:00:19. > :00:41.Hello, everybody. It's... Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you,
:00:42. > :00:49.Susan. It is great to be here in the east end of Glasgow. In the city
:00:50. > :01:01.where in 2015, and again in 2016, this city delivered a clean sweep of
:01:02. > :01:09.SNP victories. On Thursday... We have the opportunity to yet again
:01:10. > :01:15.provide this great city with the leadership that it needs. On
:01:16. > :01:22.Thursday, we have the opportunity to remove the dead suffocating hand of
:01:23. > :01:36.labour from the city Chambers once and for all.
:01:37. > :01:46.And to replace it with a vibrant, dynamic, ambitious city government
:01:47. > :02:03.and the brilliant leadership of Susan Aitken. And then, a few weeks
:02:04. > :02:10.later, in the general election on June eight, we must make sure that
:02:11. > :02:20.Scotland's voices heard and it is heard loudly and clearly. Make...
:02:21. > :02:24.Make no mistake, this general election really matters to the
:02:25. > :02:29.future of our country. Which will determine whether Scotland continues
:02:30. > :02:34.to move forward or is dragged back by the Tories. And it will ensure
:02:35. > :02:41.that the decisions about the future of our country at what about that
:02:42. > :02:46.turns out to be, is taken here, by the Scottish parliament and Scottish
:02:47. > :02:47.people, not by an increasingly hardline right-wing Tory government
:02:48. > :03:07.at Westminster. We know from experience in Scotland
:03:08. > :03:15.and here in Glasgow that every vote for the Conservatives has real
:03:16. > :03:20.consequences. We have seen the damage a Tory government has done to
:03:21. > :03:26.Scotland over the past few years, the cuts we know about all ready to
:03:27. > :03:33.Scotland's budget imposed by a Conservative government at
:03:34. > :03:40.Westminster amount to ?3 billion. The Tories while giving tax cuts to
:03:41. > :03:45.the very wealthiest in society are removing support from disabled
:03:46. > :03:48.people from disabled people are losing ?30 a week, some are having
:03:49. > :03:55.their mobility vehicles taken away from them. It is disgraceful. And
:03:56. > :04:01.that is the damage a Conservative government has done with a small
:04:02. > :04:06.majority. We in Scotland must not allow the Tories a free hand to do
:04:07. > :04:21.even more damage to our country and the fabric of our society.
:04:22. > :04:31.Theresa May has told us what this general election is about for her.
:04:32. > :04:35.It is about removing opposition and strengthening her hand to do
:04:36. > :04:41.whatever she wants. Let's make sure on June the 8th we send a loud
:04:42. > :04:45.message from Scotland that we are not prepared to give a Conservative
:04:46. > :04:58.government a free hand to do whatever it wants to Scotland. So,
:04:59. > :05:04.let's take our message the length and breadth of the country over
:05:05. > :05:09.these next few weeks and in doing so let us make the contrast between an
:05:10. > :05:17.SNP government here in Scotland and a Tory government at Westminster.
:05:18. > :05:21.The SNP is building 50,000 affordable homes across our country,
:05:22. > :05:28.the Tories have imposed the bedroom tax and are removing housing support
:05:29. > :05:33.from young people. The SNP is doubling childcare for every three
:05:34. > :05:39.and four-year-old, for every vulnerable TV rolled over these next
:05:40. > :05:45.few years, the Tories are removing child tax credits from thousands of
:05:46. > :05:49.working families across the country and the Tories disgracefully
:05:50. > :05:56.shamefully have imposed the appalling rape laws. On the NHS, we
:05:57. > :06:01.know the pressures it faces but in Scotland we are investing to address
:06:02. > :06:07.those challenges. Our front line Accident and Emergency staff all
:06:08. > :06:12.over the country and we are owed them such an important debt of
:06:13. > :06:17.gratitude, our staff face the same pressures the health service in
:06:18. > :06:22.every part of the UK is facing but here in Scotland they are performing
:06:23. > :06:35.much much better than any other part of the UK and we should be proud of
:06:36. > :06:40.them for that. And we will continue to invest in our health service and
:06:41. > :06:47.will support those who work in our health service. The SNP knowing that
:06:48. > :06:53.we have to get more people into our health service is supporting and
:06:54. > :06:56.protecting and continuing bursaries for nursing students, the Tories
:06:57. > :06:59.south of the border have abolished those bursaries and seeing the
:07:00. > :07:04.numbers coming into nursing plummeting. But as the difference
:07:05. > :07:14.between an SNP government here in Scotland and a Tory government at
:07:15. > :07:22.Westminster. And for young people, the SNP has put our trust in the
:07:23. > :07:25.young people of this country. On Thursday in the council elections,
:07:26. > :07:30.every 16 and 17-year-old across Scotland will have the opportunity
:07:31. > :07:34.to vote. Just as they did in the independence referendum and last
:07:35. > :07:39.year in the Scottish Parliament elections because we take a simple
:07:40. > :07:43.view, if you are old enough to get married and have children, you
:07:44. > :07:56.should be old enough to have a say in the future of your country as
:07:57. > :08:01.well. So, we trust... We trust our young people and that will be
:08:02. > :08:07.obvious on Thursday in his council elections but a few weeks later in
:08:08. > :08:13.the general election the Tories will deny 16 and 17-year-olds the right
:08:14. > :08:18.to vote and why, because the Tories know it does not see them to have
:08:19. > :08:23.young people voting. The Tories put the interests of their party ahead
:08:24. > :08:27.of the interests of the next of this country and that is another reason
:08:28. > :08:37.not to vote Conservative this election.
