West by election. We can either spend time feeling sorry for ourselves, or we can take another course of action. Let ourselves, or we can take another course of action. Course of action. Let me tell you what that course of action. Let me tell you what that is course of action. Let me tell you what that is. We course of action. Let me tell you what that is. We roll course of action. Let me tell you what that is. We roll up course of action. Let me tell you what that is. We roll up our what that is. We roll up our sleeves, we work harder than ever before for the people of scotland, and this is how im going to lead this party forward. It starts by standing by our values, sticking up for what we believe in, and always, every day, standing up for the people of scotland. Friends, we have used our time on government to cement our Social Contract with the people. A contract that says, yes, those who earn the most should pay the most. The Social Contract in which everyone benefits, regardless.
scotland. i m here to serve you all. i m here to work hard to win your trust and your confidence. i m here to give everything i have to secure the best future for our country. applause that process starts with listening, and this is what most people in scotland are telling us. they want to rid of this disastrous, chaotic tory government. they want a party thatis tory government. they want a party that is laser focused on their concerns, a party that is going to help them and their families live happier, healthier lives. in other words, they want a party that puts their interests first. they want a party that puts scotland s interests first. and for the snp, as the party of independence, there is a clear task they have set for us. to demonstrate why achieving independence is relevant and indeed vital to their core concerns. so let me take each of those in turn. removing the tory government, putting scotland s interests first and winning the decision making powers that come wit
scotland s interests first actually means. in the few weeks i ve been first minister, i ve made it pretty plain. we must be focused on people s top concerns. i m proud of what we have done in government. we re helping with the cost of living through free prescriptions, the abolition of university tuition fees, free bus travel for under 22s. in our nhs, scotland has the best performing a&e units in the united kingdom. on the economy, under the snp, scotland has had faster economic growth per head for the rest of the uk. in housing, under the snp, scotland has 40% more affordable homes per head than england, and over 70% more than in wales. we have introduced the scottish trial payment, and there are record levels of literacy and numeracy in primary schools. we have massively increased renewable energy and are already almost half to net