Scots must gain promised home rule powers, warns Alex Salmond

Scots must get all of the home rule powers pledged by Westminster before September's independence referendum or else they "will take it", Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond has declared.

Mr Salmond was replaced today as leader of the Scottish National Party by his long-time deputy Nicola Sturgeon, and he will hand over the reins of the office of first minister to her next Wednesday.

In a final speech as party leader, Mr Salmond told delegates: "Let us proclaim what each of us knows with a greater certainty than ever before: Scotland will become an independent nation."

Mr Salmond’s final speech was preceded by a video detailing his long career at the helm of Scottish politics over three decades, though it talked about how Scotland “fell short” when a majority rejected independence by 55-45 on September 18th.

Positioning the SNP as “the guarantor” in current talks about extra self-government for Scotland, Mr Salmond said the SNP must aim to be the largest Scottish party in the House of Commons after next May’s election.

The last-minute "vow" by David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg means the UK becomes "within a year or two, as close to a federal state as you can be", said Mr Salmond, quoting the words of former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown.

That pledge had been “a desperate response” to try and stop the Yes campaign: “For many it was enough to convince them to give the Union one more drink in the last chance saloon.

“For some it was the argument for saying ‘Not yet’, rather than ‘Yes’. As a democrat, I respect that decision, but conference let me tell you this,” Mr Salmond told over a 1,000 delegates: “If the Westminster gang reneges on the pledges made in the campaign - they will discover that Hell hath no fury like this nation scorned,” he declared, to loud cheers.