First minister humza yousaf’s address to the national campaign council — scottish national party

Friends, it is great to join you today here in Perth – a city at the heart of Scotland in every sense. A City that will soon have its very heart the Stone of Destiny, rightfully returned to

Perthshire more than 700 years after it was taken. This is a city that has given us so many SNP stalwarts over the years. And talking of stalwarts, today we mark the passing of one of our

own, Gerry Fisher. A man who was SNP through and through. Friends, let us commit today to finishing the work Gerry and so many others started and winning Scotland’s independence. Delegates,

this is a constituency that underlines the story of this year’s election. A STRAIGHT FIGHT BETWEEN THE SNP AND THE TORIES THAT I HAVE NO DOUBT THE SNP IS GOING TO WIN. But the prize for

Scotland isn’t just this constituency. We have the opportunity to ensure that Scotland is Tory-free. Not a single Tory MP left in Scotland.  Delegates, that is a prize worth fighting for.

And there is, of course, only one way to win that prize. And that is to ensure you vote for the SNP. Because in every single Tory-held seat in Scotland, the SNP is the challenger. SO, THE

MESSAGE IS SIMPLE, IF YOU WANT RID OF TORY MPS IN SCOTLAND, VOTE FOR THE SNP. But our ambition doesn’t stop there. We know it is only with independence, that we can get rid of unelected Tory

Governments for good. Delegates, we are driven by our values. Because our values, are the people of Scotland’s values. Whether that is on domestic issues, or being a voice for the voiceless

across the world. Just take the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as one example of where our values have guided us. I cannot tell you how proud I am to lead a Party that is on the right

side of history. I am proud of Stephen Flynn and our MPs who have consistently been calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. . They have been Westminster’s conscience at a time when that

institution has completely and utterly lost its moral compass. The SNP have been unequivocal in speaking out for what is right. We have provided the moral leadership that Westminster has

sorely lacked. And there should now be no doubt about what must happen. The killing of innocent civilians must stop. Hostages must be freed. And the sale of weapons from the UK to Israel

must end. To those who are suffering one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes I have ever witnessed, I promise you that the SNP will continue to raise our voices for an end to the killing.

Westminster’s refusal to provide any meaningful leadership on Gaza –its failure to even allow a proper vote on a ceasefire and an end to collective punishment – sums up just how broken the

whole system is. Delegates, this year the people of Scotland have the opportunity to deliver their verdict on that broken system. Today, we are gathered to discuss our campaign ahead. We

know that it won’t be an easy campaign – but no campaign ever is. We know that our opponents will throw everything they have at us –they always do. So desperate are the Tories, they are

prepared to take money from a racist, misogynist who incites hatred against a trailblazing MP. DELEGATES, WE MAY BE IN DIFFERENT POLITICAL PARTIES BUT LET US TODAY SHOW OUR SOLIDARITY WITH

DIANNE ABBOTT AGAINST THE HATRED SHE HAS SUFFERED. This is another sign of a desperate Tory party willing to indulge in dangerous culture wars because they have nothing else to offer. And we

know that the Westminster Establishment will throw everything at the SNP. I am telling you today – it won’t work. No matter what the Westminster parties throw at us – there is one thing we

have that they never will. We have an alternative to broken Brexit Britain. That alternative is independence. That is why the SNP will win the General Election in Scotland. We have to win

the election, because when the SNP wins, Scotland wins. We are the only Party that will unashamedly, and unapologetically put Scotland first. AND IN THE YEARS TO COME, WE WILL LOOK BACK ON

OUR 2024 ELECTION VICTORY, AS A CRUCIAL STEP IN SECURING OUR NATION’S INDEPENDENCE. Friends, we are driven by our positive vision for Scotland – and our unrelenting, unwavering commitment to

securing independence. So while our opponents have grown complacent, we’ve only worked harder. Taking action in government to make our country fairer. Standing up at Westminster against the

broken Tory-Labour consensus. And campaigning for independence in communities the length and breadth of our country. And, friends, that hard work is paying off. I know you can all feel it

on the doorsteps. People across the country can see the work we’re doing to protect Scotland from the worst of Westminster’s cuts. And the more people in Scotland see of Keir Starmer’s

Labour, the less enthusiasm there is for a Party that stands for managing UK economic decline, with the only thing changing being the resident of number 10. We have every right to be

confident of winning the election in Scotland. But this has never been a party to rest on its laurels – the prize we seek is far too great for that. So let us pledge today, to redouble our

efforts to retain and renew the people of Scotland’s trust in the SNP–in every city, every town and every village in our country. Let us take this message to every home in Scotland:  ONLY

