14/10/2016 - Live Afternoon Session SNP Conference

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the Scottish cup draw. The appointment as Education Secretary

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

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

hands. Yesterday, the education minister and others spoke

passionately about closing the attainment gap. For every young

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

creamery schools across the Northeast Highlands and Isl`nds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

go on for four education and vocational qualifications whthout

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

across communities across Scotland, joining people from Orkney to

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

essential to ensuring the strvival of these rural populations `nd

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

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

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

teacher training accessible to those living in these rural communities.

What about somebody who wants to transfer from science and

engineering, perhaps facing redundancy from the College

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

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

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

and determined with commitmdnt to protect the communities that they

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

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

example for the rest of the afternoon.

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

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

unequivocal and complete colmitment to addressing the attainment gap

that Scottish schools. The debate yesterday highlighted some of the

challenges faced by schools that these deprived urban communhties.

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

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

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

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

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

we have to recognise the unhque circumstances, these challenges can

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

locations. One of the most challenging issues is recruhting

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

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

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

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

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

suggested that the costs and availability of housing, and remote

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

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

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

training placements at rural schools. Once qualified, attracting

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

ensuring affordable accommodation and settling families. When

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

professional development has been valued by all great teachers, this

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

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

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

managed. They can have diffhculty accessing supply teachers bdcause of

travelling team. Paying for travelling team, getting

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

Secondary schools also thesd unique challenges. Teachers usuallx have

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

like the second paragraph. The conference notes that staff

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

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

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

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

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

conference to endorse something that says when the schools have

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Simpson. Conference, thank you for the second

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

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

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

speak to you today about thd challenges and delights of

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

in specialist teachers in these special circumstances, then you

produce some amazingly talented people who come out of thesd

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

might need layers of managelent t might need creative ideas over

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

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

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

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

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

support the motion. Thank you. APPLAUSE

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

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

APPLAUSE Thank you very much, conferdnce

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

one area. Stem subjects which are having trouble recruiting tdachers

nationwide is a problem that is exacerbated for the reasons I

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

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

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

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

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

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

Government we want every yotng person to have the best possible

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

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

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

turn help develop our great country further. Thank you.

APPLAUSE John Coming who will speak hn favour

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Minister appointed John Swinney as Cabinet Secretary for Education in

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

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

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

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

heading to university and thousands of others heading to further

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

university, they will begin their courses without the burden of

tuition fees lingering in their minds. This is further eviddnce

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

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

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

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

qualified teachers who are drawn to rural locations and this

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

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

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

understand teaching in Scotland s rural communities and rural schools

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

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

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

the ability to attract most to rural schools for excellent quality

education already provided hn Scotland's rural schools but there

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

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

that our children all across Scotland succeeding in everx area of

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

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

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

very much. APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

using our strengths, working together, target good performance in

schools and also inspections in small rural and island schools need

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

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

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

support the motion. APPLAUSE

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

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

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

second paragraph. One of thd speakers actually said good teachers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

that. Our primary teachers hn particular are excellent, wherever

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

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

not in the resolution. Thank you. APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

rural schools the excellent, excellent investment that I

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

APPLAUSE OK, conference. We will movd to the

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

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

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

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

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

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

favour of the resolution. And any cards against the

resolution. The resolution is overwhelmhngly

passed. Thank you. APPLAUSE

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

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

second. Good afternoon. Lots of you. This is

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

carbon emissions were sacrificed on the conservative altar of atsterity,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

is currently building offshore wind projects, traditionally one of the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

contracts for difference gohng to auction, supposed to walk contracts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

this was an engineer who had previously been employed working on

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

the problems associated with nuclear waste disposal. As seemed

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

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

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

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

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

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

shown that we no longer havd sufficient baseload power to cope

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

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

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

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

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

experienced troubles and instability. We were adopting

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

power generation, we have constrained payments, amounting to

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

nations, with natural resources world leaders in science and

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

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

future. Investment at the expense of greener alternatives only hhghlights

the difference between the Scottish and British government. The removals

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

in the future. Energy storage technology allows us to maxhmise

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The resolution is overwhelmhngly carried. Thank you very much

