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Alex Salmond pledge to fight 'bigotry and booze' Alex Salmond pledge to fight 'bigotry and booze'
(40 minutes later)
Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has laid out his five-year vision for government, with a pledge to tackle "bigotry and booze".Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has laid out his five-year vision for government, with a pledge to tackle "bigotry and booze".
Following the SNP's landslide election victory, Mr Salmond has made new laws on tackling sectarianism and minimum alcohol pricing a priority.Following the SNP's landslide election victory, Mr Salmond has made new laws on tackling sectarianism and minimum alcohol pricing a priority.
Speaking at Holyrood, the first minister again demanded more powers for Scotland to boost the economy. He also outlined a "social wage" with the people of Scotland.
And he pledged a "social wage" with the people of Scotland. Mr Salmond pledged to retain vital services, in return for measures like public sector pay restraint.
Mr Salmond said he had promised not to cut vital services, in return for measures like public sector pay restraint. The Scottish government's detailed programme for government, including a list of planned bills, will come after the summer break.
Speaking at Holyrood, the first minister laid out plans for economic recovery and pledged to put a "jobs agenda" at the heart of his programme for government.
In the next few weeks, the Scottish Parliament is expected to pass new laws on increasing jail terms for sectarian-related disorder to a maximum of five years.In the next few weeks, the Scottish Parliament is expected to pass new laws on increasing jail terms for sectarian-related disorder to a maximum of five years.
And ministers will also bring back plans to set a minimum price per unit of alcohol - proposals which were defeated in the last parliament when the SNP was in minority government.And ministers will also bring back plans to set a minimum price per unit of alcohol - proposals which were defeated in the last parliament when the SNP was in minority government.
The first minister told MSPs: "In the age of Twitter and texts, the dreams of a free-speaking world are contaminated by viral strains of bitterness.The first minister told MSPs: "In the age of Twitter and texts, the dreams of a free-speaking world are contaminated by viral strains of bitterness.
"Technology has given fresh energy to old hatreds and pustulant sectarianism again seeps across our land."Technology has given fresh energy to old hatreds and pustulant sectarianism again seeps across our land.
"Well, it will be stopped - I will not have people living in fear from some idiotic 17th Century rivalry in the 21st Century.""Well, it will be stopped - I will not have people living in fear from some idiotic 17th Century rivalry in the 21st Century."
Mr Salmond said sectarianism "must stop", adding: "Not because it is embarrassing to our national image - though it is.Mr Salmond said sectarianism "must stop", adding: "Not because it is embarrassing to our national image - though it is.
"Nor that it is embarrassing to ourselves - though it is that too - but because it is a pointless cause pursued by the pitiless.""Nor that it is embarrassing to ourselves - though it is that too - but because it is a pointless cause pursued by the pitiless."
Turning to Scotland's "booze culture", Mr Salmond went on: "I think that we have confused our appetite for fun with a hunger for self-destruction.Turning to Scotland's "booze culture", Mr Salmond went on: "I think that we have confused our appetite for fun with a hunger for self-destruction.
"We tolerate a race to the bottom of the bottle, which ruins our health, our judgement, our relationships, our safety and our dignity." "We tolerate a race to the bottom of the bottle, which ruins our health, our judgement, our relationships, our safety and our dignity.
"Thus, early legislation in this parliament shall address both bigotry and booze.""Thus, early legislation in this parliament shall address both bigotry and booze."
Mr Salmond said his government had committed to helping hard-pressed Scots by freezing the council tax over the course of the five-year parliament and moving against public sector compulsory redundancies.
'Meeting ambitions'
The SNP has also committed to keeping prescription charges and bridge tolls free, while maintaining free bus travel for the elderly and protecting NHS spending.
Defining the social wage as a "pact" between politicians, public services and the people, the first minister said: "We shall deliver the social and economic circumstances that allow for people to dream, to aspire and to be ambitious - but it is for the individual to realise their dreams, to reach for their hopes, to meet their ambitions.
"People understand that public spending must be restrained, and, in return, we will stand alongside the family in Dumfries that wants to send their daughter to university.
"We will support the commuter in Dunfermline who travels daily across the Forth or the family in Ayrshire who would otherwise have to choose which medicine they can afford this month.
"And we will protect the pensioner in Inverness who lives off her savings and fears ever-rising prices and bills."
Mr Salmond said the SNP's planned Scottish Futures Fund would tackle "endemic problems" with support for young people, transport, housing and new, digital technology.
And the government would also prioritise the "internationalisation" of Scotland's economy, in areas such as renewable energy.
Detailed programme
Hitting out at the UK government, Mr Salmond said: "Elsewhere on these isles, the tolerance of the poor is being tested - budgets slashed, priorities changed, hope crushed in the braying tones of people who claim to know best.
"We should aspire to be different. In Scotland the poor won't be made to pick up the bill for the rich."
Mr Salmond again called for Westminster to devolve control over increased borrowing powers, corporation tax, excise duties, control over the Crown Estate, broadcasting and increased influence in Europe.
And, turning to the SNP's promised independence referendum in the second half of its term in office, Mr Salmond told MSPs: "The age of benign dictat is over.
"This parliament is not a lobby group, begging Westminster for what is already ours. This parliament speaks for the people of Scotland and they shall be heard."