Douglas Alexander's conference speech

Conference, it is an honour to address you as Labour's Secretary of State for Scotland.

And let me start by paying tribute to the work of my friend and my predecessor who kept the flag flying for Scottish Labour in the toughest of times.

So Ian - thank you - for the work you've done and the service that you've given our party.

Now at last year's General Election - when let's remember we held just two seats in Scotland - we made a promise that there would be Scots at the heart of a Labour Government.

And just over a year later, right across Government, Scottish Labour Ministers are harnessing the power of the U.K to deliver for Scotland.

Not just Ian's work on the creative industries at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, but Kirsty McNeil's work to deliver Local Regeneration from the Scotland Office, Michael Shanks and Martin McCluskey's work to deliver good jobs and clean power at the Department of Energy, Blair MacDougall's work to deliver our modern industrial strategy at the Department of Business and Zubir Ahmed's work at the Department of Health proving that with a Labour Government waiting lists come down.

We pledged that a vote for Scottish Labour wasn't just a vote to send a message.

It was a vote to send a Government.

A promise made. A promise delivered.

Now we all understand that across Scotland and across the whole of the U.K. people are still struggling.

Too many people feel ignored and forgotten.

And there is so much still to do.

We hear you. We get it.

But the simple truth is that no Government - however determined - could undo all the damage of 14 years in just 14 months.

So I want to assure you that the work of change in Scotland is now underway.

And the difference that we're making - as a Labour Government inspired by Labour values - is both meaningful and measurable.

Our Labour Government has already raised the minimum wage and delivered a pay rise for 200,000 of the lowest paid workers in Scotland.

We've delivered a £10 billion frigate deal that will secure 2000 well paid unionised jobs and guarantee the future of shipbuilding on the Clyde.

We've delivered the largest budget settlement for Scotland in the history of devolution, burying Tory austerity, once and for all.

And - thanks to the tireless campaigning of Scottish Labour MPs - last week a Labour led Scotland Office delivered direct funding of almost £300m for regeneration to communities across Scotland from the inner cities to the outer isles.

So why, with the U.K. Government now delivering record investment to Scotland, do our communities feel that their public services are worse not better?

The facts don't lie – 20 years of the SNP running Scotland has taken our nation backwards on education, backwards on health, backwards on housing, backwards on ferries and backwards on pretty much everything it's responsible for.

That's why their election strategy seems to be ‘we've made a mess of everything we're responsible for…so let's talk about anything other than running Scotland'.

Like independence, or Nigel Farage, or independence, or Donald Trump, or independence, or pretty much anything other than the state of Scotland.

Never has so much political capital been accumulated to so little effect.

Twenty years of Salmond, Sturgeon, Yousaf and Swinney - and there's so little to show for it.

Can you really claim to be stronger for Scotland when you've weakened all our public services and stagnated in Government?

Jackie Baillie put it best: The truth is if John Swinney knew how to fix the challenges Scotland faces he'd have done it by now.

But Conference, if the SNP won't talk about their record, then we will:

In our hospitals one in six of us are on a waiting list, 100,000 Scots waiting in preventable pain for more than a year.

In our schools, a sorry record of rising violence and falling standards.

A housing crisis that continues to worsen.

An economy held back.

The majority of the Scottish public already know the SNP are bad enough that they deserve to lose.

Our challenge over the coming months is to convince that majority that we're good enough that we deserve to win.

Together from now till next May we will make the case that a different future for our nation is possible.

The SNP, as a nationalist party, is dedicated to making Scotland independent - everyone understands that.

But the harsh truth is that if you wake up every morning thinking: “What can I do today to move Scotland closer to independence?” that means you start the day focussed on difference, division and grievance. 

In today's world of political, economic and technological turmoil that approach is letting Scotland down. 

Now is the time to focus on building not breaking, on cooperation not conflict, on working together not pulling apart.

We need and deserve a First Minister fully committed to solidarity and not separation to ensure Scotland's aspirations are backed by the UK's strength.

That's is why the next First Minister has to be someone who will put the people of Scotland first.

Before constitutional obsession, or party advantage, or populist politics.

Someone who will have to have the energy and ideas.

Someone willing to tackle failure and complacency and be the person who wakes up every morning thinking: “What can I do today to make Scotland's public services fit for Scotland's people and who can I work with today to make that happen faster?”

My friend, our Leader, Anas Sarwar has dedicated his life to public service.

From working as an NHS dentist in Paisley, to calling out racism and speaking up for the marginalised,

To delivering 37 Scottish Labour MPs and most recently delivering victory in Hamilton, Stonehouse and Larkhall by-election.

Anas Sarwar keeps listening, keeps working, keeps leading and keeps winning.

Conference, let me ask you to show your appreciation for our Scottish Labour Leader, the man I believe can and - with your support - will be Scotland's next First Minister, Anas Sarwar.