{"id":717,"date":"2016-10-15T12:49:38","date_gmt":"2016-10-15T12:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/?p=717"},"modified":"2016-10-31T15:42:29","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T15:42:29","slug":"nicola-sturgeon-opening-address-snp16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/nicola-sturgeon-opening-address-snp16\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicola Sturgeon opening address #SNP16"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>ARTICLE SOURCE: <\/strong><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.snp.org\/nicola_sturgeon_opening_address_2016\" target=\"_blank\"> &gt;&gt; www.snp.org\/nicola_sturgeon_opening_address_2016<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <strong> RELATED LINKS:<br \/>\nSNP WEBSITE <\/strong><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.snp.org\" target=\"_blank\"> &gt;&gt; www.snp.org<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- responsive1 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8934562929349122\" data-ad-slot=\"3379014842\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Below is the opening address given by Nicola Sturgeon to SNP Conference 2016. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Conference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Welcome to the Dear Green Place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Welcome to the great city of Glasgow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A city that said Yes in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A city where every citizen is now represented in the Scottish Parliament by an SNP constituency MSP.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Let me begin today by warmly congratulating our new Depute Leader, Angus Robertson.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We had four first class candidates to choose from.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Indeed, we had more quality in our race for depute than Labour managed in its election for leader.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Friends,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Let me, on your behalf, thank Tommy, Alyn and Chris for bringing their talents, energy and ideas to the contest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Each of you has a massive contribution to make to the future of our party.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And Angus &#8211; you will be an outstanding deputy leader. I am delighted to have you by my side and I look forward to working with you as we lead our party and our country to even greater success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Conference,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Over the next three days, we will talk in detail about our work to build a better, fairer Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On Saturday, my conference address will focus on our plans to help business and create jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On our work to expand childcare and close the attainment gap in our schools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On our absolute, undiminished commitment to invest in and reform our precious NHS.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">At the heart of every single one of our plans is the ambition to build an inclusive Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A country where everyone has the opportunity to contribute to &#8211; and the right to benefit from &#8211; the better Scotland we are building together.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A country where we cherish diversity and value people for the contribution they make &#8211; not one where we judge them on the country of their birth or the colour of their passport.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The contrast with the Westminster government couldn&#8217;t be more stark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Last week, in Birmingham, we heard an intolerance towards those from other countries that has no place in a modern, multicultural, civilised society.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You know, on the day of the Prime Minister\u2019s speech to the Tory conference, the new leader of UKIP resigned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Perhaps she realized that her job and her party are now redundant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Last week, we saw the Tories adopt UKIP policy and Farage-style rhetoric &#8211; lock, stock and beer-barrel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It was a disgrace. It shames the Tory party and all who speak for it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But make no mistake &#8211; the right wing of the Tory party is now in the ascendancy and it is seeking to hijack the referendum result.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Brexit has become Tory Brexit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The rampant right wing of the party are using it as license for the xenophobia that has long lain under the surface &#8211; but which is now in full, unlovely view.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They are using the result as cover for a hard Brexit for which they have no mandate &#8211; but which they are determined to impose, regardless of the ruinous consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Worse still, they intend to do all of this with no parliamentary authority. Virtually no scrutiny whatsoever.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And to do it with complete disregard for Scotland&#8217;s democratic voice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That is simply not acceptable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Last week, the Prime Minister told us that how important it was to respect the democratic mandate of the people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I agree.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Which is why I say this to her today &#8211; it&#8217;s high time you showed some respect for the 62% of people across Scotland who voted to Remain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Of course, I know that one million of our fellow citizens voted to Leave. They did so for a range of legitimate reasons and as First Minister, I have a duty to listen to, to understand and to respond to these reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But I suspect that many of those who voted to Leave, look now at the actions and rhetoric of the Tories and think &#8216;that&#8217;s not what I voted for&#8217;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They may have voted to take back control.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But I can&#8217;t imagine many of them voted to hand control to the unholy trinity of Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox &#8211; three men in a Brexit boat who haven&#8217;t got a paddle between them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">No, I don&#8217;t believe people voted for that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They didn&#8217;t vote to throw economic rationality out of the window.