Nicola Sturgeon's Speech In Dumfries

The last time I spoke at a political meeting in Dumfries was shortly after the referendum.  
 
I wasn’t First Minister then and I certainly didn’t expect to be standing here – three days before a UK election – with Scotland, and the influence Scotland can have, centre stage.  
 
How times can change - and change for the better.
 
And with just three days to go, there is no doubt that Dumfries is the right place to be to talk about just what Scotland having influence and a strong voice at Westminster can mean for every part of our country – if you put your trust in the SNP on Thursday.
 
The fact is that at this Westminster election your vote really counts - it counts whether you live in Dumfries, Dundee or Durham.  
 
That is the power of the people in this election.

Let us be clear what this election is about.

It is about ensuring a strong voice for Scotland - a strong voice that can undo the damage of the last five years of Tory government.
 
It is about making sure that the next government puts people first.

It is about ending Tory cuts and austerity

It is about protecting our NHS.

It is about making work pay with a higher minimum wage.

It is about investing in childcare and education, not in new nuclear weapons.
 
It is - above all - about giving Scotland the power and the voice at Westminster that we need to deliver progressive policies for the benefit of Scotland and for the whole UK.

If people in Scotland come together on Thursday to deliver a strong voice at Westminster, we can put those priorities and those values at the heart of the next Westminster parliament.

And we will do that not just for Scotland – but for the UK as a whole.

The fact is that ending austerity is just as important in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as it is in Scotland.

Cuts and austerity have hit people hard, held back our economy and put our public services at risk.

We simply cannot allow Tory cuts to continue – regardless of whether those cuts are proposed by the Tory Party or by the Labour Party.

Let’s just look at the impact on the NHS.

The NHS is an essential service that is close to all of our hearts.

It, and all of those who work in it, deserve the best support we can possibly give them.

We all rely at some point in our lives on our National Health Service.

It does a wonderful job but it isn’t perfect. In England the Head of the NHS says it needs an additional £8 billion by 2020.

Yet because of their devotion to the macho cuts agenda of the Tories, the Labour Party has failed to pledge that money to the NHS.

And the Tories have failed to say where they would find the money from.

The SNP will not let that stand.

Our plan for modest spending increases and fair taxes will mean that we can protect the NHS.
 
We will vote against privatisation, to undo the damage the Tories have done and restore the NHS in England as a fully public service.
 
And let me make this clear - we will always vote for the NHS to have the money it needs.

Proper investment in the NHS across the UK will generate an extra £2 billion for the NHS in Scotland.
 
That is just one of the policies we know people want - and which we will use our influence at Westminster to deliver.

It is a real, tangible, example of how SNP MPs can make a big difference.

You know, it is really no surprise that, after a campaign in which both of the big Westminster parties have sought to keep from the voters what they actually plan on doing in government, neither of them is on course for a majority at Westminster.  
 
That might be a problem for them - but the prospect of a balanced parliament is a massive opportunity for Scotland and for all who believe in more progressive politics.
 
I have a cast iron guarantee for you.
 
A clear commitment of what the SNP will do - and what we will not do.
 
SNP MPs will never - ever - vote to put a Tory government into office.
 
No matter the arithmetic the nation wakes up to on Friday morning, we will never back a Tory government.
 
We know that Tory government is bad for Scotland and bad for the rest of the UK.    
 
We have heard strong voices over the course of this campaign, from all parts of the UK, who share our aim of ending austerity and backing the NHS.
 
So we will not do anything that would put the Tories into office.
 
Indeed, if there is an anti Tory majority on Friday morning, we will call on Labour - even if they are not the largest party - to vote with us to keep the Tories out.
 
And, surely, any Labour leader who turned his back on that and allowed the Tories to get back into office, rather than work with the SNP to keep them out - as Ed Miliband suggested last week that he would - would simply never be forgiven in Scotland, or indeed in many other parts of the UK.
 
If we can get the Tories out, we should get the Tories out.
 
But let me also say this - Labour should not take our cast iron commitment to keep the Tories out as a free pass for them.
 
A strong group of SNP MPs will not let Labour simply be a paler version of the Tories – we will challenge them to become a better version of the Labour Party.
 
We will use our influence - whatever influence Scotland gives us - to make sure that the Tories are replaced with a government that is better, bolder and more progressive.
 
There has been much discussion in recent days of how SNP influence in the Commons will work.  
 
And let me be clear - the influence of a big team of SNP MPs in a minority House of Commons, governed by the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, would be significant.
 
We would use that influence responsibly and constructively at all times - but always with a view to winning better and more progressive policies.
 
Let me give just a few examples
 
If Labour propose a minimum wage of only £8.00 an hour – we will push for it to be £8.70.
 
If Labour fail to offer the NHS the full financial support it needs – we will put forward proposals that would support our NHS and we will build support for that, in parliament and across the country.
 
If Labour remain committed to Tory cuts, we will give their MPs a choice – vote with the Tories for cuts or vote with the SNP for an end to austerity.
 
And if Labour push for parliament to spend £100bn on new nuclear weapons we will vote against it and we will challenge others to vote with us to stop the renewal of Trident.
 
SNP MPs will be a strong group in that Westminster parliament – very different to the feeble Scottish Labour MPs of the past.
 
And if Ed Miliband is wrongheaded enough to be reject an anti-Tory alliance and let David Cameron back into power – then we will use a strong block of SNP MPs, working with allies across the UK, to protect Scotland from the damage of a Tory government, in a way that Labour never has.
 
There is another reason why voting SNP and giving Scotland a strong voice at Westminster will be positive for democracy.
 
Westminster is supposed to be the parliament and the government for the whole of the UK.
 
It often hasn't felt that way for Scotland as we have had to put up with Tory governments that we have rejected. I am sure parts of England have felt exactly the same.
 
So surely a test of legitimacy that should be applied to whatever Westminster government is formed after this election cannot simply be that it is the largest party in England.
 
The test that must be applied is whether a government can build a majority and win support that reflects the whole of the UK.  
 
English MPs will always be the largest part of any Westminster majority, but to ignore Scottish voices would be wrong.
 
So if on Friday morning there are a number of progressive voices elected to Westminster from across the whole of the UK who – with Labour – can lock the Tories out and ensure influence and representation for all parts of the UK, that would be more balanced, surely, than a party trying to take power without UK wide support.
 
The SNP will use our influence in Westminster to give Scotland a strong voice – but we will do it by working with allies from the rest of the UK, and I pledge that we will do it with the interests of people across the UK firmly in mind as well.

We will make sure progressive policies are delivered.
 
There are three days left in this election campaign.  
 
Let me spell out what that means.
 
It means we have three days to stop Tory cuts.
 
Three days to stop Tory cuts simply being replaced by Labour cuts.
 
Three days to deliver better paid jobs
 
Three days to win greater investment in our NHS.
 
And three days to ensure Scotland's voice is heard louder than it ever has been before at Westminster.
 
So over these next three days, my plea to Scotland is this.
 
Let us come together as one country, Yes and No, people who always vote SNP and those who never have before, rural Scotland, urban Scotland, island Scotland.
 
Let us come together in a spirit of unity and make our voice heard.
 
The more seats the SNP wins on Thursday, the more power Scotland will have.
 
It is that simple.