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| Alex Salmond's speech at SNP conference: Politics live blog | Alex Salmond's speech at SNP conference: Politics live blog |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.21am: Here's a round-up of some of the reaction to yesterday's Nato vote at the conference. | |
| • The Herald in its leader says that the Nato vote was a victory for the SNP leadership but that the nation must now judge how credible the SNP's defence policy is. | |
| Then there is the question of how feasible the party's new position on Nato actually is. Many delegates yesterday voiced their worries over this point. Nato membership would make it harder for an independent Scotland to rid itself of nuclear weapons, warned MSP Jamie Hepburn. | |
| German newspaper reports last month suggested that Nato had forced Germany to drop its aspiration to bring about the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from its soil. Would any negotiation on the point even be possible? The assumption that it would, some opponents believe, is simply "policy by assertion". The pro-Union Better Together campaign, which was surely disappointed by yesterday's vote, will seek to exploit such doubts. | |
| • The Scotsman in its leader says the vote represented a major shift in policy. | |
| Opponents, doubtless, will point to the narrowness of the majority and claim nationalists are divided, or to the caveats in the wording eventually approved to contend that the party's new stance is riddled with hypocrisy. But there is little doubt that yesterday's vote represented a major shift in policy. Moreover, it was achieved in an old-fashioned political way. | |
| • Robbie Dinwoodie in the Herald says those opposed to the SNP changing its policy on Nato have indicated that they will accept the result of yesterday's vote. | |
| [Christina McKelvie MSP] later said the vote would be respected and that no further action was expected from opponents to Nato membership. She added: "Democracy was the winner today. Now we can put this behind us and focus on winning Yes votes." | |
| • Alan Cochrane in the Daily Telegraph says the SNP's defence policy is now marked by "hopeless incongruity". | |
| They've said that as Scotland is currently, through the United Kingdom, a member of Nato it should, as an independent country, continue to be a member. However, in seeking to be so, its negotiators – step forward the aforesaid Alex Salmond – would tell the alliance's bigwigs that they'd only continue as a member "subject to an agreement that Scotland will not host nuclear weapons". | |
| It's called "conditionality" but it's actually a virtual negation of what Nato is all about; it is a nuclear alliance and its members accept as part of joining that they enjoy the shelter of what's always been called the "nuclear umbrella". | |
| • Andrew Nicoll in the Scottish Sun says yesterday's vote makes the SNP look "a lot more credible". | |
| After all, yesterday's conference was packed with diplomatic observers from embassies around the world, watching to see where Scotland is heading. | |
| They will be reporting back today having seen a mature party of government in action, a party prepared to lead Scotland to its place on the world stage. | |
| • Terry Kelly, a Labour councillor, says on his blog that the Nato vote marks a defeat for SNP traditionalists. | |
| The vote was very close, close enough in fact to stir talk of mutiny and schisms in most other parties but alas this is the SNP and the truth is that the true nationalists, the genuine independence fighters, have been dying the death of a thousand cuts for 10/15 years now. Today was their last hurrah, they will hang about for some time to come and we will hear the sporadic death rattle but nothing more. | |
| Many old timers in the hall and sprinkled around the country will have had tears in their eyes as they stood looking at the triumphant platform and they could not miss surely that the platform was smirking at them. | |
| 9.30am: It's the day of the leader's speech. I'm in the press room in the concert hall in Perth where Alex Salmond's, Scotland's first minister, will be addressing the SNP this afternoon. It should be the highlight of the four-day conference, but Salmond will be hard pressed to produce anything as dramatic as yesterday's debate on Nato membership, which culminated in a narrow but significant victory for Salmond and the SNP leadership, who have persuaded the party to drop its historic opposition to an independent Scotland belonging to Nato. | 9.30am: It's the day of the leader's speech. I'm in the press room in the concert hall in Perth where Alex Salmond's, Scotland's first minister, will be addressing the SNP this afternoon. It should be the highlight of the four-day conference, but Salmond will be hard pressed to produce anything as dramatic as yesterday's debate on Nato membership, which culminated in a narrow but significant victory for Salmond and the SNP leadership, who have persuaded the party to drop its historic opposition to an independent Scotland belonging to Nato. |
| I will round up more reaction to yesterday's vote shortly. | I will round up more reaction to yesterday's vote shortly. |
| This morning there are two developments worth noting. | This morning there are two developments worth noting. |
| • Salmond has said that independence would allow the Scots to create "a more prosperous and a more just society". Normally at party conferences extracts from the leader's speech are released in advance. The SNP have done this, but they've only given us two sentences. | • Salmond has said that independence would allow the Scots to create "a more prosperous and a more just society". Normally at party conferences extracts from the leader's speech are released in advance. The SNP have done this, but they've only given us two sentences. |
| Our cause is not and never has been just about a constitutional objective. It is about using the powers of an independent Scotland to create a more prosperous economy and a more just society. | Our cause is not and never has been just about a constitutional objective. It is about using the powers of an independent Scotland to create a more prosperous economy and a more just society. |
| • Better Together, the pro union campaign, has released a poll suggesting that only 16% of Scots "strongly" favour independence. Responding to the poll, the SNP said that it also showed that more than a quarter of Labour voters and nearly a third of Lib Dem voters support an independent Scotland and that support for a yes vote had risen by 3% in under two weeks. | • Better Together, the pro union campaign, has released a poll suggesting that only 16% of Scots "strongly" favour independence. Responding to the poll, the SNP said that it also showed that more than a quarter of Labour voters and nearly a third of Lib Dem voters support an independent Scotland and that support for a yes vote had risen by 3% in under two weeks. |
| Here's the agenda for the day. 10am: Conference opens. There are debates on welfare, including a call for people to receive "full pension and benefit payments" when Scotland becomes independent, on the NHS and on development trusts. | Here's the agenda for the day. 10am: Conference opens. There are debates on welfare, including a call for people to receive "full pension and benefit payments" when Scotland becomes independent, on the NHS and on development trusts. |
| 10.30am: Speech by Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish culture secretary. | 10.30am: Speech by Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish culture secretary. |
| 11.25am: The president's prize, presented by Ian Hudghton MEP | 11.25am: The president's prize, presented by Ian Hudghton MEP |
| 11.35am: Fraternal address from Plaid Cymru. | 11.35am: Fraternal address from Plaid Cymru. |
| 11.45am: Speech by Blair Jenkins, chief executive of Yes Scotland. | 11.45am: Speech by Blair Jenkins, chief executive of Yes Scotland. |
| 2pm: Further debates. Resolutions being discussed this afternoon include international development, inequality, pensions, workfare and housing. | 2pm: Further debates. Resolutions being discussed this afternoon include international development, inequality, pensions, workfare and housing. |
| 3pm: Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, speaks. | 3pm: Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, speaks. |
| I'll post a summary at lunchtime and another after Salmond has fininshed. | I'll post a summary at lunchtime and another after Salmond has fininshed. |
| If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm on @AndrewSparrow. | If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm on @AndrewSparrow. |