Politician

Haggis is delicious. It is wonderful. It's spicy, it's tasty, and you get vegetarian haggis as well.

Haggis is delicious. It is wonderful. It's spicy, it's tasty, and you get vegetarian haggis as well.

I do struggle to identify an occasion when I was held back because I'm a woman... You don't think about it at the time, but looking back at it, of course.

If there is a 'Leave' vote in England and across the U.K. as a whole, then we see the reins of power being seized by politicians who are on the right of the Conservative party.

Talent is really important in politics, but experience is also really important.

Poverty is on the increase - due to welfare cuts - and demand for food banks has rocketed.

There's nothing in my background that would have said I was destined to be a senior politician.

Of course, aid is only one small part of international development. Some of the greatest benefits to the world's poorest can be achieved through policy changes by developed countries.

As First Minister, I will always act in the best interests of the country. As party leader, I will always act in the best interests of the party, and if that sometimes means taking difficult, unpalatable decisions, I will never shy away from that.

Scotland almost invented the modern world. I mean, all of these televisions, telephones, penicillin, we all - all of these things were invented in Scotland.

The fact is that co-operation between independent countries - to our mutual advantage - is the way of the modern world.

The assumption that people sometimes make is that I have made a cold, calculated decision to put my career ahead of having family, and that's not true.

Labour's support in Scotland depends on their ability to be electable. If they are divided and unelectable, what's the point?

Since I became First Minister, I have made clear my priority to alleviate poverty and tackle inequality in Scotland. Ensuring that everyone can do better in life will not only make Scotland fairer, but it will also make it a more prosperous place.

I am quite hot-headed; I am quite impulsive. Fortunately, it doesn't last very long.

Most politicians come into politics because they want to make a difference; we just have different ideas how to do it.

This government and the party that I lead will continue to argue an alternative to the Tory-Labour austerity.

The oil and gas sector in the North Sea does have a strong future if we do the right things now, but we've got to make sure that the infrastructure is right to support the sector, but also to support, over the next few years, diversification as well.

Let us put the normal divisions of politics aside. Let us come together as one country; let us seize this historic moment to shift the balance of power from the corridors of Westminster to the streets and communities of Scotland.

American companies based in Scotland employ large numbers of people - in fact, we are the best performing part of the U.K., outside London and the southeast of England when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment.