Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged Scottish voters to make Scotland's voice "heard like before" in Westminster in May's United Kingdom elections.
Delivering a message to "Yes voters and to No voters" in last year's referendum and to those who never voted for the Scottish National Party before "to come together" on May and vote for SNP candidates, Sturgeon said: "Let us seize this historic moment to shift the balance of power from the corridors of Westminster to the streets and communities of Scotland.
“Let us – this time – vote SNP and make this nation’s voice heard like never before,” she said.
Presenting herself as the leader of the anti-austerity argument throughout the UK, Sturgeon told voters in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that they should not fear greater influence for the SNP in Westminster.
SNP MPs would vote to keep David Cameron and the Conservatives "locked out of Downing Street" in all circumstances, she said, but she demanded that Labour now guarantees that it would do the same.
“We will demand an alternative to slash and burn austerity. Responsible deficit reduction, yes. But cuts that tear at the very fabric of our society, penalise the poor, threaten our public services and stifle economic growth, let me make it crystal clear – those will not be in our name,” she went on.
The Scottish National Party is riding high in the polls, with some numbers predicting that it could wipe out, or nearly out Labour’s hold on 41 Westminster constituencies north of the border.
However, Sturgeon sought to restrain expectations somewhat, saying that the SNP had never won more than 11 seats – a feat it achieved in one of the 1974 general elections, before it fell back rapidly.
Membership of the party has jumped five-fold since the September referendum, now standing at 102,143. Indeed, the party now claims that it has more members in its branch in London than the Liberal Democrats have throughout Scotland.
The Conservatives have complained bitterly that a vote by SNP MPs against a legislative programme – the Queen’s Speech – put forward by the party would be a blow against democracy. Predictably, such language has provoked Scots’ outrage.
Seizing upon public feeling today, Sturgeon declared: “Well, friends, I don’t know about you – but I think any democratic, progressive party that frightens the life out of the Westminster establishment is good news for ordinary people in Scotland and right across these islands.
“Because here’s the thing. When these politicians – outrageously – describe the prospect of the SNP winning a general election in Scotland as some kind of threat to democracy, what they mean is that we pose a threat to their vested interests,” she said.
Telling voters elsewhere in the UK that the SNP remains as committed to Scotland becoming an independent country as it was last year, Sturgeon said the SNP would seek to lead progressive opinion across the UK.
“As long as Scotland remains part of the Westminster system, we will be your allies in seeking to shake up and reform that outdated and discredited system once and for all.
“Westminster needs to change. To be more responsive to the needs and demands of ordinary people, wherever they are in the UK,” she said, who received a standing ovation from 3,000 delegates.
The unelected House of Lords will have to be abolished; zero-hour contracts for low-paid workers will have to be abolished, while privatisation of the National Health Service will be forbidden if the SNP can influence legislation.
