04/03/2017 Scottish Conservative Party Conference

Hello and a very warm welcome to our live coverage of the Scottish

Conservative Spring conference in Glasgow. The party faithful are

gathering across the Clyde Whittington here the leader Ruth

Davidson give her keynote address. Dash-mac waiting to hear. I am on

the other side of the river in the conference hall with all the news

and analysis. The Conservatives think they are back on track and

shunted labour into third place at the Hollywood election last year. It

is the first time they've gathered in Glasgow for almost 20 years and

they are full of praise for the leader Davidson. Ryan Taylor is

standing by across the river. Dash-mac Brian. A real change in

political fortunes for the Conservatives? They have had a good

year and have placed themselves as the main opposition party at

Holyrood. You will hear as successors speakers here including

one session when you're talking about holding the Scottish

Government to account claiming they have done a good job in processing

scrutiny at Holyrood. I think the main keynote speech of Ruth Davidson

I will not be surprised if you go beyond that. And seeing in

campaigning last year to be principal opposition at Holyrood she

wants them to position themselves as a Government in waiting. I think she

is perhaps fitting the evidence and say that they are not there yet and

a long way away from that but she will set the party I think on a path

where they are thinking in terms of perhaps position themselves as an

alternative Government rather than as they did rather than usually add

elections last year stressing not that they were seeking to be the

Government but the main opposition party. Dash-mac at the elections.

With me as Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University. What have we

learned so far? I think one thing we've learned that Ms conference

will find over the last two or three days, and one crucial thing about

which we are still no further forward. Number one, it is now

pretty clear that contrary to the assumption many people made, the

view of the UK Government is that when we leave the European Union

those areas which are currently run primarily by the European Union such

as agriculture and fish but which are not reserved to Westminster in

the Scotland act and therefore would come to Scotland to administer in

future in whole, the UK Government is reserving its that saying maybe

actually some of this will need to stay at Westminster. As a result of

that epic win over engaged in a debate between the UK Government and

the Scottish Government about whether or not this means that the

terms of the Scotland act will be rewritten and how much of the thing

that you have currently run it will not run once we leave the EU, should

come to Scotland. That is a new aspect of constitutional debate

about which were no further forward and I think it will continue to buy

the parties. Dash-mac divide. If Nicola Sturgeon does as for the

second referendum dash-mac ask. The UK Government is simply refusing to

tell us what his reaction would be saying they do not think there

should be a referendum but that is not the same is going on to say we

would refuted the right to hold a referendum. It is very reluctant to

play this game and will be interesting to see how far it can

hold that line. It has very interesting to listen to Tory

spokesman basically failing to answer that question. Politics is

all about power and that was very much in evidence as the prime

ministers swept in for her conference speech yesterday. Theresa

May attempted to make a passionate case for the union and accused the

SNP of tunnel vision nationalism. Last May you achieved our party 's

best ever results in a Scottish Parliamentary election, doubling the

number of Conservative MSPs. You took second place in an election for

the first time in 25 years and you beat the Scottish Labour Party for

the first time in 60 years. Because for too long a feeble and

incompetent Scottish Labour opposition did nothing to scrutinise

the SNP for their failures. An SNP Government interested only in

stoking up endless constitutional grievance and furthering their

obsession with independence. At the expense of Scottish public services

such as the NHS and education was given a free pass by Labour. With

the roof now leading the charge the SNP 's holiday from democratic

accountability has come to an end. Dash-mac with Ruth Davidson leading

the charge. Take education. Ruth Davidson and her formidable team of

MSPs have exposed the SNP 's mismanagement of Scotland schools.

Scottish schools, which once led the world in setting the highest

standards of attainment, and no outperformed in every category by

schools in England, Northern Ireland, Estonia and Poland.

Education, fully devolved since 1999 and under the SNP 's stewardship for

ten years, but standards have fallen. The attainment gap remains.

Scottish Young people are losing out. 150,000 further education

places cut the Nationalists. A cap on the number of Scottish students

can enter higher education. Fewer young people from the poorest

backgrounds making it to university than in the rest of the UK. And just

this week we have learned that the SNP Government has delayed its

planned education bill. Such is their obsession with the single

issue of independence. The SNP 's neglect and mismanagement

of Scottish education has been a scandal. But sadly it does not stop

there. The abysmal failure of the farm payment system, the replacement

of stamp duty with the new tax which charges Scottish home-buyers more

and brings in less revenue than promised. Starving the health

service by refusing to match the spending increases on the NHS in

England. The SNP Government demands further powers for the Scottish

Parliament but fails to pass powers onto local people in Scotland's

villages and towns and cities. The simple truth is our policies are not

in the best interests of Scotland but in the political interest of the

SNP. Dash-mac via policies. -- -- there. A party resolutely focused on

just one thing, independence. The SNP play politics as if it were a

game that politics is not a game and the management of the bold public

services in Scotland is too important to be neglected. Dash-mac

devolved. When I stood outside Downing Street on the day I became

Prime Minister and reminded people in the full title of our party is

the Conservative and Unionist party. And that word Unionist is very

important to me. My first visit as Prime Minister was here to Scotland.

I wanted to make clear that strengthening and sustaining the

bonds that is a personal priority for me. I'm confident about the

future of our United Kingdom and optimistic about what we can achieve

together as a country. The fundamental strengths of our union

and the benefits it brings to all of its constituent parts are clear. But

we all know that the SNP will never stop twisting the truth and

distorting reality in their effort to denigrate our United Kingdom and

further their obsession with independence. It is the single

purpose in political life. And we need to be equally determined to

ensure that the truth about our United Kingdom is heard loudly and

clearly. As Britain leads the European Union

we forge a new role for ourselves and the world. -- leaves. The

strength of stability will become ever more important. We must take

this opportunity to bring our United Kingdom closer together because the

union that we care about is not simply a constitutional artefact. It

a union of people, perfections and loyalties. Ten years ago banks

headquartered in Edinburgh and London which employ tens of

thousands of people and look after the savings of millions were rescued

by the UK Treasury. Action that was only possible because of the size

and strength of the British economy. In the Island gas sector the vital

industry honour is close from Aberdeen to Lowestoft, the broad

shoulders of our wider economy have allowed the UK Government to take

unprecedented action to support the sector following the decline in the

international all price. They'll sector has been protected in

Scotland even as North Sea tax receipts have dwindled to nothing.

Time and again the benefits of the union and doing together

collectively what would be impossible to do apart are clear.

