Christian MSP reacts to SNP conference

Nicola Sturgeon, the party’s leader, has insisted her SNP Government is still trusted to deliver in Scotland. She focused on social policies, such as education and energy prices. 

In June’s snap general election, her party lost 21 of the 56 seats it had secured in 2015, with its share of the vote going from 50% to 37%.

Ms Sturgeon, making her key note address to the SNP conference in Glasgow, conceded that there had been “tough days” for the party.

But she provided opponents with a “gentle reality check”, saying her party was polling at “a higher level today than we were at this point in the honeymoon days after our 2007 win or our landslide in 2011”.

Forbes, who represents Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch told Premier: “It’s a great opportunity to reflect on decisions that we’ve made and reset the direction we’re going in”.

She continued: “There has been a reset. In June, Nicola Sturgeon talked about resetting her policy direction and we’ve saw that with the programme for government in early September where she brought forward 13 pieces of hefty legislation that were quite radical and well received.

“She was demonstrating that we’re very much committed to working with the people of Scotland and looking to the future of Scotland.

There have been accusations that we’re taking our eye off the day job but we are committed to proving that we are serious about leaving Scotland in a better place than when we started governing 10 years ago.”

On the policies that arose from the conference she commented: “One of the main focuses has been education.

“Those that are currently working in science and technology will get a £20,000 bursary to go into teacher training so they can teach the young people of the future their subjects.”

Here’s Kate Forbes speaking with Premier’s Cara Bentley:

Christian MSP Kate Forbes said the SNP conference was a great time to hit the reset button for the party.