16/10/2016 Scottish National Party Conference

It is six months since the last SNP conference. And a lot has changed.

Five months ago Scotland voted to give the SNP a third term in

government, and the UK was in the midst of the EU referendum campaign.

With this result. At the end of the count, 52% vote to leave, 48%, to

remain. Quite an extraordinary moment. Few expected it and few

anticipated that the SNP would be gathering to consider what the

country would face as a result of Brexit. The right wing of the Tory

party is in the ascendancy, seeking to hijack the EU referendum result.

Brexit, it has now become Tory Brexit. Nicola Sturgeon used her

speech to address some of the rhetoric from last week's Tory party

conference and to send an unguarded message to two Reza May. If you

think for one single second that I am not serious about doing what it

takes to protect Scotland's interests, then think again.

Delegates had gathered for the first time in the Clyde Auditorium at the

Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, one of the few places again

of to hold an SNP conference these days. This is the biggest ever

conference in the history of the SNP. But the bigger the party, the

harder it is to manage. It will Sturgeon faced some of those

tensions head on. There is not a day that passes anymore without somebody

advising me to hurry up with the referendum. And there is not a day

that passes without somebody advising me to slow down. Welcome to

my world. She offered a deft solution to those clamouring for

action. I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to

reconsider the question of independence and to do so for the UK

believes the EU, if that is necessary to protect our country's

interests -- the UK leaves the EU. I can today confirmed that the

independence referendum will will be published for consultation next

week. That pleased the packed hall. More on that later. To give you an

idea of the scale of the conference, take a look at this. Four years ago

this is the room the SNP held their conference in. Now it is only big

enough to hold the press reporting on it. There were more than 100

fringe meetings at the conference and in nearby hotels. And 50 stalls

representing organisations who want to influence the politics of

Scotland. But for some it is too big and too expensive. So there is an

alternative event across the water. It is open to the public and it is

free. The reason we are free is because we could not afford to be in

the conference. That this is also a universal truth. When politics

operates, the organisations and interests which are best able to

remotely support them are the ones that are most easily hurt. If you

are trying to produce socially relevant policy without a large

budget it can be very hard to be heard above the hint of interest

groups in politics. Politics in Scotland is clearly something more

and more people are engaged in. And so to the conference, in the main

hall. The surprise exit Stuart Hosie left a vacancy for deputy leader.

Coming second was Tommy Sheppard, a relatively recent defection from

Labour joined the party just two years ago, but the winner was the

favourite, Angus Robertson. He has already steered the party through

difficult terrain including the decision to change their policy on

Nato. Like Miss Sturgeon he is keen to avoid losing a second

independence referendum. Securing 45% support in the referendum was a

great support but we must reach out to the 55% who voted no in 2014. I

believe that the deputy leader has a big job to make this happen and I

will work with Nicola Sturgeon to make this happen. There was almost

unanimous agreement on Trident, Conservative politicians, and the

Republican presidential contender. It is not British or UK nuclear

weapons. It is American nuclear weapons. And nobody at all mentions

that fact. Looking at America right now, you might have Donald Trump is

president. We have it bad enough with Boris Johnson as Foreign

Minister. Imagine both buffoons in charge of a Trident nuclear weapons.

It is dangerous. We have lists of foreign workers, reminiscent of the

rise of Nazism in the 1930s. A friend contacted me last night and

said, I have just been asked by by human resources Department to

provide a copy of my passport to check my eligibility to work in the

UK. British jobs for British workers is one of the most deliberately

divisive terms I have ever heard. First mooted by Gordon Brown, then

Prime Minister, now chanted with gusto by his Better Together pals

and the Tories. Then came education. We will extend the guarantee to EU

students wishing to come to start in Scotland in the next year in

2017-18. And unlike Labour and the Tories that is tuition free

education. Tuition free education that we are guaranteeing, not the

massive fees they impose on students, where ever they come from.

