A vision for Scotland

Ask any SNP activist and they will tell you that one of the highlights of their calendar are the two points in the year when the party gets together at our party conference. They are opportunities to catch up with old friends from across Scotland, to discuss and debate party policy, and to hear speakers set out their vision for the future of Scotland.

However, particularly in a run up to an election, they are a time when the party makes key policy announcements that are of importance to people across Scotland. These are developments that are not just of interest to party members, but which set the direction of government for people all across Scotland. Our recently completed campaign conference in Glasgow was no exception to this. The last time the SNP met in that city was in 2007 in the run up to the last Scottish election, where we set out our positive vision for Scotland and we have aimed to repeat that in 2011 ahead of the coming Holyrood elections in May.

Over the last four years the SNP has seen 330 schools across Scotland built or refurbished, reducing the number of pupils in schools in ‘poor’ or ‘bad’ condition from 256,794 in 2007 to 119,188 this year. That is a substantial reduction of 53% but clearly there is still a lot more to do which is why we have made the pledge that a returned SNP Government will halve that number again over our next term in office. New buildings alone do not guarantee good educational results, but they do create an environment that helps pupils want to learn.

That commitment to education is a significant one, but just as important to many people is how the SNP will continue to fund higher education, particularly given how spectacularly students south of the border have been sold out since the Westminster election. One of the proudest achievements of the SNP Government was the abolition of the graduate endowment; the backdoor tuition fee which undermined the principle that education should be based on ability to learn not the ability to pay. That principle still guides our intentions and despite the funding cuts that are being handed down by Westminster, the SNP Government will not permit the introduction of tuition fees in Scotland either up front or by the back door.

In areas like Banff & Buchan, the provision of college places and apprenticeships are critical. They help young people enter the industries that are such an important part of the area, such as the oil & gas sector or the fishing industry. That is why our commitments to provide a record 25,000 modern apprenticeship places, 1,200 additional college places and increased funding for college bursaries were all reiterated and will all form an important part of our priorities for a second term of government.

On these and so many other issues I am proud of our record over the last four years, but equally excited about the vision we still have for improving Scotland further. These are extraordinarily tough times, given the massive cuts that are being imposed on Scotland by the priorities of the Westminster government. Yet despite that we are providing a positive message of what the SNP can still deliver. As the parliament dissolves and the election campaigning steps up into top gear, I am looking forward to meeting as many people as possible across the length and breadth of the constituency and explaining how the SNP wants to build on what we have already achieved.