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| Version 6 | Version 7 |
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| Funding doubled for council homes | Funding doubled for council homes |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Funding for new council homes in Scotland will be doubled to £50m, deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said. | Funding for new council homes in Scotland will be doubled to £50m, deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said. |
| She told the SNP spring conference the move would help build 2,000 new houses and support 3,000 construction industry jobs, at a time of recession. | She told the SNP spring conference the move would help build 2,000 new houses and support 3,000 construction industry jobs, at a time of recession. |
| Ms Sturgeon also said 600 extra cleaners would be employed in hospitals to tackle infection on the wards. | Ms Sturgeon also said 600 extra cleaners would be employed in hospitals to tackle infection on the wards. |
| She urged delegates to work hard to win seats in the European elections. | She urged delegates to work hard to win seats in the European elections. |
| Ms Sturgeon told the conference in Glasgow that the responsibility to stand up for and lead Scotland had never been greater than it was now. | Ms Sturgeon told the conference in Glasgow that the responsibility to stand up for and lead Scotland had never been greater than it was now. |
| Tough times | |
| "We live in the toughest of economic times," she said. | "We live in the toughest of economic times," she said. |
| "People are worried about their jobs, their mortgages and their pensions. | "People are worried about their jobs, their mortgages and their pensions. |
| "But let there be no doubt - no doubt at all - that as a country, we've got what it takes to get through these tough times." | "But let there be no doubt - no doubt at all - that as a country, we've got what it takes to get through these tough times." |
| The economic imperative of protecting construction jobs and the driving social need for more affordable housing go hand in hand Nicola Sturgeon Deputy first minister | The economic imperative of protecting construction jobs and the driving social need for more affordable housing go hand in hand Nicola Sturgeon Deputy first minister |
| Ms Sturgeon added: "We must reassert out traditional values of probity, thrift and a commitment to hard work." | Ms Sturgeon added: "We must reassert out traditional values of probity, thrift and a commitment to hard work." |
| She said the new council house plan, which will be supported with additional cash from councils, would deliver the practical action people wanted to see, adding: "The economic imperative of protecting construction jobs and the driving social need for more affordable housing go hand in hand." | She said the new council house plan, which will be supported with additional cash from councils, would deliver the practical action people wanted to see, adding: "The economic imperative of protecting construction jobs and the driving social need for more affordable housing go hand in hand." |
| Turing to health, Ms Sturgeon, also health secretary, told the conference that the hundreds of extra full and part-time cleaners across Scotland, would employed directly by the NHS, rather than contractors. | Turing to health, Ms Sturgeon, also health secretary, told the conference that the hundreds of extra full and part-time cleaners across Scotland, would employed directly by the NHS, rather than contractors. |
| "Nothing is more important to me personally than driving down the rates of infection in our hospitals," she said. | "Nothing is more important to me personally than driving down the rates of infection in our hospitals," she said. |
| "Hospital infections cause pain, distress and suffering for patients and their families - and they undermine confidence in our NHS. | "Hospital infections cause pain, distress and suffering for patients and their families - and they undermine confidence in our NHS. |
| And, arguing against privatisation of the health service following her trip to the US last week, she told delegates: "I know the NHS is not perfect. I'd be the last person to suggest that it is. | And, arguing against privatisation of the health service following her trip to the US last week, she told delegates: "I know the NHS is not perfect. I'd be the last person to suggest that it is. |
| "But it is a million times better than what I saw last week." | "But it is a million times better than what I saw last week." |
| European vote | |
| As the SNP was celebrating its 75th anniversary, Ms Sturgeon rallied party activists ahead of the European polls, in June. | |
| "We have a fantastic team of candidates," said the SNP deputy leader, adding: "They believe Scotland's rightful place in Europe is not in a side room, but at the top table as an equal, independent nation. | |
| "So let us work as hard as we can to win that election for Scotland." | |
| Turning her sights to her political opponents, Ms Sturgeon said nobody wanted to see a return to the "fear and hopelessness of redundancy and unemployment" that marked the Thatcher years of Conservative government. | |
| "But, through their incompetence, their sleaze and their arrogance, Labour has opened the door to another Tory government," she went on. | |
| "That is a betrayal of the people of Scotland and Labour should hang their heads in shame." | |
| Ms Sturgeon also challenged Gordon Brown to reverse what she described as Westminster's £1bn efficiency savings cut to Scotland in his forthcoming budget - and challenged him to provide £500m for housing north of the border. | |
| Colleagues remembered | |
| Ahead of the conference, senior party figures attended the funeral of SNP veteran Sir Neil MacCormick. | Ahead of the conference, senior party figures attended the funeral of SNP veteran Sir Neil MacCormick. |
| The former Nationalist MEP and long-serving law professor recently died from cancer at the age of 67. | The former Nationalist MEP and long-serving law professor recently died from cancer at the age of 67. |
| Ms Sturgeon described Sir Neil as "one of the country's finest intellects", while also paying tribute to SNP Glasgow MSP Bashir Ahmad - the first Scots-Asian at Holyrood - as a "trailblazer", following his death earlier this year. | |
| But she went on: "Neither of them would want us to mourn their loss for too long. | |
| "They would want us instead to build in the legacies they leave, to redouble our efforts and to keep moving Scotland forward." | |
| Ms Sturgeon told the conference: "We've got what it takes to get through the tough times, to prosper again when things get better. | |
| "And there is no doubt Scotland has got what it takes to be independent. | |
| "So let us now prove that we've got what it takes to win that independence for our country." |