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They didn&#8217;t vote to lower their own living standards or to sacrifice jobs and investment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They didn&#8217;t vote for our businesses to face tariffs or for holiday-makers to need visas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They didn&#8217;t vote for the scapegoating of foreigners.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And they didn&#8217;t vote for the voice of Scotland&#8217;s people and our parliament to be ignored.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Yet all of these are clear and present dangers: all of that will happen unless we fight against it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And we will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Friends,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Our single most important job is to protect Scotland&#8217;s interests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Our democratic interests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Our economic interests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Our interests in social protection and solidarity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And our interest in influencing the world we live in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There is no doubt that Brexit is a defining issue of our time &#8211; for Scotland and for the U.K.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It looms over everything. How could it not, given the implications for our economy, our society, our security and our place in the world?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So today I want to concentrate on what we will do in the months ahead to protect the interests of Scotland and &#8211; in so far as we can &#8211; of the UK as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Firstly, we will make our case in the House of Commons and in the Scottish Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I can confirm today that SNP MPs will vote against the Brexit Bill when it come before the House of Commons next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That Bill will repeal the legislation that enacted our EU membership. Scotland didn&#8217;t vote for that and so neither will our MPs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But we will also work to persuade others &#8211; Labour, Liberals and moderate Tories &#8211; to join us in a coalition against a hard Brexit: not just for Scotland, but for the whole UK.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We know that Brexit will damage our economy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hard Brexit &#8211; removal, not just from the EU, but from the single market as well &#8211; will be disastrous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Treasury estimates that the cost to the UK economy could be \u00a366 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Here in Scotland 80,000 jobs could be lost. Wages would be hit by up to \u00a32000 and growth in the economy would slow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There is no rational case for taking the UK out of the single market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And there is no authority for it either.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How many times did we hear prominent Leave campaigners assure us during the referendum campaign that leaving the EU did not mean leaving the single market?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And the Conservative Party manifesto, on which Theresa May and every other Tory MP was elected, couldn&#8217;t have been clearer. It said this: \u201cWe say yes to the Single Market.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But now we face a hard Brexit imposed by the hard right of the Tory party.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Well, let me say this. The Prime Minister may have a mandate to take England and Wales out of the EU but she has no mandate whatsoever to remove any part of the UK from the Single Market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And if the majority in the House of Commons stand up for what they know to be right, she will not get away with doing it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Friends,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We will also assert the right of the Scottish Parliament to have its say.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After the No vote in 2014 we were told the Sewel Convention \u2013 which means the UK Parliament can&#8217;t make law in devolved areas without the consent of the Scottish Parliament \u2013 would be sacrosanct.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Every party signed up to this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Now it seems the Tories are reneging.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They want to rip-up the Smith report.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Well, they need to understand this &#8211; Scotland\u2019s Parliament is the democratic heartbeat of our nation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To deny it the right to give or withhold its consent on an issue of such magnitude would be an act of constitutional vandalism. It is not on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Conference,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As well as Parliamentary action, over the next few weeks we will table specific proposals to protect Scotland&#8217;s interests in Europe and keep us in the single market &#8211; even if the rest of the UK decides to leave.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It\u2019s clear that beyond hard-line rhetoric the UK Government has no detailed plan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So the Scottish Government will set out a plan for Scotland.|<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We will seek to make this plan a key element of the UK\u2019s Article 50 negotiation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It will require substantial additional powers for the Scottish Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">All the powers in our areas of responsibility that currently lie with the EU &#8211; and significant new powers too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Powers to strike international deals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And greater powers over immigration. Powers not just to protect our economy, but also our values.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">UK ministers might believe it acceptable to order businesses to create lists of foreign workers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We do not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Our ambition is to build a prosperous, inclusive and outward looking country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Conference,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The morning after the referendum, I said I would seek to find a way to allow Scotland&#8217;s voice to be heard and our interests to be protected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And I said I would explore if that could happen within the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The plan we table will honour that commitment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But let me be clear &#8211; its chance of success will depend, not on us, but on the attitude of the UK government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Recent signs have not been promising.