:08:38. > :08:45.And for our older people, while here in Scotland we are protecting free
:08:46. > :08:51.personal care, and we are standing up for the women robbed of pension
:08:52. > :08:56.entitlements by a Conservative government, the Prime minister
:08:57. > :09:03.cannot even give a straight answer to whether or not she will protect
:09:04. > :09:10.the triple lock on pensions. Let me make it clear today, every SNP MP
:09:11. > :09:14.elected on June the 8th will vote to protect our pensions and protect the
:09:15. > :09:29.interests of older people in our country. So, these... That is the
:09:30. > :09:33.contrast between an SNP government in Scotland and a Conservative
:09:34. > :09:40.government at Westminster and that progress is the progress we must
:09:41. > :09:47.protect in this election. Where I grew up in the west of Scotland,
:09:48. > :09:53.there was and still is a saying and it is this, you can't trust the
:09:54. > :10:01.Tories. And that is just as true today as it was just a few years ago
:10:02. > :10:07.when I was growing up in Ayrshire. Think about this, Theresa May is a
:10:08. > :10:12.Prime minister who before she took office and entered Downing Street
:10:13. > :10:19.told us that Brexit would be devastating for jobs and the
:10:20. > :10:25.economy. And yet now that she is Prime minister, she is intent on
:10:26. > :10:29.pursuing the hardest possible Brexit regardless of the cost even as we
:10:30. > :10:35.start to see the evidence of the damage to our economy. She is a
:10:36. > :10:41.prime minister of course who said just a matter of weeks ago that the
:10:42. > :10:49.last thing the country needed was a general election. Remember, what she
:10:50. > :10:56.said? No ifs, no buts, there will not be a general election called
:10:57. > :11:01.early. And now she has changed her mind. Not in the interests of the
:11:02. > :11:06.country but in the narrow partisan interests of the Conservative party
:11:07. > :11:11.so my question is this, if we cannot trust the word of the prime minister
:11:12. > :11:15.on Brexit or even on whether or not she would call an early election,
:11:16. > :11:20.how can we possibly trust the word of this prime minister on our
:11:21. > :11:32.economy, public services, support for the most vulnerable people in
:11:33. > :11:41.society? Let me tell you... Let me tell you today what an SNP vote on
:11:42. > :11:46.June the 8th will deliver. Firstly, it will re-elect the strongest
:11:47. > :11:53.possible voices for Scotland to stand up for Scotland at Westminster
:11:54. > :11:57.and I can tell you today, hot off the presses, the strong voice we
:11:58. > :12:03.want to elect to stand up for Scotland to stand up for the east
:12:04. > :12:06.end of Glasgow, a new cancer drug Glasgow East is David Linden. -- new
:12:07. > :12:28.candidate. So, stronger voices... And SNP vote
:12:29. > :12:34.will deliver stronger voices for Scotland. An SNP vote will also make
:12:35. > :12:38.sure that we back our Scottish Parliament against a Conservative
:12:39. > :12:43.Government that wants to undermine our Scottish Parliament. And it will
:12:44. > :12:47.make sure that the future of our country is decided here in Scotland,
:12:48. > :13:02.not by a Tory Government at Westminster. And as vote, as vote
:13:03. > :13:07.for the SNP will make sure the Tories do not get away with
:13:08. > :13:13.silencing all opposition, as they want to do. Because vote for the SNP
:13:14. > :13:16.will make sure that there continues to be real and effective opposition
:13:17. > :13:21.in the House of Commons. I can't tell you how proud I have been over
:13:22. > :13:26.the past two years to watch Angus Robertson and our team of MPs
:13:27. > :13:27.provide the only effective opposition to the Conservatives in
:13:28. > :13:49.the House of Commons. And the tragedy today of Labour is
:13:50. > :13:54.this. Not only is it abundantly obvious that Labour cannot win this
:13:55. > :13:59.election, it is also clear, and has been clear for the past two years,
:14:00. > :14:03.that Labour doesn't even have what it takes to be an effective
:14:04. > :14:08.opposition. If Scotland wants to make sure the Tories cannot simply
:14:09. > :14:17.do whatever they want to Scotland, if we want to make sure that our
:14:18. > :14:21.voices are strong opposition in Westminster, the only way to do that
:14:22. > :14:25.is for a strong, resounding vote for the SNP in every part of Scotland on
:14:26. > :14:41.June eighth. Let's make sure that is what we deliver. Friends... Friends,
:14:42. > :14:48.one of the secrets of the SNP's success over these past few years
:14:49. > :14:55.has been that we never have, and we never will, take a single vote for
:14:56. > :15:01.granted. We must, each and every day, earn and re-earn the trust of
:15:02. > :15:09.the people that we are so privileged to serve. So what I ask you today is
:15:10. > :15:13.this... Over the next few days, as we approach the council elections,
:15:14. > :15:20.and then over the next few weeks as we approach the general election,
:15:21. > :15:24.every SNP candidate, activist and member gets around the doors,
:15:25. > :15:30.speaking to people on the doorsteps in communities, in workplaces, and
:15:31. > :15:35.let us again take the message and make the case that the way to keep
:15:36. > :15:40.Scotland moving forward, the way to make sure Scotland's voice is heard,
:15:41. > :15:45.the way to make sure the only way to make sure we have protection against
:15:46. > :15:51.a Tory Government that is increasingly hard-line and right
:15:52. > :15:58.wing is to vote SNP and send these strong voices to Westminster. So,
:15:59. > :16:03.friends, let's get out there. Let's get out there, let's work for every
:16:04. > :16:07.single vote, and let us win this election in Scotland, let us win
:16:08. > :16:51.this election for Scotland. Thank you very much indeed.
:16:52. > :16:52.APPLAUSE. And this will of