But we will go further. We will guarantee their funding. What I

demand is that the Tory Brexit government guarantees the right to

stay here while they study, and to work after their studies. These

people are not cards to be played. They are fellow human beings. To use

them as negotiating chips is obscene. And at this party and this

SNP government will have none of it. And a motion to devolve power to

decriminalise cannabis for medicinal use. Good morning, conference. My

name is Laura and I have been living with multiple sclerosis for nine

years. The fact that I'm standing here giving you this speech means I

am one of the lucky ones. It has become very clear to me over these

last nine years that many people living with MS have been using

cannabis to help with the symptoms of that condition, in fact it is one

of the worst kept secrets at the hospital. All of these people risk a

criminal record, unlike in Australia, Chile, Canada, Finland,

France, Germany, Romania, and some US states. Some allow the raw plant.

Others, a mouth spray. Nevertheless we as a developed Western nation are

fast becoming behind the times, the odd ones out. Not everybody agreed.

Nowadays people look for quick fixes as far as pain is concerned. And

quick fixes as far as when the pain medication doesn't work. They

basically go to stronger painkillers. I am afraid that this

is what would happen with this particular medication. There are

alternatives to basically pain medication, and a lot of doctors are

basically prescribing that a fitness regime for getting you fit in all

different ways, and we have MS patients who come to our centres to

go through this regime, it actually increases the fitness to all your

body and you decrease the amount of painkillers you are on. That is the

way to go. Stop all these pain medications. Go to fitness regimes.

I know that the MS card is being played. But it is not just MS it

would be useful. I am sorry, but it is true. This is not just for MS

patients. This is for everybody who is a doctor to legally prescribe

this. It is not the answer, vote against this please. But they did

not. The motion for the Scottish Government to make the change was

carried unanimously. The keynote speech was packed policy

announcement. Today I can announce a 4-point plan to boost trade and

export by taking Scotland's message directly, and in our own voice, to

the very heart of Europe. Firstly, we will establish a new board of

trade in the Scottish Government. Secondly, we will set up a new trade

envoy scheme. It will ask prominent Scots to help us boost our export

efforts. Thirdly, we will establish permanent trade representation in

Berlin, adding... APPLAUSE. Adding to our investment herbs in

Dublin, London, Brussels. And fourthly, we will more than double

the number of Scottish investment develop and staff working across

Europe. Men and women whose job it will be to market Scotland is an

open economy and a welcoming society. Friends, the difference

between the Scottish and Westminster governments is this - they are

retreating to the fringes of Europe. We intend to stay at its very heart,

where Scotland belongs. Today we are launching a national parent

consultation on how to do things differently. It proposes radical new

approaches, prioritising choice and flexibility. First we will propose

that parents can choose a nursery and a childminder that best suit

their needs, and as long as the provider meet agreed standards, ask

the local authority to fund it. In other words, the funding will follow

the child, not the other way around. And secondly, as suggested by

children in Scotland's childcare commission, we will propose that

parents can opt to receive funding in a childcare account and then use

it to purchase a suitable place directly. And an emotional plea for

Scotland's children. Half of the risen population in Scotland are

people who live in care when they were growing up. And worst of all,

and this breaks my heart, a young was and who has been in care is 20

times, 20 times more likely to be dead by the age of 25 than a young

person who has not. Conference, this simply has too change and I am

determined that it will change. So I am going to do what these young

people have asked me to do. I am announcing today that we will launch

an independent root and branch review of the care system.

And a realigning of NHS priorities. By the end of this parliament we

will increase spending on primary care services to 11% of the front

line NHS budget, that is what doctors have said is needed and that

is what we will deliver. And let me be clear what that means. By 2021 an

extra ?500 million will be invested in GP practices and health centres.

And it means that for the first time ever, half of the health budget will

be spent not in acute hospitals, but in the community, delivering primary

community and social care. Home and away, one family from

Australia illustrated the party's concerns about the UK Government

stance on immigration. Let me take you back to June 2000 and seven. --

2011. The family arrived from Australia having satisfied all of UK

immigration's criteria, for Catherine to study a degree in

Scottish history and archaeology, with the promise that was interface

at the time that after her studies Catherine would benefit from the

post study work visa. Conference, something that should

shame each and every one of us is that the UK Government chose to

retrospectively remove that rates from Catherine and thousands of

other students in our country. The debate brought the popular return of

a familiar face. You're eating into my time.

