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SNP conference: Nicola Sturgeon urges voters to dump Labour | SNP conference: Nicola Sturgeon urges voters to dump Labour |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Nicola Sturgeon is making her first speech as SNP leader at the party's annual conference in Perth. | |
The incoming Scottish first minister described becoming SNP leader as the "proudest moment of my life". | |
She also paid tribute to her predecessor, Alex Salmond, as a "champion of our nation". | |
And she predicted the SNP's best days were still to come, despite the "No" vote in September's independence referendum. | |
Ms Sturgeon is also due to urge Scottish voters to reject Labour at next May's general election. | |
The SNP is aiming to win a majority of Scottish Westminster seats next May. | |
Ms Sturgeon will also use her speech to outline measures for boosting business and the economy. | |
Her keynote address comes after Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont last month quit her job, accusing Westminster colleagues of treating the party in Scotland like a "branch office". | |
'Desperate mantra' | 'Desperate mantra' |
Ms Sturgeon replaced Alex Salmond as SNP leader on Friday, and will be formally elected Scottish first minister next week. | |
She is due to tell delegates at the conference: "Scotland's patience with Labour - or the 'dinosaurs' as Johann Lamont affectionately calls them - is running out fast, and they know it. | |
"They've got no positive case to make, so they will fall back on the same desperate mantra as before. | "They've got no positive case to make, so they will fall back on the same desperate mantra as before. |
"You've got to vote Labour, they'll say, to keep the Tories out." | "You've got to vote Labour, they'll say, to keep the Tories out." |
Ms Sturgeon will also say: "That is the biggest con trick in Scottish politics and we must not fall for it again. | |
"Scotland did vote Labour at the last general election, but we still ended up with the Tories - and if the people of England vote Tory again next May, it won't matter how we vote. | "Scotland did vote Labour at the last general election, but we still ended up with the Tories - and if the people of England vote Tory again next May, it won't matter how we vote. |
"A Tory government is what we'll get. Or worse, a Tory/UKIP government. | "A Tory government is what we'll get. Or worse, a Tory/UKIP government. |
"If that happens, the very last thing Scotland will need are Labour MPs who cosy up to the Tories." | "If that happens, the very last thing Scotland will need are Labour MPs who cosy up to the Tories." |
Ms Sturgeon will tell the conference: "What we will need are strong SNP MPs who will stand up to the Tories, challenge the despicable politics of Nigel Farage and fight Scotland's corner." | Ms Sturgeon will tell the conference: "What we will need are strong SNP MPs who will stand up to the Tories, challenge the despicable politics of Nigel Farage and fight Scotland's corner." |
In a repeat of the SNP's strategy at the last UK election, Ms Sturgeon will say Scotland could hold a balance of power in the event of a hung parliament in 2015. | In a repeat of the SNP's strategy at the last UK election, Ms Sturgeon will say Scotland could hold a balance of power in the event of a hung parliament in 2015. |
"If that happens, I promise you this - you wont need to have voted Labour to keep the Tories out - because that's what we'll do," she will say. | "If that happens, I promise you this - you wont need to have voted Labour to keep the Tories out - because that's what we'll do," she will say. |
"My pledge to Scotland today is this - the SNP will never put the Tories into government." | "My pledge to Scotland today is this - the SNP will never put the Tories into government." |
Elsewhere in her speech, Ms Sturgeon will also promise to extend the Scottish government's small business bonus scheme - set to help almost 100,000 firms next year - for the lifetime of the next five-year parliament, if the SNP was re-elected in 2016. | Elsewhere in her speech, Ms Sturgeon will also promise to extend the Scottish government's small business bonus scheme - set to help almost 100,000 firms next year - for the lifetime of the next five-year parliament, if the SNP was re-elected in 2016. |
She will say: "Our success as a nation depends on a strong economy - that is a simple reality. | She will say: "Our success as a nation depends on a strong economy - that is a simple reality. |
"My job as first minister will be to champion the interests of Scottish business at home and around the globe. | "My job as first minister will be to champion the interests of Scottish business at home and around the globe. |
"That is a task I will embrace with relish." | "That is a task I will embrace with relish." |
The SNP leader will add: "Scotland must always be an environment where ideas flourish, businesses locate and jobs are created. | The SNP leader will add: "Scotland must always be an environment where ideas flourish, businesses locate and jobs are created. |
"Because then and only then do we have the tools to do what should matter to all of us - and that is to eradicate the poverty that scars too many of our fellow citizens." | "Because then and only then do we have the tools to do what should matter to all of us - and that is to eradicate the poverty that scars too many of our fellow citizens." |