Goldie sets out new vision for Scotland

Speaking at the Scottish Fringe meeting at the UK Conservative Party Conference today, Annabel Goldie MSP, Scottish Conservative Leader, said:


"We have a little over 200 days until Scotland goes to the polls once again. But you wouldn't think it from the state of debate in the country. Where are the new ideas? Where are the substantive arguments, where is the basic political leadership coming from?

Not from the SNP: this is a government that's put forward a timid, legislative non-agenda - too scared to rock the boat before May. Barely three years in and already the glitter has tarnished. The government looks tired, spent, punch drunk and reeling.

Neither has Scottish Labour advanced the debate; frightened of alienating a single potential voter, they've given their MSPs the Banana directive: Bleat Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone, in case they might hear and disagree.

And what of the two men leading these sorry excuses for government and supposed government-in-waiting?

Alex Salmond - The bold Eck - The only nationalist to make it into government and then take independence OFF the agenda.

His party's raison d'etre, scrapped because he's got no stomach for the fight. A man who last week told the Scottish Parliament that he welcomed Ed Miliband to the "sensible ground of politics."

Well, if Alex Salmond thinks that the new, Old Labour leader's politics are sensible then Scotland now has to contend with Red Eck as well as Red Ed.

A bruiser on the ropes who's pretending it's someone else's fault the towel got thrown in.

And Iain Gray... monochrome by name and monochrome by nature. A man who makes the Reverand I.M. Jolly look cheerful.

The man who would be First Minister - so he thinks - year zero politics; a refusal to even acknowledge, never mind apologise for Labour's financial mess, no clue what to do. And a policy free zone.

Sorry. He does have one policy. Higher council tax. Brilliant. Just as the country gets to grips with the price of Labour's debt and deficit, he asks everyone else to pay the bill. What a master stroke.

I can see the election slogan already.

"Vote Labour on Thursday for Higher Tax on Friday."

But on everything else: Silence. He's just not got the courage, he hasn't got the guts to tell Scotland what he would do.

Under either of them, Scotland does not so much face a choice, as a dilemma. Both would keep Scotland stuck in the socialist glue of the seventies.

Not for them the progressive politics and policies to grapple with the big issues of today. No review or reassessment - no tough questions or hard solutions - just the same old ‘government knows best, Ministers know best, the State will provide. The State will dictate.'

So there we have it. A bruiser who's lost his bottle and a feartie devoid of ideas and afraid of his party.

But there is another way. It doesn't have to be like this.

Just as we have shown in Government across the UK that standing together in the national interest; speaking out, facing up to the tough decisions and telling it like it is is the right thing to do. Indeed it is the only honest thing to do.

So let me lay out a vision for Scotland. A different vision from the myopic inertia of the other parties. My vision. A Conservative vision. One that doesn't dwell on how our country got into this dire financial mess - everyone knows it is Labour's fault - but one that asks: Where do we go from here?

And to really make a difference we need to challenge the status quo - the statist, stuck in the mud, blind obsession with big government; the dangerous dogma of the left which has held Scotland back for far too long.

Well, enough is enough.

Because this lady is for turning - for turning Scotland around.

Someone needs to have the bottle to take the debate forward by the scruff of the neck and drag it kicking and screaming into the cold, hard light of day. Scotland faces tough choices and the choices we take today will define us for a generation. Just because other leaders can't or won't face up to their responsibilities to the public; to show them the difficulties we face, the options available, the new thinking to change our society; doesn't mean that I won't take up that challenge.

And I have form.

When I said Scotland needed a new war on drugs and a national drugs strategy focussing on recovery and abstinence - I was derided.

But I delivered.

When I said Holyrood was a parliament of minority parties and that we could give minority government a go - I was told to lie down in a dark room and come to my senses.

But I was right - and the Scottish Conservatives delivered.

And not just that - we delivered

1,000 more police officers
Cuts in business rates for our smallest firms
A town centre regeneration fund
A transparency revolution in public spending
An independent budget review
And, for the last 3 years, a council tax freeze.

And there's more...

Who were the first to call for Scottish Water to be taken out of State control?
The first to challenge free prescriptions for the wealthy?
The first to face up to the funding crisis facing our universities?

We were. The Scottish Conservatives. Leading the debate, daring to be different and building consensus.