LAUGHTER To Kathleen and Greg, we are happy

to have you with us today. Not just today, we are happy to have you with

us as part of our society. Congratulations, you're in, for your

parliamentary work and indeed to the minister who finally did the right

thing. I am confident that nobody will be more sincere when I say to

you that, Scotland, it is good to be here. I had been asked to spend just

a couple of minutes to tell you what we've been through to try to be the

personal face and what the Post said the work Visa means. I cant do that.

I cannot convey in a couple of minutes what we've been through. I

can tell you that we have had a win and we are still here on a 12 month

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

without whom we would not be here. Alex Salmond and Ian, thank you. Not

like the issue hanging over every debate, every speech and every

fringe event, has been Brexit. And in the rest to. One delegate asked

what happened to the Scottish Government holds another

independence referendum, but the UK Government refuses to grant it the

legal status it did two years ago? The precedent has been set, a very

important precedent, where mandates are relevant. I respected David

Cameron's ability to hold the European referendum and I respected

the result. Last week they said that the mandate of the people must be

respected. It would be ironic if she said to the people of Scotland,

Nicola Sturgeon who has been elected on a more overwhelming mandate than

the Tories were, to turn round and say that we will not respect your

mandate. She is the Democrat and there would have to be some form of

agreement that respected the outcome of the will of the people of

Scotland. If there is another referendum in short order, I think

that should be at. And that should be the final one we have for at

least a generation, to coin a popular phrase. The trigger for this

is a vote in the Scottish parliament. That's what gives it

legitimacy. If the Scottish parliament. Older referendum, then

it is inconceivable, we keep using that word and there it happens, but

it is inconceivable that the Westminster parliament would not

accept that. Debate about the timing of indie rest to spilled onto the

floor of the conference. I desire independence with all my very being,

but I want to be very sure that when we go for the referendum that we win

it and that all the arguments are in place. I don't want to see as rush

enthusiastically in the another referendum, the Scottish Government

seeking a soft Brexit may actually be achieved, but we will be out with

the EU. We may have a deal that proves popular with the Scottish

people out with the use, do we then rush forward to have another

independence referendum? Even though the support of the Scottish people

may not be with us, because they support the deal are Scottish

Government could potentially secure. Somewhere more inpatient than

others. I want to tell Theresa May now that the main means remain. I

don't want to wait a few months down the line to give reassurance to a EU

nationals in this country that reassurance that they are waiting

for, that this party, this country, stands by them. Sending is motion

back today, rejecting this motion back today, is a slap in the face to

providing that reassurance to 170,000 people that want reassurance

now! A difficult question hanging over delegates, should there be an

independence referendum before or after the UK leaves EU? I'd like to

see an independence referendum before the UK leaves Europe, because

I'd like Scotland to stay in Europe later voted to do. I believe that

independence is the right solution for Scotland, but obviously, we have

to go for a referendum when Michael is confident we can win it, the last

thing we want to do is have another one and lose. I think it is the best

time, when we can win. People have voted yes to the referendum in

September into theirs and 14 never one to experience what they got on

the 19th of September. I personally wanted before it happens, because

then we might have it doing a different ways to negotiate, slide

rather have it before. When the Scottish Government publishes its

referendum bill this week, ministers are going to face some tough

constitutional questions. Speaking to the BBC at the conference, Nicola

Sturgeon gave a strong indication of what her approach is going to be. It

would be inconceivable given that the Tories have put us in this

position, if the Scottish Parliament decided a new Scottish Parliament, I

can decide when to propose a referendum, if the democratically

elected parliament of a country that has two Passat legislation, if we

decided it was the right thing to protect Scotland's interests and the

Tories tried to block it, I think that would be absolutely

inconceivable. In a fringe event, the deputy minister made clear that

the second independence referendum would be very different to the

campaign of the last one. The nature of the economic circumstances of

Scotland I know very different to what they were on June 22. They have

been fundamentally reshaped by the Brexit vote and I think we shaped by

the appalling vacuum of leadership there has been since the EU

referendum, that has just fuelled. All the stuff we endure June the

Scottish independence referendum about uncertainty has been nothing

compared to what the Tory Government has presided over it since the

referendum result. It's a fundamental change of circumstances

and context and the Scottish economy will be different as a result of

that. We have to think about how we can strengthen the Scottish economy

in light of that and to provide it with the foundations that are

required to create a strong and viable independent country. As you

mentioned being at the heart of the economic case for independence, do

you regret the way the currency argument was pursued? I don't regret

anything about the arguments I put forward. I have to honestly accept

that they were not sufficiently compelling, because we did not win

the referendum, which is why we have to be open-minded about how we

perceive those arguments in the future. Will it have to be a

different currency argument next time around? Edelmann could

necessarily has to be. It was actually quite ironic. The currency

argument annually action of George Osborne, many people said that was a

sort of, you know, the key argument was the one that George Osborne put

forward. I rather thought that George Osborne and his prosecution

of that argument was actually one of the factors that drove people into

our gardens, because they resented being shoved around by a Tory

Chancellor. And where is he now? Well, years not in the Treasury.

Isn't it funny how the world goes? There worth taking his views

operatively and he is not there any more. But what are the economic

concerns under independence? Because of the file in the price of oil.

There were some worrying statistics. In 2016, there have been no major

field approvals. So many of the jobs are related to the production of

this industry. The day-to-day operations and if we don't see a

investment come into this year and the next coming years, we will face

the production collapse that at the start of this decade and again at

the side of the next decade. But it is not all doom and gloom.

Scotland's economy grew by a percentage in the latest figures

were not all of this has been happening. This is tough and it is

with a tough and there is a baked in Aberdeen, that bite has had in pacts

as with the north-east of Scotland into Scotland as a whole and the UK

as a whole. Don't let anyone tell us that our economy is dependent upon

oil and gas, that we are a one trick pony, because if our one industry

has gone through this kind of difficulty and our economy grew,

then that has clearly been shown to be complete and utter nonsense. As

conference drew to a close, the party leader said she has never been

more confident of Scotland becoming independent. Be in no doubt,

Scotland must have the ability to choose a better future and I will

make sure that Scotland gets a chance.

APPLAUSE And let us be clear about this as

well, if that moment does arise, it will not be because the 2014 result

hasn't been respected. It will be because the promises made to

Scotland in 2014 had been broken. And above all, it will be because

our country decides together that being independent is the best way to

build a better, stronger, fairer future for all of us. You know, this

year marks 30 years since I first joined the party of hours. I know

what you're thinking, how is that even possible when she is still only

25? Or maybe that is just what I'd like you to be thinking. In all

those 30 years, I have never doubted that Scotland will one day become an

independent country and I believe it today.

CHEERING And I believe it today more strongly

than I ever have before. The conference seems to have been

dominated by a single question. Would there be a second independence

referendum before Brexit or after? There is a genuine, decent,

honourable, division of opinion on this. It is about the strategy to

pursue. There are some who believe that the decision to go for Brexit

overturns the result in 20 14, that the UK on offer then is no longer on

offer. Some also believe that the opportunity to jump on that is a

short window of time. Others believe there is an uncertainty created by

Brexit and we should not add to that uncertainty by bringing about a

referendum. Others also argue about being cautious. Some who favoured

Scottish independence are not keen on the European Union. It is an

enormously difficult dilemma for the SNP, for Nicola Sturgeon. As she

said, welcome to her world, welcome to post exit. From us here at the

conference in After mining the rich seam of

Scottish Literature, ten books have been chosen, reflecting the vast

range and some of the finest But only one can be Scotland's

favourite book.