THE SNP WILL PUT SCOTLAND FIRST, AND INDEPENDENCE IS THE ONLY FUTURE THAT WILL LEAD TO A FAIRER, MORE PROSPEROUS COUNTRY FOR ALL. The people we serve need the SNP now more than ever. Because

14 years of a Westminster Tory government have been truly devastating. They’ve tanked the UK economy. They’ve cut public services to the bone. They’ve pushed thousands of our children into

poverty. They’ve caused the biggest fall in living standards on record. And they’ve dragged us out of the European Union against our will. But now, in this election, we have the chance to

finally make Scotland Tory free for the first time in almost a quarter of a century. We can make history.  And there’s only one way to do it. Most seats across Scotland are a straight fight

between the SNP and the Tories. Let us resolve, here and now, to win each and every one of those Tory seats. FROM THE HIGHLANDS TO THE BORDERS, LET’S RID THIS COUNTRY OF TORY MPS ONCE AND

FOR ALL. Whether it’s in May, or November, or any month in between – let the message from our party be heard loud and clear by every Tory MP in Scotland. YOUR TIME IS UP AND THE SNP IS

COMING FOR YOU. But friends, making Scotland Tory free is about more than kicking out the handful of hapless Tory MPs. It’s much bigger than that. Making Scotland Tory free is about our

values and our choices. It’s about choosing investment in public services, over austerity. It’s choosing equality over privilege. It’s protecting our NHS from the threat of privatisation.

It’s putting an end to targeting the most vulnerable members of society. And it’s about ending the economic disaster of Brexit and letting Scotland prosper as an equal partner in Europe. But

the reality is that it’s not just the Tories that are on the wrong side of these choices. Labour see the inevitable outcome of these reckless Tory policies. They see England’s crumbling

public services, the skyrocketing prices, the stagnating wages – and yet pledge more of the same. We have a Labour Shadow Chancellor, pledging to keep Tory tax cuts for the rich, while

planning a further £18bn of cuts. Or a Labour Shadow Minister targeting people on benefits and trying to prove that they can be even more callous than the Tories. And it leaves us with the

disgraceful position of seeing a Labour leader who wants to cap child benefits, but not bankers’ bonuses. DELEGATES, THAT IS UNFORGIVABLE. Every day Labour are showing Scotland exactly who

they are. A party willing to sell out its founding values for a sniff of power. And the more Tory policies they adopt and the more right wing rhetoric they use, it is becoming clearer that

they actually believe this. For Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar, this is all ideological. This is who they really are. The Labour leadership believe in the same failing orthodoxies, the same

narrow Westminster view of the world as the Tories. The one Labour policy that was different and would have helped boost Scotland’s renewable potential has already been binned. And as always

with Labour, Scotland was simply an afterthought. It is only the SNP that will put Scotland first. And that is the choice facing Scotland. Who do you trust to stand up for Scotland, to put

Scotland first? The only Party that will do that is the SNP. Friends, I am proud to lead a Government that is investing in the Just Transition. Our massive renewables potential will lead to

the next economic boom for Scotland, but not if we leave it to Westminster who would squander that revenue just as they squandered the revenue from the North Sea. We are absolutely committed

to the Just Transition and we are leading the UK on that journey. But that transition must be “Just”. AND I SAY TO THE TORIES AND LABOUR, THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN THROWING THOUSANDS OF

SCOTTISH WORKERS ON THE SCRAPHEAP SO YOU CAN FUND NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS IN ENGLAND OR GIVE THE WEALTHY A TAX CUT. The SNP is clear – Scotland’s energy must first and foremost benefit the

people and communities of Scotland. And that means that in energy rich Scotland, people shouldn’t be paying some of the highest energy bills in Europe during a cost of living crisis.

