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PM says 'we'll stand up to SNP' PM says 'we'll stand up to SNP'
(20 minutes later)
Prime Minister Gordon Brown used his Scottish Labour conference speech to attack the SNP. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has billed Labour as "the front line of defence" against the SNP.
He said the party was for separation and it was important for Labour to stand up to it. And he declared that Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander would be the next first minister of Scotland.
The UK leader also used his speech to predict that Scottish party leader Wendy Alexander would one day be first minister of Scotland. Mr Brown was addressing the Scottish Labour conference in Aviemore, the first since the party lost power to the SNP in Scotland last May.
Mr Brown detailed, before the Aviemore gathering on Friday, Ms Alexander's "passion and brilliance". He also used his speech to reinforce a unified Britain in making the world a better place.
The three-day conference in Aviemore is the first since the party north of the border lost power at Holyrood last May. Speaking from the stage without notes, the prime minister claimed the Scottish Government had put youngsters' future at risk through cuts in education spending.
Mr Brown, who is MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, said for many problems there could not be Scotland-only, Wales-only or England-only solutions. We will stand up against the SNP not only because their policy is wrong but they are depriving people of the best chance of a future for Scotland Gordon BrownPrime Minister
What makes me proudest of all is that I am the first prime minister to represent a Scottish constituency - the constituency I grew up in Gordon BrownPrime Minister He declared: "I say we should stand up for the people of Scotland and for the young children of Scotland and we will be the front line of defence for them against those SNP cuts.
The former UK chancellor said: "We are the party of social justice, the SNP is the party of separation. "Those cuts are not only wrong, they are depriving our country of its best future."
"They wake up in the morning and say, how can we break up the UK? And we wake up in the morning and ask, how can we improve opportunities?" Listing various SNP policy decisions in areas such as educational maintenance allowances, Mr Brown declared: "We will be the front line of defence for young people that need that help to get the qualifications.
He said the SNP, which took power following the 3 May Holyrood election, was responsible for cutting funding for education, housing and voluntary organisations. "And we will stand up against the SNP not only because their policy is wrong but they are depriving people of the best chance of a future for Scotland in this new global economy."
Opportunity for all Mr Brown also paid tribute to Ms Alexander and her warning that Labour had to learn the lessons from its defeat in the Holyrood election.
At the start of his speech, Mr Brown said it was a privilege to be at the conference with Ms Alexander as leader. He went on: "And I believe that Wendy Alexander is not only the leader of our party here in Scotland but she will be the next first minister of Scotland whenever an election is declared."
He said she had a passion for equality and social justice and was a brilliant minister. The prime minister went on to say that the current generation could be the first to eradicate centuries-old diseases and ensure every child in the world had access to education, if the UK worked with other countries.
Mr Brown added: "What makes me proudest of all is that I am the first prime minister to represent a Scottish constituency - the constituency I grew up in, the constituency where I went to school."
He said he wanted the same opportunities he had had, not only for his own children but for "all children and families in Britain".