Scottish Conservatives: At the heart of Scottish politics

30/09/2008

Speaking at the Scottish Conservative Fringe at Conference in Birmingham, Annabel Goldie MSP, Scottish Conservative Leader, said:

Once upon a time, there was a politician who saw himself as shrewd, sound, and competent, identifying with the grain of public opinion, a sure footed giant of politics.

While he basked in the delusion that these assertions created, the reality was something much more chilling. And deeply dangerous.

Because this man was once the Chancellor, or Prudence as he liked to be known – Gordon Brown, the PM.

His legacy – as if any of you need reminding in these stark days – is Britain’s broken economy.

An economy which was a meringue shell of hyper property inflation, excessive over borrowing and dysfunctional regulation.

Northern Rock, HBoS, Bradford and Bingley are just some of the painful evidence of Brown’s broken economy – And I applaud David Cameron’s leadership in confirming this morning that we can work with the government to chart a course through this economic crisis.

Now there is another man who has represented himself as sure footed, the champion of his corner, the voice of the people, a man born to dazzle.

But, just as the Iron Chancellor has turned to rust, so Alex Salmond’s dazzle has started to dim.

So lets have a reality check on Alex Salmond’s devolved Scotland.

He’s spent taxpayers’ money on his independence national conversation – with no parliamentary mandate for that spending and no parliamentary majority for independence.

He’s banged on about a local income tax, which isn’t local and doesn’t even tax all income. A Scot Nat tax which has been comprehensively rubbished by most independent commentators. 

He dismisses nuclear power and then has the brass neck to argue for nuclear power jobs to stay in Scotland.

He’s trying to criminalise the 20 year old soldier, returning from serving his country who wants to buy a bottle of wine to celebrate the birth of his child.

He’s insisting on bringing in a levy on every house sale – an £800 bombshell that could cripple an already fragile housing market.

Well enough is enough.

The Scottish Conservatives have already shown that we are at the heart of Scottish politics. It is thanks to us that Scotland has the funding for 1,000 extra police; because of us we have a new national drugs strategy; our pressure accelerated business rates cuts for Scotland’s smallest businesses bringing much needed relief in these difficult times. And is the Scottish Conservatives who are leading the fight to protect our rural schools and our iconic tartan industry.

And on all the issues facing Scotland today, it the Conservatives who are taking the lead.

We are the only Party with a fully costed plan to cut council tax for every household in Scotland. If John Swinney can find the money to subsidise his unfair, unworkable and discredited national income tax, we’ll spend it better and give 2 million households a £150 cut in their council tax – 100% of bills would be lower with us. And our older pensioners would be even better off. Real help in tough times.

And it is the Scottish Conservatives who are giving the Parliament an opportunity on Thursday to vote down Alex Salmond’s ludicrous plan to criminalise responsible young adults who want to buy a bottle of wine. We want to get on with the real task and make the existing laws work.

And we will continue to attack the costly and damaging Home Reports.

And don’t just take my word for it:

The SNP’s Christine Graham has fundamental objections to Home Reports; Alex Neil agrees that our pensioners should have a cut in council tax; and SNP students are with us in fighting against raising the off-sales age.

The Scottish Conservatives are at the heart of Scottish politics.

But where Alex Salmond has really been spineless is in ignoring a looming crisis in Scotland’s justice system.

Today, we do see crime statistics which, on the face of it, are good news and I congratulate the police and prosecution services for all the work they do. But that work depends on judges being able to send people to prison and there being prison space for them.

So what will happen if the SNP gets its way? More convicts in the community, instead of prisoners in prison. No end to automatic early release and more home detention curfews.

The Scottish Conservatives believe that the sentence should fit the crime – not the prison capacity. You don’t cut crime by cutting the prison population – you cut the prison population by cutting crime – year after year. And Scotland’s crisis in prison overcrowding must be addressed, not ignored. We cannot have our courts giving out community sentences just because the jails are full – that is soft touch Scotland.

We must not let today’s good news become tomorrow’s bad news.

So today, I can announce that I have asked Bill Aitken our Shadow Justice Secretary, to begin the search for more capacity –so that our prison estate can meet the ends of justice not Alex Salmond’s political targets.

Bill Aitken is today writing to every health board in Scotland and to the Secretary of State for Defence to ask if they have any unused premises that could be potentially turned into secure accommodation.

These premises must be empty, separate and capable of being adapted. They must not be anywhere where public safety would be compromised. They would not be open prisons, but secure accommodation, perhaps for remand prisoners. I do not know if any premises will pass these suitability tests, but we must begin the search.

On this, as on so many issues, it is only the Scottish Conservatives who are prepared to ask the tough questions, and look for solutions.

Labour is still more interested in its own internal woes than in the future of our country. The Lib Dems are an irrelevance in Scottish politics. The SNP is now getting a lot of things wrong. The shine is coming off Alex Salmond.

But we, the Scottish Conservatives will remain at the heart of Scottish politics. And we will play our part in reaching the vital goal of giving Scotland the safe change it needs at Westminster by electing David Cameron as our next Prime Minister, not just for Scotland, but for the sake of every part of our United Kingdom.