Indeed the economic case for the union has never been stronger. That

is no economic case for breaking up the United Kingdom or for listing

the ties that bind us together. We cannot allow our United Kingdom to

drift apart. For too long the attitude in Whitehall has been to

devolve and forget. That is Prime Minister of United Kingdom I am just

as concerned that young people in Dundee get a good start in life and

receive the education they need to which the full potential as I am

about young people in Doncaster in Dartford. I cared as much about all

the people on both sides of the River Tweed as the Irish Sea. We

must ensure the right person at the right level to ensure our United

Kingdom can operate effectively and in the interests of all other

citizens including people in Scotland. We must also ensure that

the UK which emerges from the EU is able to strike the best possible

trade deals internationally. In short, we must avoid any unintended

consequences for the coherence and integrity of the devolved United

Kingdom as a result of our leaving the EU. As I have made clear

repeatedly, no decision is currently taken by the Scottish Parliament

will be removed from them. While they SNP propose that

decision-making should remain in Brussels, we will use the

opportunity of Brexit to make sure that more decisions are devolved

back into the hands of the Scottish people. We are four nations. But at

heart we are one people. That solidarity is the essence of our

United Kingdom and as she raised safeguard for his future. Let us

live up to that high ideal and let us never stop making loudly and

clearly the positive, optimistic and passionate case for our precious

union of nations and of people. Thank you. A standing ovation to the

Prime Minister speaking yesterday. Back to the conference centre now

and Brian has a special guests, the Secretary of State for Scotland.

David Mundell, thank you very much for joining us. She seemed to be

talking about the depth of the union and not just an economic bargain. I

think she clearly set out yesterday her absolute commitment to the

United Kingdom and not only sustained but prospering. That is

about recognising that is not just an economic benefit to being in the

union but across these British Isles we are one people and have a unity

of purpose. We have a unity of purpose within the islands and

across the world. She was to foster and build on that. Is that feasible

when Scotland are is divided over independence and the UK is divided

over Brexit? I think it is perfectly decidable and feasible. People,

particularly the SNP, seek to exploit division. Theresa May is

about bringing people together. The referendum letter can put the in the

Brexit thought. People voted across United Kingdom to leave the EU and

we wanted to bring together those people voted to leave and those who

voted to remain to get the best possible deal for the UK and exiting

the EU. Just as I had hoped that after we had had a referendum

Scotland when people voted to remain in the UK we would have seen people

coming together and supporting that decision and working together the

best of Scotland and the UK. -- best interests.

On agriculture, it doesn't yet appear to be clear. It is I devolved

power governed by the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government

yet when it comes back from the EU it will go back to London in the

first place? I am not saying that at all. I am saying this is a serious

and complex issue and we need proper discussions with the Scottish

Government, Scottish agriculture, about these issues. What we want to

ensure it powers rest of the appropriate place and when we have

it changes and powers in the Scottish Parliament before it has

always been on the basis of discussion and engagement. We want

to achieve the best resting place for those powers. The SNP say it is

a devolved power. What is so hard? Just add it to the existing devolved

powers? The SNP says those powers should remain in Brussels, but

because we are leaving the EU we have to think about how we best

ensure powers currently exercised in Brussels are exercised within the UK

that allow us to continue to have a UK domestic market... I am talking

about the Common agriculture policy for the UK. I represent a border

constituency and want my farmers to be able to take their livestock to

market in England with common standards... So it is UK wide rules?

I don't think anyone is suggesting issues like hell farming and

crofting would not be looked after year in Scotland, but rather than

getting inevitably into a row, which is always the SNP way, let's have a

measured discussion about how to get the outcome that is actually best

for Scottish farmers so they can prosper. Alex Salmond says our grab.

He would always say that sort of thing. The one thing I guarantee, a

given, the hundreds of powers returning to the UK from Brussels,

the Scottish Parliament will have more powers than it has today and

not a single power it currently exercises will be removed. You made

very clear in your speech this morning you do not want a referendum

on independence. The Prime Minister could not have made it clear either.

Not justified, not right, not necessary, etc, but SNP are still

speaking about the possible request for powers to be transferred from

the UK Government to the Scottish Government so that can go ahead,

that referendum. What would your response be? As long as it remains a

possible request my response is, do not do it. Take it off the table, it

is divisive and causing uncertainty here in Scotland. There is not a

shred of evidence the general population here, outside those

obsessed with independence, want another referendum at this time.

Instead of constantly banging on about independent let's try to work

together, the Scottish Government and UK Government, to get the best

possible deal from the EU as the exit. Do you accept the UK

Government has the power over this question, this issue, of whether the

independence referendum goes ahead? The Scottish Government made clear

in their own consultation that in fact the UK Government would have to

make the decision, and indeed there would have to be legislation in the

UK Parliament. We will proceed as we did with the previous referendum,

but I do not want a process row, I want to keep arguing there should

not be another referendum. Nicola Sturgeon could today say she was

going to withdraw that threat... And you today could see you would veto

that threat. We are not in the business of promoting a referendum.

We do not want to see a referendum. We do not think there should be one,

but the ball is in Nicola Sturgeon's court. We say take it off the table

and end the threat of division, the uncertainty, and join us in a team

UK approach to try to get that best possible deal for Scotland and the

UK as we leave the EU. More generally, philosophically, is it

not a bit rich of Tories to be accusing the SNP of creating

division when it is the very Brexit sport that has brought about this

constitutional crisis in the first place? -- the very Brexit vote. I

recognise that we had a vote across the United Kingdom that Britain

should leave the EU. I respect that vote. I voted to remain, but not on

the basis that my vote would then be used to open up another

constitutional issue which I been decided in 2014 when people in

Scotland voted decisively to remain part of the United Kingdom -- which

had been decided. Brexit is a reality. Scotland and the UK are

leaving the EU and we have to get on with it and make the best possible

deal as we leave. Secretary of State, thank you for joining me here

at the Conservative Party conference. I will allow the cameras

and vision to hop back across the river to the studio. Brian, thank

you to much. The message from the conference to the SNP was abundantly

clear. They do not want a second independence referendum. Member

after member lined up the price that message home... Poll after poll

after poll makes it perfectly plain that most Scots do not want a second

independence referendum. But within just three hours, just three hours

of the EU referendum result becoming clear in the early hours of the 24th

of June last year, the SNP book independence back on the agenda. --

the SNP book independence. The 31 Conservative and Unionist MSPs

elected to the Scottish Parliament in May were elected on a clear and

unambiguous manifesto commitment to oppose any second independence

referendum, and that, First Minister, is what a cast Ahtyba

Rubin mandate looks like. APPLAUSE

We will oppose -- that is what a cast iron mandate looks like. We

will oppose a second independence referendum every step of the way.

