Fellow nationalists,

Let's give Alex Salmond a very warm welcome back from Delhi.

And let us also say a big well done to all our fantastic Scottish athletes.

26 medals is a tremendous performance. Team Scotland did us proud, they made us proud and we congratulate all of them.

Of course, the First Minister was in Delhi, not just to support our athletes but also to bring the Games back to Scotland.

In four years time, as Glasgow hosts the Commonwealth Games, the eyes of the world will be on us.

What an opportunity for us to showcase all that is great about Scotland.

An opportunity to tell the world that we are a proud and confident nation.

It's an opportunity that we need to grasp with both hands. An opportunity not to be missed.

Which makes it all the more important that, when that moment comes, we do not have a First Minister who has built his career by talking Scotland down. Someone who is relentlessly negative. Someone who takes every opportunity to tell the world that Scotland is too small, too weak and too poor to be independent.

Delegates, the last thing  - the very last thing - Scotland will need, when we have a chance to shine on the world stage, is Iain Gray as First Minister.

What we will need in 2014 and what we need every day until then is exactly what we have now - a First Minister who will always talk our country up, a statesman, a champion, a leader we can be proud of.

Delegates,

Our leader is in a different league to those of the other parties. The people sensed that in 2007, now they know it to be true.

So in May, our message will be loud and clear. This country needs a leader who is up to the job - so let us re-elect Alex Salmond as Scotland's First Minister.

Delegates,

In just six months it will be time to seek re-election.

Let me say to you today that the opportunity to serve our country over these past three and a half years as a member of the first ever SNP government has been an honour.

I know that I speak on behalf of all of my ministerial colleagues when I say that.

And I speak for all of us, too, when I say that there is not a single day that passes when we don't remember the work of those who tilled the soil. The giants of our movement whose efforts and sacrifices made our progress possible.

We owe all of them a huge debt of gratitude.

But we owe them more than that. We owe it to them - and to Scotland  - to make sure that this SNP government, the first SNP government in history, is followed immediately by the second SNP government in history.

That is our responsibility. It is a big responsibility.

So let us resolve here today that we will win this election for Scotland.

We go into the campaign with every reason to be confident.

Not over-confident. Not arrogant. Not complacent.

We'll leave all of those unattractive, election-losing traits to Labour.

Instead we will take our case to the people with humility, with passion, with determination and with the firm belief that we have what it takes to guide our country through the tough times.

We have a record to be proud of. We have strong leadership and a wealth of experience.

And, most importantly of all, we offer a clear alternative - we offer the only alternative - to a Labour party that wrecked our economy and a Tory/Liberal coalition whose policies will wreck our society.

Delegates,

The last few years have been tough. Really tough. For individuals, for families, for communities and for businesses.

But the action we have taken has made a difference - a real difference to people's lives.

The last time Labour was in office, council tax went up by 60% and we should never let that be forgotten. We froze the council tax, helping people at a time when family budgets are tight. And now, as Labour plans to hike it up again, making the low paid and pensioners pay the price of their economic failure, I am proud, so proud, that this government, our SNP government, will take action to freeze the council tax again.

Under Labour, our NHS was becoming ever more centralised. A&E units, maternity units, neurosurgery centres were all facing the axe. We saved them, each and every one, and today healthcare is better and more local as a result.

Small businesses used to struggle with very little help from government. It was us, the SNP, who reduced or abolished business rates for almost eighty thousand small businesses.

And it was this government, our government, that put 1000 more police on our streets, making Scotland safer and driving crime down to it's lowest level in 32 years.

All of that - and so much more - is our record and we should be proud of it.

Of course Labour will try to talk it down. But they do that only because they know that we have done more - much more - in under 4 years than they managed in double that time.

And the next time you hear any of our opponents accuse us of broken promises, remember that they are the ones - Labour, the Tories and the Liberals - who have time and again stood in the path of progress.

