Pre Election Rally -- 9th March 2001 A four strong Napier contingent joined others at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre for a pre election rally. The rally was chaired by deputy Party Chairman Bill Walker and was opened by William Hague MP. Speeches followed from prespective parliamentary candidates including Malcolm Rifkind (candidate for Edinburgh Pentlands) and party chairman Raymond Robertson. William Hague Nicolay Vinkler reports: EDINBURGH International Conference Centre became the arena for British patriotism and people with "common sense" yesterday as Tory leader, William Hague, held his campaign rally speech to his Scottish comrades. Before Hague entered the spotlight to invigorate, his largely middle-aged and middle-class audience, they were shown a party campaign rally video. It constituted a true campaign video with its dramatic use of sound and pictures, but above all exposing the weaknesses of public enemy number one - Tony Blair. As the people of Scotland look back on almost two years of devolution Hague commented: "David and I understand what devolution means. It means fighting in Scotland as a Scottish party with Scottish policies." He went on contrasting this with Henry McLeish accusing him of merely repeating the words of Tony Blair. Addressing British national identity, Hague among other things attacked the asylum policy of the present government referring to it as being a "soft touch". However, the policy of Brussels got the focus of his attention. He made a pledge that Scottish representatives should head UK delegations to Brussels on matters such as energy, tourism and fisheries. The "Tory-Baby", the opposition to the Euro probably got more than a fair share in his speech. Most notably was Hague's perception of a future euro-referendum, saying: "The election will determine nothing less than whether the Crown in Parliament remains supreme in the United Kingdom, and whether our people will remain a sovereign country." The Tory national leader touched on a number of issues from criticising the recent Hunting Bill, with its damaging effects on rural communities, scrapping of the section 28, the importance of retaining Northern-Ireland as part of the United Kingdom and the increasing tax burden on hard working British men and women. Hague's closing statement indicated clearly his ambitions for the May-general election, stating: "As polling day draw near, to all these people, in every part of Scotland, from every walk of life we say: come with us, and we will give back your country."

---

               

---

Napier University Conservative & Unionist Association
Napier Students Association — 12 Merchiston Place — Edinburgh EH10 4NR — United Kingdom
Phone: 0131 478 6468 — Email: napier@scus.org

Webmaster [NeilFreshwater.com] Original designs courtesy of [colin.beveridge.com]