The SNP are still hell-bent on destroying our United Kingdom and

continue not just to put our precious Union at risk, but the

unity of our own nation here in Scotland. Whilst the sum that

unwavering constant in an otherwise turbulent political world -- to

some. Shocks and unexpected results, it is clear to those of us living

with the reality that these unceasing demands are becoming more

and more dangerous. I am delighted to be the award for no means no,

respect our democracy and stop talking our UK down. And the

nominations are... Not you, Adam, sorry. Nicola Sturgeon for

never-ending story, Groundhog Day, Part Two, The Sequel. It is a dark

cartoon where the villain leads her marauding fanatical followers in an

attempt to break up the Magic Kingdom. During her quest,

children's education suffers, health and access to medical services

decline, the police carry guns but they don't actually have police

stations to keep guns in. Business wants to invest, but it is too

scared in such an uncertain land. Our second nomination is Ruth

Davidson, for her heart-warming, heroic, unpatriotic portrayal in

United We Stand. APPLAUSE

In these times of immense change, yes, there are challenges, yes, many

of us feel uncertain about the future. But there is also excitement

in the air, a sense of a new journey starting. And we need to approach

that with confidence. To do that, we need to be clear about what will

help and what will hinder. For me, the starting point is the union of

the United Kingdom. I believe in it. Faced with the threat of

independence, I fought for it. And in that independence referendum of

2014, nearly 2 million people agreed with me. The experience was

bruising. A referendum has three certainties. Division, destruction

and a result. -- division, distraction and a result. Last year

the EU referendum was also bruising, divisive and distracting, and we had

a result. But in Scotland my Remain vote, for that is how I voted, seems

to have been borrowed and produced by Nicola Sturgeon. She says my vote

for the United Kingdom to remain in the EU is her mandate to break up

the United Kingdom and to seek independence for Scotland then try

to negotiate Scotland back into the EU. Let me say to her, my vote is

nothing of the sort. The Union I believe in and value above all

others is the union of the United Kingdom.

APPLAUSE Baroness Annabel Goldie there. Back

to Brian on the conference floor. Thanks very much. We have a butchers

behind me here and you can see the Brexit stall. How do we do it?

Rather a good question. One I will put to Liz Smith. How is it to be

done? Will be smooth, easy? It does not look that way at the moment. I

think the most important thing is, Brian, is to ensure we get the best

deal. I know it is complex, exactly as the Prime Minister said

yesterday, but I think to get the best deal for Scotland and Britain.

But, Adam, the best deal for Scotland and the UK can join. You

believe there is no possibility of a distinct deal for Scotland? I think

there are things round the edge that could be different for Scotland but

the core market for Scotland to trade-in is the UK domestic market.

We know Scotland trades four times as much with the rest of the UK as

with the whole of the EU and the Prime Minister is absolutely right

to make our guiding principle, as she said, that whatever happens with

Brexit, we do not do anything that will undermine the integrity of the

UK's domestic market. But those bits around the edges, the Scottish

Government paper, Scotland being in the Single Market, you told me that

as a starter? I don't think so because to be in the EEA you need to

be a state, and secondly if Scotland were inside the EEA and the rest of

the UK was outside of the border between Scotland and the rest of the

UK would begin to harden as regulatory regimes changed on either

side. That is what I meant volley-mac mean about changing the

integrity of the domestic market. -- that is what I mean about changing

the integrity. But 2-1 against Brexit, all local authority areas

voting against Brexit, yet Brexit? But it was a UK vote, the most

important thing, and they have to respect that, in the same way we

would like them to respect the result of the 2014 referendum. It is

about respecting the vote taken on a UK basis, and of course Scotland had

some different perspectives on that, but at the end of the day it is a UK

vote, and everybody in any political party has to remember that. What

about the powers returned from Brussels? I raise this earlier with

the Secretary of State. Will those be returned to the member state in

the first place, then perhaps probably dispersed? As I understand

it, when we come out of the EU, these powers comeback to

Westminster, and that debate has to take place on a UK basis, and

exactly as Adam said, there will be bits round the edges of that that

need intense discussion but I do not see any problem about the powers

currently held in Brussels coming back to Westminster because that is

the constitutional right. We have been very clear about this, Brian.

There will be no real reservation of any power away from Holyrood.

Nothing Hollywood currently does will be taken away from the Scottish

Parliament and returned to Westminster. You are saying, laws on

agriculture, for example, those will go to Westminster in the first

place? The Common Agricultural Policy in tablet -- encapsulates and

includes food labelling, the distribution, and many of these

things are not about agriculture at all but about consumer protection,

and that is reserved to Westminster. The important point, there is no

smash and grab, no power grab by Westminster or Theresa May's

Government. It is inevitable some powers will come to Holyrood. Think

it is inevitable Holyrood will become an even more powerful

parliament as a result of Brexit. But there will be no real

reservation of any power and there is nothing at all that Hollywood

currently does that will be taken away. Nicola Sturgeon said in a

speech this week earlier that agriculture and fish are already

devolved and if Scotland does not get the EU element of that is

undermining the very basis of the 1988 act that set up a Scottish

Parliament in the first place -- 1998 act. As we said, there are

debates to be had around it, but the fundamental principle is this was a

UK wide election and the powers initially will firstly go back to

Westminster. We are just about to start, so I need to go back to the

hall. APPLAUSE

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, conference, for that wonderful

welcome. And thank you to Glasgow for hosting us. Being here takes me

back to one of my very favourite moments of last year. It was about

six o'clock on the morning and made a sixth, standing in the Royal

Highland Centre in Edinburgh, as the votes were still being counted,

totally knackered, and all over Scotland the news had been coming

in. Some wins a sweeter than others. We

had taken five list seats that we bagged in the north-east. John Scott

one in here. -- Ayr. Annie Wells and Adam Tomkins Garten. -- got in. I

was or was quietly confident about Glasgow but not everyone was. I will

let you know in a secret. Most of you will know that Annie what the

shop floor and her local Marks Spencer. On election night she went

to the count and was playing down her chances so she had to phone up

both the next day and say she was not coming in because she has a new

job and is handing her notice. She went straight from the shop floor to

the floor of the Scottish Parliament and that is what I call checking

out. She is not just an MSP, she is an MNS MSP. The Scottish

Conservatives do not shy away from Glasgow any more. We win in Glasgow

because this party, the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party is

back. I want to start today by saying thank you to all of you. You

who brought us that success last May. Particularly I want to say

thank you for whom that was a long time coming. All around the soul I

see people who service to this party eclipses my own. Who fought for this

party during the toughest of times and take part in campaigns in the

expectation of defeat did it anyway. You know who you are. You deserve

the result last May more than everybody. If it had not been for

people like Alex Johnson Marjorie Borthwick fighting campaigns over

the years regardless of the chances of victory we might not have made it

so far. Dan McKenzie and Hamish Macleod and Elizabeth Walsh who

packed it in and decided were a lost cause back in the day. If Mark and

his brilliant team in Northumberland had not organised another fundraiser

and let the street stalls slide the Nicola Sturgeon would now be even

more cocky about our plans to -- about her plans to separate our

country if that were possible. This party, the only one with the guts to

stand up to the SNP, would not be able to do that job right now so

from the bottom of my heart I thank you. Because of you we can deliver.

Holding this feeling and complacent SNP Government to account and

providing the strong opposition that this country needs. Named persons,

remember that? We alone said no. We alone demanded a rethink on the

plans are now dumped in the long grass. Just this week we inflicted

another defeat in the SNP in Parliament over their plans for yet

more centralisation, this time over education. Last month and business

rates as hotels and pubs in length and breadth of Scotland were

threatened with closure with SNP ministers refusing to listen, in a

campaign led brilliantly by model Fraser. We bought to the nail. --

Murdo. It is about demanding change and testing the arguments and

representing the people who do not get heard. Not morning from the

sidelines like Labour by bleeding from the front and forcing this

incompetent SNP Government to deliver. Doing the job for Scotland

be promised that we would do. And we are getting stronger day by day.

