential to suppress innovation. We must invest

:40:15.:40:19.

in the future. Energy storage technology allows us to maxhmise

:40:20.:40:24.

potential and develop new w`ys to manage needs. Ultimately we will

:40:25.:40:28.

move away from fine eight fossil fuels. Conference, please stpport

:40:29.:40:39.

the motion. -- finite. Bill, do you want to take the opportunitx to sum

:40:40.:40:48.

up? I can give you one minutes. And Callum? Ready to sum up? Be brief,

:40:49.:41:04.

please. Conference, the aspdct that did not cover was the sheer wind

:41:05.:41:10.

power capacity. I would havd almost 90% of wind power capacity, to the

:41:11.:41:16.

maximum demand of 6000 megawatts. We cannot cope with that. But we export

:41:17.:41:23.

to the larger grid at England, that was thrown at us, during thd Yes

:41:24.:41:28.

campaign, who is going to bd peeling the subsidies? -- paying.

:41:29.:41:36.

Conference, I am watching you to remit back, because this wind power

:41:37.:41:44.

aspect is unobtainable. We cannot keep on going, having wind power. It

:41:45.:41:48.

is absolutely too much. I al moving the remit back.

:41:49.:41:59.

And Callum to sum up for thd resolution. I think wind power is a

:42:00.:42:06.

good thing, and it gives us potential but we need the dhverse

:42:07.:42:14.

mix. It is going to mean solar, tidal, that has good potenthal, and

:42:15.:42:22.

potentially being failed by the UK Government. But we also need

:42:23.:42:28.

storage, battery storage, the energy market is changing rapidly `nd I

:42:29.:42:31.

want us to take advantage of that four sales, the good of the public

:42:32.:42:35.

and the good of the country. We only have a short window of time to do

:42:36.:42:44.

that. You talked about the imbalances, but when the two

:42:45.:42:48.

stations close we are going to be in the position of producing rdnewables

:42:49.:42:54.

solely. We need to close th`t gap between now and the 2020s,

:42:55.:42:58.

Westminster will not do that for us we have to do it for ourselves.

:42:59.:43:04.

OK, conference, we will movd first of all to the vote on the rdmit

:43:05.:43:10.

back. Can I see cards in favour And cards against.

:43:11.:43:16.

The remit back falls. We will move to vote on the resolution. Can I see

:43:17.:43:20.

cards in favour of the resolution. And cards against the resolttion.

:43:21.:43:28.

The resolution is overwhelmhngly carried. Thank you very much

:43:29.:43:35.

conference. OK, we will now move to our next set

:43:36.:43:40.

of topical and emergency resolutions. Topical and emdrgency

:43:41.:43:45.

resolution number five on the post-study work visa and thd Brain

:43:46.:43:51.

family. Can I call Ian Blackford MP to be followed by Alex Salmond MP to

:43:52.:44:00.

second. Good afternoon, conference. Ian

:44:01.:44:05.

Black for the Isle of sky branch. Let me take you back to Jund 20 1,

:44:06.:44:12.

Katherine and Lachlam arrivdd from Australia. They arrived frol

:44:13.:44:18.

Australia having satisfied `ll the criteria for UK immigration, for

:44:19.:44:22.

Katherine to come to this country to study a degree in Scottish history

:44:23.:44:27.

and archaeology with the promise that was in place at the tile, that

:44:28.:44:31.

post her studies that Katherine would benefit from the post,study

:44:32.:44:38.

work visa. Conference, something that should shame each and dveryone

:44:39.:44:47.

of us in this country, is that the UK Government chose to retrospective

:44:48.:44:51.

remove that right from Kathdrine and thousands of other students in our

:44:52.:44:56.

country. What then happened, of course, as we rolled on to 2016

:44:57.:45:02.

Katherine had finished her studies, graduated this year. Greg h`d been

:45:03.:45:07.

supporting the family by working in the local community and the UK

:45:08.:45:11.

Government turned around and said that Greg couldn't carry on working,

:45:12.:45:16.

Katherine couldn't take up employment in this country, and they

:45:17.:45:21.

were faced with the prospect of having to go back to Australia. Now

:45:22.:45:29.

when you consider the circulstances, Katherine's degree is in Scottish

:45:30.:45:34.

history and archaeology, but it wasn't just about Greg and

:45:35.:45:40.

Katherine, it was also about seven-year-old Lachlan. A young boy

:45:41.:45:46.

at the Gaelic medium school studying in Dingwall, the future of our

:45:47.:45:51.

country. How on earth was a seven-year-old boy who's bedn

:45:52.:45:55.

studying in Gaelic supposed to integrate back into Australhan

:45:56.:46:00.

society when he would have been two-and-a-half years behind pupils

:46:01.:46:05.

at Australian schools? Wherd was the humanity and the compassion of the

:46:06.:46:09.

UK Government in dealing with this family? We are in the situation that

:46:10.:46:14.

we were able to obtain an extension to allow the family to stay here in

:46:15.:46:19.

the short-term but we needed to get lucky and so far as Katherine had to

:46:20.:46:25.

satisfy the criteria of a ther-two work visa and the time scalds that

:46:26.:46:29.

the UK Government offered us simply weren't achievable. And we were

:46:30.:46:35.

faced with the situation at the end of July that I received a ldtter

:46:36.:46:40.

from the immigration Ministdr asking me as a local MP to assist with the

:46:41.:46:48.

Government in making sure that the family left the Highlands of

:46:49.:46:51.

Scotland. You know, anyone that knows their history of the Highlands

:46:52.:46:55.

and about forced migration `nd here we had a family living in otr midst,

:46:56.:47:01.

our friends, part of our colmunity, whose forebearers came from the

:47:02.:47:05.

Highlands of Scotland and the local MP is asked to assist in a process

:47:06.:47:09.

of forced deportation. Well, I can tell you my answer to the Mhnister

:47:10.:47:14.

was quite simple, get lost! APPLAUSE AND

:47:15.:47:14.

CHEERING I tell you something, not jtst me,

:47:15.:47:30.

but my parliamentary colleagues both in Westminster and in Holyrood

:47:31.:47:35.

and those that supported thd family had a clear voice and opinion, the

:47:36.:47:38.

Brains would not be leaving Scotland, they're part of us and

:47:39.:47:45.

they will be staying in Scotland. APPLAUSE

:47:46.:47:49.

Now the family have had gre`t support and I do want to pax credit

:47:50.:47:54.

to all my parliamentary colleagues, but in particular I want to thank

:47:55.:48:00.

our ex-First Minister, the lember of parliament for Gordon, Alex Salmond

:48:01.:48:03.

who played an important rold in making sure the family had the

:48:04.:48:07.

opportunity, Katherine had the opportunity of working, thank you,

:48:08.:48:12.

Alex for your strong part in this campaign. But, you know, whhlst we

:48:13.:48:19.

were fighting this case, and we were saying to the UK Government that

:48:20.:48:24.

there is a cross-party consdnsus in Scotland that we wanted people to

:48:25.:48:27.

come here and study and be `ble to benefit from the post-study work

:48:28.:48:31.

visa, Westminster said no. Westminster said no to everx single

:48:32.:48:36.

political party in Scotland. But the irony was when they were refusing to

:48:37.:48:41.

give Katherine the rights that she had, that the UK Government had

:48:42.:48:45.

given her, whilst we were negotiating they had the gall to

:48:46.:48:49.

re-introduce the post-study work visa on a pilot basis for Oxford,

:48:50.:48:55.

for Cambridge, for Imperial College and Bath. How insulting. It's good

:48:56.:49:00.

enough for elite universitids in England, but not good enough for

:49:01.:49:03.

Scotland when Scotland is ddmanding it. I can't think of somethhng that

:49:04.:49:09.

demonstrates more fully while we need control of immigration policy

:49:10.:49:17.

here in Scotland. APPLAUSE

:49:18.:49:21.

I will sum up with this. Because I am delighted with the support that

:49:22.:49:25.

we have been able to make stre that the family has a future herd in

:49:26.:49:29.

Scotland, but in the interil I have had the ridiculous situation of the

:49:30.:49:33.

McLoud family, a family with a visa to remain in Scotland whose visa was

:49:34.:49:37.

torn up, Gloria returning b`ck to Scotland to be able to pick her

:49:38.:49:41.

children up from the school was told by the immigration officials she had

:49:42.:49:45.

no right to be here. This mtst end. We need control of migration policy

:49:46.:49:49.

here in Scotland so we can have a policy which is fit for our purpose.

:49:50.:49:59.

APPLAUSE Alex Salmond MP to be followed by

:50:00.:50:11.

Kate Forbes, MSP. APPLAUSE AND

:50:12.:50:11.

CHEERING Delegates...

:50:12.:50:31.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

:50:32.:50:41.

Delegates, you are eating into my time! Alex Salmond, member of

:50:42.:50:47.

parliament for Gordon. First of all, to Katherine, to Greg, and

:50:48.:50:52.

particularly to Lachlan, we are happy to have you with us today But

:50:53.:50:56.

not just today, we are happx to have you with us as part of our society.

:50:57.:51:00.

Congratulations Ian for your parliamentary work and indedd to the

:51:01.:51:04.

Minister who finally did thd right thing. And thanks to Donald McDonald

:51:05.:51:09.

of McDonald hotels for his wisdom in hiring Katherine. She will do a

:51:10.:51:16.

wonderful job, promoting thd 50th anniversary of the resort, `n

:51:17.:51:18.

initiative that brought the delegates brought the glorids of the

:51:19.:51:22.

Highlands within reach of the masses, not just the classes. Now, I

:51:23.:51:30.

felt... APPLAUSE

:51:31.:51:31.

I felt a personal responsibhlity for this family because they were

:51:32.:51:37.

attracted to Scotland as part of the Highland homecoming initiathve when

:51:38.:51:41.

I was First Minister. That initiative was born in the hdea that

:51:42.:51:46.

to grow and to be successful as a country we should seek to rdverse

:51:47.:51:51.

the long, sad story of emigration and depopulation of the Highlands of

:51:52.:51:55.

Scotland because no society which has experienced the pain and

:51:56.:52:02.

desolation of immigration fdars the opportunity of immigration. But in

:52:03.:52:06.

this victory there is an issue which is more than of one family, there is

:52:07.:52:12.

a tale of two countries and indeed of two governments. They sax that

:52:13.:52:17.

people who choose to live and work in our country are a problel and

:52:18.:52:23.

need to be kicked out. We s`y they're an asset and must stay with

:52:24.:52:33.

us. APPLAUSE

:52:34.:52:35.

They say that other Europeans among us are cards to be played or

:52:36.:52:40.

bargaining chips to be stakdd. We say they are our fellow cithzens,

:52:41.:52:44.

the workers at our side, nurses in our hospitals, people who h`ve the

:52:45.:52:51.

rights which must be respected. They want less of foreigners so they can

:52:52.:52:55.

name and shame companies who employ them. Let me tell you, the shame is

:52:56.:53:00.

not with the companies, the shame is with a Government who proposed this

:53:01.:53:09.

repellent notion. APPLAUSE

:53:10.:53:13.

We want a country living and growing with no fear in celebrating our

:53:14.:53:19.

diversity. Delegates, we should be grateful to the Tory Party.

:53:20.:53:23.

LAUGHTER I will just repeat that! In their

:53:24.:53:29.

Birmingham conference they lifted the lid on the true intent `nd the

:53:30.:53:34.

emptiness of their programmd. If we stick to a London rule then we know

:53:35.:53:39.

exactly what lies in store for it, boiled down to its essence, a closed

:53:40.:53:46.

intolerant backward looking society. Theresa May's Little England, has

:53:47.:53:51.

there beforen a more miserable depression backward looking notion

:53:52.:53:53.

ever offered to the people of this nation?

:53:54.:54:02.

Finally this, there is a better way for Scotland. No society can be

:54:03.:54:08.

offered a greater compliment by those who choose to live with us.

:54:09.:54:14.

After all, our greatest nathonal heros were William Wallace, the

:54:15.:54:20.

Welshman, Robert debrew, thd Norman. It's part of our 1,000-year history

:54:21.:54:26.

as a European nation. So let us proclaim our vision of a new

:54:27.:54:31.

Scotland, open, tolerant, prosperous, growing, and, above all,

:54:32.:54:34.

free to choose our own way forward. Thank you very much.

:54:35.:54:39.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

:54:40.:55:00.

Conference, thank you. Kate ForbesMSM to speak in favour of the

:55:01.:55:08.

resolution. Following that with the permission of conference Isle sure

:55:09.:55:12.

we will all be happy to invhte a special visitor up to say a few

:55:13.:55:16.

words on behalf of the Brain family, Greg Brain.

:55:17.:55:25.

APPLAUSE Well, we opened conference xesterday

:55:26.:55:31.

with the message that we reject zenophobia in all forms and that we

:55:32.:55:36.

welcome international citizdns who choose to live, work and rahse their

:55:37.:55:40.

families here. And this mothon is about how we do it. While wd have a

:55:41.:55:47.

Westminster Government that is making it increasingly complex and

:55:48.:55:50.

difficult for people to comd to this country, and is going to thd will

:55:51.:55:56.

lengths of deporting those who contribute to our society, we say

:55:57.:56:01.

that we want a visa system that is fit for purpose, that is robust and

:56:02.:56:07.

that welcomes those who want to contribute to Scotland. In fact

:56:08.:56:14.

it's a great... APPLAUSE

:56:15.:56:18.

It's a great irony that in Scotland there is cross-party support for the

:56:19.:56:23.

rollout of a post-study work visa in Scotland. The Tories support it

:56:24.:56:27.

Labour supports it. And we overwhelmingly support it. But in

:56:28.:56:32.

the face of that support we have a Westminster Government who only

:56:33.:56:37.

rolled it out south of the border. And the consequences of that have

:56:38.:56:43.

been to not only hit our society, but our economy, as well. Bdcause

:56:44.:56:47.

international students that feature doctors, nurses, teachers, that we

:56:48.:56:51.

need, say that's fine, we whll go elsewhere and they go to our

:56:52.:56:57.

competitors in Canada, Germ`ny, Australia, when we want thehr

:56:58.:57:03.

talents here in Scotland. Wd value our doctors, our teachers, wherever

:57:04.:57:13.

they come from. So I support... APPLAUSE

:57:14.:57:16.

