The Perth air was thick with sporting rhetoric as a Commonwealth Games-inspired SNP got up and running in the marathon 2011 Scottish Parliament election campaign on Thursday.
The party’s four-day annual conference began at Perth Concert Hall with Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon choosing Scotland’s council tax as the first field of conflict for themselves and Labour.
She announced that the Nationalists will fight the election with a two-year pledge to freeze council tax high on their list of manifesto commitments.
Ms Sturgeon may not have been decked out head to toe in Scottish Commonwealth Games attire as leader Alex Salmond had been earlier in the week but there was no doubt that the Delhi feelgood factor had found its way to Perth.
“This is a special day for many reasons,” she said in her opening address.
“It is a special day for Scotland and a particularly proud day for Glasgow as we become the official hosts of the Commonwealth Games.
“And on that note let us congratulate Team Scotland on a fantastic, 26 medal-winning Commonwealth Games performance in Delhi.
“Today is also important because we fire the starting gun for next year’s Scottish election, the campaign for our re-election as Scotland’s government.
“This is an election we go into with confidence and belief and with an absolute iron determination to win for Scotland.”
On the council tax issue, Ms Sturgeon told delegates, “The last few years have been tough and the next few will be tougher still.
She continued, “Our action to freeze the council tax for the last three years has given real help to families, the low paid and pensioners at a time when family budgets have been squeezed.Council tax”Labour say it’s time to end the freeze and to put council tax up again.
“I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised the last time they had their hands on the levers of power in Scotland they put it up by 60%.
“Putting up council tax is what they do. Well we say different and we will do differently.
“The budget we will present to parliament in the next few weeks will make available the money to freeze the council tax next year.
“But we will go further than that. Our manifesto for the election next year will also include the commitment to put the resources in place to freeze the council tax the year after as well.
“We will act to freeze the council tax for the next two years. That is our pledge to the people of Scotland.”First MinisterMs Sturgeon’s speech was preceded by a video message from the First Minister, who was attending the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.
He said, “Four years ago, here in Perth, we launched the successful campaign that led to our historic victory in the 2007 Scottish election. Therefore it is the right place to launch our election campaign once again.
“This is a campaign that this week will see millions of Scots invited to join us in making our nation better. Today we are raising the bar. Today our campaign for victory begins.
“And victory next May is more important than ever. The SNP is the only political party offering a solution to the problems facing our nation. It is only through independence and greater financial responsibility that we will be able to protect the very fabric of our society.
“Huge cuts are coming and independence cannot magic them away. However, it will allow us to create the economic growth and increased revenue that will reduce the size of the problem, perhaps by half.
“There is much more to do,” Mr Salmond added.
“Over these next few months the SNP will be presenting our vision and our ideas to people across Scotland. Today is the first step the start of this new phase in Scotland’s journey.
“We can work together to identify the shared priorities for our nation. Together we can make Scotland a better place to live, work and bring up a family.”