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Meeting of the Parliament 31 May 2012

31 May 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Scotland’s Future

Salmond, Alex SNP Aberdeenshire East Watch on SPTV

I do not know whether that laugh was for Tommy Brennan but, in my opinion, he did more for Scottish industry than any member on the Labour benches.

Paul Leslie, a former Conservative councillor, is supporting independence. Most people round his way are former Conservative councillors, so I understand.

Peter Dodge, a crofter, Julie McElroy, a disabilities campaigner and Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, chair of the Scottish Asian Women’s Association, are also supporting independence.

What unites all those people from across society is a common cause and a shared purpose. We believe that the people who care most about Scotland—the people of Scotland—should be in charge of the nation’s future. No one, but no one, will do as good a job for our country as the people of Scotland themselves. That is why being independent will enable our country to make the progress that it needs to make so that we can realise our potential and build a nation that is fairer, greener and more successful than it is today.

The timetable is laid out. Next year, the Scottish Government will publish a white paper setting out the details of the independence prospectus. It will present the Government’s case for independence and the starting point for the nation—how we will be governed. It will be the prospectus that is put before the people in 2014.

That prospectus will be a single-chamber Parliament, with a First Minister and a Cabinet selected by Parliament as it is today; elections that use the same system of proportional representation; local government with the same powers and responsibilities; and a High Court and a Court of Session that resume their historic roles as the supreme courts of Scotland. The prospectus will set out a Scotland that is a member of the European Union, that has the Queen as our head of state and that has sterling as our currency. On our first day as an independent country, that is how Scotland will be.

I remember campaigning with the Labour Party—not with the Tories—in the devolution referendum. We made it clear that the job of the referendum was to specify the nature of the devolved Parliament—then it was up to the people to decide which party would run that devolved Parliament. Once we set the structure of the state, the people of Scotland will decide whether they want a social democratic Scotland with the SNP, a socialist Scotland—perhaps not with the Labour Party, but people will put forward that position—a green Scotland, a free enterprise Scotland, or a Scotland with whatever combination of policies the Scottish people choose.

For all of us, the single most important question to ask ourselves in representing our people is this: is it not an essential truth that the people best placed to run this country are the people of Scotland ourselves? If we lead this nation as a Parliament should and speak out with a clear voice today, we will be better placed to build a Scotland that transcends the experience of this Parliament and betters the lives of every man, woman and child in Scotland.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that Scotland should be an independent country; sees it as the responsibility of this generation to hand over a better country to the next generation than the one inherited, and believes that it is vital for the people of Scotland to take full responsibility for the decisions about the future of Scotland. [Applause.]

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Meeting of the Parliament 31 May 2012

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