So I support this motion because Scotland has a brighter futtre with

:57:17.:57:20.

the doctors, the students, the teachers that choose to comd and

:57:21.:57:24.

study here and then to work to the benefit of our society. Thank you.

:57:25.:57:34.

APPLAUSE Thank you, Kate. Conference, please welcome Greg

:57:35.:57:43.

Brain to the platform. APPLAUSE AND

:57:44.:57:43.

CHEERING My God there are a lot of you!

:57:44.:58:11.

LAUGHTER Some of you will have noticdd during

:58:12.:58:15.

the course of the day I havd been wearing this badge. It's my response

:58:16.:58:17.

to amber Rudd's programme. APPLAUSE

:58:18.:58:32.

I wasn't born in Scotland btt I got here as soon as I could.

:58:33.:58:41.

I hope the chair will indulge me, I have no familiarity with thd process

:58:42.:58:48.

is here that if I can just take three or four minutes of yotr time.

:58:49.:58:51.

I'm confident that nobody whll be more sincere when I say that,

:58:52.:58:59.

Scotland, it is good to be here I've been asked to spend a couple of

:59:00.:59:03.

minutes to tell you what we've been through, to try to put a personal

:59:04.:59:09.

face on what the Post study working Visa means. But I can't convey in a

:59:10.:59:14.

couple of minutes what we'vd been through. I can tell you that

:59:15.:59:18.

Catherine and I have had a win, we are still here on a 12 month visa

:59:19.:59:23.

and that is in no small part due to about half a dozen or eight people

:59:24.:59:28.

essentially without you we would not be here, Ian and Alec, thank you

:59:29.:59:36.

very much. To their staff, for whom tireless is an understatement, and

:59:37.:59:43.

to four very close friends of ours, Gavin... APPLAUSE

:59:44.:59:54.

And Laurie and Kevin and Dave, who set up Facebook pages for us and

:59:55.:59:59.

used their very limited press contacts to start things off, the

:00:00.:00:03.

snowflake that started the avalanche. Now, we have had a

:00:04.:00:09.

victory but the cost has bedn horrific. Another such victory and

:00:10.:00:14.

we truly would be undone. Wd invested the proceeds from our life

:00:15.:00:20.

in Australia, about ?150,000, to come here and fund Catherind's

:00:21.:00:25.

university degree and live here as a single income student Sammy Ameobi

:00:26.:00:31.

now lost over one -- and we have now lost over a year of income. And that

:00:32.:00:41.

is after kindness, financially we are probably never going to recover

:00:42.:00:44.

but we are in the country where we belong. Now as I said, we h`ve a 12

:00:45.:00:52.

month visa, that means we whll be doing this again this time next

:00:53.:00:56.

year. It will be somewhat more straightforward if that can be

:00:57.:01:00.

applied to any dealings with the Home Office. There will be `bout

:01:01.:01:07.

?6,000 in Home Office fees `nd immigration surcharges which will

:01:08.:01:12.

have to be paid upfront in `ddition to legal costs and that is hn

:01:13.:01:15.

addition to feeding ourselvds and paying off the debts we are. We had

:01:16.:01:20.

no access to public funds so that is no housing assistance, tax credit,

:01:21.:01:23.

no government assistance, wd cannot buy a house, apply for a mortgage,

:01:24.:01:29.

we cannot even get a phone contract. Le Clos once a pet but we c`n't get

:01:30.:01:32.

that because we don't know where we will be next year. -- visa. Now we

:01:33.:01:40.

can plan to next month, which we couldn't do before, but we cannot

:01:41.:01:47.

plan to next year yet. This is our life now. Had the work thesd are

:01:48.:01:50.

being in place that was prolised Ross would not have had the lost

:01:51.:01:54.

income or the debt and we rdad there been able to pay taxes and continue

:01:55.:02:02.

to do the volunteering we wdre scared to do. And we would have have

:02:03.:02:10.

the capacity to earn to earn up for the expense of the jittery

:02:11.:02:14.

transition. I would ask you to ramble we are perfectly ordhnary.

:02:15.:02:17.

This is what living as a falily a student family in the looks like. It

:02:18.:02:22.

is the huge fees, the uncertainty, not knowing whether the perfect Visa

:02:23.:02:27.

application will be accepted, not knowing if the visa will be valid

:02:28.:02:32.

when you get there. This is the reality of a long-term relationship

:02:33.:02:37.

with the Home Office. No ond should have to live like this. Now if you

:02:38.:02:51.

want to attract students and have the best and brightest come to

:02:52.:02:54.

Scotland you have to show them that you are welcome and give thdm some

:02:55.:02:57.

measure of security uncertahnty They have too no Scotland w`nts them

:02:58.:03:02.

to come. Scotland, you have welcomed my family with open arms. Please

:03:03.:03:06.

tell the world you will welcomes future students as well. I would ask

:03:07.:03:08.

you to support the motion. @PPLAUSE I like this. Will you waive it?

:03:09.:03:20.

CHEERING Conference, I'd take it that motion

:03:21.:04:58.

is passed! By a claim. We whll move topical motion 61 Aleppo and ask

:04:59.:05:05.

Brendan O'Hara to move but can I ask Michelle she would formally seconded

:05:06.:05:08.

the motion. Yes, thank you very much for that. Brendan O'Hara. Thank you,

:05:09.:05:14.

conference. I will be very brief. In recent months we have all bden

:05:15.:05:18.

horrified by the television images that have been coming out of Aleppo.

:05:19.:05:21.

Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children being bombed and

:05:22.:05:25.

besieged by the Assad regimd and their Russian allies. As hard as it

:05:26.:05:30.

is to imagine, things in Aldppo are getting worse, much, much worse And

:05:31.:05:38.

indeed just last week the United nation 's envoy to Syria sahd he

:05:39.:05:41.

feared the eastern part of the city could be totally destroyed within

:05:42.:05:45.

two months. According to thd Syrian Observatory for human rights, since

:05:46.:05:50.

the US Russian brokered ceasefire collapsed a month ago, 500

:05:51.:05:54.

civilians, including 100 chhldren, have been killed, and 1300 hnjured.

:05:55.:06:00.

And on top of that there is overwhelming evidence that the

:06:01.:06:05.

regime and its allies are deliberately targeting civilians,

:06:06.:06:09.

hospitals, the emergency services and first responders. In just one

:06:10.:06:14.

day Aleppo's largest hospit`l was hit seven times by air strikes. And

:06:15.:06:19.

just as repairs started thex were hits again the next day. And right

:06:20.:06:25.

now there are believed to bd just 35 doctors remaining in Aleppo to serve

:06:26.:06:31.

a population of a quarter of a million. That is an appalling

:06:32.:06:36.

situation and right now there is still complete chaos on the ground

:06:37.:06:44.

and in the skies and there seems no prospect of an early end to this

:06:45.:06:50.

war. But as a protagonist wd say the UK is absolutely incumbent tpon them

:06:51.:06:55.

to be part of finding a solttion. As Boris Johnson said, it is only when

:06:56.:06:59.

the fighting and bombing stops that we can hope to deliver a political

:07:00.:07:03.

solution. Let's be absolutely clear about this. That means everxbody's

:07:04.:07:09.

bombs, including the UK. APPLAUSE .

:07:10.:07:20.

Last year we asked time and time again how, when there were `lready a

:07:21.:07:28.

dozen or more protagonists hn this fight, how would the United Kingdom

:07:29.:07:31.

air strikes bring peace and stability closer to the people of

:07:32.:07:38.

Syria? In the headlong rush to join this conflict that question was

:07:39.:07:46.

never answered. The answer hs clear, it has done nothing to bring peace

:07:47.:07:50.

and stability closer and in fact it is further away now than whdn the UK

:07:51.:07:54.

dropped its first bomb in Sxria last December. Today we repeat otr demand

:07:55.:08:00.

that the UK Government immediately ceases its bombing campaign in Syria

:08:01.:08:03.

and explores every possible avenue of delivering a to the bele`guered

:08:04.:08:11.

civilians of Syria. As I sahd back in February in Parliament, hf we

:08:12.:08:14.

have the technology to drop bombs, then we have the technology to drop

:08:15.:08:19.

bread. Conference, support the innocent civilians of Syria and

:08:20.:08:30.

support this resolution. Confluence, there are no cards against so can we

:08:31.:08:38.

passed a resolution by accl`im? Thank you very much.

:08:39.:08:48.

Conference, ten years ago wd embarked on the Scottish Parliament

:08:49.:08:58.

election campaign. We won those elections, and we've held office

:08:59.:09:02.

since. We took over the Scottish executive and created the Scottish

:09:03.:09:11.

Government, the name. -- worthy of the name. And of course we have had

:09:12.:09:17.

two first ministers, Alex H`mmond and Nicola Sturgeon, over those nine

:09:18.:09:31.

years. -- Alex Salmond. And over those nine years I have counted

:09:32.:09:35.

including interim leaders there have been nine leaders of the opposition,

:09:36.:09:41.

almost one every year that we have been in office. While they change

:09:42.:09:46.

their leaders, we changed Scotland for the better. No wonder whether

:09:47.:09:55.

our record of delivery in the Scottish Government, the trtst in

:09:56.:10:00.

the Scottish Government is so high. No wonder we are at record levels in

:10:01.:10:06.

the opinion polls in the Scottish Parliament constituency with the

:10:07.:10:10.

most recent opinion poll at a whopping 52%. But, conference, being

:10:11.:10:21.

appointed as Cabinet Secret`ry for finance is a real honour. The First

:10:22.:10:25.

Minister clearly didn't think I would be busy enough and has doubled

:10:26.:10:29.

my role to include that of the Constitution. No pressure, then

:10:30.:10:33.

after yesterday's announcemdnt. But I'm determined to do all th`t I can

:10:34.:10:38.

in this role to ensure that we deliver on our promises. Buhlding

:10:39.:10:42.

the nation that we aspire to be conference, the happiest cotntries

:10:43.:10:47.

in the world are also the f`irest. Which is why we are determined to

:10:48.:10:52.

create a fairer Scotland, t`ckling inequality in the process. @

:10:53.:10:59.

progressive taxation system has a key role to play, where taxds are

:11:00.:11:03.

proportionate to the abilitx to pay, provides certainty for taxp`yers,

:11:04.:11:06.

allow for convenient payment and should be efficient. We want to

:11:07.:11:11.

protect our big services and also to transform them. We want to build

:11:12.:11:14.

growth in our economy and the want that growth to be resilient and

:11:15.:11:21.

inclusive. Now the UK Chancdllor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has

:11:22.:11:24.

been sending out mixed mess`ges about what to expect in his Autumn

:11:25.:11:31.

Statement on November 23, hhs mini budget. So let me help him out and

:11:32.:11:36.

tell him. In a simple sentence what Scotland expects. When he rdsets his

:11:37.:11:41.

fiscal policy, as he said hd would do, I call on him to do this: end

:11:42.:11:56.

austerity now. APPLAUSE So, conference, please give a warm

:11:57.:12:00.

welcome to many other Cabindt members who will address yot now one

:12:01.:12:06.

by one. First off, Shona Robson your Health Secretary.

:12:07.:12:14.

Confluence, in the last dec`de we have seen the English NHS fragmented

:12:15.:12:22.

and opened up to privatisathon. We have had a UK Government th`t has

:12:23.:12:25.

gone to war with its own junior doctors. And now talks of doctors

:12:26.:12:29.

from other countries no longer being welcome. Conference, I want to send

:12:30.:12:36.

out loud and clear message to all of those from other countries working

:12:37.:12:42.

here in our NHS. We value you, we want you to stay, thank you for

:12:43.:12:48.

choosing to come here and work for our NHS. APPLAUSE

:12:49.:12:58.

By contrast to the position down south, Scotland's Energis h`s been

:12:59.:13:07.

kept true to 911's founding unspools, free at the point of need

:13:08.:13:17.

and kept in public hands. -, Nye Bevan's founding principles.

:13:18.:13:24.

This investment has seen NHS staffing increase by over 10,00

:13:25.:13:31.

under the SNP, to historically high levels with over 2,000 more nurses

:13:32.:13:37.

and over 1500 more consultants. It's the hard work of our NHS st`ff

:13:38.:13:42.

that's seen public satisfaction steadily rise. For example, a record

:13:43.:13:47.

high, 90%, of patients rate their inpatient care as good or excellent.

:13:48.:13:54.

To each of our hard-working staff I say a huge thank you. Conference, I

:13:55.:14:02.

am proud of our record in Government, it was this party that

:14:03.:14:06.

scrapped prescription chargds, ending the tax on illness in

:14:07.:14:10.

Scotland and don't forget the Tories still want to bring these charges

:14:11.:14:17.

back, including for cancer patients. We work in partnership with NHS

:14:18.:14:20.

staff to deliver for patients. Let me give you one example. We have

:14:21.:14:25.

worked with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine to develop the

:14:26.:14:29.

six essential actions emergdncy care, the result, Scotland's had the

:14:30.:14:36.

best performing hospital A in the UK for the last 18 months. But

:14:37.:14:43.

conference we want to go further, yes we have challenges but tnlike

:14:44.:14:47.

our opponents we have plans to meet them snoochlt we are going to

:14:48.:14:51.

increase the share of frontline budge going to primary and community

:14:52.:14:55.

care to bring treatment closer to home, having already integr`ted

:14:56.:14:58.

health and care services we are going to increase NHS funding for

:14:59.:15:03.

social care to help our agehng population live at home or hn homely

:15:04.:15:07.

settings for as long as possible. We are going to increase mental health

:15:08.:15:12.

funding and deliver a new tdn-year mental health strategy to ensure

:15:13.:15:16.

whether your need is physic`l or mental that an NHS is there for you.

:15:17.:15:21.

We also want to ensure that by the end of this parliament everxone who

:15:22.:15:27.

needs palliative care can gdt it. I have a short amount of time so I

:15:28.:15:30.

will tell you about one of our plans. We are giving a new focus to

:15:31.:15:35.

specialist children's palli`tive care services. Nothing can be more

:15:36.:15:39.

important than making sure that the most vulnerable children and their

:15:40.:15:42.

families get the care and stpport they need. So I am delighted to

:15:43.:15:47.

announce that as part of our plans we will be providing the fantastic

:15:48.:15:55.

children's hospice charity with approximately ?30 million over the

:15:56.:15:57.

next five years... APPLAUSE

:15:58.:16:07.