So to those who share our frustration that we don't yet have fair local tax based on the ability to pay; or that on the big issue of alcohol misuse, the opposition put party politics ahead of public health; and to those who share our anger that Scotland has been denied the democratic right to choose our own future, we say this -

Vote down the Labour/Tory/Liberal coalition of obstruction and strengthen our hand as we seek to free Scotland from the forces that hold us back.

Delegates,

Next May, we will stand on our record and we will do so with pride.

We should also be confident about what we can achieve in the future. We have an experienced team to guide the country through tough times. To face up to the challenges ahead and take the right decisions to protect what matters most.

Few things matter more than our NHS.

I am so very proud of our Scottish National Health Service. I am proud of its founding principles and of its determination always to push the boundaries, not only in treating ill health but in preventing it too.

Two years ago, I announced funding for a screening programme for young athletes to reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death, an illness that robs us of too many seemingly healthy young people.

The screening programme has been a huge success. More than 800 young athletes have been screened. Many health problems have been identified and early intervention has meant that none of the young people have had to give up competitive sport.

There is no doubt that this screening programme can save lives.

Those who run it want to continue it for at least another two years and to set up satellite screening units in rural areas.

I think they should get the go ahead. So I am pleased to announce today funding of £150,000 to extend the screening programme for a further two years.

A relatively small investment but one with a big impact for our young sportsmen and women. And a great example of the wonders of modern health technology.

Delegates,

I am full of admiration for the thousands of staff who work so hard to make the NHS what it is. They are gold medal winners every single day and they deserve a huge thank you from all of us.

I am proud, too, of our achievements in health. And there are many of them.

Waiting times are at a record low and hidden waiting lists are a thing of the past.

Cancer treatment is faster than ever. Ten years ago, Labour promised to cut cancer waiting times and didn't come even close to delivering. But where they failed, we have succeeded.

And now, as the Tories in England abandon waiting times targets, in Scotland we will drive them down further.

Delegates,

Mark my words, as long as we are in government, there will be no return to the bad old days of long waits for operations.

And just as waiting times have fallen, so too has the number of people getting infections in our hospitals. Infection rates are now lower than ever. C-difficile cases have fallen by 60% since we took office.

There is more to do, of course, but I am proud of the progress we have made and I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to achieve it. But let me make special mention of the hospital cleaners. The unsung heroes of our NHS. They do a fantastic job.

And, you know, there are a lot more of them now than there were when we took office. 1000 more to be exact. Another SNP achievement to be proud of.

Delegates,

All of this - and so much more - has been achieved in our publicly-funded, publicly-delivered NHS.

As it faces the future, the NHS needs to be open to new ideas and new ways of working.

But there is one thing that will never change.

And that is our commitment to the NHS as a service - a public service.

South of the border, the Tories are breaking up the NHS and they want an ever greater role for the private sector. If they get their way, 10 years from now there will be no NATIONAL health service.

Of course, Labour are getting all high and mighty about it now that they are in opposition. But it was their NHS reforms that laid the foundation for what the Tories are doing now.

Delegates, there are those who say we should go down the same road as England.  I say, look across the Atlantic at the USA and see where that road ends. Healthcare that is of the highest standard, certainly, but for the few not the many. A system where ill health can lead to bankruptcy. A system that is costly, inefficient and divisive.

That is not the Scottish way. So let me be clear: we will stop the Tory privatisation of the National Health Service at the border.

Delegates

The Scottish National Health Service is safe in our hands and that commitment will be reflected in the budget decisions we take.

We've made a clear commitment to pass on the proceeds of any rise in NHS spending south of the border to the NHS in Scotland.

Let me spell out exactly what that means. At a time when our revenue budget overall is facing significant cash cuts, there will be no revenue cash cuts in the budget for our NHS. Instead funding for our National Health Service will rise in line with the commitment we have given.

Delegates, that is a pledge that Labour has refused to match. Asked directly a few weeks ago if he would protect the NHS budget, Iain Gray said 'no'.

So now we know Labour's stance on two key policy issues - they'll put council tax up and they'll cut the NHS budget.

With policies like those, Labour is not fit to be in opposition let alone government.