And so now Scotland is at a crossroads.

Turning left, behind Milibland, Gray and Salmond is not an option.

We need a new route map. We need to challenge that statist quo.

Scotland must be one of the most over governed countries in the world; here the biggest growth industry is government itself.

Alex Salmond promised us a cull of the quangos, but only unscrewed a few brass name plates in his re-branding sham. The result was an annual quango bill more than £600million higher than when he took over.

Some cull.

So we must be prepared to face the facts and pose some tough questions that challenge vested interests.

Scotland is run by

32 councils
14 health boards
8 police boards
32 local education authorities
And scores of government agencies.

But given where we are - and the need for the State to do less so that people and communities can do more - is this sustainable?

I set my team the task of reviewing our policies to make sure we can deal with the here and now and face the future with a Scotland fit for the 21st Century.

That work, under Derek Brownlee, continues and when our work is done, we shall present a radical manifesto For Scotland.

Let me give you a few examples of the thistles we must grasp.

Take our councils. If you believe in localism - and I do, then of course that localism must remain. But ultimately the shape of local government can only be gauged after we have decided what we want our councils to deliver. In the meantime, they must do more to share services, avoid duplication, reduce waste, sort out the essential from the optional. And to give them an even more enhanced local response, those large towns and cities which want to should have the ability to elect a local mayor or provost - somebody elected by the people to speak for the people.

And in policing Scotland, there is a growing consensus, partly driven by the financial pressures that the current structure is unsustainable and that fewer police forces or even only 1 police force is inevitable.

It possibly is. But the key to any reform is not just financial efficiency -it is retaining local connections and accountability - local community policing for local communities.

So if there are to be fewer forces, or only 1 force, then it must still represent the communities it serves.

So why not have an elected local police representative from each divisional or operational area, responsible for representing local views at a national level, responding to local police demands, publishing local crime statistics and elected by local people?

And in education, hundreds of millions of pounds are spent on just running the system. Hundreds of millions of pounds not reaching the chalk face.

So yes, let's have free schools, state schools funded by the taxpayer, freed from political or council control.

Let's take power away from politicians and bureaucrats and give it to the people who should look after our childrens' education; our teachers, head teachers and parents.

Finally, let me turn to the Third Sector. Scotland's charities, voluntary bodies and social enterprises.

Next month, I will host a special one day conference dedicated to them and organised by the Scottish Conservatives.

The third sector organisations face enormous pressures in funding, but they are often vital cogs in our communities, possessing a wealth of expertise and experience on some of the most pressing social issues and proving to be efficient and cost effective service providers.

So I want to see them more involved in the fabric of social life, not less.

We must break the statist stranglehold on who delivers public services. We need to ask the fundamental question about what needs to be provided and who is best placed to deliver it? Government - central and local - doesn't always know best.

So I want the Third Sector to step in. I know they are more than capable. But big government, vested interests and fiefdoms have got in the way.

That has to change.

I am determined to deliver change.

Today, I pledge that I will make this happen.

We will find the answers to some of the key questions - for example, should a proportion of all social services be contracted out to the Third Sector? Should there be a system of financial sticks and carrots to encourage them to do so?

Should we introduce a "Right to Bid", using the transparency revolution to allow voluntary groups, charities and social enterprises the opportunity to set out their stall?

Scotland needs to drag itself into the modern world when delivering public services. No longer can we be stuck in the obsolete socialism of the Seventies.

Some people may ignore our ideas - or treat them with hostility - because of where they come from. But when others fail to rise to the challenges we face today, I will not. We will lead the debate - offering solutions, discussing ideas and working for Scotland.

Let's be quite clear about this. The financial adversity confronting us is severe. But it can create an opportunity. We must seize that opportunity to bring forward the new suggestions, the new proposals, the new ideas and the new future for Scotland.

It will not be easy. But then I'm not an easy girl.

Some will dismiss us because of who we are. But I say to them it is that very prejudice which perpetuates the problem. Prejudice is not a solution. Scotland has more to fear from the prejudice of politicians with no ideas than the innovation of politicians with new ideas.

So I will not be diverted. I will spend every day arguing our corner - and Scotland's cause. We will develop these ideas and work with anybody who shares our goal. A better, modern prosperous Scotland.

That is my pledge to you. Join me and we can deliver. For Scotland."

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