Andrew Black Political reporter, BBC Scotland news website

Mr Salmond said he would continue to build support for independence

The Scottish Government is repaying the people's trust and breathing new life into democracy, First Minister Alex Salmond has said.

His comments came a year after the SNP's historic Holyrood election win.

Mr Salmond said the minority administration had delivered for public services, while dealing with national issues like the Glasgow airport attack.

But rival parties accused the Nationalists of breaking promises and "style over substance" politics.

Mr Salmond said his government had made Scots' lives better through policies such as freezing council tax and scrapping the student graduate endowment, while building support for an independence referendum.

He said Scotland had faced up to major challenges, including the Grangemouth refinery strike and the Glasgow Airport attack - and warned the nation was not immune from current global financial problems.

"Almost one year ago we said that it was time for Scotland to move forward," Mr Salmond told the BBC Scotland news website.

"The people of Scotland agreed and they entrusted us with government.

"We are repaying the trust of the people of Scotland by breathing new life into Scottish democracy, and delivering for our great public services."

But Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander said style rather than substance had been the mark of the Scottish Government in its first year.

"A year ago they promised to dump student debt, reduce class sizes, match Labour's school building programme and introduce first time house buyers grants," she said.

"Promises they solemnly made to the people of Scotland, but pledges they've broken with barely a murmur of apology."

There is a feelgood factor in Scottish politics which has little to do with Alex Salmond Annabel Goldie Scottish Tory leader The science of opinion polls

Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader, claimed the SNP was "riding high" in the polls, not because of support for independence, but because they were not the Labour party - which led Holyrood's coalition government for eight years.

"There is a feelgood factor in Scottish politics which has little to do with Alex Salmond," she said, adding: "I felt with minority government, the real winners would be the Scottish public."

Miss Goldie also said her party had extracted key government budget concessions on boosting police and cutting business rates.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen claimed the SNP was prepared to say anything to get into government, adding: "Far from confidently governing with a clear agenda, the SNP have lost a series of crucial votes on the floor of the chamber.

"Their u-turn on whether to recruit 1,000 extra police officers was defeated, the skills strategy was thrown out and the plan to scrap the Edinburgh trams was rejected by all the other parties."

Scottish Green leader Robin Harper said it was "hard to be kind" about the government's record on the environment, but welcomed the ruling out of new nuclear power stations and its climate change fund.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version