Salmond in final call for powers

In his final party conference speech as First Minister Mr Salmond said David Cameron will renege on the vow if he can and that Labour in London would follow suit.

He said: "Of course the Tories and Labour will try to renege on the commitments to Scotland.

"The Prime Minister will try to renege. That's what Tory Prime Ministers do. Westminster Labour will try to renege. That's why Johann Lamont called them dinosours.

"But let no-one imagine that the collective will of the Scottish people will be defeated, not now, not ever."

Speaking at the Party's 80th annual conference in Perth, Mr Salmond said Scotland had to vote SNP at next year's General Election to "hold Westminster's feet to the fire."

He said there needs to be a strong SNP presence at Westminster to ensure devolution of job creating powers, social security and pensions and with control of Scotland's finances.

He said: "Let every voter in Scotland be clear, only a vote for the SNP in 2015 can force Westminster to deliver on its promise.

"The UK parties should be in no doubt, give Scots the power we demand or Scotland will vote to take it."

In his speech he praised his successor Nicola Sturgeon who will become First Minister on Wednesday after a vote of MSPs at Holyrood.

He said she was a woman of "extraordinary talent" who would take the SNP forward and serve her country with "enormous distinction".

And he said she must be given the same exposure on UK television as David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg. He said the SNP now had more members than the LibDems across the whole of the UK.

He added: "It is just one reason why any attempt to exclude this party from leaders' debates in the next Westminster General Election would be scandalous. An insult to Scotland.

"No ifs, no buts, our leader Nicola Sturgeon must be an equal participant in any televised election debates."

Mr Salmond reserved much of his speech for the Labour Party and he slammed the Unionist parties for offering 'nightmares' to Scotland.

He criticised Scottish Labour for acting as London's branch office and the Tories for marching 'to the beat of the UKIP drum'.

In the emotional address to the packed auditorium of the Perth Concert Hall, Mr Salmond said: "As Scotland dared to dream, Labour offered nothing but nightmares."

He criticised the bedroom tax and the lack of challenges by the party over the radical policy introduced by the conservatives last year.

He said: "A Labour party that needs permission to speak out against the bedroom tax isn't a Labour party at all and a branch office is not a Scottish Labour party."

Mr Salmond, who will step down as First Minster officially at Holyrood on Tuesday, recognised Labour's former leader Johann Lamont for her "honesty in confirming what we all knew" referring to her comments before leaving the party, that it had lost autonomy in Scotland.

Finally, he warned the next leader of the party that they would be taking over an "intellectually bankrupt and politically hollow organisation."

He added: "Let me spell out for the next Labour leader precisely why that party is in terminal decline.

"Labour didn't trust Scotland, and now Scotland doesn't trust Labour."

Of the Tory party, he made scathing reference to David Cameron's response from Downing Street following the Independence Referendum, and slammed his suggestions of changes needed in England, Wales and Ireland.

He said: "There it was - the screech of Westminster brakes being applied as the ink on the ballot papers was barely dry."

He warned both Labour and the Tories that if any attempt was made to go back on their pre-referendum powers promises, "Scotland will take matters into our own hands."

Mr Salmond left the conference hall to a standing ovation lasting almost eight minutes and he returned briefly to the stage to deliver his parting shot.

He said: "The dream is alive and will succeed."