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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Salmond sets out 'winning vision' | Salmond sets out 'winning vision' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond has delivered his vision for victory at the Scottish election. | Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond has delivered his vision for victory at the Scottish election. |
| Addressing the annual conference in Perth, he said the party was "alive, kicking and winning". | Addressing the annual conference in Perth, he said the party was "alive, kicking and winning". |
| Mr Salmond, who is bidding to return to Holyrood as an MSP, also claimed that support for Scottish independence was at an all-time high. | |
| He set out his plans for health, education and the economy in a hall packed with hundreds of delegates. | He set out his plans for health, education and the economy in a hall packed with hundreds of delegates. |
| Mr Salmond told the conference that that party had a "dramatic six months" ahead, before the Holyrood elections next May. | Mr Salmond told the conference that that party had a "dramatic six months" ahead, before the Holyrood elections next May. |
| The MP said: "Today we ride on the crest of a wave - this time, in our time - there shall be change for Scotland." | The MP said: "Today we ride on the crest of a wave - this time, in our time - there shall be change for Scotland." |
| 'Running to win' | |
| He continued: "Two years ago when Nicola (Sturgeon) and I came to lead this party, I told this conference that I was not here to go through the motions, but back to rid Scotland of a small-minded managerial administration and to deliver a vision capable of touching the very soul of Scotland. | He continued: "Two years ago when Nicola (Sturgeon) and I came to lead this party, I told this conference that I was not here to go through the motions, but back to rid Scotland of a small-minded managerial administration and to deliver a vision capable of touching the very soul of Scotland. |
| "I am standing for first minister and we are running to win." | "I am standing for first minister and we are running to win." |
| Mr Salmond set out a range of policies which an SNP government would deliver. | |
| These included removing the burden of debt from Scottish-domiciled students and graduates and the prospect of dedicated class teachers at secondary school. | |
| Scotland's only small to those who think small Alex Salmond | |
| He also raised the prospect of every home and school having a wind generator, solar panels or insulation system and gave backing to the world's first commercial carbon-capture hydro power station. | |
| On health, Mr Salmond promised an inquiry into the problems surrounding Holyrood's flagship free personal care for the elderly policy and said there would be direct election of health board members. | |
| And he again criticised the "illegal" war in Iraq, calling for British troops to be brought home. | |
| He also launched an attack on Labour, branding its vision of Britishness "narrow, bland and boring" and criticised First Minister Jack McConnell's often-used slogan that Scotland was "the best small country in the world". | |
| "That one phrase encapsulates everything that is wrong with the first minister, with the executive and with our national tourist agency," said Mr Salmond. | |
| "It combines the worst of what's like us with the worst of an inferiority complex." | |
| Mr Salmond said to thunderous applause: "Scotland's only small to those who think small. It's time to think big." |