Friends, I have talked throughout this speech about Scotland’s  values. One of those values, is protecting our public services. And if that means doing whatever is necessary in the face of

Westminster cuts to protect our NHS, our schools and our justice system, then so be it. I make no apology, none whatsoever, for asking those who earn the most to pay a little more to protect

public services, grow the economy and to help us tackle poverty. And there can be no more precious public service than our NHS. The Tories stood outside Downing Street applauding the NHS

during the pandemic, promising they would support it during its hour of need. What nurses and doctors got instead from the Tories in England and Labour in Wales was the insult of a miserable

pay offer, where the only option they were left with was to go on strike. Well not here in Scotland. I am proud that as a Government we secured a fair pay deal for our NHS staff, that meant

not a single day of NHS activity was lost to strike action – in stark contrast to the rest of the UK. The Tories have chosen electoral bribes that will see more money in the pockets of the

wealthy, at the expense of investment in the NHS. Astonishingly, rather than reversing 14 years of Tory cuts, Labour have other plans. Their Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting is proudly,

in his words, “holding the door wide open” to NHS privatisation. We’ve even heard one group of private healthcare investors boast that Labour will, and I quote, “kick-start private sector

investment much more proactively than the Tories were able to do.” They’re not even trying to hide it. So let’s be blunt about what is coming down the track at Westminster. Whether managed

by the Tories or Labour, the UK Government intends to sell off the NHS piece by piece. Consider what that could mean. An American style system with people charged thousands of pounds for

treatment. And the poor cut off from healthcare entirely, while astronomical profits flow into private companies. THAT IS NOT A NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE – THAT IS A NATIONAL BETRAYAL. It

doesn’t bear thinking about. So let me be clear today. WHETHER IT’S BROUGHT FORWARD BY RISHI SUNAK OR KEIR STARMER, THE SNP WILL STAND FULL SQUARE AGAINST ANY ATTEMPTS TO PRIVATISE OUR NHS.

UNDER THE SNP, THE FOUNDING PRINCIPLES OF OUR NHS WILL ALWAYS BE PROTECTED.  AN NHS FREE AT THE POINT OF NEED – FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD NOT PRIVATE PROFIT, AND WE WILL LET NO WESTMINSTER

GOVERNMENT TAKE THAT AWAY FROM US. So while our task – our duty to the people of Scotland – is to get rid of the 7 spineless Scottish Tory MPs currently at Westminster – our work doesn’t

stop there. If we are to truly make Scotland Tory free, we need to reject not just Tory politicians, but Tory policies, Tory ideas and Tory values. AND THAT’S WHETHER THEY’RE DELIVERED BY

SOMEONE IN A BLUE ROSETTE OR A RED ONE. That is why this election is so important. Because while Westminster is locked into economic and social decline, people in Scotland have the

opportunity to vote for a better alternative. For a party that shares their values and will stand up for Scotland. And for the only party willing to make the case for investment in public

services, help with the cost of living, rejoining the EU and for Scotland’s right to choose our own future. THE SNP IS THE ONLY PARTY STANDING ON THAT POSITIVE PLATFORM – AND THAT IS EXACTLY

WHY WE MUST, AND WE WILL, WIN THIS GENERAL ELECTION. We know the Tories are on the way out, and good riddance to them. But Keir Starmer will ignore Scotland if SNP MPs are not in

Westminster to ensure our voice is heard. Who else will stand up for Scotland, Labour’s Branch Manager? After all, Anas Sarwar has promised us that he’ll stand up to Keir Starmer. I’m sure

Sir Keir is terrified at the thought, quaking in his boots. I don’t know what’s more ridiculous.  Going into an election campaigning on the message of ‘Vote Labour to protect Scotland from

Labour’…or the idea that Anas Sarwar is going to stand up to anyone. He can’t even stand up to his own frontbenchers – at their conference, just a few weeks ago his finance spokesperson

suggested Labour will impose backdoor tuition fees on Scottish students, and Anas hasn’t said a word. He can’t stand up to his own Scottish Labour MPs – both of them defied his orders on

Gaza and lined up behind Keir Starmer. He can’t even stand up to his own councillors.  This month we’ve had the shameful spectacle of Inverclyde Labour increasing council tax by more than 8%

against his direct orders. The idea that Anas Sarwar is going to stand up for Scotland is a joke. THE ONLY OUTCOME WESTMINSTER FEARS IS AN SNP VICTORY – AND THE MORE SNP MPS WE HAVE THE

