Flynn forced to stir muted conference

STEPHEN FLYNN opened the SNP conference to a muted reaction as he was forced to whip up the lacklustre crowd.

- By David Walker SCOTTISH POLITICS REPORTER

He began his opening speech yesterday morning by saying: “Good morning. Friends, what an honour it is for me to welcome you all to Aberdeen today.

“I hope you are feeling well, I hope you are feeling positive because, conference, you should be... come on, let’s go, here we go!”

His rallying call came after conference convener Angela Constance also had to welcome delegates twice after there was originally barely any applause.

Although attendance at Aberdeen’s P&J Live arena is better than two years ago when Humza Yousaf was party leader, there were still plenty of empty seats as the SNP Westminster leader spoke.