There are 31 of us in all. 24 that are new to the job. Conference, we

brought in enough MSPs last year to have proper 11 aside football match

and with Douglas Ross we even have a referee. It has been an amazing few

months watching them grow in the job. Men and women from all walks of

life. Not career politicians but people just wanted to do their bit

and over these last three months have found their voice. Who has

stepped up to the plate and discovered we can do this. We're at

this. Let me tell you something, the Nationalists have noticed. They have

noticed that we're not cowed. We are proud of our beliefs. They have

noticed we are ready to take them on. It really confuses them. We are

Tories. We're supposed to just lie down and get white. But the old

hands and the fresh blood, this group of Scottish Conservative MSPs

are not for backing down. This group of Scottish Conservatives are

confident in their beliefs and clear in the values and are determined to

stand up to the SNP every step of the way. Day in and day out they are

doing their party proud and they are doing our country proud and I could

not be more proud to lead them. I want everyone here today to give

them our thanks for the hard work they are doing. APPLAUSE. And then

there's David Mundell as Secretary of State for Scotland. Getting on

the business of ensuring Scotland's voice is heard loud and clear in the

UK Government. His early days as a backbencher David has been her

stouthearted servant of party and country and is never pays but

incoming fire from SNP MPs and quietly and effectively getting on

with the job. We could not do without you. David, thank you so

very, very much. APPLAUSE. Conference, one thing does not

change in politics on the matter how frenzied things get. You get no

points for what you have done. You get no points for patting yourself

on the back. It is always the next challenge that counts, the next step

is always the most important. While it has been great this weekend to

recognise the victories of last year it is time to focus on the future.

Last year 's election already feels light-years away. Remember it and

enjoy it but we must move on. For one vital reason. Because our

country requires us to. Last week at Labour's conference in Paris we so

what happens to political parties when they turn in on themselves. And

alloyed negativity and total chaos and no plan for the future. He is

the truth. The mess that we are seeing in labour Right now only

serves to emphasise the responsibility that now lies on our

shoulders both here and across the UK is the only party capable of

governing Britain and thank goodness we have Theresa May at the helm 's

steering us forward at this time. At the last guy was pretty good but we

saw yesterday what a superb and steadfast Prime Minister she is

turning out to be. APPLAUSE. And Labour is chaos means that here in

Scotland that can only be one party which can offer the challenge that

is required to the Nationalists. One party which can credibly look the

Scottish people in the eye and offer our country a different path. Which

can speak to people, who might once have put their faith in Labour

Liberal and the SNP and offer them something fresh. We must because

those people who once cast their vote elsewhere are our people. Their

concerns are our concerns. Their priorities over these coming years

must now be our priority is to. We must reach out to them. We must

understand them and listen to them and listen to their needs. And we

must show them that this party, the Scottish Conservative Party, is the

one that will stand up for them. That we are a Government in waiting.

I be with you. We're not there yet. Not by a long shot. But by

representing them in serving them we will reach that goal. We're not in

this for us. We are not a club. We either party that aspires to govern

for all of Scotland. A party that wants to show you do not have to

pick between the old Labour and SNP establishment any more. A party that

says the United Kingdom is not a hindrance to Scotland's ambitions

but the best way to realise it. A party that was the champion

aspiration and success and good old-fashioned Scottish get up and go

and that to tackle society 's most intractable problems. We must start

now is a party that task. If you look at how we start by setting out

clearly are a purpose and vision and the reasons why we are here and

asking to serve. Conference, my reasons for getting into politics

were not forged in a boardroom or some kind of privilege dining club.

My politics were forced my Buckhaven primary classroom, a great school

with brilliant teachers burning with ambition for the peoples. That gave

me the chance to get on life. Where are all around you you could also

see opportunities that were not been taken, potential that was not been

realised and talents not been crackled. -- cradle. That was not

the fault of the teachers. But because it had been too many young

people that to aspire was somehow wrong. That ambition was something

only other people had and we, the young people should know our place.

Except the way things are and settle for something second-best. It is to

challenge and change and bury that suffocating culture of lumping your

last is why join the Conservative Party. It is a party that says that

every young person that you places where you wanted to be. You do not

have to just shrug and accept the way things are. That there is

nothing that you cannot do. That as people yes, to take personal

responsibility for their own lives, but the demands society offers them

opportunity return and takes what is best from our traditions, our

country and values, and uses that knowledge to ensure progress in the

modern world. Our purpose and vision and the reason for being in politics

is to ensure those same people, the classmates I remember, can get on in

life. It is to make Scotland the best place for them to study and

learn and get a job and have the fulfilment they deserve. The sad

truth is this. For too many of them Scotland is not that place right

now. Because after ten years and offers this SNP Government has

simply squandered the opportunity it to transform our country. So let me

set out with change must come. For those young people, for my

classmates and friends, it starts back in school.

Change needs to happen. Standards in reading and science are falling

across the board. We do not perform above the international average in

anything. The Sutton trust, a leading education charity said this

last month. There is no specific area where able children in Scotland

really excel. What an absolute disgrace. What a mark of shame. So

much for your social justice, Nicola. APPLAUSE. Let me make this

clear. Teachers are not to blame for this.

I'd like this conference to record our thanks

for the fantastic work they do day in, day out, in spite of the SNP

incompetence that's hampering them from doing their job.

The blame lies with a school system that, thanks to this SNP Government,

Here's the thing though - we can change this.

So today I can announce that we are going to undertake

a root and branch review of one part of the system that is failing -

APPLAUSE Teachers tell us they don't want another top-down reform so we

do not propose scrapping it all together but we have two challenge

the prevailing orthodoxy which has led to this collapse and standards.

Bush thinks of facts and knowledge is of secondary importance. -- which

thinks. Which puts the latest fashionable theory before the need

for teacher to teach and is left a generation of teachers and pupils

are utterly confused about what is going on what the curriculum for

excellence is for. Our review will insist on better way. Knowing this,

that if we want to leave children out of poverty they have no greater

aid than an education which provides them with the knowledge and the

facts empowering them to do so. We will report back with practical set

of recommendations but it is already clear it is time to get rid of the

waffle and theories that have failed and to restore Scotland's reputation

as providing the very best education in the world. APPLAUSE.

