Alex Salmond pits 'fair' Scotland against 'harsh' England

The First Minister will use his keynote address this morning - "Taking Scotland Forward" - to set out the new SNP government's immediate priorities, likely to include new laws on sectarianism and legislation on a minimum price on alcohol.

Meanwhile, Mr Salmond got a boost yesterday in his pursuit of more financial powers when the Business Secretary Vince Cable supported calls for the Scottish Government to be given control over corporation tax.

SNP strategists say Mr Salmond's speech will also provide the chance to set out what they believe is the growing policy chasm between England and Scotland, and the differences between what Mr Salmond has described as a Scottish "fair society" and David Cameron's plans for a "Big Society" in England.

Key planks of the SNP's second term include Mr Salmond's election commitments such as the promise to meet the cost of university funding entirely from the state and to maintain backing for the NHS.

Both these proposals, his advisers say, stand in marked contrast to the offer in England, where the Con-Lib coalition is asking graduates to pay back the cost of their degree, and where huge reforms to the health service are being pushed through in a bid to make it more efficient.

In a blog posted yesterday, Mr Salmond's political adviser Stephen Noon claimed that the speech would herald "the development of very different political and social models north and south of the Border", with the London and Edinburgh governments now pursuing entirely different approaches to the public sector squeeze.

• The blog: A tale of two countries

"This is a tale of two countries, of two very different visions of society and of the future," he added. "We can build, and will build, a new and fairer Scotland. Not yet in every way, but in many ways. And the country we create will be a very different one from the nation that is emerging down south.

"There is a harshness to the UK government's approach that goes against the grain of Scottish society," he added.

Mr Salmond this week spent two days in London meeting coalition government ministers to push the case for Scotland to be given more powers.

The Treasury has been resisting the demands, but last night, when asked about corporation tax powers being handed to Scotland, Mr Cable said: "I think the logic of that is irresistible, if you have a devolved system.If you want power, then you have to have the responsibility, and the responsibility goes with making fiscal choices, and fiscal choices involve not just spending a block grant, which is what happens at the moment, but making decisions on how to raise revenue."

Mr Salmond's address today comes with English and Scottish policy differences arguably wider than at any time since the dawn of devolution.

In England, graduates will be asked to pay a backdated tuition fee of about 9,000 for each year of study. In Scotland, the SNP government says it will meet the full cost of university education. It has also pledged to meet any funding gap between it and England caused by Mr Cameron's reforms, likely to amount to around 200 million a year.

On the NHS, English Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is pushing through radical reforms, handing GPs control over commissioning, and promoting more competition in the hope of efficiencies. In Scotland, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has claimed the plans are "taking the national out of the NHS", and said the Scottish Government will maintain the Scottish NHS as a traditional "mutual" concern. The contrast between UK and Scottish policy will also be highlighted in the coming weeks when the Scottish Parliament backs a resolution opposing the basing of Trident at Faslane. In Westminster, the UK government last week made the first steps towards finding a replacement for the missiles.

Mr Salmond is also likely today to emphasise his plans to "pump-prime" the Scottish economy by pushing more money into infrastructure projects, in the hope of sustaining the Scottish economy and maintaining jobs. Such fiscal support is again viewed by the SNP as a contrast to the UK government's emphasis on deficit reduction.

Mr Salmond's advisers say the cumulative effect will be to highlight how both countries - no matter what happens in the constitution - are already going their separate ways, with the SNP government "standing in contrast" to the reforms being pushed through south of the Border.