Goldie Speech

Speaking during the debate on the Scottish Government's legislative programme, Annabel Goldie MSP, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said:

"Presiding Officer, the statement we have heard from the first Minister this afternoon is not just the final legislative agenda from this government, but it's the final nail in the coffin for Alex Salmond's political credibility. It reeks of inertia, exhaustion, escapism and atrophy. Beacause this time, rhetoric is not enough, rosy promises will not do. This time the First Minister can be measured by what he said against what he did.

"In 2007 he won votes promising to write off student debt - in 2010 this is a promise broken; he courted the electorate on the back of a local income tax he didn't even bring before this parliament. His fantasy politics promising free money to first time house buyers bit the dust; so too did manifesto pledges on class sizes, health checks for 40 year olds, PE provision in schools and replacing the student loans system. The Scottish Investment Fund is an embarrassing non-event and The Gathering's promised benefit to business has left a trail of angry creditors. And to cover his failures, this is a First minister who will spend the next nine months whining about the powers he doesn't have, rather than using the ones he does.

"So, what have we today? - a document of over 30 pages, but where are the new ideas? Where is the vision? Where is the political courage to take Scotland forward? - To use the levers we've got, to make the changes we need.

"Because, for far too long, Scotland has been stuck with a statist attitude that governments run everything; that the minister always knows best; that only governments can provide solutions. That old politics has boxed Scotland into a sterile corner, while the rest of Britain, indeed the rest of the world, has moved on.

"The immense financial challenges we face mean tough choices have to be made. They mean sorting out the essential from the optional. They mean we must challenge how Scotland is run and who does what. The "aye been" mentality might have worked once, but not any longer.

"We must find the political will to challenge the status-quo. We must put people first.

"And by putting people first, we will restore fairness, common sense and community to the fabric of Scotland.

"Presiding Officer, we are in difficult times - I don't want to dwell on how we got into this dreadful mess, how Labour's debts and bank-busting deficits will cost our children and grandchildren dear. What I care about is how we get out of it.

"That is why the few bright spots in the otherwise unrelieved gloom of broken promises and of dogma before delivery from the SNP government are the bright spots where the Conservatives have given the political leadership and delivered for Scotland.

"Who ensured our society was kept safe by delivering an extra thousand police officers on the streets? - The Scottish Conservatives.

"Who ensured thousands of small businesses could ride out the recession by insisting on business rates relief? - The Scottish Conservatives

"Who stepped in to stop the decline in our high streets by delivering a town centre regeneration fund? - The Scottish Conservatives

"Who protected council tax payers by sanctioning a freeze in their bills, not for one year but for each of the last three? - The Scottish Conservatives.

"Who started a real debate on how services are delivered in the future by setting up an Independent Budget Review Group? - The Scottish Conservatives.

"None of these achievements would have happened without the Scottish Conservatives.

"At least now and again, Alex Salmond does listen to me, and maybe he's listened again because this time last year, I told him that he should stop the smoke and mirrors and just ditch the Independence Bill. And he has, but what humiliation! The promise he made in 2007; the promise that he repeated through the last three years; the promise that was to define him and his term in office; the raison d'etre of his party; has gone - reduced to a self-proclaimed campaigning tool for the SNP.

"So how much, Presiding Officer, how much has this unauthorised nationalist conversation cost us? How much ministerial time and effort - how much parliamentary resource, how much civil service manpower has been invested in this broken promise? With this Independence bill now in the bin, I want the First Minister to promise that not one penny more of public money will be spent on his fantasy politics - the separation this country doesn't want, and he knows he can't deliver. Will he give that promise now?

"Scotland doesn't want a First Minister whining about not having independence. We want a First Minister who will have the courage, the foresight, the drive to take the difficult decisions to address the challenges that Scotland faces now. We want a First Minister who will stand up for the Scotland we have, not fantasise about a Scotland we don't even want. What we want from a First Minister is realism, vision, innovation and leadership.

"These ten bills are not without merit, but they do not represent a sea-change for Scotland. The SNP political prospectus is worthy rather than innovatory, track maintenance rather than forging a new direction of travel. A less charitable person might conclude that the current government wanted an easy life this term - that ministers are so busy trying to keep their jobs that they're forgetting to do their jobs.

"My colleagues and I on the Conservative benches will - as we always have - do what is right for Scotland. We have consistently contributed in a positive manner to this parliament, backing bills which we think will make lives better for ordinary Scots, amending ones which are flawed and opposing those which fail Scotland.

"Presiding Officer, Scotland needs leadership. Scotland needs a new narrative and Scotland needs a new vision of how to take our country forward. Scotland does not need the narrow nationalism of the SNP nor the unreconstructed statism of Labour.

"So the legislative programme contains little of controversy - and that is exactly the problem. Legislation heavy, innovation light. A safety first, First Minister trying to secure Bute house for his SNP successor rather than secure a better future for Scotland.

"That's selling Scotland short. Scotland deserves better."

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