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| Leader Lamont tells Labour faithful to stop saying sorry | Leader Lamont tells Labour faithful to stop saying sorry |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont has told her party to stop saying sorry for past mistakes and start fighting. | Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont has told her party to stop saying sorry for past mistakes and start fighting. |
| She told her party's conference Labour "got the kind of beating we deserved" at last May's Holyrood election. | She told her party's conference Labour "got the kind of beating we deserved" at last May's Holyrood election. |
| Ms Lamont also launched a sustained attack on First Minister Alex Salmond, branding him a "Conman" and "deluded". | Ms Lamont also launched a sustained attack on First Minister Alex Salmond, branding him a "Conman" and "deluded". |
| She also offered to play a key role in a cross-party campaign to keep the union, ahead of the independence referendum, expected in autumn 2014. | She also offered to play a key role in a cross-party campaign to keep the union, ahead of the independence referendum, expected in autumn 2014. |
| Making her first speech as leader, Ms Lamont painted her party as one of social justice, attacking the Scottish National Party as one which backed low tax and low spending. | Making her first speech as leader, Ms Lamont painted her party as one of social justice, attacking the Scottish National Party as one which backed low tax and low spending. |
| Ms Lamont told party supporters in Dundee: "It is time for us to stop apologizing for the mistakes of the past and to start fighting for Scotland. | Ms Lamont told party supporters in Dundee: "It is time for us to stop apologizing for the mistakes of the past and to start fighting for Scotland. |
| "We know what happened last May - we looked tired and complacent and we got the kind of beating we deserved. | "We know what happened last May - we looked tired and complacent and we got the kind of beating we deserved. |
| "But now, we need to start building the kind of Scottish Labour Party which Scotland deserves and which Scotland needs." | "But now, we need to start building the kind of Scottish Labour Party which Scotland deserves and which Scotland needs." |
| The Labour MSP said: "We lost an election. We did not lose our sense of right and wrong. We did not lose our values. | The Labour MSP said: "We lost an election. We did not lose our sense of right and wrong. We did not lose our values. |
| "And we will not lose the fight to make Scotland a fairer, more open, more just place to live in, because that is why we exist." | "And we will not lose the fight to make Scotland a fairer, more open, more just place to live in, because that is why we exist." |
| Ms Lamont devoted a significant part of her speech to attacking Mr Salmond and Scottish government policy. | Ms Lamont devoted a significant part of her speech to attacking Mr Salmond and Scottish government policy. |
| In reference to the often-used SNP criticism of its opponents, the Labour leader said: "I will not talk Scotland down. | In reference to the often-used SNP criticism of its opponents, the Labour leader said: "I will not talk Scotland down. |
| "But I will not be silent while, under Alex Salmond, children suffer in poverty and he does nothing about it. | "But I will not be silent while, under Alex Salmond, children suffer in poverty and he does nothing about it. |
| "I will not be silent while he does Scotland down - while he uses the powers of devolution, not to protect from a Tory government, but to amplify every cut they make." | "I will not be silent while he does Scotland down - while he uses the powers of devolution, not to protect from a Tory government, but to amplify every cut they make." |
| She said Scotland, under an SNP government, had seen jobless rates rise to nudge 250,000 and youth unemployment "out of control". | She said Scotland, under an SNP government, had seen jobless rates rise to nudge 250,000 and youth unemployment "out of control". |
| And she said ministers had allowed £790m of work on the new Forth road bridge to go to China, Poland and Spain, with only £20m of contracts for home-grown firms. | And she said ministers had allowed £790m of work on the new Forth road bridge to go to China, Poland and Spain, with only £20m of contracts for home-grown firms. |
| At the same time, Ms Lamont also said big Scottish firms, like power giant SSE and engineering firm Weir's, had raised concern that delay over the referendum was causing uncertainty. | At the same time, Ms Lamont also said big Scottish firms, like power giant SSE and engineering firm Weir's, had raised concern that delay over the referendum was causing uncertainty. |
| She said: "Let me tell Alex Salmond one thing - putting Saltires round his fireplace is no proof that he is putting Scotland's interests first, and there is one thing we in this country are good at - spotting a conman when we see one." | She said: "Let me tell Alex Salmond one thing - putting Saltires round his fireplace is no proof that he is putting Scotland's interests first, and there is one thing we in this country are good at - spotting a conman when we see one." |
| 'Salmond roadshow' | |
| Ms Lamont also accused the first minister, who recently delivered a series of speeches in England, of subjecting people to the "Alex Salmond roadshow". | Ms Lamont also accused the first minister, who recently delivered a series of speeches in England, of subjecting people to the "Alex Salmond roadshow". |
| "Going round the lecture halls and TV studios, he is dusting off his old favourites - an oil fund, a currency union and a mobile defence brigade - its like a greatest hits set. | "Going round the lecture halls and TV studios, he is dusting off his old favourites - an oil fund, a currency union and a mobile defence brigade - its like a greatest hits set. |
| "Many of us have long been tired of Alex Salmond's fantasy assertions and deluded deflection, but it is proving quite the novelty for his new English audience." | "Many of us have long been tired of Alex Salmond's fantasy assertions and deluded deflection, but it is proving quite the novelty for his new English audience." |
| Turning to the forthcoming referendum and criticism of the lack of a "No" campaign, Ms Lamont said the SNP made the case for the union "almost every day". | |
| She said: "They do it when they say that Scotland needs to keep sterling. | |
| "They do it when they say our shipyards would need Royal Navy contracts to stay open." | |
| 'Union's strength' | |
| The Labour leader said: "My question is this - even if the SNP acknowledge that Scotland needs the UK for a stable currency, a growing energy market and to keep our defence industries - why would we contemplate leaving it?" | |
| Ms Lamont also said Scotland benefitted economically from being in the union, like UK government action to save the Royal Bank of Scotland from collapse. | |
| She told the conference: "When the Royal Bank of Scotland goes down, Scotland didn't have to negotiate with foreign governments. | |
| "We didn't have to endure years negotiations, as the Greeks are going through. The help was automatic - given within hours. | |
| "We didn't have to suffer the indignity which some of our neighbours had, seeking bailouts from foreign governments. | |
| "What happened with the RBS bailout wasn't about Scotland's weakness - it was about the union's strength." |