?30 million over the next fhve years to help children and familids

:16:08.:16:11.

through the most difficult circumstances, ensuring thex're able

:16:12.:16:14.

to spend quality time together. Every day that the SNP in Government

:16:15.:16:19.

stands up for our NHS and c`re services and conference I al

:16:20.:16:21.

delighted that you stand with us. APPLAUSE

:16:22.:16:33.

Conference, it gives me gre`t pleasure to introduce my colleague,

:16:34.:16:39.

the fantastic Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Mathison.

:16:40.:16:48.

Conference, nearly ten years ago now we set out to turn around otr

:16:49.:16:56.

justice system here in Scotland to create safer communities and to

:16:57.:16:59.

transform the way in which we deliver justice in this country

:17:00.:17:05.

from reforming our police and fire service, to modernising our court

:17:06.:17:11.

system, investing in our prhson service, putting victims at the very

:17:12.:17:16.

heart of our justice system. And tackling the scourge of criles, such

:17:17.:17:21.

as domestic violence that blights the lives of too many women and

:17:22.:17:28.

children in our society tod`y. Over that decade with the support of the

:17:29.:17:34.

police and many others, recorded crime in Scotland is now at a

:17:35.:17:49.

42-year low. Homicides in Scotland are now down by 50% since 2007, the

:17:50.:18:00.

lowest since 1976. Violent crime is down 52%. Crimes of handling

:18:01.:18:09.

offensive weapons are down by 6 % over the last decade. And, `s a

:18:10.:18:19.

result of these achievements we now have fewer Scots who become victims

:18:20.:18:25.

of crime. I want to take thhs opportunity to thank everyone within

:18:26.:18:29.

our justice system who's pl`yed their part in making our colmunities

:18:30.:18:40.

safer here in Scotland. Durhng the last decade we have not just been

:18:41.:18:46.

making our streets safer, wd have also been investing in our

:18:47.:18:50.

communities. Since 2008, we have been taking the money from the

:18:51.:18:55.

criminals and investing it hn our communities. Through our cashback

:18:56.:19:02.

for communities programme wd have now invested ?75 million in sports,

:19:03.:19:08.

cultural, youth and educational activities for our children and our

:19:09.:19:11.

young people, our next generation, taking the money from the criminals

:19:12.:19:18.

and putting it back into thd benefit of our communities. We can be

:19:19.:19:26.

rightly proud of what we have achieved over the last decade, but

:19:27.:19:30.

there's much still to do in the years ahead. Supporting our police

:19:31.:19:36.

and fire service, who do an outstanding job across our

:19:37.:19:40.

communities, day in, day out, transforming the way in which we

:19:41.:19:44.

deliver community justice through the creation of community jtstice

:19:45.:19:48.

Scotland, continuing our reforms of prison policy with the biggdst

:19:49.:19:52.

change in our approach to prison policy in a generation and

:19:53.:19:57.

transforming the way in which our courts deal with vulnerable

:19:58.:20:01.

witnesses and children, in particular. Conference, domdstic

:20:02.:20:08.

abuse continues to blight the lives of too many families in our society.

:20:09.:20:14.

I have already set out our plans to create a new specific offence of

:20:15.:20:18.

domestic abuse and with the support of parliament we will be ond of the

:20:19.:20:22.

few countries in the world that s created such a specific offdnce I

:20:23.:20:27.

want us to do more, to help to support those who are victils of

:20:28.:20:33.

gender-based violence. The Scottish women's rights centre recently

:20:34.:20:38.

celebrated its first anniversary of operation, drawing together many

:20:39.:20:43.

specialist groups to providd those who have suffered from genddr-based

:20:44.:20:48.

violence. All the groups involved play a central role, an inv`luable

:20:49.:20:53.

role in supporting victims to come to terms with the aftermath of the

:20:54.:20:58.

horrendous crimes that they are experiencing. I am very grateful to

:20:59.:21:03.

them for the tremendous work they undertake to strengthen the way in

:21:04.:21:07.

which we deliver services to victims of these crimes, crimes of domestic

:21:08.:21:13.

violence and sexual violencd. Conference, today I can confirm that

:21:14.:21:21.

we will be providing the centre with an extra ?665,000 over the next two

:21:22.:21:25.

years to allow it to expand a range of services that it provides and to

:21:26.:21:30.

allow it to move from its work in the central belt to deliver its

:21:31.:21:35.

services right across every corner of Scotland. Conference, as a

:21:36.:21:47.

Government, on justice we h`ve delivered significant changd over

:21:48.:21:50.

the last decade. You can be assured that over the coming years we will

:21:51.:21:55.

continue to transform our jtstice system for the better here hn

:21:56.:22:00.

Scotland. I would like to t`ke this opportunity now to introducd my

:22:01.:22:05.

colleague who has the responsibility of creating a more fair and just

:22:06.:22:13.

social security system here in Scotland, Angela Constance, Cabinet

:22:14.:22:20.

Secretary for Communities, social community and Equalities.

:22:21.:22:22.

APPLAUSE Thank you very much, Michael. It's

:22:23.:22:28.

great to hear about that fantastic announcement of an addition`l

:22:29.:22:33.

?665,000 being invested in services to tackle violence against women and

:22:34.:22:39.

girls. Conference, since our re-eldction we

:22:40.:22:43.

have taken the challenge of achieving a fairer Scotland to a new

:22:44.:22:49.

level. We are utterly utterly focussed on bringing about lasting

:22:50.:22:56.

change that's required to t`ckle deep-seated deprivation, poverty and

:22:57.:22:59.

inequality. And that's why the fairer Scotland action plan that I

:23:00.:23:04.

recently launched outlines activities that will be takdn right

:23:05.:23:10.

across this Government, with 50 concrete actions for this

:23:11.:23:14.

parliamentary term. It's an ambitious, affordable and achievable

:23:15.:23:18.

plan which sets out our long-term commitment to make Scotland a fairer

:23:19.:23:25.

and more equal place to livd in I have also recently established a ?29

:23:26.:23:30.

million fund for communities and the third sector to find new waxs to

:23:31.:23:35.

tackle poverty, funding projects that will provide child card, create

:23:36.:23:41.

new jobs and support our local communities. And unlike the UK Tory

:23:42.:23:48.

Government, which scrapped statutory child poverty targets last xear

:23:49.:23:56.

sweeping child poverty under the carpet, this party, however,

:23:57.:24:03.

children will always come fhrst APPLAUSE

:24:04.:24:06.

That's why the child povertx bill that I will take forward will apply

:24:07.:24:13.

long-term income-based targdts to reduce and to ultimately er`dicate

:24:14.:24:17.

child poverty. No mean feat, but we are well and truly up for it.

:24:18.:24:22.

Housing, of course, is key to achieving a fairer Scotland and we

:24:23.:24:26.

are stepping up the pace on this with Kevin Stewart, the Housing

:24:27.:24:30.

Minister working hard to ensure the delivery of at least 50,000

:24:31.:24:35.

affordable homes over the lhfetime of this parliament. Homes that can

:24:36.:24:40.

create jobs, support communhties and households the length and breadth of

:24:41.:24:44.

Scotland. Of course, we also ?5 ,000 affordable homes over the lhfetime

:24:45.:24:47.

of this parliament. Homes that can create jobs, support communhties and

:24:48.:24:49.

households the length and breadth of Scotland. Of course, we also

:24:50.:24:51.

continue to spend over one lillion a year protecting people from some of

:24:52.:24:53.

the worst aspects of so-called welfare reform. Money that could

:24:54.:24:59.

lift people out of poverty hs being used to mitigate callous Tory

:25:00.:25:04.

Government decisions. We might only be getting 15% of the benefhts

:25:05.:25:10.

budget transferred from Westminster, but that covers 11 benefits which

:25:11.:25:16.

one in four people rely on. So we are firmly focussed on transferring

:25:17.:25:21.

those benefits and services safely and securely and the Ministdr for

:25:22.:25:26.

Social Security is working hard to ensure that our new social security

:25:27.:25:30.

system will work with peopld and not work against them.

:25:31.:25:42.

Conference, I am therefore very pleased to announce today that we

:25:43.:25:46.

will involve at least 2,000 people from across Scotland who have gone

:25:47.:25:51.

through all aspects of the benefits system and experienced groups to

:25:52.:25:56.

help us to test our plans, to test our policies and to test our

:25:57.:26:01.

processes. Conference, the new social security powers will be the

:26:02.:26:07.

biggest programme of change in the history of devolution and wd will

:26:08.:26:10.

therefore listen first and foremost to those who have that lived

:26:11.:26:14.

experience to ensure that wd get it right and that we get it absolutely

:26:15.:26:20.

right and ensure that we crdate a new social security system for

:26:21.:26:25.

Scotland with dignity and f`irness at its very heart and absolttely

:26:26.:26:34.

everything that we do. APPLAUSE

:26:35.:26:37.

So, thank you very much. It's a great pleasure for me to now

:26:38.:26:51.

introduce the very passionate and feisty Rosanna Cunningham, LSP.

:26:52.:26:54.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Angela. I don't

:26:55.:26:58.

know whether I will be living up to that title in the next couple of

:26:59.:27:03.

minutes, but I do want to tdll you that I am incredibly proud to stand

:27:04.:27:07.

before you today as Scotland's very first Cabinet Secretary for the

:27:08.:27:14.

Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. Despite the order of the

:27:15.:27:19.

title I am going to start whth the land first, because it defines us

:27:20.:27:23.

and it's given us our very sense of national identity. We have shaped

:27:24.:27:29.

the landscape, but it in turn has shaped us. As a party we have long

:27:30.:27:33.

been committed to radical l`nd reform, a bold ambition, a lassive

:27:34.:27:36.

task. We shouldn't forget the injustices of the past but H think

:27:37.:27:40.

it's now time to look to thd future. A future where our land, both rural

:27:41.:27:45.

and urban, is used to benefht the many, not the few.

:27:46.:27:54.

APPLAUSE Our new land reform act set out what

:27:55.:27:58.

we want to achieve and how we plan to achieve it and that incltdes the

:27:59.:28:04.

creation of a powerful new body the Scottish Land Commission to drive

:28:05.:28:09.

forward the land reform agenda. It will deliver for all of Scotland.

:28:10.:28:14.

And it's fantastic to reveal today that the headquarters will be in

:28:15.:28:16.

Inverness. The Highland caphtal I do wish, I wish the commission

:28:17.:28:28.

well, the commissioners will be appointed in the coming months and

:28:29.:28:32.

they will begin work next ydar and I pledge them my full support. I have

:28:33.:28:37.

another promise to make. Scotland is going to continue to lead the rest

:28:38.:28:40.

of the UK in the fight against climate change. We've already blown

:28:41.:28:45.

through our 2020 target six years early. Naysayers said it cotldn t be

:28:46.:28:57.

done. We did it. And we are about to raise the bar by setting totgh new

:28:58.:29:04.

targets. I make no apology for using Scotland as an exemplar. Those are

:29:05.:29:08.

not my words, they are the words of the chairman of the UK commhttee on

:29:09.:29:13.

climate change. And you may remember him as John Selwyn Gummer, that s

:29:14.:29:19.

right, a Tory. Publicly declaring the SNP are getting something right.

:29:20.:29:27.

That makes a change. Conferdnce climate change is one of thd

:29:28.:29:30.

defining issues of our age `nd make no mistake it is a threat to our

:29:31.:29:39.

whole environment. I want to ensure future generations can agred

:29:40.:29:41.

Scotland was bold, Scotland delivered and Scotland got ht right.

:29:42.:29:46.

The transition to a low carbon economy means difficult chohces but

:29:47.:29:50.

there are opportunities, too. The remarkable success of our rdnewable

:29:51.:29:54.

energy sector is testament to that. So we will go further, the bolder,

:29:55.:29:58.

if only we could say the sale thing of the UK Government, which is yet

:29:59.:30:04.

to ratify the Paris climate accord. Friends, there are powerful

:30:05.:30:09.

organisations who seek to thwart our work to protect the environlent

:30:10.:30:14.

fight climate change and achieve radical land reform Parliamdnt has

:30:15.:30:16.

spoken and I promise you thd will of the people of Scotland will prevail.

:30:17.:30:29.

And taking up some of the challenges of the new economic opportunity of

:30:30.:30:33.

our work on climate change hn the circular economy, here's Kehth

:30:34.:30:37.

Brown, Cabinet Secretary for the economy, jobs and fair work.

:30:38.:30:49.

Conference, I think it's very important we look back over the

:30:50.:30:51.

previous time we have had in government and actually celdbrate

:30:52.:30:55.

and acknowledge some of the successes we have had. We'rd the

:30:56.:31:00.

party of have always been interested in Schumacher things, achieving

:31:01.:31:03.

national sovereignty of course but also looking after the interests of

:31:04.:31:05.

the people of Scotland and H think that means building up Scotland It

:31:06.:31:09.

is worth looking at some highlights. First of all, the substanti`l

:31:10.:31:15.

motorway with Project M80 completed on time and under budget. M`ny of

:31:16.:31:22.

you coming today to this confidence will have used the M74, talked about

:31:23.:31:30.

for decades but completed on-time and on budget by an governmdnt. Many

:31:31.:31:37.

other projects, the Bathgatd railway project, I should not pretend they

:31:38.:31:39.

were done under my directorship many other listeners have bden

:31:40.:31:45.

involved but that was compldted on time and on budget. A very trusting

:31:46.:31:47.

small project, the style bypass in Moray, they have been

:31:48.:31:56.

trying to build that for ne`rly 60 years. And SNP government completed

:31:57.:32:06.

that project. Much of these projects have been about improving the

:32:07.:32:09.

infrastructure and the prodtctive potential in Scotland but they are

:32:10.:32:13.

also about providing work and jobs and they are by their naturd Labour

:32:14.:32:17.

intensive. We have also been very busy over the previous nine years in

:32:18.:32:24.

saving jobs. The last commercial shipbuilders in Scotland was saved

:32:25.:32:31.

by an SNP government. Also Prestwick airport, and the saviour of the last

:32:32.:32:45.

steel-making plant in government. And if you look at the latest

:32:46.:32:49.

figures for unemployment, there is a position just now of around 4.7

:32:50.:32:56.

unemployment in Scotland, that is lower than the UK, one of the lowest

:32:57.:32:59.

there has been in nearly 25 years and that is no coincidence. It has a

:33:00.:33:03.

great deal to do with the work we have done. At the same time a train

:33:04.:33:06.

to build jobs we have also been breaking to ensure we have ` fairer

:33:07.:33:09.

distribution of the jobs and fairer working practices for peopld. We

:33:10.:33:15.

have seen the establishment of the fair work convention. We have seen

:33:16.:33:20.

the largest contract issued by any government in Scotland, a contract

:33:21.:33:23.

for railway services guaranteed for everybody involved in that company

:33:24.:33:27.

to get a living wage but also guaranteeing that every

:33:28.:33:30.

subcontractor used by that company will have a living wage. Thhs is

:33:31.:33:35.

making Scotland a fairer pl`ce and using the power of government to do

:33:36.:33:42.

that. Obviously that's not the job finished, there is a great deal more

:33:43.:33:46.

to do so what you have seen in the last two weeks as the First Minister

:33:47.:33:49.

announced the Scottish growth skin, this is the means by which lany

:33:50.:33:53.

companies to find it hard to access finance are able to tap into up to

:33:54.:33:57.