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Last week, we heard from the Prime Minister a disregard for Scotland&#8217;s democratic voice that was reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">An assertion of Westminster constitutional supremacy that belongs in another century.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">High-handed pronouncements that dismiss Scottish opinion might delight the Tory Party conference &#8211; but they are no longer acceptable to mainstream Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So my message to the Prime Minister is this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Scotland didn&#8217;t choose to be in this situation &#8211; your party put us here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In 2014, you told us Scotland was an equal partner in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Well, the moment has come to prove it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you value the UK &#8211; as you say you do &#8211; it&#8217;s up to you to prove it can work for Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The ball is in your court.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But hear this &#8211; if you think for one single second that I&#8217;m not serious about doing what it takes to protect Scotland&#8217;s interests, then think again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you can&#8217;t &#8211; or won&#8217;t &#8211; allow us to protect our interests within the UK, then Scotland will have the right to decide, afresh, if it wants to take a different path.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A hard Brexit will change the UK fundamentally.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A UK out of the single market &#8211; isolated, inward looking, haemorrhaging jobs, investment and opportunities &#8211; will not be the same country that Scotland voted to stay part of in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If that&#8217;s the insecure, unstable prospect we face as part of the UK, then no one will have the right to deny Scotland the chance to choose a better future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Friends,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On the morning after the referendum, I said I would protect Scotland&#8217;s ability to make that choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In our Programme for Government, I committed to publishing a draft referendum bill.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I am determined that Scotland will have the ability to reconsider the question of independence &#8211; and to do so before the UK leaves the EU &#8211; if that is necessary to protect our country&#8217;s interests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So I can confirm today that the Independence Referendum Bill will be published for consultation next week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You know, there&#8217;s not a day that passes just now without someone advising me to hurry up with a referendum.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And there&#8217;s not a day that passes without someone advising me to slow down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Welcome to my world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But the responsibility of leadership is to act in the best interests of our country as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The morning after the EU referendum, I said that I&#8217;d be guided at all times by a simple, clear test.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What is best for the people of Scotland?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That&#8217;s the principle that I will continue to be guided by &#8211; and I know I can on your support every step of the way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Friends,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There is one final point I want to make. And it&#8217;s an important one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">When Scotland does come to take this decision again &#8211; whenever that might be &#8211; we must not take for granted how anyone will vote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It will be a new debate &#8211; not a rerun of 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We must not assume that people&#8217;s views &#8211; yes or no &#8211; are the same today as they were two years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Instead we must engage the arguments with a fresh eye and an open mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The case for independence will have to be made and won.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But let&#8217;s never lose sight of this &#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We are one of the wealthiest nations on earth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We are rich in natural resources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We are world-leaders in life sciences, technology and renewables.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We are at the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In tourism, and in food and drink we are unrivaled.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Our foundations are strong.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So if the choice we face is an inward looking, insular, Brexit Britain, governed by a right wing Tory party, obsessed with borders and blue passports at the expense of economic strength and stability &#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Or a progressive, outward looking, internationalist Scotland, able to chart our own course and build our own security and prosperity, then know this &#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8211; that is a case we will win.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Friends,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We stand for a fairer, wealthier, outward looking, progressive Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Let&#8217;s make it happen.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ARTICLE SOURCE: &gt;&gt; www.snp.org\/nicola_sturgeon_opening_address_2016 RELATED LINKS: SNP WEBSITE &gt;&gt; www.snp.org Below is the opening address given by Nicola Sturgeon to SNP Conference 2016. Conference. Welcome to the Dear Green Place. Welcome to the great city of Glasgow. A city that said Yes in 2014. A city where every citizen is now represented in the Scottish Parliament by an SNP constituency MSP. Let me begin today by warmly congratulating our new Depute Leader, Angus Robertson. We had four first class candidates to choose from. Indeed, we had more quality in our&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":775,"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions\/775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imadscotlandgroup.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}