Delegates,

Labour may duck and dive but our commitment is crystal clear - the SNP will protect the National Health Service.

Of course, with the costs of healthcare rising fast, it would be wrong to say that the NHS doesn't face any financial challenges. It does.

It will need to make efficiency savings over the next few years just as it has done in the last few.

That will be tough but it has to be done.

And it must be done in a way that protects the quality of patient care. That is our priority.

So I am setting a challenging new target for health boards.

I can announce, today, that over the lifetime of the next parliament, health boards will be expected to cut the number of senior managers by 25%.

Not because we don't value the work that managers do, but because when budgets are tight we must spend every penny that we possibly can directly on patient care.

That saving, together with other non-clinical efficiency savings, will release more than £100m a year - money that will help to protect services, ensure the highest quality of patient care and protect the fundamental values of our NHS.

Delegates,

It is that kind of action that allows me today to make another very important announcement. One that is of huge importance to thousands of people across the country, to those with long term health conditions and to 600,000 people on low incomes.

For the last three years, we have been reducing the cost of prescription charges. Under Labour, charges went up to nearly £7. Under the SNP, they have come down to £3.

Some have argued that in this financial climate, we should not go ahead with our plan to abolish prescription charges next year.

Well, times are tight.

But I believe, this government believes, that the last people who should be paying the price of Labour's economic mess are the sick.

So, delegates, I can confirm that the government has decided that in April next year, as promised, prescription charges will be abolished.

Delegates,

Over these past three and a half years, we have used the powers of our Parliament to the full and we have used them well.

As the recession took hold, we took determined action on the economy. We accelerated capital spending and pumped money into public sector housing to support thousands of construction jobs.

That action also resulted in more public sector houses being started last year than in any year since the 1970s. Another great achievement that we should be proud of.

But now, as a direct result of Labour's economic mismanagement, we face Tory and Liberal cuts on an unprecedented scale. Cuts that go too far, too fast.

Cuts that have the potential to do real damage to communities and to our public services.

Cuts that are wrong for Scotland.

As Scotland's government we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect the vulnerable and to safeguard the services that people value. And we will.

But we must do more than that.

We must persuade the Scottish people that there is a better way. A Scottish government worthy of the name must do more than simply manage Westminster cuts.

Now, more than the ever before, Scotland needs the powers of independence.

Being able to take action that is right for Scotland, action that will grow our economy faster and raise more revenue, is the only alternative to years of savage spending cuts that will eat away at the very fabric of our society.

That will be the central issue at the heart of this election campaign.

Labour, of course, will take a different view. Instead of striving for a better way of doing things, they will attempt to use the economic climate to undermine Scottish confidence.

They have started already. The old Labour favourite is back. Scotland is too small and too weak to be independent.

And these days, they don't just talk Scotland down. They have a more international outlook. Iain Gray now likes to insult our small European neighbours as well.

Delegates,

The problem for him, though, is this. For all Ireland's economic problems, Labour will not find anyone in Ireland who would swap independence for control by London.

And they certainly won't find anyone in Norway who would give up that country's massive oil fund for the squandering of Scotland's oil resources over generations by successive Westminster governments.

Delegates,

There is a hard reality that Labour can't escape. The recession, the deficit, the public spending cuts - none of these are the result of Scottish policies.

The lesson of our economic problems is not that Scotland can't be independent.

The real lesson is that we should not let London run our economy.

Delegates,

The election is now just 200 days away.

We have what it takes to win.

We have a record to be proud of on hospitals, on schools, on tuition fees, on the police and on council tax. We have experience in government. We have the best leader, the best team and we have a clear vision for the future.

We know that by working together, all of us, people and government, we can make Scotland better.

If we pull together as a country, we can and we will emerge stronger and more successful.

That is our task. To unite Scotland in a common purpose. The purpose of making our country better.The purpose of making our country independent.

Together we can and we will make Scotland better.

So let the message ring out from here to all of Scotland.

Be part of it. Be part of better.