Alex Salmond on Politics

"We lost the referendum vote but can still carry the political initiative. More importantly Scotland can still emerge as the real winner."

"It is not the purpose of Government to legislate - rather it is for Government and Parliament to legislate with a purpose."

"It is the very stuff of politics that parties like to have a go at each other - a vibrant democracy demands no less."

"The people of Scotland want a Government based on principle but able to move with mainstream opinion to build consensus in the public interest."

"To win and retain the trust of the people requires an administration willing to focus on showing competence and direction in the day to day business of government."

"Scotland is a country which has at its core an internationalism which has been much affected by centuries both of migration and also of welcoming those from other countries."

"This Parliament is led by Scotland's first minority Government. That innovation was unintended - very un intended - but it is one which has breathed new life into our political debate."

"The campaign was disgusting. It split on religious lines. It was one of those moments when you thought that ‘if politics is going to be like this, I’d like to go and do something else’."

"The real guardians of progress are not the politicians at Westminster, or even at Holyrood, but the energised activism of tens of thousands of people who I predict will refuse meekly to go back into the political shadows."

"In 21st century government - as with 21st century business - there is no excuse for a poor flow of information, for failing to be aware of what similar organisations are doing, for lagging behind the times in terms of innovation and best practice."

"Whatever else we can say about this referendum campaign, we have touched sections of the community who've never before been touched by politics. These sections of the community have touched us and touched the political process. I don't think that will ever be allowed to go back to business as usual in politics again. So friends, sometimes it's best to reflect where we are on a journey. 45 per cent, 1.6 million of our fellow citizens voting for independence, I don't think that any of us whenever we entered politics would have thought such a thing to be either credible or possible. Today of all days as we bring Scotland together let us not dwell on the distance we have fallen short. Let us dwell on the distance we have travelled and have confidence that the movement is so broad in Scotland that it will take this nation forward and we shall go forward as one nation. Thank you very much."

"This Government believes in an independent Scotland precisely because it is our view that the transformation of our country in each and every of those policy areas can best be achieved through that normal, independent status. ... Others have a different view. I respect that."

"Government must always be about vision. Restoring belief in the power of democratically elected Government to effect change - something which remains one of the great challenges for any modern Government - is about focusing on the 'possible' rather than merely accepting the status quo."

"In Europe we see different visions of government in an interdependent world. Across the world we see a new order struggling to be born, one based on the rule of law and addressing the planetary imperatives of tackling mass poverty and global warming. These changes in governance are not to be feared but rather to be embraced. It is, after all, the essence of democracy that what has always been so, need not always be so."

"Make no mistake - Scotland has already changed. And Scotland is continuing to grow and develop as a nation and a society. Last May, the people of Scotland sent out a clear message. They did not just vote for a change of government. They voted for a change in governance. A stronger, more effective, more democratic Scotland. And they expressed their hunger for a higher level of ambition - in our government and in ourselves. In the country we seek to build. And in our image and standing abroad. These are profound and permanent changes."