0:00:03 > 0:00:06I never expected to be elected leader
0:00:06 > 0:00:08of the Scottish Labour Party last year
0:00:08 > 0:00:10and it's an immense responsibility.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14But it's also a huge honour and a privilege.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Scottish politics has changed and the Scottish Labour Party
0:00:17 > 0:00:20simply has to change with it, and that's what we've done.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25The Scottish Labour Party has a huge number of amazing achievements -
0:00:25 > 0:00:27the National Health Service, the Scottish Parliament,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29introduction of the National Minimum Wage.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31It's done these great things in our country
0:00:31 > 0:00:34and I think it can do equally great things again.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36When I'm out across Scotland,
0:00:36 > 0:00:38it reminds me why I wanted to do this job.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42There's so much potential and promise out there and I want to see
0:00:42 > 0:00:46every person in Scotland be able to make the most of their lives.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50We've been through a lot in Scotland over the past couple of years,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52but the past doesn't need to determine the future.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56And that's as true for our young people as it is for our country.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58I'm the daughter of two teachers,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02I was brought up with a profound belief that education,
0:01:02 > 0:01:04that schools can transform people's lives.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07For too many people, they don't get those same opportunities to
0:01:07 > 0:01:09be everything that they can be.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13I was really lucky, I had a great education, a great experience
0:01:13 > 0:01:16at school, and I want that for every single child in this country.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19But we used to have the best education system in the world.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21I want to close the gap between
0:01:21 > 0:01:23the richest and the poorest kids in this country.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26I think it's fundamentally unjust that where you were born
0:01:26 > 0:01:28determines where you're going.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32In the past few months we've seen the SNP government cut
0:01:32 > 0:01:35education budgets and the budgets for vital public services.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37It doesn't have to be this way.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40We can choose to do things differently in the Scottish Parliament now,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44protect our public services and stop the cuts.
0:01:44 > 0:01:45We've got a simple plan.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48There's nothing inevitable about cuts.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51We can choose to do things differently, and that's what I want to do.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55I want to invest in our children's future, to invest in Scotland's future.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58And faced with that choice between using
0:01:58 > 0:02:02the powers of our Parliament or cutting into our children's future
0:02:02 > 0:02:04and just accepting Tory austerity,
0:02:04 > 0:02:08the Labour Party chooses to use the powers to make different choices.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11I've been attacked by the Tories, by the SNP,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13both making the same arguments,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17that we shouldn't ask the richest 1% to pay a little more.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20But I'm not going to stop, because we can't afford to
0:02:20 > 0:02:24cut into our schools, to cut into our children's future.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27It doesn't have to be this way. We can make different choices.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31We need real change now.