GORDON Brown used a wide-ranging address to Scottish Labour Party delegates today to bash the Nationalists, defend the Union and predict Wendy Alexander as Scotland's next First Minister.
Gordon Brown delivers his keynote to a welcoming audience of Scottish Labour Party delegates. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty
The Prime Minister's speech on the first day of the party conference strayed toward more of a pep talk to the converted in the Aviemore Centre as well as a message to non-believers that Labour is "working together" to "make the changes that matter".
He opened his address with a verbal pat-on-the-back to Ms Alexander, who has experienced a difficult first six months as Scottish Labour leader.
"I have known Wendy for many years. She is a long-standing supporter of devolution," he said. "She has a passion for equality and social justice."
Ms Alexander had warned that Labour had to learn the lessons from its defeat in Scotland last year, said Mr Brown.
"She has told us we have to listen to the people of Scotland more. She has told us we have to be prepared to reform and modernise. And I believe that Wendy Alexander is not only the leader of our party here in Scotland but she will be the next First Minister of Scotland whenever an election is declared."
Mr Brown gave his support to the constitutional commission earlier this week.
He said: "The devolution commission will show that Scottish Labour is again ready to lead the debate about the future of Scotland."
And he said he believed the proposals it would come up with would be "the right proposals for Scotland within Britain, playing its full part in Europe and the world".
Addressing the issue of global terrorism, the Prime Minister said: "There's no Scotland-only or England-only or Wales-only solution to these problems," adding that they could only be resolved by "working together".
He added: "What sense does it make in this island to create new barriers, as the SNP would do, new barriers that would distance Scotland from the rest of Britain?"
The Prime Minister told delegates: "I think not just of what we have achieved together and what we are doing together. I think of what we could achieve together for the future."
Responding to talk of an independent Scotland by the Nationalists, he said: "The Union does not diminish our influence. The Union enhances the influence of Scottish people and Scottish ideas."
Mr Brown spoke about the achievements of Labour in over a decade in power. He told delegates the party had created 200,000 jobs across Britain and introduced new rights such as the national minimum wage and improved maternity and paternity rights.
Focussing on his Scottish roots, he told how proud he was to have gone to his local school in Kirkcaldy, that he had the best health care when he was ill and that he had been able to go to university. And he said that because of a Labour Government he had been able to go to university funded by the student grant system.
"What I want and why I'm in politics is the opportunities I have had, I want not just for my children, I want for all children, for all families in Scotland and Britain."
In his attack on the Scottish National Party, Mr Brown portrayed Labour as being "the front line of defence" for those affected by what he claimed were SNP cuts.
Arguing that the SNP did not share the agenda to improve skills and services, Mr Brown declared: "I say we should stand up for the people of Scotland and for the young children of Scotland and we will be the front line of defence for them against those SNP cuts.
"Those cuts are not only wrong, they are depriving our country of its best future," he continued.
Listing various SNP policy decisions in areas like educational maintenance allowances, Mr Brown said: "We will be the front line of defence for young people that need that help to get the qualifications."
On the economy, the Prime Minister said the Labour Government's record had made the country more prepared to withstand financial shocks.
"What we have done in the last year is cut inflation so that we are in a position to cut interest rates as we have done on two occasions where it's not been possible in the rest of Europe," Mr Brown said.
He concluded his speech by telling delegates: "We are ready to make the changes that matter. We can build a better Scotland and a better Britain.
"Let's do it by working together."
The conference kicked off in the morning. Among the speakers, Scottish Labour shadow minister Andy Kerr accused the SNP of taking Scotland back to the days of Margaret Thatcher through local government cuts.
Mr Kerr said Labour was "exposing" the Nationalists in areas like Aberdeen, Edinburgh and West Dunbartonshire.
"These councils have returned us to the days of Thatcherism with cuts and threatened compulsory redundancies not seen since the 1980s," he said. "John Swinney and Alex Salmond have put a lot of effort into building a facade of respect for local government with the pretence of a generous funding settlement."
Behind that "facade" lay the danger of Scottish local government being held responsible for the failure to deliver the SNP's "ill-conceived, badly-costed", manifesto promises, he said.
The full article contains 895 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