And we want more besides. We want more innovation and freedom in our

education system so entrepreneurs like Jim McColl are encouraged and

not put off from building more brilliant junior colleges for kids

who would otherwise leave schools with nothing. When pupils leave

school we want more support where it is needed. Let's never forget,

conference, this SNP Government is the same government which slashed

150,000 college places so Alex Salmond could enjoy a photo it. --

photo opportunity. The SNP guts education, and where they do that we

see it is as valuable as a university one, and we believe in it

opportunity. We believe in a good education and providing that

positive start for all, handing down a country where young people can

grab those opportunities they create, and that whatever course

they want to plot, whatever industry they want to pursue, role they want

to achieve, they can do that here at home. We have to ask ourselves, if

Scotland under the SNP doing that? The sad truth is, again, no, it is

not. Economic growth is a third of what it is elsewhere in the world,

income tax is no higher, business taxes are doubling for many

overnight. What kind of message are we sending out -- income tax is now

higher. I speak the job creators across Scotland every week and they

are worried, worried about an SNP Government gaining ever more power

over our economy but has no idea how to use it. They are worried about a

Scottish Government which has one plan for Brexit and one plan only,

to use it to break up our United Kingdom. And ask yourselves, is that

the actions of a government? You all know where I stand on our decision

to leave the European Union, and if you don't, just ask Boris, but I

will be honest. I think the negotiations we face are going to be

tough. I think we are going to be tested, and it is not going to be

easy. But here's the difference between Nicola Sturgeon and me. I

want us to make a success of Brexit, and she wants Britain to fail. And

irrespective of how I voted, I have to respect the result, whereas she

has never met a referendum she hasn't tried to overturn.

APPLAUSE And I see this here today. As we

leave the EU, whether individually we voted Remain or Leave, we deserve

a Scottish Government that is focused on helping team UK to get

the best Brexit deal for all of us, not using it to revive its

independence obsession. If we look at our firms, small and large

manufacturing, services, right across Scotland, and we ask

ourselves, or the wallowing in doom? No, they are not. They are planning

on how to tackle the challenges and exploit

the opportunities, and that has been our positive plan as well. Last week

our own group and Brexit reported back, made up of those who voted

Tremain and Leave, because this Conservative Party believes in

bringing our country back together, and what they said it is clear. It

is this. You don't sort Brexit by splitting the UK. You deal with

Brexit by sticking together. APPLAUSE

I am a Democrat, conference. We accepted the rules and the result

and we must move on to implement it. I think the right path is no clear.

We must keep Scotland competitive with taxes no higher than the rest

of the UK. -- the right path is now clear. We must keep Scotland in our

own Union to benefit from our own internal market, and put all our

efforts into striking a trade deal with Europe to ensure our firms can

continue to thrive. We also need our governments in both Edinburgh and

London to seek out new markets for Scottish goods, because the

potential for growth is enormous. Our trade with the rest of the world

is already more than with the whole of the EU, and if we really put our

mind to it, Scotland's exports to be double doors to Europe in coming

years. The fact if Scotland has brilliant products and high-end

services that the world once and it is now our job to go out and sell

them. Wouldn't it be lovely, conference, if we had a Scottish

Government that sought to use this time to talk up what we could do

rather than finding or creating all that we could not? Wouldn't it be

nice if we had a Scottish Government that focused on how to grow

Scotland's success in the coming years? And I say to the SNP, stop

talking Scotland down. Go out into the world and start talking up our

prospects, for once. APPLAUSE

And you know when I look at our SNP Government, the truth is it just

frustrates me. All of that energy, that sense of purpose, all of that

work, and so little of it going where it is needed. Not into

education- only this week John Swinney has delayed his reforms yet

again. Not on the economy, where their answer to low growth is to

attract firms more. And in other areas as well. -- attack firms more.

Our job has been to show there is an alternative, and in just the last

six months we campaigned successfully for more NHS funding to

go to family doctors so we can tackle the nation's poor health at

source. We set out a plan to cut air passenger duty for long haul so

Scotland can be better connected to the world. We set out a raft of

proposals to finally achieve parity between mental and physical health

treatment, and crucially to reduce health inequality. Only last week we

set out a new paper making it clear that economic growth must go

hand-in-hand with care for our environment. But, conference, we

must do more. The NHS doctors and nurses are doing their best from one

day to the next, but what is the SNP's plan? To keep it going until

the next winter crisis are after the next election in the hope the staff

the staggering on despite growing demand and ever higher expectations?

It is not good enough. We need a long-term strategy, which sets the

course for the NHS to prosper for the rest of this century, not

short-term political fixes. Led by Donald Cameron, our new health

spokesman, we will know and owns our plans -- soon announce our plans for

an advisory board in social care, made up of practitioners, to deliver

a real long-term vision for our health service. To offer a bold

vision of how the founding values of the NHS can be renewed for the

modern age. What about local government? What is the SNP's plan?

To scoop up as much power as they can and try to control everything

from the centre. Conference, it is not good enough. If you know where

our challenge is coming in local government, you know it is from the

thriving metropolitan areas of Manchester, Birmingham and

Liverpool. What Scotland needs is not more local power is flowing to

our First Minister. We need more powerful local leaders in our great

cities, to take on the northern powerhouse in the -- and the

Midlands engine. Scotland's growth levels are lagging behind the UK and

have done so for the last three years and more central issue is not

the answer to this. It is the cause of it. In our manifesto for the

local government elections we will be setting out our plans to empower

councils and give them a renewed purpose. With a greater role to

deliver economic growth, with incentives so local areas get to

keep the rewards of those growth. and crucially giving more control

over the way money is raised and spent. that is real devolution. not

just a holyrood but to the communities and cities that matter.

conference, i think, in short, we have all had just about enough of

the snp saying what cannot be done. we want a government that says, yes,

it can, once and for all. instead, what do we get? morning about

westminster when westminster is not in charge -- moaning about

westminster. saying they do not have enough cash only to find millions

down the back of the sofa. Saying they need a little bit more time. I

say, you have had your time. And if you can't act or want act it is time

you give someone else a go, because we need to focus. -- if you can't or

won't act. APPLAUSE

We need to focus on the massive challenges of the next 30 years, to

automation -- how automation will change the nature of work in this

country, our welfare state will be changing, how public services need

to do more than mop up social problems but intervene before those

problems happen in the first place. Can you even imagine the spin

drenched short-term SNP government thinking about issues like that? You

want to know why I am so opposed to a second referendum on independence?

Yes, because I don't want to see my country go through all that turmoil

and division we suffered three years ago. Yes, because I will defend

Scotland's place in the UK it helped build and has ownership of for all

my days and I do not want to see it threatened again. But it is also

because of what we are not doing when our thoughts turn inwards. When

we head down the constitutional cul-de-sac once again. Not sorting

out our schools. Not dealing with the plan for our NHS. Not delivering

economic growth, not empowering local government, not focusing on

people's priorities. How many more years, conference, can Scotland

afford to spend time not properly addressing these things that matter?

How much longer do we have to put up with a nationalised party that puts

its grievance hunting agenda before all our priorities? And for whom?

The SNP, they claim to speak for our country. But they don't have to turn

a deaf ear to the actual people of Scotland. -- the don't half turn a

deaf ear. One in three of us say we actually want a referendum at all.