LOUDER SCOTLAND’S VOICE WILL BE. Friends, we gathered in this very hall almost ten years ago – on the eve of the first independence referendum. I’m sure anyone who was present will never

forget it. The energy, the hope, the change that was so close that we could almost reach out and grab it. Since then, we’ve found ourselves dragged out of the EU against our will. Had no

fewer than five Tory Prime Ministers foisted upon us. We’ve endured a decade of austerity and cuts. A cost of living crisis made in Westminster. And political and economic chaos that hasn’t

been seen before in our lifetimes. It would be easy in the aftermath of all of that, to be downbeat. To feel like real change – the type of change not offered by the Westminster parties – is

impossible. To lose any hope for a better future. But we can’t afford to lose that hope.  We can’t let Westminster rob us of that. Because, friends, we have a duty, an obligation to the

people of Scotland. The opportunity that was before us that day in this hall almost a decade ago is still here – and has only grown more urgent. Because Brexit Britain is broken and

Westminster has shown itself to be completely incapable of fixing it. We can’t afford another 10 years of this. IT’S TIME THAT WE MADE DECISIONS IN SCOTLAND, FOR SCOTLAND.  IT’S TIME TO VOTE

SNP FOR SCOTLAND TO BE AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY. Friends, choosing to become independent – to make decisions for ourselves – offers up so much opportunity. An opportunity to reimagine what

government is for and how we can improve the lives of our fellow citizens. Government should be about lifting our eyes and trying to make our country better. About ambition rather than

decline. Let’s not lose sight of what we’ve been able to do in Scotland with the limited powers of our Parliament. Let me give you just a few examples. When the SNP came to office, we

scrapped tuition fees. Since then, the number of Scottish students going to university for the first time has grown by 31% – and the number of students from our poorest communities is at a

record high. Those aren’t just numbers on a page. That’s thousands of people in Scotland who’ve been given an opportunity to meet their full potential and to go on to serve in our NHS, our

public services, our industry and our society. AND BE IN NO DOUBT, FOR AS LONG AS THE SNP IS IN POWER WE WILL ALWAYS ENSURE THAT EDUCATION IS BASED ON THE ABILITY TO LEARN, NOT THE ABILITY

TO PAY. And delegates, we know that the longest-term impact we can make is in the earliest years. That’s why the SNP are supporting parents with a baby box – something Nadia and I are

looking forward to receiving in a few months’ time. And it’s why we invested in a universal health visiting service – and recruited 500 additional health visitors. A couple of weeks ago, a

report in the British Medical Journal showed how this SNP investment is changing Scotland for the better. Researchers found clear differences in immunisation, breast-feeding and A&E

visits between children in Scotland and in England. So stark are the differences, that they are urging England to follow Scotland’s lead. That SNP investment is benefitting Scotland’s

children today – and is building a healthier Scotland for tomorrow. FRIENDS, GIVING OUR BABIES, OUR CHILDREN THE BEST START IN LIFE IS WHAT A POSITIVE, AMBITIOUS SNP GOVERNMENT CAN DO. And

let me give you another example. I am proud that this SNP Government has made tackling child poverty one of our top priorities with policies like the Scottish Child Payment. At our last

conference I reported to you that our actions were lifting an estimated 90,000 children out of poverty. Today I need to correct the record. New analysis published in the last few weeks shows

that this is not the case. IN FACT, OUR ACTIONS ARE LIFTING AN ESTIMATED 100,000 CHILDREN IN SCOTLAND OUT OF POVERTY. And we’ve done this despite every obstacle thrown in our way by

Westminster. Despite the cost of living crisis, and the recession. Despite the two-child cap and the despicable rape clause. Friends, we have got more to do in the fight against child

poverty, but I have no doubt that the Scottish Child Payment will go down as one of the most significant achievements of Scotland’s Parliament. AND THAT IS WHAT POSITIVE, AMBITIOUS SNP

GOVERNMENT CAN DO. Delegates, that is just some of our record of delivery, ambition and success in devolved government. We have shown, not by our words but by our deeds, how taking decisions

in Scotland, for Scotland, can change people’s lives for the better. The opportunity now before us is whether we take all decisions in Scotland – or whether we leave so many of them to a

broken Westminster system. This year we mark 25 years since the Scottish Parliament was re-established. It was a moment where we took some control away from Westminster– and put it in the

hands of the people of Scotland. 25 years on, we can proudly show how that has made our country a better place. Our task now is to confidently make the case for completing that journey – and

making all of our decisions in Scotland, for the people of Scotland. This year’s election will be a crucial step on that journey. An election we approach with a renewed confidence – proud

of our record and secure in our values. An election we intend to win with a positive vision for our country. And an election in which there are no limits to our ambition. So let us move

forward with belief in ourselves and belief in our country. Confident that we can win Scotland’s independence– and build a better nation. Thank you.