As Humaz Yousaf unveils the SNP's latest independence document, Kevin McKenna imagines what the First Minister might say at Saturday's SNP Convention in Dundee: 

“My fellow Scottish nationalists, a great deal of thought went into the process of choosing a theme for today’s conference. But I think you’ll all agree that "Doing More or Less” conveys the values which have made the SNP the most successful party in the history of global democracy.

It shows that, despite the economic straitjacket imposed on us by Westminster at least we’re always striving to do something. Sometimes it will be more. Sometimes it will be less. As the great Glaswegian songwriter and poet, Jim Kerr once wrote: Someone Somewhere in Summertime. Which I think says it all, don’t you agree? Conference, I speak to you today as the leader of a dynamic party! A modern party! A party for the many AND the few.

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Look, it would be dishonest of me to pretend that life is a bowl of cherries right now for the movement we’ve all built our careers on.

But I think we can move on from this. I really do. And if you want a shining example of displaying fortitude in the face of adversity then look no further than my predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon, a woman I consider to be the most inspiring leader of this generation, or any other generation.

The way she maintained her composure as she was being questioned by police last week is a lesson to us all. Delegates, let me tell you this. When Nicola returned home last week and delivered her statement in front of the jackals of the unionist press it sent a message round the world: in Scotland we do things differently.

Other world leaders speak glibly about delivering justice without ever having any direct knowledge about how it proceeds. In Scotland, not only do we possess a justice system that is the envy of the world, but we now have a party which has lived experience of it. We don’t just boast about our justice system, we get right in about it.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence we have much of which we can all be proud. Delegates, I implore you to ignore all the naysayers and dismal jimmies who say that independence is dead in the water.

Look at what we have achieved. Since the unionists used the full apparatus of the British state to deny us independence in 2014 we have gone from strength to strength.

Lots and lots of new political advisory and research jobs have been created by our unbroken decade of success in UK and Scottish elections. This has boosted economic confidence as more and more young people of the right sort join our gold-plated pension scheme. We now have the most academically-qualified advisory suite in the UK.

And today I make a new pledge to you. Independence has never been closer and I am the person who will deliver it. To that end, I’m announcing today the establishment of a new Scottish Independence Unit.

This will be tasked with considering all possible routes to Scottish independence. It will be called Meaningful Independence Conversations and Enablement (MINCE) and will be led by my dear colleague at Westminster, Mhairi Black.

Within a year, Mhairi will whittle all the ideas down to the three best independence strategies after data-gathering journeys around the world to look at best practices.

Then, in September of 2024, at a special conference to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first referendum, we will ask the party membership to go into small local groups and discuss all the options. When they report back in 2025 we will announce the favoured option and this will be discussed and debated at another Special Conference on Independence.

Then we’ll invite some of the finest economic minds in the world to advise the party on a new Document on the Possibility of Independence (DOPI). And we’ll campaign in the 2026 Scottish election as the party which is pledged to deliver A VERY STRONG POSSIBILITY of Scottish independence.

Delegates, I urge you please not to be downhearted at the unionist propaganda about some recent issues. Take, for instance, the so-called failure to build a new ferry. The project is already running years late, they say. It’s massively over-budget, they say.

Do they ever stop to consider how many jobs the late delivery of the Glen Sannox has created? And how much cash has been injected into the local Inverclyde economy?

Of course I understand the frustration of our cherished communities in the Highlands & Islands who rely on the lifeline services that our ferries provide. Which is why today I’m announcing an innovative, unique and uniquely innovative plan which is also visionary.

From next week we are beginning the construction of 250 coracles, the robust crafts which our ancient forbears used to jouk in and out of the islands and which were once the bedrock of our seafaring economy.

This ambitious project will be led by my ministerial colleague Lorna Slater, who has been conducting fact-finding missions to the islands. Lorna’s island peregrinations have, of course, been distorted by the right-wing, Unionist fiction factories that self-identify as newspapers. It will revive traditional skills in boat-making, using sustainable and locally-sourced materials. And it will make the Highlands and Islands an artisan hub of circularity, setting the gold standard in re-imagining the way we navigate the seas while challenging jaded concepts of craftsmanship and design.

Read more: Yousaf’s cabinet is a theatre of the absurd

Friends, there are those who claim that the Scottish Greens have weakened the SNP in government. They are so, so wrong I can tell you right now that our Scottish Green partners are changing the narrative on how we live our lives and helping us bequeath to our children a healthier planet.

They have been working on what is known as The Possilpark Project to deliver a sustainable fuel source based on local methods of producing combustible propellant based on recycling used chip-pan oil.

Early results are encouraging and while there have been the usual, expected hiccups, local A&E services expect the situation to settle down in due course.

Meanwhile, Patrick Harvie’s plan to deliver vehicles with no engines, which will be propelled entirely by pedal-power, has the potential to revive Scottish car manufacturing and put it at the heart of our circular economy.

So, I say this to you today. Go back to your constituencies and prepare to prepare for the possibility of an independent Scotland. Let’s keep the journey going for as long as possible.

The SNP: More or Less for Scotland.