This is the hard truth. The voices of the people of Scotland only

matter to Nicola Sturgeon when they are saying something she already

agrees with. You don't agree with the SNP? Then your voice doesn't

matter to them. You don't count. Are you as sick and tired as I am with

their arrogance? Are you as angry as I am that the result of a democratic

vote, won the SNP promised to respect just three years ago, has

been torn up in front of our eyes? Yes, they're the Government, they

have the ministerial offices and the chauffeured cars, but they work --

do the work for us -- but they work for us, the people of Scotland, and

the people of Scotland are telling them loud and clear they are not on.

We don't share your constitutional obsession when our children are

being failed by your schools. Not when waiting times in our NHS are

lengthening and tens of thousands of operations are being cancelled. Not

when violent crime in our communities is on the rise. We don't

want the next year and the years after to be taken up with another

independence referendum. We want you to do the job you were elected to

do, to address the issues that really matter. To make our schools

better, our hospitals, our economy, and the lives of all of our people.

Scotland said no to independence. Scotland is saying, stop trying to

bounce us into another referendum, and I can promise you this. This

party, the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, will never waver in

our decision to stand up for the country. We said no, we meant it.

Are you listening, Nicola? No second referendum.

APPLAUSE And let me say this, let me say this

to the First Minister as well. There has been a lot of talk since

Labour's conference last weekend about the language we use in

political debates, and it is a fair question, and we should all seek to

live up to our own standards. But I am sick of the SNP's double

standards on this. So when SNP figures attack the other side, I

simply say this. It is time you lived by the same rules you apply to

others. When you accuse pro-union-mac figures of distorting

the truth, please shall Scotland some respect by giving us the truth

on the cost of breaking our Union into -- when you accuse pro-Unio

figures. Give us the truth of the cuts your policies would incur if we

backed independence. When you try to portray Britain as an insular

country, something different or other to us here in Scotland, take a

moment to look around you. Look at the start in East Kilbride just down

the road delivering British aid and development money to some of the

poorest nations on the planet. Reflect on the troops at

Lossiemouth, Leuchars and Faslane, defending democracy and advancing

liberty 365 days a year 24/7 in our name. Consider what this country at

its best gives us. A country which punches above its weight on the

world stage economically and culturally, and in the humanitarian

aid of others. Country which gives a girl from Glasgow and microphone in

hand, the chance to stand up in the White House, and challenge the most

powerful man in the world to explain his abhorrent views on Muslims and

gay people. I know our country has its faults, but I give the leader

tell the SNP this. As you choose to denigrate the UK to advance your

cause, don't you dare claim Britain is not a land worth living in, nor

that thousands of Scots want to stay open to the world as part of that,

because you only diminish yourselves in doing so.

APPLAUSE I urge you to take this message to

people as we come to elections again. This SNP Government is

failing Scotland and this Conservative Party is ready to

serve. Politics that the longer obsesses over the Commonwealth flag

but the content of our lives. I will always stand up the decision we made

three years ago but the truth is I wish I didn't have to. I would be

the happiest woman alive if I had never had to talk about the

constitution one more time. Not because my love for this country is

diminished, far from it, but none of us serve anyone by refighting old

battles. We have been down that road before and what do we have to show

for it? I divided country. And neglected politics, a Scottish

Government that has now lost all grip on things that really matter.

Scotland deserves better than this. It deserves better than wood and

crude and May. It deserves and it is time for well and can and must. And

the responsibility falls on us. We can be that better Government, we

must be that better Government, we will be that better Government. That

is our ambition and nothing less and all we know it will not come easy,

we had some busy years with an independence referendum and a

general election and a Scottish Parliament election and with every

step we have grown as a party. Hundreds of thousands of Scots have

listened to a message and seen our commitment and have put their trust

in us. And over the next few weeks and in the months and years ahead I

am asking you to do it all again. Because we know what is on the

ballot paper. We know what is at stake. The prosperity of Scotland's

families, the education of Scotland's children. Our place in

the United Kingdom. I am up for that fight and I know you are too so

let's get out there and get the job done. Thank you. APPLAUSE.

The Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson receiving a standing

ovation at the Clyde Auditorium after finishing her spring

conference speech. She basked in her recent electoral success and said

she was holding a failing and complacent SNP Government to

account. She said we are a Government in waiting but not quite

there yet. She said the SNP Government has squandered the

opportunity to run the country. She spoke about education and called for

a root and branch review of curriculum for excellence. She was

to make a success of Brexit and she spoke again about the referendum. No

second referendum. She said about the Scottish Government you have had

your time and time somebody else had of a goal. -- had a goal. -- go.

Professor John Curtice is with me. Your thoughts? Quite early on the

she set up the ambition that the Conservative Party might provide in

not too distant future Government for Scotland. She also said we're

not quite there yet. One question you might ask is what idea did give

us about the kind of Government the Conservatives might provide for

Scotland? There was a passage about revising the curriculum for

excellence that was drilled in the newspapers this morning. Some

indication perhaps what she means is traditional Tory criticisms about

having more facts and less theory. We also had a passage where she said

there would be an advisory board on the NHS but not much more than that.

Russell told we would get some plans for local Government and it would

get unveiled in advance of local council elections with perhaps I'll

be met for local councils to promote economic growth. That untruth was

it. I think people may say if you really are going to put yourself

forward as a Government of Scotland that seemed like rather thin gruel.

