Nicola Sturgeon has told the Scottish National party’s annual conference that independence makes the “case for optimism” in troubled times, and promised Scotland “a steady and compassionate hand on the tiller”.
The first minister spoke of the “massive responsibility of me and my government” to help Scots through the cost of living crisis, as she spoke to delegates in Aberdeen at the party’s first in-person conference since the pandemic.
Contrasting the UK government’s plans to “bundle [asylum seekers] on to planes like unwanted cargo”, Sturgeon emphasised Scotland’s international responsibility to stand with those in Iran, Afghanistan, Russian [sic], Belarus and Ukraine.
Sturgeon’s blunt assertion that she “detests” the Tories, made on the Laura Kuennsberg TV show on Sunday morning, attracted criticism from opponents and dominated Monday’s front pages, but she did not baulk at describing the tax cutting package announced by the UK government as “unconscionable”. » | Libby Brooks, Scotland correspondent | Monday, October 10, 2022