?500,000 of new money made `vailable to companies so they can sc`le up or

:33:58.:34:01.

get off the ground projects that would find it hard to get fhnance.

:34:02.:34:10.

Available to countries is gone. And in addition to that the response to

:34:11.:34:13.

Brexit, we have not seen th`t yet from the UK Government, we have seen

:34:14.:34:18.

from the Scottish Government affairs Minister announcing capital

:34:19.:34:24.

stimulus, for environmental projects, for example energx

:34:25.:34:31.

efficiency. Even people likd the AGI will tell you that the most

:34:32.:34:34.

effective way to sustain economy twinjet vest in capital projects. We

:34:35.:34:39.

will continue to work for Scotland, some mothers of the projects

:34:40.:34:46.

underway, but the biggest roads project in the UK and, the loment,

:34:47.:34:49.

the peripheral Route, mandated for 50 years, we have seen the crossing

:34:50.:34:58.

across the River Forth, the biggest project we have underway just now,

:34:59.:35:03.

which will be completed by the contracting completion date and will

:35:04.:35:08.

be completed around a quartdr of ?1 billion cheaper than the tender

:35:09.:35:17.

price. I mention these things, conference, because it has `lways

:35:18.:35:23.

been our party's philosophy to build Scotland. It is our job to build up

:35:24.:35:31.

Scotland. And on that issue of building up Scotland we owe a great

:35:32.:35:34.

feel for all the projects I have mentioned to somebody who h`s

:35:35.:35:37.

managed to find the finances to do that and I'm sure the new Fhnance

:35:38.:35:42.

secretary will do that. But our Finance secretary over thesd years

:35:43.:35:45.

has had to find the money to make these projects a reality. It is my

:35:46.:35:48.

pleasure there for two judgds a former finance secretary, otr

:35:49.:35:53.

Education Secretary, our Deputy First Minister, John Swinnex.

:35:54.:36:01.

CHEERING Conference, in May of this xear a

:36:02.:36:32.

remarkable thing happened. Nine years after we were first elected to

:36:33.:36:36.

government, we went to the polls, we went to the country to seek historic

:36:37.:36:43.

third consecutive term in office. Led by Nicola Sturgeon, the leader

:36:44.:36:47.

with a close and direct rel`tionship with our people. We asked the

:36:48.:36:53.

electorate for a new mandatd. We promoted team, we explained our

:36:54.:36:56.

vision of a fair and prosperous nation. And the voters delivered a

:36:57.:37:02.

thumping great victory for the SNP and for Scotland. Friends, the doors

:37:03.:37:14.

that you knock on the leafldts she delivered on the voters you

:37:15.:37:17.

canvassed and the neighbours you convinced, that's what made our

:37:18.:37:23.

victory possible. It was a victory founded on hard work, it is the

:37:24.:37:30.

British strength of this party. Don't get me wrong, some wotld say

:37:31.:37:33.

that our First Minister is our greatest strength and far bd it from

:37:34.:37:38.

me to disagree with that... I wouldn't dream of it. Others will

:37:39.:37:41.

tell you our greatest strength is our vision for the nation. @nd

:37:42.:37:46.

they're not wrong, either. But for me are greater strength is that we

:37:47.:37:54.

are not a branch office of the UK party. CHEERING

:37:55.:38:06.

We are neither apologists for the UK Government, we draw our strdngth

:38:07.:38:12.

from every community, every town, every village, every creed `nd

:38:13.:38:18.

colour in this great nation. Friends, our greatest strength is

:38:19.:38:22.

that we are rooted in all of the communities of Scotland. And last

:38:23.:38:33.

weekend we saw the stark contrast between this country, this party,

:38:34.:38:37.

and those who have a differdnt vision for this nation. Last weekend

:38:38.:38:42.

while the tourist of their conference platform to spout forth

:38:43.:38:45.

xenophobic bile, here in Scotland an amazing thing happened. As the week

:38:46.:38:49.

went on and as the bile poured forth, hear people started to write

:38:50.:38:55.

on Twitter about what they love They tweeted about their orhgins,

:38:56.:39:00.

their families, their friends, here and in other countries. Thex stood

:39:01.:39:05.

up to the xenophobes in the best way possible, by celebrating thd

:39:06.:39:14.

diversity that makes Scotland. They met eight with love and thex made

:39:15.:39:17.

everyone of us are a proud that we all live here in Scotland. The late

:39:18.:39:33.

dearly missed Bashir Ahmed said it best summed up what you thotght with

:39:34.:39:36.

a simple statement: it does not matter where you come from, what's

:39:37.:39:38.

important is where we're gohng together as a nation. In thd face of

:39:39.:39:43.

the right-wing demagoguery of the Tory Brexit government, it has never

:39:44.:39:46.

been more important that we celebrate that spirit and hold fast

:39:47.:39:52.

to that truth. It's who we `re, whether born here or abroad, what

:39:53.:39:56.

ever your creed, what ever xour colour. The Scot by birth or by

:39:57.:40:03.

choice, all of us, every single one of us, are part of our nation. All

:40:04.:40:08.

of us who choose to live thdre, we are Scotland.

:40:09.:41:15.

For our country as a whole ht means using new powers over tax and social

:41:16.:41:22.

security to expand our economy and to lift more people out of poverty.

:41:23.:41:27.

But above all else this means trusting the people of Scotland to

:41:28.:41:31.

make the big decisions about the future of our country. That was our

:41:32.:41:37.

perspectives. Now it is our programme for government. This is

:41:38.:41:41.

the route to creating a fair and prosperous Scotland for all in our

:41:42.:41:52.

country. Since 2007 we have transformed education, boosted our

:41:53.:41:56.

health service, reformed policing, taking employment team record levels

:41:57.:42:00.

and built thousands of affordable homes. Our investment has ddlivered

:42:01.:42:06.

more than schools, colleges and universities, as well as sole of the

:42:07.:42:09.

biggest transport improvements the country has ever seen. Our `im has

:42:10.:42:15.

always been to build a country where strong public services are

:42:16.:42:18.

underpinned by a successful economy. Yes, we are proud of our record but

:42:19.:42:22.

we know there is still much more to do. That is our task now, to build a

:42:23.:42:30.

better future for Scotland `nd for everybody who chooses to live and to

:42:31.:42:34.

work here with us in Scotland. Friends, you just heard frol our

:42:35.:42:39.

cabinet team, the Cabinet Sdcretary leading change in all of thdir

:42:40.:42:43.

portfolios. Angela Constancd creating a Social Security system

:42:44.:42:47.

based on dignity and respect. Shona Robinson delivering record levels of

:42:48.:42:53.

get more patience here in Scotland. Michael Matheson delivering a 4

:42:54.:42:55.

year low in crime. Roseanna Cunningham delivering on her world

:42:56.:43:00.

leading climate change targdts six years ahead of schedule. Kehth Brown

:43:01.:43:05.

growing the economy despite headwinds of the Tory Brexit. Fiona

:43:06.:43:10.

Hislop has just arrived frol Brussels where she has been fighting

:43:11.:43:13.

for Scotland's place in Europe and Fiona will address the confdrence

:43:14.:43:18.

later this afternoon. And Fdrgus Ewing is away from conference

:43:19.:43:20.

fighting for Scotland's rur`l economy, promoting our fant`stic

:43:21.:43:25.

produce to the resellers th`t can make Scottish food and drink a

:43:26.:43:30.

success. Not for them party before country, they are SNP ministers and

:43:31.:43:35.

for us country comes first, always, country comes first.

:43:36.:43:46.

Friends, before you think I have forgotten someone, I want to say a

:43:47.:43:52.

word about Derrick MacKay, our new Finance Secretary. I have, of

:43:53.:43:56.

course, done that job, it's not easy, it gets tougher as thd times

:43:57.:44:01.

get tougher. But I know Derdk will do a fantastic job as the Fhnance

:44:02.:44:04.

Secretary in the Scottish Government. But I do have a word of

:44:05.:44:13.

warning for him. I too was once a young looking Finance Minister.

:44:14.:44:19.

LAUGHTER With a full head of hair. So be

:44:20.:44:32.

warned, this is your future. APPLAUSE

:44:33.:44:36.

On stage and off stage this is the team that leads our nation. At the

:44:37.:44:40.

head of that team is our First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

:44:41.:44:44.

Acknowledged by friend and foe alike, she's given this party and

:44:45.:44:48.

the country the leadership ht needs in uncertain times. No one could

:44:49.:44:52.

have been more struck by thhs than on the morning of 24th June, in the

:44:53.:44:58.

wake of the E. Referendum rdsult, it was Nicola Sturgeon who stepped up.

:44:59.:45:02.

It was Nicola Sturgeon who laid out a path for Scotland to follow. While

:45:03.:45:09.

Boris and Gove panicked, Caleron resigned and Corbyn went missing. It

:45:10.:45:16.

was Nicola Sturgeon who rejdcted the zenophobia of Farage, reasstred our

:45:17.:45:19.

EU friends here in Scotland and defended our relationship whth

:45:20.:45:23.

Europe, in that moment therd was a crisis of leadership in London. Here

:45:24.:45:27.

in Scotland, leadership had its finest hour.

:45:28.:45:29.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

:45:30.:45:46.

And that crisis rolls on in Westminster. Barely a day goes by

:45:47.:45:53.

that the three Brexiteers of Boris, Davis and Fox do not embarr`ss the

:45:54.:45:58.

whole of the United Kingdom. Theresa May is in office, but it is already

:45:59.:46:03.

obvious that she's not in power A Remain voter apparently, shd's been

:46:04.:46:08.

driven by the Tory hard-right to a hard Brexit just as David C`meron

:46:09.:46:14.

was drifen to a referendum by the self same hard-right Brexitders in

:46:15.:46:18.

the first place. The conseqtences can barely be contemplated. One

:46:19.:46:21.

consequence I will deal with directly today. We as a Govdrnment

:46:22.:46:26.

have already confirmed tuithon fees funding to support EU students

:46:27.:46:31.

studying here or preparing to start here in this year. Now we whll

:46:32.:46:35.

extend that guarantee to those EU students wishing to come to start in

:46:36.:46:42.

Scotland in the next year in 2017-18.

:46:43.:46:54.

APPLAUSE And unlike Labour and the Tories

:46:55.:47:05.

that is tuition fees-free education. Education that we are garning, not

:47:06.:47:09.

the massive fees they imposd on students wherever they come from.

:47:10.:47:14.

But let me go further. We whll guarantee their funding. Wh`t I

:47:15.:47:18.

demand is that the Tory Brexit Government guarantees their right to

:47:19.:47:21.

stay here during their studhes and to work here after their sttdies.

:47:22.:47:34.

APPLAUSE These people are not cards to be played, they are fellow human

:47:35.:47:39.

beings. To use them as negotiating chips is obscene and this p`rty and

:47:40.:47:45.

this SNP Government will have none of it. Conference, the Tory Brexit

:47:46.:47:55.

Government's threat to people's right to stay here is just `nother

:47:56.:48:00.

part of the hard-right agenda now running rampant at Westminster. In

:48:01.:48:06.

the face of this ugly Tory Brexit agenda, where stands Labour? Nowhere

:48:07.:48:12.

is the answer. When Jeremy Hunt put foreign born doctors on nothce of

:48:13.:48:18.

deportation, when Amber Rudd announced a sinister list of foreign

:48:19.:48:21.

workers, Labour didn't stand up in defiance. Instead their press office

:48:22.:48:25.

said the Tories had not gond far enough. Shame. Shame. Shame on the

:48:26.:48:28.

pathetic Labour Party. APPLAUSE

:48:29.:48:45.

Now there will be some in L`bour as horrified as we are at their

:48:46.:48:54.

collective moral failure. Kdzia Dugdale tweeted not in my n`me but

:48:55.:49:00.

let be clear for as long as she insists on powers remaining in

:49:01.:49:03.

London she shares the blame. I sat on the Smith Commission. I watched

:49:04.:49:10.

as Labour vet I doed propos`l after proposal, to devolve power `fter

:49:11.:49:15.

power to Scotland. So Kezia, you may say it's not in your name, but I say

:49:16.:49:19.

it is at your hand and the people of Scotland will never forget that

:49:20.:49:24.

Labour Party were prepared to allow the Tories to rule Scotland, to stop

:49:25.:49:27.

our country deciding on our own future.

:49:28.:49:37.

APPLAUSE Friends, make no mistake, wd are the

:49:38.:49:45.

National Party and we will `lways put the national interests first. We

:49:46.:49:50.

believe in our nation's ability to govern herself and we believe in our

:49:51.:49:53.

communities' ability to takd power in their own hands. We want to

:49:54.:49:58.

reinvigorate local government by reconnecting it with communhties,

:49:59.:50:01.

the principle of local control, not on behalf of a community but by a

:50:02.:50:05.

community is key. This is at the heart of our programme. We have

:50:06.:50:09.

already launched the review of how school education is governed.

:50:10.:50:12.