Meanwhile we had not one but two bytes, two passages in the speech

including at the end in which the opposition leader focused on the

issue of the independence debate. And I suspect that some people also

say in the wake of this conference you keep on saying to us that Nicola

Sturgeon is obsessing about independence. But maybe this is an

obsession that is also shared by the opposition because you certainly

seemed to keep on talking about it. Raps exhibition for that is the

sense that debate has taken off again it is the Conservative Party

finally beginning to revive and I think the Conservative Party is

delighted that Nicola Sturgeon has raised this issue again because it

is providing them with an opportunity given labours witnessed

to try to become the pre-eminent party of the union in Scotland. We

notice taking votes from the Labour Party in particular and therefore

may be the truth is that this constant ability of the

Conservatives to keep Bond criticising Nicola Sturgeon unissued

sues the political purposes. So it could be a reason for them to keep

raising it. She said in a speech that she did not want to raise it

and she would be quite happy never to have to speak about it again but

she did bring it up again and again. The remarkable thing about this

conference is it is almost as though the Conservative Party in Scotland

is assuming that indeed at some point, maybe in the SNP conference

in two weeks' time later, Nicola Sturgeon will request the powers to

hold a referendum should be passed to the Scottish Parliament and she

is minded to hold one at some point the next two or three years. They

are already putting in the lines of argument against that. Of course

that makes it even more remarkable that as you head on the speech

apparently we're told that the Conservatives say no. But when they

harassed you block a second referendum they say we're not

telling you. How much longer the party can continue to say they are

opposed to a referendum but not actually say we will stop it, at

some point the thread of credibility of those two arguments may just

begin to suffer. I said at the beginning of the summation in the

way that she did bask in the legible success but she did say it is time

to move on from that. It's over the applause they are that she is a very

popular leader. Ruth Davidson has proven to be a remarkably successful

Conservative. It has taken 20 years for the Conservative Party to come

out of that disastrous defeat in the 1997 general election that left with

no MPs in Scotland. Finally it has begun to happen. We should not

overestimate and is still only have 22 or 23% of the vote which is less

than a in the 1992 general election the truth as opinion polls and then

suggest the party have made further progress since last year and

certainly we had a poll on local Government election voting

intentions. Five years ago the Conservatives only got 13% of the

board. That Paul suggestively created double that figure and the

local Government by-elections have been recording double-figure

increases in Conservative support of the last 12 months. This is the

party much better fettle than it ever has been and it is doing quite

nicely out of the continuing constitutional debate but the more

it wants to move on from being the opposition to the SNP, which isn't

true for that speech was primarily the tone of, to being the Government

of Scotland, the more detail will have to provide about what will be

the policies as the Scottish Government. I don't think Ruth Davis

and answer the question she set out for yourself at the beginning of a

speech. -- Ruth Davidson. Back to Brian across the river. I am joined

by Annie Wells, the Marks Spencer 's MSP. Other retailers are

available. And Jackson. Add a view of education and a review of health.

As the not presumptuous? I think we have to prepare ourselves for

Government and the SNP have done nothing about either of them. We are

filling in both so we really need to be doing something to show them

we're serious. It is about preparing for Government? I think the one

issue that is registered with the public is that the something wrong

with education. The SNP say something and expect to sell to

agree. On health we are failing and we need to involve practitioners and

people who know what is happening in the health service ever to have a

sustainable NHS going forward. What sort of areas are you talking about

an education? Ruth made clear that we have had difficulty with the

curriculum for excellence. Some seek to abolish it. We do not want that

and teachers do not one that top-down thing again. We have to put

the knowledge the acquisition of knowledge and skills back at the top

and we need to see the attainment gap closed. Nicola has thought long

about it but failed to deliver. The attainment gap continues to broaden.

I appreciate you are setting up a review but give me the answer no to

what changes on health. I think we're doing the right thing getting

general practitioners involved in getting people who know what we need

from the NHS. It is about an independent review. We are making

sure we're using our NHS professionals to the best of our

ability and providing them with the best tools to do that. We can't just

say the NHS is brilliant. We know the staff work brilliantly but we

need to make sure we are using them correctly. In general terms on these

core public services the Scottish Government say they are putting an

additional resources and reckless spending on health and targeting

money on education directly to schools. They are trying and making

an effort. Use of they are throwing money at it but we don't see what

they will do with that money. They say they are giving the money

directly to schools. What is wrong with that? We support that but the

not changing the attainment gap. All they are saying is that this money.

We need structure because the curriculum for excellence is not

working as it is. Jackson Curlew? They are being too slow. Always need

to see a whole model primary care. Bringing in a pharmacist at the

front end people do not feel they have to just go to accident and

emergency when they're not feeling well. This has been a case of slow,

complacent, no future workforce planning. It is almost as if the SNP

Government didn't imagine being in power as long as they have. I think

ten years as an appropriate time to assess how they are performing and

it is clear that public services in Scotland are not benefiting from

their involvement because the real interest is not about that. The real

interest is about the division of the country. Let's talk about

independence. Ruth Davidson made lengthy references to that. Nicola

Sturgeon we see it as you lot that obsess about independence and she's

talking about education and health and economy. If education and the

health and economy is what she is talking about she's not doing

anything about it. Independence is what the SNP are, one party policy.

Nobody wants it and she's using it as a tool. Nobody wants? When you

chat the doors people say they are fed up with referendum and that

appetite for it. They want to see the SNP getting on with things and

fixing education health in Scotland. Jackson, is that because they have

had the life terrified out of them by the Brexit decision which your

party instigated? We held a referendum and 30% of SNP voters

voted for Brexit. That means more SNP double voted for better than

supporters of any other party. They are now being a limited by the rural

leader. We respect the democratic result. I said if we lost the

referendum on independence and to those of 14 I wouldn't mind the

barricades to fight for the best possible deal for Scotland. I would

have respected the decision. -- 2014. This was a referendum for the

whole of the United Kingdom and the whole of United Kingdom decided that

I think the of Scotland is the mag understand that. It is not how they

wanted a referendum to go and I think the challenge is huge but the

only way we will make a success of it is of the Scottish Government

works with the UK Government. Why don't you simply announce you will

be till referendum using your UK power to do so? I think the

important thing to say to Scotland and to Nicola Sturgeon is that she

is at it. They understand that is no excuse and no necessity for a

referendum and despite what she says none of a mandate for it. The people

of Scotland make clear in opinion polls they're not interested.

No mandate? The last time I checked they got a big vote there is no

mandate for it whatsoever. We need to tell them to do the job we add

them to do and we will get on with what we need to do in a buzzing. On

Monday, they might see in 2040 the people of Scotland will were told

all the way to stay in the EU is to vote for the United Kingdom -- on

the issue of mandate, they might say. That big fat book on Scotland's

future, if you would do that it says, if the Conservatives win,

there will be a referendum on the EU and we may be taken out. They argue

the people of the UK might vote to leave, and they also said it was a

once-in-a-lifetime, once in a generational, port. In my lifetime I

generation was 25 years or so -- once in a generational vote. We need

to say, enough of this. We need to focus on issues that matter to

Scotland, not independence. Thank you both. Back to the studio. Thank

you very much. The conference has been hearing an appeal for better

care for those under 65 who suffer from dementia. Campaigning on the

half of her late husband Frank, the former Dundee United player, his

wife has been involved in the campaign to introduce what the

Conservatives called Frank's Law. We Can No Year From Mrs Capell. I Am A

Bit Emotional As You Can Understand but thank you for giving me the

opportunity to address the conference. If dementia had never

come to our door, neither Frank nor I would know anything about the

disease. I witnessed first-hand Frank's daily battle, a battle for

his life. A battle both he and I knew he was never going to win. It

was at this time we learned about the discrimination against

when we found ourselves in an uphill battle with bureaucracy because of

the age on his birth certificate -- discrimination against under 65s.

