Humza Yousaf managed to cut impressive figure at SNP conference

The delegates overwhelmingly gave a positive and indeed rousing response to a speech that was humane, compassionate, emotional, practical and demonstrated capability. All these – particularly the first two – are qualities which were notably absent from the speeches delivered at the recent Conservative Party conference where speakers vied with one another in cruelty and intolerance.

It was precisely the speech that a party rocked by its first Westminster by-election defeat and an incessant barrage of negative media attention needed to hear.

Many in the hall were moved when Humza Yousaf spoke about the difficulties being experienced by his in-laws, who are currently trapped in the Gaza Strip under Israeli bombardment.

While unequivocally condemning the terrorist attacks by Hamas which have seen civilians including women and children being killed or kidnapped, he also condemned Israel's collective punishment of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza, saying: "Any form of collective punishment, as we are seeing in Gaza, can never be justified – 2.2 million innocent people cannot pay the price for the actions of Hamas."

Unlike the Tories, who treat migrants, refugees and asylum seekers as a form of virulent disease, he called for the British Government to immediately begin work on the creation of a refugee resettlement scheme for those in Gaza who want to – and are able to – leave.

He added: "And when they do so, Scotland is willing to be the first country in the UK to offer safety and sanctuary to those caught up in these terrible attacks."

It was the clearest demonstration possible of the difference between the SNP-led Scottish Government and the Conservative government in Westminster.

The big surprise

The speech also contained some major policy announcements. The first of these was the announcement of a freeze next year on council tax. He noted that this was necessary because of the Conservative-created cost of living crisis, saying: "I never thought that in 2023, people on above-average salaries would be coming to my constituency surgeries asking for financial help."

The freeze on council tax was one of a number of policies unveiled by the First Minister during the speech, which also included an additional £1 billion of spending over the next few years on areas ranging from the NHS to arts and culture.

However, the big surprise in the speech was the announcement that the Scottish Government will for the first time issue bonds in order to finance key infrastructure projects. The 2016 Scotland Act contained a provision for the Scottish Government to issue bonds, but this is the first time that the Scottish Government has made use of this power.

Making the announcement, the First Minister said: "This will be a first for the Scottish Government and is a significant undertaking. The next steps will involve the commissioning of detailed analysis and necessary due diligence."

'Bold and brave' bonds

Bonds are the most common way in which governments around the world borrow money. Those who buy the bonds are guaranteed the value of the bond plus interest over a specified period of time.

Economist Richard Murphy (below) hailed the move, calling it "bold and brave" and saying that it must be applauded. He said that it was significant because it signalled a way of putting a lot of money into the Scottish economy.

He added: "It's also significant because what he’s saying is that Scotland can do this, independent of what Westminster is going to say and it can do it without independence.

"He's making a bold statement about the credibility of Scotland as a country without first of all getting independence and I think that's important, particularly important at a time when there are questions about how the route to independence might come about."

The mood from the media

Of course, the anti-independence Scottish media did its best to undermine the significance of the speech. On Reporting Scotland, the segment on the First Minister's speech was immediately followed by a piece of equal or greater length devoted to an interview with Lisa Cameron (below), the SNP MP who recently defected to the Tories.

We learned that she would not vote for independence in a referendum – quelle surprise – despite saying last week that she still supported independence despite joining the Conservatives. Who knew that “Vote Tory for Scottish independence” was a thing?

It seems that she ditched all her previous political beliefs because Rishi Sunak was nice to her. If that was all it took, then perhaps it's for the best that she's gone. She then launched into a condemnation of "toxic nationalism", resolutely ignoring the toxic and intolerant Anglo-British nationalism which is the defining characteristic of the Conservative Party.

Unlike the First Minister's speech, and the independence strategy agreed by delegates to the SNP party conference, which will have lasting consequences, Lisa Cameron's defection is an ephemeral irrelevance, but then ephemeral irrelevances are the anti-independence media's stock in trade.

The entitlement stakes

Meanwhile, in the latest edition of the English nationalist entitlement stakes, the Telegraph newspaper has published a piece which calls on Scottish, Welsh and Irish rugby fans to get behind England in the Rugby World Cup on the dubious grounds that the English team is the only remaining representative of the northern hemisphere.

So apparently we ought to support England in order to stick it to all those Down Under types with their Christmas in mid summer.

Somehow, I can't see the Telegraph ever employing the same logic to tell England fans that they need to support France or Germany.