Setting ourselves the task of making parents and teachers the kex

:50:13.:50:16.

decision-makers in the life of our schools. Over the coming parliament

:50:17.:50:20.

we will go further. We will review the roles and responsibilithes of

:50:21.:50:24.

local authorities and we will look again at the relationships between

:50:25.:50:27.

local authorities and health boards. We aim to achieve nothing ldss than

:50:28.:50:32.

to transform our democratic landscape, protect and renew public

:50:33.:50:37.

services, and refresh the relationship between citizens,

:50:38.:50:39.

communities and councils. Wd do this, not because it is radhcal and

:50:40.:50:43.

it is, but because we believe it is right. We don't do it because it's

:50:44.:50:49.

easy, it's not, but because it is in the national interests. We believe

:50:50.:50:52.

that national interest lies in placing power in the hands of the

:50:53.:50:57.

people of this country. It hs why I believe in independence. Just as we

:50:58.:51:01.

believe the best people to decide the future of our country are those

:51:02.:51:05.

who live here, so we believd the best people to decide the ftture of

:51:06.:51:10.

our communities are the people who live in those communities. We will

:51:11.:51:14.

trust the people to make thd decisions about their futurd, that

:51:15.:51:19.

is our Creed and that is thd truly radical path of this Scottish

:51:20.:51:29.

National Party Government. APPLAUSE

:51:30.:51:32.

After the election, I was ghven the enormous privilege of becomhng the

:51:33.:51:36.

Education Secretary at the request of the First Minister. The task the

:51:37.:51:39.

First Minister has given to me is simple, to raise the bar for all and

:51:40.:51:44.

to close the attainment gap for our poorest pupils. And our ambhtion is

:51:45.:51:49.

equally straightforward. We will make significant progress in closing

:51:50.:51:53.

the gap within the next parliament and substantially eliminate it

:51:54.:51:57.

within a decade. It may be ` simple objective, it may be a

:51:58.:52:00.

straightforward aim, but it will not be easy. Bedo not underestilate the

:52:01.:52:06.

scale of our ambition. We do not underestimate the destructive force

:52:07.:52:09.

of poverty. We know the dam`ge it does to the life chances of our

:52:10.:52:14.

youngest, poorest children. I believe the single best route out of

:52:15.:52:20.

poverty is education. I belheve the single most powerful weapon we have

:52:21.:52:26.

to fight poverty is education. We will bring the whole educathon

:52:27.:52:29.

system together behind our purpose. The expansion of child care to 0

:52:30.:52:35.

hours per week, the focus on school education unreserved rip on learning

:52:36.:52:39.

and teaching. The widening of access to university, the strengthdning of

:52:40.:52:43.

apprenticeships, the linking of college to the world of work. All

:52:44.:52:48.

will come together in the s`me national mission, to free every

:52:49.:52:52.

single child from the burden of poverty. I will give it, I promise

:52:53.:52:58.

you, my relentless focus, I will not rest until we have delivered the

:52:59.:53:04.

best possible future for evdry single young person in our country.

:53:05.:53:17.

APPLAUSE Friends, nine years ago, we set out on a journey in Govdrnment.

:53:18.:53:22.

We have come a long way. Thd people of our country have asked us to go

:53:23.:53:27.

further, to make Scotland stronger. That is our task. That is otr

:53:28.:53:33.

pledge. Our promise to Scotland is this, this SNP Government whll build

:53:34.:53:37.

a fair, equal and a prosperous Scotland. Thank you very much.

:53:38.:53:45.

APPLAUSE OK conference, we are going to get

:53:46.:56:15.

on with the rest of our agenda for today. We are moving on to

:56:16.:56:19.

resolution 16. Scotland's place in Europe. To be moved by Tony Jewel

:56:20.:56:26.

lano and seconded by Joanna Cherry MP.

:56:27.:56:37.

Conference, I move to this country, to the city, when I was sevdn years

:56:38.:56:44.

old. I spoke no English. On my first day at school my classmates had each

:56:45.:56:48.

learned something in Italian to make me feel welcome. I will nevdr forget

:56:49.:56:55.

one of them wrote, welcome to Glasgow, PS, if you are a rdal

:56:56.:57:04.

Italian, whereabouts is your chippy. My family, like thousands of other

:57:05.:57:08.

migrants, came here to work. They ran businesses, they teach our

:57:09.:57:12.

children. They are the lifeblood of our NHS. They make an incredible

:57:13.:57:17.

contribution to our society, just look the millions of Scots who

:57:18.:57:22.

emigrated enriching nations across the globe and yet they have been

:57:23.:57:27.

demonised as benefit cheats, denied a vote in the referendum and now

:57:28.:57:31.

used as bargaining chips. Conference, these are peopld's

:57:32.:57:34.

lives. It's time for the Tories is to stop messing with them and

:57:35.:57:39.

guarantee their right to live here now. As John Swinney said e`rlier on

:57:40.:57:49.

the morning of the 24th Jund, for millions of people across the UK the

:57:50.:57:56.

future was suddenly thrown hn doubt. In times of profound unsnet it's the

:57:57.:58:02.

job of politicians to steadx the ship and chart a new course. The

:58:03.:58:07.

Prime Minister, he abdicated responsibility. The Chancellor, Mo

:58:08.:58:13.

where. The Home Secretary, silent. Only one leader gave that dhrection

:58:14.:58:17.

and reassurance, the First Linister of our country, Nicola Sturgeon

:58:18.:58:21.

APPLAUSE Delegates, Tory party conference was

:58:22.:58:29.

an eye-opener, it told us everything we need to know about the khnd of

:58:30.:58:32.

country they want. They want employers to list foreign workers,

:58:33.:58:36.

universities to crackdown on foreign students. The NHS to replacd foreign

:58:37.:58:42.

doctors. Walls built across the Channel. Conference, what a reckless

:58:43.:58:50.

display of divisive nationalism it has no place in Scotland, wd will

:58:51.:58:59.

never subscribe to it. APPL@USE Friends, the Leave campaign was a

:59:00.:59:04.

con led by politicians responsible for the deep inequalities that scar

:59:05.:59:11.

our society. Politicians who impose austerity on the most vulnerable and

:59:12.:59:14.

then shifted the blame onto the shoulders of migrants. Unless

:59:15.:59:20.

Scotland takes its destiny hn its own hands, these are the people who

:59:21.:59:23.

will continue to decide our future. Make no mistake, the United Kingdom

:59:24.:59:32.

Scotland voted for in 2014 no longer exists. Two years ago Labour and the

:59:33.:59:36.

Tories said vote no to protdct your place in Europe. Today we stand on

:59:37.:59:42.

the brink of the EU exit door. Delegates, those parties can never

:59:43.:59:46.

be trusted with Scotland's future again. APPLAUSE

:59:47.:59:55.

I am proud that Scotland voted emphatically to remain in the EU,

:59:56.:59:58.

Brexit never was and never will be in our national interests.

:59:59.:00:03.

Strathclyde University say ` hard Brexit will lead to 80,000 fewer

:00:04.:00:09.

Scottish jobs by 2026. If the UK does stay in the single market, the

:00:10.:00:14.

price tag will be 5 billion a year just to access it. Friends, that is

:00:15.:00:20.

the absurdity of Brexit. Paxing more for what we already had.

:00:21.:00:26.

Whether you count yourself `s a euro enthusiast or Eurosceptic, this is

:00:27.:00:34.

now much bigger than that. This is about Scotland's right to bd heard.

:00:35.:00:39.

Theresa May came to Scotland pledging to listen. But she's since

:00:40.:00:42.

made clear the only voice that matters is her own. So we f`ce a

:00:43.:00:49.

choice. Do we continue to bd dismissed and ignored as a nation or

:00:50.:00:52.

do we take our place in the world as a constructive member of thd

:00:53.:00:55.

international community as `n independent country? Conferdnce I

:00:56.:01:01.

will conclude because my lights are flashing in front of me. We voted to

:01:02.:01:10.

stay in the world's largest market. We voted to protect our workplace

:01:11.:01:15.

rights. We voted to safeguard our right to live and work across the

:01:16.:01:18.

continent. The message to the Prime Minister is this, the days of

:01:19.:01:25.

Scotland being sidelined ard over. Remain means Remain. Our vohce will

:01:26.:01:28.

be heard. APPLAUSE CHEERING

:01:29.:01:36.

Joanna Cherry, MP, second, to be followed by Alec or to move the

:01:37.:01:47.

remit back. Good afternoon, fellow delegates. Like Tony, I'm the

:01:48.:01:51.

daughter of an immigrant, mx mum came over from Ireland more than 50

:01:52.:01:55.

years ago to do her midwifery training and stayed in Scotland She

:01:56.:01:59.

always says she brought her daughters up not to be Irish

:02:00.:02:02.

nationalists and cheese enddd up with two Rambert Scottish

:02:03.:02:08.

Nationalists instead. -- two rampant Scottish Nationalists. APPL@USE

:02:09.:02:13.

Of course Scottish nationalhsm like modern Irish nationalism is very

:02:14.:02:16.

internationalist and outward looking in X expression. -- in its

:02:17.:02:21.

expression. This motion this afternoon isn't about whethdr or not

:02:22.:02:26.

we stay in the European Union, it's already been decided, overwhelmingly

:02:27.:02:31.

62% of Scots voted to Remain. This motion is about ensuring thd

:02:32.:02:34.

democratic will of that votd is respected. As the First Minhster

:02:35.:02:38.

said yesterday, it doesn't lean to say we don't listen to thosd who

:02:39.:02:42.

voted to leave the European Union, but primarily we have to respect the

:02:43.:02:45.

democratic mandate of those who voted to stay. During the

:02:46.:02:49.

referendum, the independencd referendum, as you'll remember, Ruth

:02:50.:02:53.

Davidson and others repeatedly told us the only way to guaranted

:02:54.:02:58.

Scotland's continued membership of the European Union was to vote to

:02:59.:03:01.

stay in the UK. That promisd, like so many they made, has now been

:03:02.:03:06.

broken and revealed for the lie it always was. When that promise was

:03:07.:03:10.

made with Davidson knew verx well it was going to be in her partx

:03:11.:03:14.

manifesto to have a referendum on Europe and there was a real risk

:03:15.:03:17.

we'd be taken out. The only party that can protect Scotland's position

:03:18.:03:21.

in Europe is the SNP. We have to do that by being strong and st`nding up

:03:22.:03:26.

against the xenophobia and `rrogance of this horribly right-wing

:03:27.:03:31.

government. We need to make it very clear to Ruth Davidson and her nasty

:03:32.:03:35.

right-wing colleagues down south that no amount of hectoring and

:03:36.:03:39.

bullying will prevent us from holding a second independence

:03:40.:03:49.

referendum if necessary. CHDERING The Tory party in Scotland fought

:03:50.:03:52.

the last Hollywood campaign on a single issue, that they shotld never

:03:53.:03:57.

again be an independence referendum. They lost dismally, and camd distant

:03:58.:04:06.

second. By contrast, the SNP Scottish Government won an historic

:04:07.:04:09.

third term with the highest mandate of any government in Western Europe.

:04:10.:04:15.

And on a manifesto which cldarly said that if there was a material

:04:16.:04:19.

change of circumstances such as Scotland being forced to le`ve the

:04:20.:04:23.

European Union against her will we would hold a second independence

:04:24.:04:26.

referendum. Conference, let's be very clear, we have a democratic

:04:27.:04:32.

mandate to do that. If necessary. And it is our duty to do it if

:04:33.:04:41.

necessary. Let me say very clearly to Ruth Davidson, you don't get to

:04:42.:04:47.

dictate what happens in Scotland. That is up to the Scottish people.

:04:48.:04:49.

CHEERING OK, you can come to the stage to

:04:50.:05:05.

make your point of order. Thank you. I put a card in to speak

:05:06.:05:22.

for the remit back at ten mhnutes to two today, if Mr or's card was put

:05:23.:05:28.

in before that I will withdraw it. It was put in after... -- Mr Orr.

:05:29.:05:39.

There's nothing clever about getting a card in early? Not partictlarly,

:05:40.:05:47.

no. Can I have my card to speak against? That your point of order,

:05:48.:05:50.

we need to move on with the next debate. We've got a lot of cards in

:05:51.:05:54.

for this debate conference, we're not going to be able to get everyone

:05:55.:05:57.

but we'll try to get through as many cards as possible and we'll strive

:05:58.:06:02.

to have a balanced debate and take as many speakers from different

:06:03.:06:07.

sides of the debate as we c`n. I would ask all speakers to kdep to

:06:08.:06:10.

time as much as possible and I will cut off your microphone if H have

:06:11.:06:16.

too. I'd rather not do that. Could I have Alec Orr to move the rdbate

:06:17.:06:20.

back, to be followed by Gradme McCormack to second. Good afternoon

:06:21.:06:26.

conference in 1992, William McIlvanney told $20,000 gathered at

:06:27.:06:32.

the European summit in Edinburgh marching for the establishmdnt of a

:06:33.:06:34.

Scottish parliament we gathdr here like refugees in the capital of our

:06:35.:06:39.

own country. These words cotld not be more apt following the

:06:40.:06:43.

Conservative Party conference, from the nasty party, just considerably

:06:44.:06:49.

last year. The toxic right tnder the guise of Brexit. Brexit is the

:06:50.:06:52.

greatest political upheaval in British politics in half a century.

:06:53.:06:56.

It is indeed deepening the divide in the union. The political we`ther has

:06:57.:07:01.

changed but I urge caution. I urge caution when we look at how we

:07:02.:07:04.

achieve the goal of independence for our nation. As a Europhile no one

:07:05.:07:12.

more than me would delight `nd relish an independent Scotl`nd. What

:07:13.:07:15.

I have to say my not be poptlar but I've never been one to hold back

:07:16.:07:19.

from what I believe. The next independence referendum we go for

:07:20.:07:22.

must be one we can be confident we can win. When the time is rhght or

:07:23.:07:27.

the issue is off the agenda for decades. I urge caution and while I

:07:28.:07:36.

applaud the sentiment of thd resolution,... Lets remember a few

:07:37.:07:40.

things. A third of SNP voters voted for Brexit, we need to be mhndful of

:07:41.:07:44.

how we link these issues together and avoid a headlong enthushastic

:07:45.:07:48.

rushing to holding such a vote at a time which may not be of our own

:07:49.:07:53.

choosing. We have to be warx of what this resolution states. It says

:07:54.:07:57.

conference believes every avenue must be explored to keep Scotland in

:07:58.:08:01.

the EU. The Scottish Governlent position has subtly changed. Top

:08:02.:08:07.

it's been reinforced by the First Minister yesterday. Not that we

:08:08.:08:10.

remain part of the European Union, but that we retain membershhp of the

:08:11.:08:15.

single market. These are two very, very different objectives. Hf you

:08:16.:08:18.

vote for this resolution, wd're tying our First Minister and

:08:19.:08:22.

government's hands. If we do retain our goal of staying within the

:08:23.:08:26.

single market and not the Etropean Union, we would still be botnd to

:08:27.:08:28.

head down the road of an independence referendum. In our

:08:29.:08:32.

manifesto we pledge the right to hold a manifesto if there is a

:08:33.:08:36.

significant and material ch`nge in circumstances since the refdrendum

:08:37.:08:40.

in 2014. We have a mixture of triggers, not solely Brexit, we have

:08:41.:08:45.

policies conceived by the most right-wing Conservative govdrnment

:08:46.:08:49.

in history. A suitable trigger for an independence broke. I wotld urge

:08:50.:08:53.

caution, therefore, an tying the calling of an independence

:08:54.:08:56.

referendum on EU membership. The eventual deal might be supported by

:08:57.:08:59.

the Scottish people. We shotld have a referendum on conference `t a time

:09:00.:09:05.

we can win it. There is much good in the referendum but let's not buying

:09:06.:09:09.

the hands of the First Minister and government, bring it back at a

:09:10.:09:12.

future date when we're clear on the nature of any Brexit deal ndgotiated

:09:13.:09:15.

for Scotland. And implications of this on the holding of another

:09:16.:09:21.

referendum. Thank you. APPL@USE Graeme McCormack to second the remit

:09:22.:09:24.

back to be held by Fiona Hyslop MSP. Conference, the last time I was in

:09:25.:09:41.

this auditorium it was a pantomime. John Barrowman fell off a horse The

:09:42.:09:45.

horse was a supporter of independence. I'm an enthushast it

:09:46.:09:53.

supporter of the EU however this resolution is fundamentally flawed.

:09:54.:09:57.

It confuses the European Unhon and Europe. More fundamentally, this

:09:58.:10:00.

resolution is a gift of Unionists as it gives the perception that our

:10:01.:10:06.

independence is conditional on membership of the EU. My concern was

:10:07.:10:10.

fortified when I heard a le`ding parliamentarian suggest if we didn't

:10:11.:10:14.

stay in the EU is our right to call another independence referendum

:10:15.:10:16.

would be undermined and unjustifiable. I do not belheve this

:10:17.:10:22.

is the view of the party. In out of the EU, Scotland must be

:10:23.:10:30.

independent. APPLAUSE One of the lessons we should have

:10:31.:10:33.

learned from the independence referendum was to keep control of

:10:34.:10:37.

our options. When the two crucial issues of currency and conthnued EU

:10:38.:10:41.

membership, we lost control, or evidence of the perceived

:10:42.:10:47.

corporation of EU government and EU member states. The UK establishment

:10:48.:10:50.

was dismissive, the EU membdrs were at best noncommittal and despite

:10:51.:10:54.

warm words will continue to be until we are independent. While Brexit is

:10:55.:11:02.

an opportunity, surely we h`ve two prepare for plan B. Sexit. This is

:11:03.:11:09.

nothing to do with Donald Trump or Bill Clinton, but it is the economy,

:11:10.:11:14.

stupid. I find it incredibld there is not one resolution or debate to

:11:15.:11:19.

debate our approach to taxation and the nation's economy on this

:11:20.:11:24.

conference agenda. APPLAUSE Thousands of us ordinary melbers of

:11:25.:11:29.

the SNP are doing our best to discuss, argue, influence and

:11:30.:11:32.

contribute to what we want our Scotland to be. So why do wd

:11:33.:11:36.

marginalise the most import`nt thing that matters to everyone, the

:11:37.:11:39.

economy, to official and unofficial fringe meetings. Cutting through the

:11:40.:11:45.

diverse ideas from across the independence family, there hs a way

:11:46.:11:49.

forward that appeals to the role and the open, the haves and havd-notss,

:11:50.:11:54.

the Europhile, nationalist `nd entrepreneur, and those who have

:11:55.:11:57.

hope as their only comfort. It beholds our party and government to

:11:58.:12:03.

embrace this and do two things. Live as if we are already independent by

:12:04.:12:08.

acting and taking decisions to emphasise our nation in a positive

:12:09.:12:12.

way and define our currency, banking, industrial and public

:12:13.:12:16.

revenue systems without depdnding on the shifting sands of cooperation

:12:17.:12:20.

from any third party states. Much of this can be incremented now under

:12:21.:12:25.

devolution. Foreign affairs, employment rights, living w`ge,

:12:26.:12:29.

defence, Social Security, industrial the Berkman... They're what

:12:30.:12:33.

legislative and very powerftl measures are we in Scotland can

:12:34.:12:38.

take. The fundamental truth is this, it's not EU membership that will

:12:39.:12:41.

deliver independence, we already have the legislative power hn our

:12:42.:12:45.

hands. It land reform and the taxation of that land can r`ise much

:12:46.:12:49.

more public revenue to accelerate our infrastructure and economic

:12:50.:12:52.

development and attack the obscenity of poverty through an annual ground

:12:53.:12:57.

rent on every square metre of land, and territorial waters. You can

:12:58.:13:01.

raise so much through this lethod you can replace all existing UK

:13:02.:13:06.

Scottish taxes and slash thd tax burden of virtually everyond else.

:13:07.:13:08.

The last second, please. We must never again offer an independent

:13:09.:13:11.

vision which depends on the goodwill of other countries to delivdr. Remit

:13:12.:13:15.

the resolution back. Thank xou. Fiona Hislop to speak in favour of

:13:16.:13:29.

the resolution, followed by Barry Hanaford to speak against. Cabinet

:13:30.:13:32.

Secretary for External Affahrs in the Scottish Government. Conference,

:13:33.:13:36.

in supporting this motion I want to make it quite clear that thhs motion

:13:37.:13:42.

is entirely consistent with the position set out by the First

:13:43.:13:47.

Minister yesterday. SNP MPs would be voting against the Brexit bhll and

:13:48.:13:50.

Alex and Graeme, I have sympathies with some of the arguments that you

:13:51.:13:55.

are making and taking, but our options will be still left open in

:13:56.:14:00.

supporting this motion. Conference, I want to share you with my

:14:01.:14:07.

activities as the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretarx leading

:14:08.:14:09.

on international relations hn Europe. First of all, I want to put

:14:10.:14:13.

on record my thanks to the team that we have in working with me on

:14:14.:14:21.

Scotland's place in Europe. We have our deputy Minister, Ministdr for

:14:22.:14:27.

Europe, the Minister for UK Negotiations, we have our twomens

:14:28.:14:38.

and our Westminster team. -, two MPs. And it's a formidable team

:14:39.:14:48.

working on our behalf on Europe My role has been to make sure we had

:14:49.:14:55.

a plan ready in the first place to provide leadership and reassurance

:14:56.:15:00.

if the UK voted to leave. Ddlegates, we were the only one with a plan.

:15:01.:15:06.

The leadership shown by Nicola Sturgeon from day one has bden

:15:07.:15:10.

outstanding. I can tell you it's made a big impact across Europe Do

:15:11.:15:16.

not underestimate the solid`rity given to EU nationals and what that

:15:17.:15:27.

means across Europe. I am also responsible for taking the position

:15:28.:15:31.

of Scotland to the heart of Europe and to make sure it's understood by

:15:32.:15:37.

the EU 27 governments. So ydsterday as the First Minister was sdtting

:15:38.:15:42.

out our position in opposing the Brexit bill, for more powers to

:15:43.:15:47.

Scotland and also for the publication of the independdnce

:15:48.:15:53.

referendum bill, I was on a stage in Brussels yesterday announcing the

:15:54.:15:56.

very same thing simultaneously, taking our message to the hdart of

:15:57.:16:02.

Europe. APPLAUSE

:16:03.:16:06.

And in recent weeks I have been in Paris, I have been in Italy, I was

:16:07.:16:10.

in Brussels yesterday, I will be again next week and I will `lso be

:16:11.:16:14.

in malt why where we are holding the European presidency. So our message

:16:15.:16:20.

is very clear. In terms of Theresa May, if you want to make Brdxit

:16:21.:16:24.

Britain lead to the break-up of Britain by heading for a hard

:16:25.:16:29.

Brexit, that is your choice and that is your responsibility. Scotland did

:16:30.:16:34.

not vote to leave the EU. The UK vote was not for a hard Brexit. This

:16:35.:16:40.

country can be everything it can be but we will do so as an

:16:41.:16:44.

international nation. We ard a National Party because we are

:16:45.:16:48.

international. Let's keep otr options open, let's argue for a

:16:49.:16:52.

progressive international position for Scotland and let this country be

:16:53.:17:00.

everything it can be. APPLAUSE

:17:01.:17:05.

Barry Hanaford will speak against the resolution, to be followed by

:17:06.:17:09.

Michael Russell MSP to speak in favour. Thank you, friends, fellow

:17:10.:17:17.

nationalists, I find it a bht strange to be here disgreeing. In

:17:18.:17:21.

particular what concerns me is the last sentence here, which s`ys

:17:22.:17:24.

Scotland should prepare for a second independence referendum, not that

:17:25.:17:29.

bit, and seek to remain in Durope as an independent country. What that

:17:30.:17:34.

strikes me, I come from a m`rketing background, is to conflate hssues.

:17:35.:17:37.

What you are doing in a marketing sense is you are creating a double

:17:38.:17:40.

door through which people are asked to walk. Let's not forget to be

:17:41.:17:46.

pro-European, is not the sale as being pro-EU. Before the referendum

:17:47.:17:50.

a lot of us had substantive doubts about some of the actions of the EU.

:17:51.:17:57.

If we are going to go forward to referendum two, it is essential I

:17:58.:18:01.

have believed in this for 50 years of my life, we go forward whth a

:18:02.:18:06.

single simple proposition, the issue of our independence from Westminster

:18:07.:18:09.

is to me undeniable. It's straightforward. Who wants to be

:18:10.:18:15.

part of an institution wherd the only function of the majority of

:18:16.:18:20.

parties there is to wage war? The Tories want to wage war on

:18:21.:18:24.

foreigners, on the weak, on the vulnerable. Labour want to wage war

:18:25.:18:30.

on each other. Ukip want to wage war on the whole of the world. The

:18:31.:18:36.

Liberals, want to major war on reality.

:18:37.:18:42.

APPLAUSE Let's not fall for it. I believe

:18:43.:18:47.

that an independent Scotland would not need EU regulation to protect

:18:48.:18:52.

our rights, to protect interests. I don't disagree with the dechsion to

:18:53.:19:01.

be in the EU but it is turn it's not an and at the same time dechsion.

:19:02.:19:06.

The same as maybe other changes we may wish to make in this cotntry. We

:19:07.:19:11.

have a lot of issues to answer with it. Borders, currency, and when no

:19:12.:19:18.

one really seems to - I don't like to bring a downer to a meethng, but

:19:19.:19:24.

if the EU applies punitive trading rules against the rest of the UK,

:19:25.:19:30.

and Scotland is in the EU, they re obliged to apply the same rtles

:19:31.:19:33.

Given we trade more with thd rest of the UK than with Europe, th`t

:19:34.:19:38.

presents an issue for which we have to have comprehensive answers. It's

:19:39.:19:43.

why I say let's go for independence. Let's believe in Scotland and let's

:19:44.:19:48.

make everyone understand th`t Britain is not so great. Frhends,

:19:49.:19:51.

please reject this motion. Thank you.

:19:52.:19:58.

Michael Russell MSP to speak in favour of the resolution.

:19:59.:20:07.

Convener, thank you. Before Brexit and it's sometimes to believe there

:20:08.:20:11.

was anything before Brexit, I had booked a few days in Iceland this

:20:12.:20:16.

week and I have just come b`ck and I can report to you that the First

:20:17.:20:21.

Minister's as big a star in Iceland as she is here. They're also having

:20:22.:20:28.

a vigorous debate about Europe. They think there may be advantagds and

:20:29.:20:31.

disadvantages, they're having the type of debate we had in thd run-up

:20:32.:20:36.

to June 23. But there are bhg differences. The first is wd had the

:20:37.:20:39.

debate and we decided what we wanted to do by a whopping majoritx. The

:20:40.:20:46.

second thing is when they ddcide, the second difference is whdn they

:20:47.:20:49.

decide in Iceland what they want to do as a nation they will do it. Our

:20:50.:20:55.

problem is whatever we decide, there are attempts to stop us doing it. So

:20:56.:21:00.

we have to go into this deb`te and we have to go into these

:21:01.:21:04.

negotiations as a nation. Wd have to speak as a nation. We have to

:21:05.:21:08.

discuss as a nation. We havd to act as a nation. That is what wd will do

:21:09.:21:18.

at every stage of the negothations. To do that we will go in as a nation

:21:19.:21:22.

with distinctive Scottish characteristics. This is a nation of

:21:23.:21:26.

the mind. This is a nation of the enlightenment. So we will go in with

:21:27.:21:31.

a rationale approach, a rathonale approach against irrationalhty. A

:21:32.:21:36.

constructive approach against - against press digital. We whll go in

:21:37.:21:40.

trying to be a beacon to others who believe it's to show a constructive,

:21:41.:21:45.

positive view of the world. A view that says come and join us, not go

:21:46.:21:53.

away, we don't want you. -- prejudice. The First Ministdr

:21:54.:21:56.

stressed in what she said ydsterday that it was absolutely vital that we

:21:57.:22:00.

looked after our national interests. I will not be, you will not be told

:22:01.:22:07.

what that national interest is by Ruth Davidson or Kezia Dugd`le or

:22:08.:22:12.

David Davis or Boris Johnson. We have been in this party long enough

:22:13.:22:14.

to know what the natural interest of Scotland is. It used to be hf you

:22:15.:22:20.

remember on our membership cards, the furtherance of all Scottish

:22:21.:22:23.

interests. We have been havhng that debate in the Scottish parlhament

:22:24.:22:26.

week after week. We have bedn talking about the issues th`t we

:22:27.:22:31.

need to address. There are lany and varied but we will go into

:22:32.:22:34.

negotiations to address thel, to speak about them, not to be spoken

:22:35.:22:40.

for. We will not accept the arrogant assumption that we can sit hn the

:22:41.:22:44.

corner while somebody else speaks on behalf of the vital interests of

:22:45.:22:49.

Scotland, that will never h`ppen. Never, ever. Convener, as I conclude

:22:50.:22:57.

I want to remind conference of one thing, in Royal terrace in

:22:58.:23:01.

Edinburgh, there is a plaqud and a French flag. The French flag marks

:23:02.:23:06.

the place of free French Hotse, the plaque marks a tribute that degal

:23:07.:23:10.

made to Scotland during the Second World War. The oldest alliance in

:23:11.:23:17.

the world, he called it. He unveiled that plaque in 1942. On 23 June

:23:18.:23:22.

1942. 74 years before the referendum. We are the people of the

:23:23.:23:26.

oldest alliance in the world. That's an alliance with France and with

:23:27.:23:29.

Europe. We will never give ht up. Never.

:23:30.:23:35.

APPLAUSE Tasmina. Jerry, if you would like to

:23:36.:23:44.

make a point of order. Like my good friend Mike, I put in a

:23:45.:24:07.

card before the start of thhs debate. That card said to speak

:24:08.:24:14.

against or move the remit b`ck or the direct negative. You have not

:24:15.:24:19.

called any direct negative which... It wasn't a valid card becatse you

:24:20.:24:24.

marked to do three different things on your card. We need to yot mark to

:24:25.:24:31.

do one, to either move the remit back or to speak against thd motion

:24:32.:24:37.

or to move the direct negathve. I am afraid your card cancelled htself.

:24:38.:24:41.

You are not called any direct negative, madame chairman. H am

:24:42.:24:45.

sorry, Jerry, there was no card put in which specifically said to move

:24:46.:24:49.

the direct negative, your own card was not a valid speaker's c`rd and

:24:50.:24:53.

it cancelled itself out. I `m sorry, you have made your point of order.

:24:54.:24:57.

Madam convener, you have obviously... OK, the next speaker is

:24:58.:25:05.

Tasmina to speak in favour of the motion to be followed by Mike in

:25:06.:25:08.

favour of the remit back. Jdrry I am sorry, you have made your point

:25:09.:25:12.

of order. The fault was yours on this occasion, I am afraid. The

:25:13.:25:16.

blockage is complete. I am sorry. OK, if you would like to

:25:17.:25:34.

make a point of order quickly, please. You will need to make your

:25:35.:25:37.

point of order at the microphone, sir.

:25:38.:25:45.

Hello, I don't intend to take up much time at the moment but I put in

:25:46.:25:52.

a direct negative to this resolution. The party didn't...

:25:53.:25:57.

Sorry, John. I am going to have to disagree with you, your card

:25:58.:26:00.

actually was put in to support the remit back. It doesn't menthon the

:26:01.:26:03.

direct negative at all. You did not put in. We received no card clearly

:26:04.:26:10.

moving a direct negative whhch is why a direct negative has not been

:26:11.:26:14.

taken. If a card was in to love a direct negative, we would h`ve taken

:26:15.:26:19.

a direct negative but none was submitted. I had a card. Yot have

:26:20.:26:23.

made your point of order, John. Specifying a direct negativd and

:26:24.:26:28.

nothing else. Next speaker, please. The point of order has been taken.

:26:29.:26:32.

Can we move to the next spe`ker Colleagues, could we please treat

:26:33.:26:37.

speakers with respect. We are trying to hold as balanced a debatd as

:26:38.:26:43.

possible. After the next spdaker I will take another speaker in favour

:26:44.:26:47.

of the remit back. If we have time there will be other speakers who

:26:48.:26:51.

will speak on different sidds of the debate but we really need to move on

:26:52.:26:56.

with this debate, conferencd. No one has put in to move a direct

:26:57.:27:01.

negative. I want to make th`t absolutely clear. The national

:27:02.:27:05.

Secretary and the chair havd looked at every single card and thdre was

:27:06.:27:09.

not one put in to move a direct negative. That is why we ard not

:27:10.:27:15.

taking a direct negative. Conference, could we please have

:27:16.:27:24.

some respect for our next speaker and listen, thank you.

:27:25.:27:30.

APPLAUSE Thank you, chair. Conferencd, who

:27:31.:27:34.

would you trust to stand up for Scotland's interests? The Scottish

:27:35.:27:39.

Government led by Nicola Sttrgeon or a Tory Government whose anthcs are

:27:40.:27:42.

simply an international embarrassment? They are a total and

:27:43.:27:49.

utter shambles. Let's look `t their record, conference. No plan, no time

:27:50.:27:55.

scale, no agreement. And despite personally appointing the three

:27:56.:28:00.

Brexiterers, Liam Fox, David Davis and Boris Johnson, time aftdr time,

:28:01.:28:06.

Theresa May clarifies, expl`ins the way or flatly contradicts them. We

:28:07.:28:10.

can't trust this Tory Government to get the best deal from this process,

:28:11.:28:13.

conference. They don't even trust each other.

:28:14.:28:17.

APPLAUSE But there is one thing loses Tory

:28:18.:28:28.

government agree on. Demonising and demeaning others because of where

:28:29.:28:32.

they come from. The intoler`nt rhetoric that flowed freely from

:28:33.:28:35.

their party conference in Bhrmingham was disgusting. At a time when the

:28:36.:28:44.

ugly face of prejudice, xenophobia, misogyny, sexism, homophobi` and

:28:45.:28:47.

racism is raising its head with increased vigour, their beh`viour is

:28:48.:28:52.

nothing short of irresponsible. And they do not speak for us. APPLAUSE

:28:53.:29:04.

So from the children of immhgrants who are bullied at school to the

:29:05.:29:08.

parents who fear for their livelihoods, we will not walk by

:29:09.:29:13.

you, we stand by you. We st`nd with you. And together we will stand

:29:14.:29:17.

tall. At the ballot box on the 3rd of June, Scotland demonstrated its

:29:18.:29:24.

internationalist vision. Th`t is our mandate. We'll explore everx avenue

:29:25.:29:31.

and exhaust every opportunity to protect our place in the EU. But

:29:32.:29:38.

let's be clear, if the currdnt constitutional arrangements prevent

:29:39.:29:41.

that, voters must have the opportunity to choose their own

:29:42.:29:47.

path. Independence for Scotland Please support this motion. APPLAUSE

:29:48.:29:58.

Mike to speak in favour of the remit back, to be followed by Alistair

:29:59.:30:01.

Allan MSP. My thank U for allowing me to come and

:30:02.:30:15.

second the remit back, I'm grateful to you. You're not voting on the

:30:16.:30:22.

speech as we've heard. All of which have been excellent, every word of

:30:23.:30:27.

which I've agreed with. Thex've been emotional, heartfelt, designed to

:30:28.:30:30.

tell Scotland what the SNP, its members, its government, fedls about

:30:31.:30:36.

Brexit. You're not voting on the speeches, you are voting on this

:30:37.:30:42.

strange set of words. I'll offer a ?20 prize to the first person who

:30:43.:30:45.

can spot the misprint by thd way during the time I'm up here. Can't

:30:46.:30:50.

argue with paragraph one, c`n't argue with paragraph two, p`ragraph

:30:51.:31:00.

five. What's missing is outrage Conference expresses its

:31:01.:31:03.

disappointment, God help us, conference in paragraph thrde

:31:04.:31:08.

believes it would be democr`tically acceptable. It wouldn't, it would be

:31:09.:31:13.

a bloody outrage if Scotland is dragged out of Europe against its

:31:14.:31:21.

will. We voted to stay in. That s why I'm moving, second and,

:31:22.:31:26.

whatever, supporting the relit back. The policy, Surrey, the piece of

:31:27.:31:32.

paper in front of you, isn't sufficiently outrageous comlit all

:31:33.:31:37.

been overtaken by events. I'm amazed a motion on Brexit was allowed when

:31:38.:31:41.

it was obvious it was a movhng target. And the First Minister would

:31:42.:31:44.

probably be saying something pretty intelligent about it long after this

:31:45.:31:49.

went to print, long before the conference formally started. Please

:31:50.:31:52.

remit it back, it's not every dissing of, we all know what we

:31:53.:31:56.

feel, but this motion doesn't say it. Chuck it out. APPLAUSE

:31:57.:32:04.

Sorry, sorry, there wasn't ` misprint, it was to make yot read

:32:05.:32:05.

the motion. APPLAUSE Alistair Allan MSP to speak in

:32:06.:32:19.

favour of the resolution, to be followed by Robert Martin, who will

:32:20.:32:26.

speak in favour of the remit back. Conference, many of us staydd awake

:32:27.:32:30.

all night on the night of the referendum, I had the privilege of

:32:31.:32:34.

staying awake all night at the Grangemouth sports centre where the

:32:35.:32:39.

Scottish results were added up. It was a strange place, a night of

:32:40.:32:42.

mixed emotions. We didn't h`ve long to, plate -- to contemplate. The

:32:43.:32:50.

ladies hockey team came into the sports hall at 6am and demanded use

:32:51.:32:55.

of it. Although there wasn't much time to think about the sittation,

:32:56.:32:59.

though there wasn't much tile for the rest of us to take in what had

:33:00.:33:03.

happened, we are very fortunate we have a First Minister who rdacted

:33:04.:33:07.

quickly and to said things that needed to be said. Because `fter the

:33:08.:33:14.

ugly tone of the referendum of First Minister, and we should be proud of

:33:15.:33:18.

this, said two people from other EU countries are resident in Scotland,

:33:19.:33:23.

we need you. This is your home, we want you to stay. APPLAUSE

:33:24.:33:31.

Of course since then the UK Government has largely been unable

:33:32.:33:36.

to explain what Brexit means. Other than for them to say that jtst about

:33:37.:33:40.

everything, including community cohesion, the single market, can be

:33:41.:33:45.

sacrificed on the altar of dnding the very freedom of movement of

:33:46.:33:50.

people on which the EU itself is founded. Well, conference, we all of

:33:51.:33:57.

us probably have news for the UK Government, because this cotntry

:33:58.:34:03.

didn't volunteer to have a Brexit referendum. This country voted to

:34:04.:34:09.

stay. While Boris probably didn t think about Scotland very mtch in

:34:10.:34:13.

the course of the referendul, this country has a government who will

:34:14.:34:19.

make sure that Boris and Thdresa May have to think about Scotland is now.

:34:20.:34:21.

APPLAUSE Sorry, that was quicker than I

:34:22.:34:34.

anticipated. Thank you Alistair Robert Martin. Speaking in favour of

:34:35.:34:38.

the remit back. You'll be followed by Doctor Angus Macleod, who will

:34:39.:34:42.

speak for the resolution. Thank you, chair, afternoon, conferencd. Jamie

:34:43.:34:47.

Ross of Buzzfeed was looking for some of who had been at conference

:34:48.:34:51.

who voted Leave. If you're still about, your search is over. I sensed

:34:52.:34:59.

a lot of understandable angdr in the resolution before you. The number of

:35:00.:35:06.

speakers have already commented about the faulty wording. I just

:35:07.:35:10.

want to say why I voted Leave in the referendum. I'm not scared to admit

:35:11.:35:16.

it. A million of my fellow Scot also voted Leave amongst 17 millhon

:35:17.:35:23.

others. And, excuse me if I don t feel overwhelmed by putting David

:35:24.:35:26.

Cameron out of number ten Downing St. I don't think this motion really

:35:27.:35:33.

considers properly what our relationship with the EU and Europe

:35:34.:35:40.

is in any shape or form. It ignores totally our relationship with the

:35:41.:35:44.

rest of the UK in trading tdrms and therefore doesn't address the

:35:45.:35:48.

economic risks of disrupting our relationship with the rest of the UK

:35:49.:35:51.

in order to pursue a relationship with a smaller export market in the

:35:52.:35:58.

rest of Europe. And for those of you are giving weird being dragged away

:35:59.:36:04.

from Europe, I want to remind you of some of the terminology of some of

:36:05.:36:10.

the European presidents that came to give their opinion on the fhrst

:36:11.:36:14.

independence referendum. We had Jose Manuel Casado being very ev`sive. --

:36:15.:36:23.

Barroso. We have President Lartin Shaw is agreeing to see our First

:36:24.:36:28.

Minister only because it's part of his job remit is the other regional

:36:29.:36:36.

heads of government. -- Martin Sexit. And Herman Van romp H said,

:36:37.:36:45.

at the time, you have to re`pply to join the European Union as ` third

:36:46.:36:49.

country if you become indepdndent. They weren't putting the welcome mat

:36:50.:36:52.

out for us, they were trying to slam the door in our faces. Let's try to

:36:53.:36:58.

understand and examine what our relationship with the EU should be

:36:59.:37:03.

before we hang it around thd success or otherwise of a second

:37:04.:37:07.

independence referendum. I love the remit back. APPLAUSE

:37:08.:37:15.

Angus Macleod to be followed by Kelly given.

:37:16.:37:26.

Friends and fellow internationalists. Despite what

:37:27.:37:29.

we've just heard, Scotland hs and always has been an outward looking

:37:30.:37:35.

internationalist country. 1300 years ago... APPLAUSE

:37:36.:37:41.

... 1300 years ago the Abbex of Iona was propagating laws which `pplied

:37:42.:37:45.

equally to Scotland and Ireland International cooperation and

:37:46.:37:48.

international obligations to not start with our entry to the EU

:37:49.:37:52.

committees and the declarathon of Arbroath as a declaration of

:37:53.:37:56.

sovereignty addressed to thd head of a transnational institution based in

:37:57.:38:01.

Europe, the papacy. So Scottish sovereignty and Scottish

:38:02.:38:04.

independence have always had an internationalist context, ddspite

:38:05.:38:09.

what some of the speakers for the remit backer said we're a Etropean

:38:10.:38:16.

nation and we're proud of it. APPLAUSE

:38:17.:38:20.

And just as Scots have travdlled Europe and settled overseas, our

:38:21.:38:23.

European neighbours have arrived and been welcomed. There is not a family

:38:24.:38:28.

on these islands I believe that does not have European ancestry hn it.

:38:29.:38:33.

I'm proud best party and our party leader wasted no time in stressing

:38:34.:38:38.

that our newly arrived European citizens are a vital part of modern

:38:39.:38:42.

Scotland. Contrast this with the xenophobic rhetoric and tot`litarian

:38:43.:38:45.

policies are many dating from the darkest recesses of the Torx party.

:38:46.:38:53.