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

of topical and emergency resolutions. Topical and emdrgency

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

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

second. Good afternoon, conference. Ian

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

Katherine and Lachlam arrivdd from Australia. They arrived frol

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

studying in Gaelic supposed to integrate back into Australhan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Government in making sure that the family left the Highlands of

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

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

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

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

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

was quite simple, get lost! APPLAUSE AND

CHEERING I tell you something, not jtst me,

but my parliamentary colleagues both in Westminster and in Holyrood

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

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

they will be staying in Scotland. APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

demonstrates more fully while we need control of immigration policy

here in Scotland. APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

APPLAUSE Alex Salmond MP to be followed by

Kate Forbes, MSP. APPLAUSE AND

CHEERING Delegates...

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

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

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

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

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

Congratulations Ian for your parliamentary work and indedd to the

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

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

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

initiative that brought the delegates brought the glorids of the

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

felt... APPLAUSE

I felt a personal responsibhlity for this family because they were

attracted to Scotland as part of the Highland homecoming initiathve when

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

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

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

Scotland because no society which has experienced the pain and

desolation of immigration fdars the opportunity of immigration. But in

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

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

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

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

us. APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

repellent notion. APPLAUSE

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

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

LAUGHTER I will just repeat that! In their

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

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

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

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

there beforen a more miserable depression backward looking notion

ever offered to the people of this nation?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

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

resolution. Following that with the permission of conference Isle sure

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

words on behalf of the Brain family, Greg Brain.

APPLAUSE Well, we opened conference xesterday

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

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

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

Westminster Government that is making it increasingly complex and

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

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

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

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

it's a great... APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

they come from. So I support... APPLAUSE

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

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

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

APPLAUSE Thank you, Kate. Conference, please welcome Greg

Brain to the platform. APPLAUSE AND

CHEERING My God there are a lot of you!

LAUGHTER Some of you will have noticdd during

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

to amber Rudd's programme. APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHEERING Conference, I'd take it that motion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the US Russian brokered ceasefire collapsed a month ago, 500

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

And on top of that there is overwhelming evidence that the

regime and its allies are deliberately targeting civilians,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

bombs, including the UK. APPLAUSE .

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

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

air strikes bring peace and stability closer to the people of

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

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

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

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

that the UK Government immediately ceases its bombing campaign in Syria

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

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

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

bread. Conference, support the innocent civilians of Syria and

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

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

Conference, ten years ago wd embarked on the Scottish Parliament

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the opinion polls in the Scottish Parliament constituency with the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

choosing to come here and work for our NHS. APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

scrapped prescription chargds, ending the tax on illness in

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

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

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

worked with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine to develop the

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

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

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

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

increase the share of frontline budge going to primary and community

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

important than making sure that the most vulnerable children and their

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

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

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

next five years... APPLAUSE

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

through the most difficult circumstances, ensuring thex're able

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

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

delighted that you stand with us. APPLAUSE

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

the fantastic Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Mathison.

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

justice system here in Scotland to create safer communities and to

transform the way in which we deliver justice in this country

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

criminals and investing it hn our communities. Through our cashback

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

cultural, youth and educational activities for our children and our

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

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

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

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

and fire service, who do an outstanding job across our

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

deliver community justice through the creation of community jtstice

Scotland, continuing our reforms of prison policy with the biggdst

change in our approach to prison policy in a generation and

transforming the way in which our courts deal with vulnerable

witnesses and children, in particular. Conference, domdstic

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

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

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

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

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

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

celebrated its first anniversary of operation, drawing together many

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

continue to transform our jtstice system for the better here hn

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

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

social security system here in Scotland, Angela Constance, Cabinet

Secretary for Communities, social community and Equalities.

APPLAUSE Thank you very much, Michael. It's

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

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

girls. Conference, since our re-eldction we

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

level. We are utterly utterly focussed on bringing about lasting

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

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

recently launched outlines activities that will be takdn right

across this Government, with 50 concrete actions for this

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

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

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

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

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

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

Government, which scrapped statutory child poverty targets last xear

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

children will always come fhrst APPLAUSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

budget transferred from Westminster, but that covers 11 benefits which

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

those benefits and services safely and securely and the Ministdr for

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

system will work with peopld and not work against them.

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

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

through all aspects of the benefits system and experienced groups to

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

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

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

therefore listen first and foremost to those who have that lived

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

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

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

everything that we do. APPLAUSE

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

introduce the very passionate and feisty Rosanna Cunningham, LSP.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

APPLAUSE Our new land reform act set out what

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

whole environment. I want to ensure future generations can agred

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

The transition to a low carbon economy means difficult chohces but

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

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

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

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

organisations who seek to thwart our work to protect the environlent

fight climate change and achieve radical land reform Parliamdnt has

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

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

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

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

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

previous time we have had in government and actually celdbrate

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

party of have always been interested in Schumacher things, achieving

national sovereignty of course but also looking after the interests of

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

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

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

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

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

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

were done under my directorship many other listeners have bden

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

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

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

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

infrastructure and the prodtctive potential in Scotland but they are

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

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

saving jobs. The last commercial shipbuilders in Scotland was saved

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

for railway services guaranteed for everybody involved in that company

to get a living wage but also guaranteeing that every

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

from the Scottish Government affairs Minister announcing capital

stimulus, for environmental projects, for example energx

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

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

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

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

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

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

which will be completed by the contracting completion date and will

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

has had to find the money to make these projects a reality. It is my

pleasure there for two judgds a former finance secretary, otr

Education Secretary, our Deputy First Minister, John Swinnex.

CHEERING Conference, in May of this xear a

remarkable thing happened. Nine years after we were first elected to

government, we went to the polls, we went to the country to seek historic

third consecutive term in office. Led by Nicola Sturgeon, the leader

with a close and direct rel`tionship with our people. We asked the

electorate for a new mandatd. We promoted team, we explained our

vision of a fair and prosperous nation. And the voters delivered a

thumping great victory for the SNP and for Scotland. Friends, the doors

that you knock on the leafldts she delivered on the voters you

canvassed and the neighbours you convinced, that's what made our

victory possible. It was a victory founded on hard work, it is the

British strength of this party. Don't get me wrong, some wotld say

that our First Minister is our greatest strength and far bd it from

me to disagree with that... I wouldn't dream of it. Others will

tell you our greatest strength is our vision for the nation. @nd

they're not wrong, either. But for me are greater strength is that we

are not a branch office of the UK party. CHEERING

We are neither apologists for the UK Government, we draw our strdngth

from every community, every town, every village, every creed `nd

colour in this great nation. Friends, our greatest strength is

that we are rooted in all of the communities of Scotland. And last

weekend we saw the stark contrast between this country, this party,

and those who have a differdnt vision for this nation. Last weekend

while the tourist of their conference platform to spout forth

xenophobic bile, here in Scotland an amazing thing happened. As the week

went on and as the bile poured forth, hear people started to write

on Twitter about what they love They tweeted about their orhgins,

their families, their friends, here and in other countries. Thex stood

up to the xenophobes in the best way possible, by celebrating thd

diversity that makes Scotland. They met eight with love and thex made

everyone of us are a proud that we all live here in Scotland. The late

dearly missed Bashir Ahmed said it best summed up what you thotght with

a simple statement: it does not matter where you come from, what's

important is where we're gohng together as a nation. In thd face of

the right-wing demagoguery of the Tory Brexit government, it has never

been more important that we celebrate that spirit and hold fast

to that truth. It's who we `re, whether born here or abroad, what

ever your creed, what ever xour colour. The Scot by birth or by

choice, all of us, every single one of us, are part of our nation. All

of us who choose to live thdre, we are Scotland.

For our country as a whole ht means using new powers over tax and social

security to expand our economy and to lift more people out of poverty.

But above all else this means trusting the people of Scotland to

make the big decisions about the future of our country. That was our

perspectives. Now it is our programme for government. This is

the route to creating a fair and prosperous Scotland for all in our

country. Since 2007 we have transformed education, boosted our

health service, reformed policing, taking employment team record levels

and built thousands of affordable homes. Our investment has ddlivered

more than schools, colleges and universities, as well as sole of the

biggest transport improvements the country has ever seen. Our `im has

always been to build a country where strong public services are

underpinned by a successful economy. Yes, we are proud of our record but

we know there is still much more to do. That is our task now, to build a

better future for Scotland `nd for everybody who chooses to live and to

work here with us in Scotland. Friends, you just heard frol our

cabinet team, the Cabinet Sdcretary leading change in all of thdir

portfolios. Angela Constancd creating a Social Security system

based on dignity and respect. Shona Robinson delivering record levels of

get more patience here in Scotland. Michael Matheson delivering a 4

year low in crime. Roseanna Cunningham delivering on her world

leading climate change targdts six years ahead of schedule. Kehth Brown

growing the economy despite headwinds of the Tory Brexit. Fiona

Hislop has just arrived frol Brussels where she has been fighting

for Scotland's place in Europe and Fiona will address the confdrence

later this afternoon. And Fdrgus Ewing is away from conference

fighting for Scotland's rur`l economy, promoting our fant`stic

produce to the resellers th`t can make Scottish food and drink a

success. Not for them party before country, they are SNP ministers and

for us country comes first, always, country comes first.

Friends, before you think I have forgotten someone, I want to say a

word about Derrick MacKay, our new Finance Secretary. I have, of

course, done that job, it's not easy, it gets tougher as thd times

get tougher. But I know Derdk will do a fantastic job as the Fhnance

Secretary in the Scottish Government. But I do have a word of

warning for him. I too was once a young looking Finance Minister.

LAUGHTER With a full head of hair. So be

warned, this is your future. APPLAUSE

On stage and off stage this is the team that leads our nation. At the

head of that team is our First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

Acknowledged by friend and foe alike, she's given this party and

the country the leadership ht needs in uncertain times. No one could

have been more struck by thhs than on the morning of 24th June, in the

wake of the E. Referendum rdsult, it was Nicola Sturgeon who stepped up.

It was Nicola Sturgeon who laid out a path for Scotland to follow. While

Boris and Gove panicked, Caleron resigned and Corbyn went missing. It

was Nicola Sturgeon who rejdcted the zenophobia of Farage, reasstred our

EU friends here in Scotland and defended our relationship whth

Europe, in that moment therd was a crisis of leadership in London. Here

in Scotland, leadership had its finest hour.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

And that crisis rolls on in Westminster. Barely a day goes by

that the three Brexiteers of Boris, Davis and Fox do not embarr`ss the

whole of the United Kingdom. Theresa May is in office, but it is already

obvious that she's not in power A Remain voter apparently, shd's been

driven by the Tory hard-right to a hard Brexit just as David C`meron

was drifen to a referendum by the self same hard-right Brexitders in

the first place. The conseqtences can barely be contemplated. One

consequence I will deal with directly today. We as a Govdrnment

have already confirmed tuithon fees funding to support EU students

studying here or preparing to start here in this year. Now we whll

extend that guarantee to those EU students wishing to come to start in

Scotland in the next year in 2017-18.

APPLAUSE And unlike Labour and the Tories

that is tuition fees-free education. Education that we are garning, not

the massive fees they imposd on students wherever they come from.

But let me go further. We whll guarantee their funding. Wh`t I

demand is that the Tory Brexit Government guarantees their right to

stay here during their studhes and to work here after their sttdies.

APPLAUSE These people are not cards to be played, they are fellow human

beings. To use them as negotiating chips is obscene and this p`rty and

this SNP Government will have none of it. Conference, the Tory Brexit

Government's threat to people's right to stay here is just `nother

part of the hard-right agenda now running rampant at Westminster. In

the face of this ugly Tory Brexit agenda, where stands Labour? Nowhere

is the answer. When Jeremy Hunt put foreign born doctors on nothce of

deportation, when Amber Rudd announced a sinister list of foreign

workers, Labour didn't stand up in defiance. Instead their press office

said the Tories had not gond far enough. Shame. Shame. Shame on the

pathetic Labour Party. APPLAUSE

Now there will be some in L`bour as horrified as we are at their

collective moral failure. Kdzia Dugdale tweeted not in my n`me but

let be clear for as long as she insists on powers remaining in

London she shares the blame. I sat on the Smith Commission. I watched

as Labour vet I doed propos`l after proposal, to devolve power `fter

power to Scotland. So Kezia, you may say it's not in your name, but I say

it is at your hand and the people of Scotland will never forget that

Labour Party were prepared to allow the Tories to rule Scotland, to stop

our country deciding on our own future.

APPLAUSE Friends, make no mistake, wd are the

National Party and we will `lways put the national interests first. We

believe in our nation's ability to govern herself and we believe in our

communities' ability to takd power in their own hands. We want to

reinvigorate local government by reconnecting it with communhties,

the principle of local control, not on behalf of a community but by a

community is key. This is at the heart of our programme. We have

already launched the review of how school education is governed.

Setting ourselves the task of making parents and teachers the kex

decision-makers in the life of our schools. Over the coming parliament

we will go further. We will review the roles and responsibilithes of

local authorities and we will look again at the relationships between

local authorities and health boards. We aim to achieve nothing ldss than

to transform our democratic landscape, protect and renew public

services, and refresh the relationship between citizens,

communities and councils. Wd do this, not because it is radhcal and

it is, but because we believe it is right. We don't do it because it's

easy, it's not, but because it is in the national interests. We believe

that national interest lies in placing power in the hands of the

people of this country. It hs why I believe in independence. Just as we

believe the best people to decide the future of our country are those

who live here, so we believd the best people to decide the ftture of

our communities are the people who live in those communities. We will

trust the people to make thd decisions about their futurd, that

is our Creed and that is thd truly radical path of this Scottish

National Party Government. APPLAUSE

After the election, I was ghven the enormous privilege of becomhng the

Education Secretary at the request of the First Minister. The task the

First Minister has given to me is simple, to raise the bar for all and

to close the attainment gap for our poorest pupils. And our ambhtion is

equally straightforward. We will make significant progress in closing

the gap within the next parliament and substantially eliminate it

within a decade. It may be ` simple objective, it may be a

straightforward aim, but it will not be easy. Bedo not underestilate the

scale of our ambition. We do not underestimate the destructive force

of poverty. We know the dam`ge it does to the life chances of our

youngest, poorest children. I believe the single best route out of

poverty is education. I belheve the single most powerful weapon we have

to fight poverty is education. We will bring the whole educathon

system together behind our purpose. The expansion of child care to 0

hours per week, the focus on school education unreserved rip on learning

and teaching. The widening of access to university, the strengthdning of

apprenticeships, the linking of college to the world of work. All

will come together in the s`me national mission, to free every

single child from the burden of poverty. I will give it, I promise

you, my relentless focus, I will not rest until we have delivered the

best possible future for evdry single young person in our country.

APPLAUSE Friends, nine years ago, we set out on a journey in Govdrnment.

We have come a long way. Thd people of our country have asked us to go

further, to make Scotland stronger. That is our task. That is otr

pledge. Our promise to Scotland is this, this SNP Government whll build

a fair, equal and a prosperous Scotland. Thank you very much.

APPLAUSE OK conference, we are going to get

on with the rest of our agenda for today. We are moving on to

resolution 16. Scotland's place in Europe. To be moved by Tony Jewel

lano and seconded by Joanna Cherry MP.

Conference, I move to this country, to the city, when I was sevdn years

old. I spoke no English. On my first day at school my classmates had each

learned something in Italian to make me feel welcome. I will nevdr forget

one of them wrote, welcome to Glasgow, PS, if you are a rdal

Italian, whereabouts is your chippy. My family, like thousands of other

migrants, came here to work. They ran businesses, they teach our

children. They are the lifeblood of our NHS. They make an incredible

contribution to our society, just look the millions of Scots who

emigrated enriching nations across the globe and yet they have been

demonised as benefit cheats, denied a vote in the referendum and now

used as bargaining chips. Conference, these are peopld's

lives. It's time for the Tories is to stop messing with them and

guarantee their right to live here now. As John Swinney said e`rlier on

the morning of the 24th Jund, for millions of people across the UK the

future was suddenly thrown hn doubt. In times of profound unsnet it's the

job of politicians to steadx the ship and chart a new course. The

Prime Minister, he abdicated responsibility. The Chancellor, Mo

where. The Home Secretary, silent. Only one leader gave that dhrection

and reassurance, the First Linister of our country, Nicola Sturgeon

APPLAUSE Delegates, Tory party conference was

an eye-opener, it told us everything we need to know about the khnd of

country they want. They want employers to list foreign workers,

universities to crackdown on foreign students. The NHS to replacd foreign

doctors. Walls built across the Channel. Conference, what a reckless

display of divisive nationalism it has no place in Scotland, wd will

never subscribe to it. APPL@USE Friends, the Leave campaign was a

con led by politicians responsible for the deep inequalities that scar

our society. Politicians who impose austerity on the most vulnerable and

then shifted the blame onto the shoulders of migrants. Unless

Scotland takes its destiny hn its own hands, these are the people who

will continue to decide our future. Make no mistake, the United Kingdom

Scotland voted for in 2014 no longer exists. Two years ago Labour and the

Tories said vote no to protdct your place in Europe. Today we stand on

the brink of the EU exit door. Delegates, those parties can never

be trusted with Scotland's future again. APPLAUSE

I am proud that Scotland voted emphatically to remain in the EU,

Brexit never was and never will be in our national interests.

Strathclyde University say ` hard Brexit will lead to 80,000 fewer

Scottish jobs by 2026. If the UK does stay in the single market, the

price tag will be 5 billion a year just to access it. Friends, that is

the absurdity of Brexit. Paxing more for what we already had.

Whether you count yourself `s a euro enthusiast or Eurosceptic, this is

now much bigger than that. This is about Scotland's right to bd heard.

Theresa May came to Scotland pledging to listen. But she's since

made clear the only voice that matters is her own. So we f`ce a

choice. Do we continue to bd dismissed and ignored as a nation or

do we take our place in the world as a constructive member of thd

international community as `n independent country? Conferdnce I

will conclude because my lights are flashing in front of me. We voted to

stay in the world's largest market. We voted to protect our workplace

rights. We voted to safeguard our right to live and work across the

continent. The message to the Prime Minister is this, the days of

Scotland being sidelined ard over. Remain means Remain. Our vohce will

be heard. APPLAUSE CHEERING

Joanna Cherry, MP, second, to be followed by Alec or to move the

remit back. Good afternoon, fellow delegates. Like Tony, I'm the

daughter of an immigrant, mx mum came over from Ireland more than 50

years ago to do her midwifery training and stayed in Scotland She

always says she brought her daughters up not to be Irish

nationalists and cheese enddd up with two Rambert Scottish

Nationalists instead. -- two rampant Scottish Nationalists. APPL@USE

Of course Scottish nationalhsm like modern Irish nationalism is very

internationalist and outward looking in X expression. -- in its

expression. This motion this afternoon isn't about whethdr or not

we stay in the European Union, it's already been decided, overwhelmingly

62% of Scots voted to Remain. This motion is about ensuring thd

democratic will of that votd is respected. As the First Minhster

said yesterday, it doesn't lean to say we don't listen to thosd who

voted to leave the European Union, but primarily we have to respect the

democratic mandate of those who voted to stay. During the

referendum, the independencd referendum, as you'll remember, Ruth

Davidson and others repeatedly told us the only way to guaranted

Scotland's continued membership of the European Union was to vote to

stay in the UK. That promisd, like so many they made, has now been

broken and revealed for the lie it always was. When that promise was

made with Davidson knew verx well it was going to be in her partx

manifesto to have a referendum on Europe and there was a real risk

we'd be taken out. The only party that can protect Scotland's position

in Europe is the SNP. We have to do that by being strong and st`nding up

against the xenophobia and `rrogance of this horribly right-wing

government. We need to make it very clear to Ruth Davidson and her nasty

right-wing colleagues down south that no amount of hectoring and

bullying will prevent us from holding a second independence

referendum if necessary. CHDERING The Tory party in Scotland fought

the last Hollywood campaign on a single issue, that they shotld never

again be an independence referendum. They lost dismally, and camd distant

second. By contrast, the SNP Scottish Government won an historic

third term with the highest mandate of any government in Western Europe.

And on a manifesto which cldarly said that if there was a material

change of circumstances such as Scotland being forced to le`ve the

European Union against her will we would hold a second independence

referendum. Conference, let's be very clear, we have a democratic

mandate to do that. If necessary. And it is our duty to do it if

necessary. Let me say very clearly to Ruth Davidson, you don't get to

dictate what happens in Scotland. That is up to the Scottish people.

CHEERING OK, you can come to the stage to

make your point of order. Thank you. I put a card in to speak

for the remit back at ten mhnutes to two today, if Mr or's card was put

in before that I will withdraw it. It was put in after... -- Mr Orr.

There's nothing clever about getting a card in early? Not partictlarly,

no. Can I have my card to speak against? That your point of order,

we need to move on with the next debate. We've got a lot of cards in

for this debate conference, we're not going to be able to get everyone

but we'll try to get through as many cards as possible and we'll strive

to have a balanced debate and take as many speakers from different

sides of the debate as we c`n. I would ask all speakers to kdep to

time as much as possible and I will cut off your microphone if H have

too. I'd rather not do that. Could I have Alec Orr to move the rdbate

back, to be followed by Gradme McCormack to second. Good afternoon

conference in 1992, William McIlvanney told $20,000 gathered at

the European summit in Edinburgh marching for the establishmdnt of a

Scottish parliament we gathdr here like refugees in the capital of our

own country. These words cotld not be more apt following the

Conservative Party conference, from the nasty party, just considerably

last year. The toxic right tnder the guise of Brexit. Brexit is the

greatest political upheaval in British politics in half a century.

It is indeed deepening the divide in the union. The political we`ther has

changed but I urge caution. I urge caution when we look at how we

achieve the goal of independence for our nation. As a Europhile no one

more than me would delight `nd relish an independent Scotl`nd. What

I have to say my not be poptlar but I've never been one to hold back

from what I believe. The next independence referendum we go for

must be one we can be confident we can win. When the time is rhght or

the issue is off the agenda for decades. I urge caution and while I

applaud the sentiment of thd resolution,... Lets remember a few

things. A third of SNP voters voted for Brexit, we need to be mhndful of

how we link these issues together and avoid a headlong enthushastic

rushing to holding such a vote at a time which may not be of our own

choosing. We have to be warx of what this resolution states. It says

conference believes every avenue must be explored to keep Scotland in

the EU. The Scottish Governlent position has subtly changed. Top

it's been reinforced by the First Minister yesterday. Not that we

remain part of the European Union, but that we retain membershhp of the

single market. These are two very, very different objectives. Hf you

vote for this resolution, wd're tying our First Minister and

government's hands. If we do retain our goal of staying within the

single market and not the Etropean Union, we would still be botnd to

head down the road of an independence referendum. In our

manifesto we pledge the right to hold a manifesto if there is a

significant and material ch`nge in circumstances since the refdrendum

in 2014. We have a mixture of triggers, not solely Brexit, we have

policies conceived by the most right-wing Conservative govdrnment

in history. A suitable trigger for an independence broke. I wotld urge

caution, therefore, an tying the calling of an independence

referendum on EU membership. The eventual deal might be supported by

the Scottish people. We shotld have a referendum on conference `t a time

we can win it. There is much good in the referendum but let's not buying

the hands of the First Minister and government, bring it back at a

future date when we're clear on the nature of any Brexit deal ndgotiated

for Scotland. And implications of this on the holding of another

referendum. Thank you. APPL@USE Graeme McCormack to second the remit

back to be held by Fiona Hyslop MSP. Conference, the last time I was in

this auditorium it was a pantomime. John Barrowman fell off a horse The

horse was a supporter of independence. I'm an enthushast it

supporter of the EU however this resolution is fundamentally flawed.

It confuses the European Unhon and Europe. More fundamentally, this