Free personal care begins at 65, and because he was younger we were told

he would be charge. We were asked if he could hang on until he was 65 and

it would be free. How many more people, no longer with us, like

Frank Capell, Neil McNab, Lee Berti, Hugh Trainer, to name but a few, now

just statistics, who sadly broke the rules and were discriminated against

because of their age? How many more people under the age of 65 in

Scotland today are dealing with those who are still with us? I

repeat it would be a small proportion Frank's law would help in

order to live with the dignity and respect for the short time that they

need help, but I am asking that funding be shared out in there, just

and equal way. -- in a fair, just and equal way. When we were

discussing the campaign a few years ago, Frank turned to me and said,

tell them, Amanda, it is too late for me but it will help others in

the future. Well, frankly, I promised you that day that I would

tell them, and I have been telling them, and thank goodness many are

now listening, because they realise how vitally important it is that

Frank's law is delivered -- well, Frankie. Right, no let's go back

over the river to Brian once again at the Armadillo. Thanks very much

indeed. I am joined by three representatives who have been

following the debates. Thanks very much for joining me. Let's do a

simple question first of all. What did you make of Ruth Davidson's

speech? As usual she was brilliant, very clear and concise. She showed

us that we don't want another referendum and she will fight for

it. She was pretty blunt, wasn't she? . She was fantastic and that is

exactly what we need, someone to stand up to the SNP, tell them we

don't want another independence referendum and someone who can put

forward a plan for Scotland. Was she a little cheeky about David Cameron,

I quite liked the previous guy, she said, but the new Prime Minister has

got it all? I we have a fantastic in Ruth Davidson as the leader of the

Scottish Conservatives and Theresa May as the Prime Minister of the

United Kingdom, working together, strong leadership in Westminster and

the Scottish Parliament, and that is why people voted in May for 31 MSTs

and that is what we are delivering. Is it clear that Conservatives can

present themselves as a party of government in Scotland? Is that

credible? Your rivals would say absolutely not. Absolutely. I think

the people give huge confidence the us in May, 31 MSPs, more than anyone

predicted. I think Ruth is on the rise, a fantastic leader, and I

think we have no concern that as of 2021 she will absolutely be fighting

for that First Minister seat and I think we will have a huge contingent

in Scotland behind her. Where do you take those votes from? OK, a good

result last May, but the SNP are still way ahead of you will stop

there is a huge breadth of Scotland that could vote Scottish

Conservative, former Labour members who realise the Labour Party is

incompetent and cannot hold the SNP to account, or the former SNP voters

who realise the SNP and business rates, education, health and

business, they are not doing the right things for Scotland. For

yourself, is a credible and serious? Ceramic yes, we have a fantastic

team and I think the local elections will improve the team we will get.

Let's speak about the policies mentioned by Ruth Davidson in her

speech -- yes, we have a fantastic team. In general terms, towards

public services, what different approach would you be taking that

would set it apart? What is currently being done has been done

for some time. We will not be distracted by one other issue,

independence. They say it is you guys obsessed about it, the SNP say

that. No way. We will get on with the day job with a fantastic team

and common-sense. What difference might we see in the public service?

The SNP had been in government for ten years and young children in

Scotland are two years behind their English counterparts and they have

the sole responsible for this. The SNP take power away from councils

and won everything from the centre but we need a more collaborative

approach that asks parents and teachers what they need... But they

are diverting ?120 million directly into the hands of headteachers with

government review to come that will probably do even more in that

direction, the opposite of centralisation? The new regional

boards they are proposing would step powers away from councils and

centralise it even further away. The SNP have a tendency to strip local

authorities of any ability to run local affairs and they do not trust

local people to do that, they centralise the power. They would say

they are giving it to the schools rather than local councils? Would

you prefer the council to run everything rather than the

headteacher? I think the best thing is to review what is happening.

Standards are going backwards in Scotland. The Curriculum for

Excellence, we need to look at how it is being run. Christine, I am

hearing a diagnosis of the problems but what I am not hearing is an

overall philosophical approach to the changes you would like to make

in public services? I think the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth

Davidson in her speech today, and as mentioned here, the Curriculum for

Excellence, that has huge implications on the education system

and the statistics show that. The SNP cannot hide away from it. Nicola

Sturgeon has tried to put John Swinney at the helm of that and saw

some funding there but she does not have a strategy behind it and I

think that is what the Scottish Conservatives are going into

in-depth -- and through some funding. On independence, if you are

so much against the referendum do you think the UK Government should

say no and exercise the veto, which they have the power to do? It is not

about whether we could have another referendum, it is whether we should

have. When you are on the doorstep, Brian, that is not what people want.

We are campaigning... Why don't you reassure... Why don't you reassure

them by saying we will be to unblock it? They are not getting a section

30, they can whistle for it. Why not? We are going out campaigning

and Scottish people do not want another referendum. Then why not to

veto it? Is standing up for the people of Scotland, she is trying

hard within the Scottish Parliament to make sure the Scottish people are

heard -- Ruth is standing up. So it is about pre-empting rather than

using the power you have as a UK Government party? We need to say we

do not want a second independence referendum and that is our platform.

The people of Scotland don't want it and are fed up with it. Less than a

third of Scottish voters want the of that, to go through that again. It

is time it is taken off like a table by Nicola Sturgeon. But she will see

the people of Scotland were conned in 2014, they were told the way to

stay in the European Union was to stay in the UK at exactly the

opposite has been the case? That is nonsense. I voted to leave and a

million people in Scotland voted to leave... An awful lot more people

voted to remain. But it was a UK wide vote. But in the referendum in

2014 people were precisely explicitly told to vote to stay in

the UK to stay in Europe. But the SNP threatened, you know, the

Conservatives will hold a referendum on the European Union, we might

leave it. People voted in 2014 knowing there could be a referendum.

Your party said, it is all right, it is fine, the way to stay in, the way

to leave is devote to stay in the UK, and to ... It was a UK wide

vote, UK wide decision. Thank you, all three, very much indeed for

joining me here. Back to this the deal. Brian, thank you very much for

your efforts from the Clyde Auditorium. More thoughts from

Professor John Curtice industry. Hearing from one of the guests

there, the people of Scotland do not want another referendum. What is

your analysis of that, what are the polls suggesting? Double-mac I think

it is interesting on the one hand that Conservatives are saying it is

overwhelming that people in Scotland do not want second referendum --

yes, I think it is interesting. But perhaps the polls are telling us

public opinion in Scotland is not so overwhelmingly opposed as has been

portrayed in the last 40 hours. A number of polls on this giving

people a straight choice. Just over 50% say no, they should not be won,

but over 30% say, yes, there should. More subtle question. Should there

be referendum now, should there be one leave the EU, should there be

one at all? When you ask that you discover the first two MacBooks,

actually about half the Scottish population, and the truth is the

argument is an argument amongst those who support independence as to

whether they should have the referendum now or after we leave the

EU -- you discover the first two questions. You find Scotland is as

divided on this as whether it wants independence in the first place and

I think the reason the Scottish Government will not say they will --

UK Government will not say they will veto it is because as a result it

might drive some people into the independence camp. And things might

become clear at the SNP conference in a couple of weeks' time? Yes, we

will look forward to that with considerable interest to see what,

if anything, Nicola Sturgeon now says about holding a second

independence referendum. I think whether you are for or against

independence, the country will to some degree be holding its breath

with bated breath for that SNP conference. John, thank you for

joining us this afternoon. There is more from the Scottish Conservative

Party Conference in tomorrow's Sunday Politics at 11am. We are back

with live coverage of the Scottish Lib Dems. Goodbye for now.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, presents the first Budget of 2017.

What will it mean for you and your family's finances?

Join me, Huw Edwards, for live coverage and expert analysis.

The Budget 2017 - what will be the impact on your pocket?

Pittodrie Stadium is the venue for Scottish Cup quarterfinal action.

Partick Thistle travel to the Granite City

with a place in the semifinals at stake.