People who think of a nationalist party sometimes think ‘inward-looking and parochial.’ The kind of nationalism I represent is the opposite of that.
Instead of an end to austerity, Labour has made clear that it wants to impose more austerity cuts.
It’s very much the currency of discourse on social media where political disagreements very quickly become very personalised.
If something can be proven to work, we should try it… Making sure that our young folk get the best education is the only thing that matters to me, and if something can be shown to work in doing that or if something’s worth trying to do that, then I’ll certainly be in the market for it.
Sporting success doesn’t happen by accident. It takes hard work and determination on the part of the individual athletes. And it also takes investment in facilities and training support.
Because of lower life expectancy in Scotland – something that we are working hard to improve – the average woman will get £11,000 less in pension payments than counterparts in the rest of the U.K., even though she will pay exactly the same in contributions.
Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, it is possible for other parties to change the direction of a government without bringing a government down.
Of course, aid is only one small part of international development. Some of the greatest benefits to the world’s poorest can be achieved through policy changes by developed countries.
What a war in Iraq will not do is bring about peace in the Middle East or end the injustices that feed resentment and breed terrorists.
I came into politics because of my opposition to what a Tory Government was doing to the community I grew up in.
Some of the brightest and best women in our society are stifled in their ambitions.
This government and the party that I lead will continue to argue an alternative to the Tory-Labour austerity.
I’ve not had a deliberate image makeover.
Scotland has been re-energized, and people all over the country have become involved in – and informed about – politics and government in a way that I have never known before. In short, we have put ourselves firmly in control of our country.
Scottish politics, U.K. politics, is not really like American politics in this respect. Not everybody is absolutely obsessed with image. I’m not saying the United States is obsessed with image.
Literally every time I’m on camera, as well as there being commentary on what I’ve said, there’ll be commentary on what my hair looked like, what I wear. Often it’s written in the most hideous and quite cruel way.
When I was growing up, I was lucky to benefit from a first class education.
Labour long ago realised it could no longer automatically assume that it would win elections in Glasgow and other places where it has taken people’s votes for granted for decades – as we have seen across Scotland at local council and Holyrood elections.
I worry about the direction of the U.K. and U.K. politics and governance in the event of a Brexit.
As First Minister, I will always act in the best interests of the country. As party leader, I will always act in the best interests of the party, and if that sometimes means taking difficult, unpalatable decisions, I will never shy away from that.
I bow to no one in my ambition to see Glasgow be as successful as it possibly can be.
I stand here today as the first woman first minister of our country. Every day I hold this office, I will work to ensure that every woman, every wee girl across this country, gets a chance to do what I’ve done and follow their dream.
I was very proud, on just my second day in office, to appoint a gender-balanced cabinet – one of only three in the developed world.
I don’t know Ed Miliband as a person particularly well.
I think the first decision I took when I became a government minister was to reverse the planned closure of Monklands Accident and Emergency. It’s an issue close to my heart.
A minority government can’t govern without support from other parties.
I think the fact that people are even talking about the prospect of the Tories coming second is less about anything the Tories have done and more about the failures of Labour to set out, in any kind of coherent sense, what it’s for anymore.
Is it not typical that we have a Tory Government that wants, just like its pals in the Labour Party, constantly to talk down Scotland’s prospects?
Scotland almost invented the modern world. I mean, all of these televisions, telephones, penicillin, we all – all of these things were invented in Scotland.
Being a housewife is not important to me, but I’m never happier than when I come home and shut the door.
There is nothing in your background that inherently holds you back or means you can’t achieve what others can achieve. You are the master of your own fate, and if you work hard, you can do what you want.
The total impact of the Tory/Liberal tax, welfare and public spending changes has hit the poorest 10% in society disproportionately hard – and women have been affected even more badly than men.
Polls can change; people’s opinions can change. Voting intentions can change, and I think it would be a silly leader, a silly political party, that would assume that we have it sewn up.
Personally, I can think of no greater privilege than to lead the party I joined when I was just 16.
London has a centrifugal pull on talent, investment and business from the rest of Europe and the world. That brings benefits to the broader U.K. economy.
Not once in my life has the Tory Party come anywhere close to winning an election in Scotland, and yet, for more than half my life, we have had a Tory government. That is wrong and undemocratic.
I’m not going to do anything that heralds in a Tory government.
U.K. welfare cuts are pushing more children into poverty; that is beyond dispute.
Most politicians come into politics because they want to make a difference; we just have different ideas how to do it.
I am the granddaughter of an English woman. I love England and her people and, regardless of politics, consider you to be family… and always will.
In particular, I want to set a challenge to public bodies and private companies to improve gender balance on their own boards.
I am a believer in people succeeding on merit.
Would I love to think that one day I would be First Minister of an independent Scotland? Of course.
The oil and gas sector in the North Sea does have a strong future if we do the right things now, but we’ve got to make sure that the infrastructure is right to support the sector, but also to support, over the next few years, diversification as well.
Poverty is on the increase – due to welfare cuts – and demand for food banks has rocketed.
Ed Balls has made it crystal clear that, left to its own devices, a Labour government would simply carry on with the same budget policies as the Tories.
American companies based in Scotland employ large numbers of people – in fact, we are the best performing part of the U.K., outside London and the southeast of England when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment.
Social media is natural to me, and it’s a very immediate way of saying something. It’s the way politics are done these days. In modern politics, you can’t ignore that even if you wanted to. I can’t imagine doing politics without it.
Our MPs will take decisions on how they’re voting on a day-to-day basis. But I’m the leader of the party, and in terms of our overall strategy and how we vote on key issues, then ultimately, those decisions will be mine.
We already know that social security is more affordable in Scotland than it is in the rest of the U.K. – spending on social protection takes up a smaller share of our economic output and our tax revenues than is the case in the U.K. as a whole.
I feel comfortable in a position of leadership, but that’s not to say I feel complacent about it. I take it incredibly seriously.
I think Scotland will become an independent country. I’ve always believed that. It means that if I’m right on that, there has to be another referendum at some stage. But the timing and circumstances of that will require careful judgment.
I am quite hot-headed; I am quite impulsive. Fortunately, it doesn’t last very long.
My pledge to you is that the SNP will put women and gender equality right at the heart of the Westminster agenda.
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