-- policies emanating. Any `ttack on the European Scots, our neighbours,

:38:54.:38:56.

brothers and sisters, is an attack on all of us. I don't care hf you're

:38:57.:39:02.

a Prime Minister, Secretary of State, or a thug on the strdet, any

:39:03.:39:06.

attempt to make Europeans fdel unwelcome is an attack on a vital

:39:07.:39:10.

component of Scottish life `nd society. It's an attack on `ll of

:39:11.:39:17.

us. APPLAUSE I will conclude conference by saying

:39:18.:39:21.

there is not a corner of thd islands that have not benefited frol EU

:39:22.:39:27.

membership. I've sat on the pier on the Outer Hebrides and watched

:39:28.:39:31.

shellfish export ascending Lloris to Spain and Portugal, in my ddpartment

:39:32.:39:34.

at the European Thierry University of Glasgow and seen the contribution

:39:35.:39:39.

of EU and Erasmus students to our universities. Scotland must mean not

:39:40.:39:44.

dragged out of Europe on thd Royal yacht that is Brexit. Support the

:39:45.:39:48.

resolution and support our continued efforts to do all that we c`n to

:39:49.:39:53.

stay in Europe, to stay internationalists, and maintain our

:39:54.:39:55.

place as a proud member of the European community of nations. Thank

:39:56.:39:58.

you very much. Kelly Given. If Alec Orr and Tony

:39:59.:40:09.

Juliano could be ready to stm up, please.

:40:10.:40:15.

Conference, it's difficult to comprehend the last year in British

:40:16.:40:20.

politics. We've seen the once unrivalled Labour Party fall into

:40:21.:40:24.

the other depths of despair. We ve seen Boris Johnson selected to

:40:25.:40:29.

represent Britain overseas. And we seen a Tory government inithally

:40:30.:40:32.

against the notion of Brexit taking us exactly, headfirst into dxactly

:40:33.:40:40.

that. Not only have they ch`nged their stance on Brexit, Theresa May

:40:41.:40:44.

is determined to make us suffer in its aftermath. She is deterlined a

:40:45.:40:49.

hard Brexit is the only way forward. Let her remember this, firstly, the

:40:50.:40:54.

referendum mandate of the government to take us out of the EU by no means

:40:55.:40:59.

gave the government a mandate to take Britain out of the single

:41:00.:41:04.

market. It's by no means gave the government a mandate to leave EU

:41:05.:41:09.

citizens living and contribtting to our country fearing for thehr jobs

:41:10.:41:13.

and homes. The reality is that Britain didn't vote for the hard

:41:14.:41:18.

Brexit the Tories insist on. They in fact voted for the Conservative

:41:19.:41:22.

manifesto in 2015 that statdd, we say yes to the single market.

:41:23.:41:28.

Scotland is obviously an exception here. We voted overwhelmingly to

:41:29.:41:32.

remain in the European Union and certainly didn't vote for a

:41:33.:41:36.

Conservative government in 2015 APPLAUSE

:41:37.:41:42.

Yet here we find ourselves, in a so-called democratic United Kingdom,

:41:43.:41:47.

on a one-way right-wing Torx Ukip train to financial chaos and broken

:41:48.:41:51.

international relations we did not vote for. APPLAUSE

:41:52.:41:59.

Theresa May seems to think repeating the phrase Brexit means Brexit is

:42:00.:42:04.

going to convince Scotland she means business. Well, Theresa May, I'll

:42:05.:42:10.

tell you today, in Scotland remain means remain and we also me`n

:42:11.:42:20.

business. APPLAUSE Independence is coming, conference,

:42:21.:42:23.

and I'd like to personally thank to reason make for her cooperation with

:42:24.:42:27.

that. She's one of the best things to happen to our campaign shnce it

:42:28.:42:32.

began. Please support this resolution, conference, thank you.

:42:33.:42:38.

Conference, could I ask your permission to extend this sdssion

:42:39.:42:44.

for another ten minutes so we can finish this debate and hear our

:42:45.:42:47.

final resolution in today's session? APPLAUSE

:42:48.:42:53.

Thank you very much for that conference. I'm sorry to all the

:42:54.:42:56.

other speakers, all the othdr people who put cards in. I can't t`ke any

:42:57.:43:00.

more speakers, I hope conference will agree we've had a good length

:43:01.:43:06.

of time for this debate. And that it has been balanced. I'm going to move

:43:07.:43:12.

to the summing up. Could I `sk Alec Orr to sum up for the remit back

:43:13.:43:22.

please? Thanks very much conference, I'm sure you'll agree we've had a

:43:23.:43:26.

fantastic debate this afternoon As someone who has battled for

:43:27.:43:30.

independence my adult life, I desire independence with my

:43:31.:43:32.

very being. I want to be absolutely sure when we go for a referdndum

:43:33.:43:37.

that we win it. That all thd arguments are in place. I don't want

:43:38.:43:42.

to see us rush headlong into another referendum. When we've achidved what

:43:43.:43:45.

our Scottish Government may be seeking. The idea of soft Brexit

:43:46.:43:54.

maybe achieved, but we may have a deal secure that proves poptlar with

:43:55.:43:58.

the Scottish people. Out with the EU. Do we rush forward to h`ve

:43:59.:44:03.

another independence referendum Even though the support of the

:44:04.:44:06.

Scottish people may not be with us on that, because they support the

:44:07.:44:08.

deal that potentially our Scottish Government has secured. The vote I

:44:09.:44:16.

may lose. I'm fully aware. Ht would be remiss of me not to flag up the

:44:17.:44:19.

issues that this resolution outlines. Let's remit it back and

:44:20.:44:27.

bring it back when we are more secure, more safe in what whll

:44:28.:44:32.

potentially be achieved for Scotland when the deal is more advanced than

:44:33.:44:35.

we know what's on the table for our nation. Thank you. Tony Julhano to

:44:36.:44:43.

sum up for the resolution, please, you've got two minutes.

:44:44.:44:56.

It's been a fantastic debatd, I just heard Alec Orr Chris Haigh let's

:44:57.:45:01.

bring it back at some other point. Conference I don't want to bring it

:45:02.:45:04.

back at some other point, I want to tell Theresa May, now, Remahn means

:45:05.:45:11.

Remain, I don't want to wait two or three months down the line to get

:45:12.:45:18.

reassurance to the EU nationals in this country, the reassurance they

:45:19.:45:21.

are waiting for, that this particle of this country, stands by them

:45:22.:45:27.

Sending this motion back today, rejecting this motion back today is

:45:28.:45:31.

a slap in the face to providing that reassurance to 170,000 people who

:45:32.:45:39.

want reassurance now. APPLATSE I appreciate some people might not

:45:40.:45:42.

like some of the wedding, that it's not strong enough in places, but

:45:43.:45:47.

this is our opportunity, we cannot miss an opportunity. At a thme when

:45:48.:45:52.

the bargaining will begin in Brussels and in London. We need to

:45:53.:45:57.

make our position clear. Scotland will no longer be sidelined, we ll

:45:58.:46:02.

no longer be an afterthought on Westminster's agenda. I want to come

:46:03.:46:05.

back to a couple of points that have been made to the debate. Relember

:46:06.:46:11.

our manifesto, we made it clear material change, Europe was one of

:46:12.:46:18.

them. This is a material ch`nge and if we do not stay in Europe, we have

:46:19.:46:23.

the right to call an independence referendum to protect our n`tional

:46:24.:46:30.

interest. That's what this hs about. I also want to reiterate thd work

:46:31.:46:38.

and, speaking after Mike Russell, and Fiona Hyslop Neil ministers

:46:39.:46:43.

leading this engagement work in Brussels, to accept, to movd this

:46:44.:46:48.

resolution today, would be to endorse the work they are doing in

:46:49.:46:53.

Brussels. I think it's cruchal we send that message to the Prhme

:46:54.:46:56.

Minister. From the banks of the Clyde to the Palace of Westlinster,

:46:57.:47:02.

Remain means Remain, support the resolution. Thank you.

:47:03.:47:09.

OK, conference, we're going to move to the vote, can I reiteratd we did

:47:10.:47:17.

not receive any cards in to move a direct negative against the

:47:18.:47:22.

resolution. We did! Sorry, John we didn't, we have your card, xour card

:47:23.:47:26.

is to speak for the remit b`ck, not to move the direct negative. OK You

:47:27.:47:37.

seen your card, John, it is to move the remit back and we took several

:47:38.:47:41.

speakers in favour of the rdmit back, so there is no direct negative

:47:42.:47:45.

to be voted on, could you t`ke your seat so we can move to the vote

:47:46.:47:54.

please? It's OK, it's OK. Jtst take a seat and will move to the vote.

:47:55.:47:57.

You still have the opportunhty to vote against before the remht back

:47:58.:48:03.

if you choose to do so. OK. I'll let John take his seat, then we'll move

:48:04.:48:04.

to the vote. OK, conference, could IC cards in

:48:05.:48:28.

favour of the remit back? And could IC card against the remit b`ck? The

:48:29.:48:36.

remit back false. We moved to the resolution, cards in favour of the

:48:37.:48:42.

resolution? Can IC cards ag`inst the resolution? The resolution hs passed

:48:43.:48:43.

overwhelmingly. OK, we're going to move to

:48:44.:49:06.

resolution 17. To be moved by Roger Mullin MP. And seconded by @lice and

:49:07.:49:18.

MP. Thank you for giving a short extension to allow this to be held.

:49:19.:49:23.

I'll try to be briefer than I normally am, to allow Alison to have

:49:24.:49:29.

a few words after me. If yot're leaving the hall can you do so as

:49:30.:49:32.

quietly as possible. So the remaining speakers can be hdard

:49:33.:49:39.

Thank you. Sorry, Roger, carry on. Justice begins at home. We often

:49:40.:49:43.

hear that phrase. But justice doesn't have any borders and is not

:49:44.:49:49.

confined by geography. This is about justice we want to do to our fellow

:49:50.:49:53.

citizens in the poorest countries in the world. In a few weeks I'm

:49:54.:49:57.

bringing forward in Westminster a private members will to deal with

:49:58.:50:03.

international tax justice and I want to pay tribute to the help H'm

:50:04.:50:06.

receiving from that wonderftl charity action aid. Before H became

:50:07.:50:16.

an MP I undertook 27 intern`tional assignments. Mainly in the

:50:17.:50:19.

developing world for United Nations agencies. I saw only too cldarly the

:50:20.:50:25.

results of some old-fashiondd tax treaties the UK have had with some

:50:26.:50:29.

of the poorest countries in the world. Many of these tax trdaties

:50:30.:50:37.

remain in place from the daxs of the Empire. Alison will give an example

:50:38.:50:43.

of one. One of the most awftl things is that since 1970 the Unitdd

:50:44.:50:48.

Kingdom, more than any other country in the world, has formed new tax

:50:49.:50:54.

treaties that do harm to developing world countries. Conference, we

:50:55.:51:00.

don't want to build a new Scotland on the backs of the poorest people

:51:01.:51:06.

in the world. That must be our message to the international

:51:07.:51:12.

community. What do these tax treaties do? They prevent, they act

:51:13.:51:19.

on behalf of corporations to prevent the poorest countries in thd world

:51:20.:51:25.

getting their proper due out of taxation. They make these countries

:51:26.:51:30.

continuing to be dependent. They deny them the resources to hnvest

:51:31.:51:35.

and become more self-suffichent These are some of the most

:51:36.:51:39.

illogical, but also immoral, treaties that this United Khngdom

:51:40.:51:44.

government of both political persuasions, in the past has formed

:51:45.:51:48.

with the developing world. Conference, I ask you to support

:51:49.:51:54.

this. APPLAUSE Allyson

:51:55.:52:00.

my colleague and friend Rogdr Mullin has laid down in some detail the

:52:01.:52:05.

injustice being done by the UK to some of the poorest countrids and

:52:06.:52:09.

some of the poorest people hn the world. I'd like to touch on a

:52:10.:52:13.

particular country which has strong links to Scotland, the country of

:52:14.:52:16.

Malawi, which is dear to thd heart of my good friend Patrick Grady

:52:17.:52:20.

He's done a lot of work on this with the Scotland- Malawi partnership.

:52:21.:52:26.

Delegates, companies in the UK are the third largest investors in

:52:27.:52:33.

Malawi. As a result of the 0955 tax deal, these UK companies pax little

:52:34.:52:39.

or no tax. Malawi's Treaty hs utterly outdated and it was signed

:52:40.:52:46.

by the British governor. On behalf of Southern Rhodesia. The ilpact of

:52:47.:52:50.

the deal is felt in front lhne services in the country, it's money

:52:51.:52:53.

being robbed from the poorest people in the world with the endorsement of

:52:54.:52:58.

the UK Government and the ilpact is very real. The executive director of

:52:59.:53:04.

the National organisation of nurses and midwives of Malawi has said one

:53:05.:53:09.

nurse may be looking after 80 patients, they cannot managd to

:53:10.:53:12.

provide the quality care th`t is required because their workload is

:53:13.:53:16.

too heavy. If the companies developed tax, they should know they

:53:17.:53:21.

are killing people because that money could have been used hn so

:53:22.:53:26.

many ways. Buying drugs, supplies, paying nurses, paying doctors.

:53:27.:53:30.

Conference, there is wide cross-party support in Scotland on

:53:31.:53:34.

this issue. Scotland is a ldading example of the campaign for tax

:53:35.:53:38.

Justice and we won't rest until this is righted. The Brexiteers `re never

:53:39.:53:43.

done telling us how they want to open up to new markets around the

:53:44.:53:49.

world. A start to opening up these markets would be a gesture of

:53:50.:53:54.

goodwill, a gesture of solidarity. Rebuilding the trust of these

:53:55.:53:56.

countries around the world `nd scrapping these colonial relics to

:53:57.:54:01.

make tax fair. Conference, H very much look forward to the dax

:54:02.:54:05.

independent Scotland can re`ch out to the world and make its own deals

:54:06.:54:09.

but until then we must keep as much pressure on the UK Government to

:54:10.:54:17.

scrap these tax deals and to make tax fair. Conference, I've no cards

:54:18.:54:21.

in against this resolution, can we pass it by clean? That's thd end of

:54:22.:54:30.

our sessions for today, conference. Have a great evening see yot all

:54:31.:54:31.

tomorrow.

:54:32.:54:34.

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