SNP could hold the balance of power at Westminster
Discussion
This has got to be a load of guff comming from the Fish named idiot!!!
How realistic is this. Have we not had enough of the Scotts Running UK PLC. They dont have the greatest track record of late in getting things right.
How realistic is this. Have we not had enough of the Scotts Running UK PLC. They dont have the greatest track record of late in getting things right.
Daily Record said:
ALEX Salmond claimed yesterday that the SNP could hold the balance of power at Westminster after next year's general election.
The First Minister told his party's annual conference it would make no difference to Scotland if Labour or the Tories won.
And he said he was hoping for a hung parliament, with a bloc of at least 20 SNP MPs to "protect" Scotland from the spending cuts both the main UK parties were planning.
Salmond was greeted by rapturous cheers from 500 party activists in Inverness.
He told them: "In the SNP's 75-year history, we have never been closer to our objective of independence for our nation."
He vowed to use the conference as a "launchpad" for next month's Glasgow North-East by-election, and the general election that's expected next May.
Salmond said: 'In that general election, our objective is clear. We are going to make Scotland's voice heard.
"We are going to see a Scottish bloc of at least 20 SNP MPs. If we achieve that, Scotland will not only be heard, Scotland's demands will be met. Tory, Labour, Labour, Tory - it makes no difference.
"The only difference is how severe the cuts will be and the timescale on which they are to be implemented.
"A key objective will be to protect Scotland in a way only a Scottish bloc of MPs will be able to do."
Salmond echoed the theme of his speech in a party political broadcast shown to delegates and aired last night.
He again hit out at the cuts he said were planned by Labour and the Tories. And he insisted: "It will make no difference to Scotland if Labour or the Conservatives wield the knife.
"The Labour and Tory battle is the phoney war. The real battle is for Scotland and we have what it takes to win."
Salmond is hoping for a hung parliament come despite polls which suggest the Tories are on course for an outright majority. And his dream of holding the balance of power has been attacked by Labour, who accused the SNP of being prepared to prop up a Tory government.
Salmond claimed at the conference that Scotland was two thirds of the way to independence, after establishing the Holyrood parliament and choosing a Nationalist government.
He said: "Step three is going from government in Scotland to achieving national independence for Scotland."
Salmond also hit out at Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems for refusing to back his plans for an independence referendum.
The Nats want a place for Salmond at the TV general election debate which could be held between the main UK party leaders.
And the conference passed a motion urging the telly companies to give in to their demands.
Snp Westminster leader Angus Robertson claimed the debate would have to include Salmond if it wanted to be "relevant".
He said: "It would be entirelyunacceptableand unfair to broadcast to a Scottish audience and exclude the party that and 37 forms the government in Scotland."
The SNP's struggling Scottish Futures Trust, set up to build schools and hospitals, will come under fire today from a right-wing thinktank.
Reform Scotland will call for a new version of Labour's Public Private Partnerships, but with governments allowed to borrow at cheaper rates than those offered by the banks.
The Futures Trust has failed to match the school and hospital building programmes of the previous Labour-Lib Dem administration. And Reform Scotland chairman Ben Thompson said: 'We desperately need a new vehicle to get momentum back."
The First Minister told his party's annual conference it would make no difference to Scotland if Labour or the Tories won.
And he said he was hoping for a hung parliament, with a bloc of at least 20 SNP MPs to "protect" Scotland from the spending cuts both the main UK parties were planning.
Salmond was greeted by rapturous cheers from 500 party activists in Inverness.
He told them: "In the SNP's 75-year history, we have never been closer to our objective of independence for our nation."
He vowed to use the conference as a "launchpad" for next month's Glasgow North-East by-election, and the general election that's expected next May.
Salmond said: 'In that general election, our objective is clear. We are going to make Scotland's voice heard.
"We are going to see a Scottish bloc of at least 20 SNP MPs. If we achieve that, Scotland will not only be heard, Scotland's demands will be met. Tory, Labour, Labour, Tory - it makes no difference.
"The only difference is how severe the cuts will be and the timescale on which they are to be implemented.
"A key objective will be to protect Scotland in a way only a Scottish bloc of MPs will be able to do."
Salmond echoed the theme of his speech in a party political broadcast shown to delegates and aired last night.
He again hit out at the cuts he said were planned by Labour and the Tories. And he insisted: "It will make no difference to Scotland if Labour or the Conservatives wield the knife.
"The Labour and Tory battle is the phoney war. The real battle is for Scotland and we have what it takes to win."
Salmond is hoping for a hung parliament come despite polls which suggest the Tories are on course for an outright majority. And his dream of holding the balance of power has been attacked by Labour, who accused the SNP of being prepared to prop up a Tory government.
Salmond claimed at the conference that Scotland was two thirds of the way to independence, after establishing the Holyrood parliament and choosing a Nationalist government.
He said: "Step three is going from government in Scotland to achieving national independence for Scotland."
Salmond also hit out at Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems for refusing to back his plans for an independence referendum.
The Nats want a place for Salmond at the TV general election debate which could be held between the main UK party leaders.
And the conference passed a motion urging the telly companies to give in to their demands.
Snp Westminster leader Angus Robertson claimed the debate would have to include Salmond if it wanted to be "relevant".
He said: "It would be entirelyunacceptableand unfair to broadcast to a Scottish audience and exclude the party that and 37 forms the government in Scotland."
The SNP's struggling Scottish Futures Trust, set up to build schools and hospitals, will come under fire today from a right-wing thinktank.
Reform Scotland will call for a new version of Labour's Public Private Partnerships, but with governments allowed to borrow at cheaper rates than those offered by the banks.
The Futures Trust has failed to match the school and hospital building programmes of the previous Labour-Lib Dem administration. And Reform Scotland chairman Ben Thompson said: 'We desperately need a new vehicle to get momentum back."
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