Closing summary
Here are the key points from tonight’s SNP leadership debate:
Ash Regan said the party had “lost its way”, adding that she will launch a new campaign for independence. She said: “There’s been no progress on independence in the last few years, despite the worst UK government of all time. We used to grow support for independence by governing wisely, and it worked.”
Humza Yousaf said he will build on “our government’s radical and progressive agenda” and claims only independence “will unleash our nation’s potential”. He said independence for Scotland is “normal” and “inevitable” and says he will take the campaign to “new heights where the will of the Scottish people can no longer be denied”.
Kate Forbes said her priorities include eradicating poverty, tackling the cost of living crisis and reforming the NHS. She said the key to achieving her aims is by building a “world-leading green economy capable of driving growth for generations to come”.
On the European Union, Forbes said Scotland must remain aligned with the EU as it smooths the path to re-entry. But Regan called for pragmatism and says it could take “as many as 10 or 15 years” for Scotland to re-join the EU. Yousaf said the SNP should be unequivocal about an independent Scotland’s ambitions to re-join the EU.
Regan said the party has spent years seeking what she defines as a “moral mandate” and “begging” Westminster for “what is really an advisory referendum”. She said she would create a “permanent mechanism” for Scots to express when the time is right for a referendum on independence.
She also said she would “review” the powersharing agreement with the Greens to ensure it was “working for the people of Scotland”. The Scottish Greens have been seen as hardline on gender reform, while Regan has said she would not challenge the UK government’s move to block the legislation passed by MSPs in December.
The trio were asked if they would offer cabinet positions to the other two candidates in the event that they become party leader. Yousaf said that while both his rivals are “talented”, he would not be “presumptuous” enough to imagine which roles he would give to people. Regan said she would “put the best people in the right role”. She did not commit to offering roles to Yousaf and Forbes. Forbes said she “would hope there would be roles for both of them”.
Yousaf asked Forbes how she can be trusted to stand up for the Scottish people when her “very first act as leader would be to cave in to the UK government”. She said she “will fight harder than anyone else for Scotland” and says her job is to use devolution to serve the people of Scotland.
On the matter of section 35, Forbes says the SNP needs to understand the legal advice and the likelihood of victory through opposing it.
That’s it from the SNP leadership debate blog for tonight. Goodnight.
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Debate ends
A question now on whether the leadership candidates would retain the UK monarchy as part of an independent Scotland.
Forbes says:
To be honest, I think there are bigger issues facing Scotland when it comes to growing our economy. I’m pretty relaxed, I would see it as part of the Commonwealth.
Yousaf reaffirms his republican beliefs, adding:
I believe we should be citizens first, not subjects. I agree with Kate it’s not the most immediate issue … we would keep the monarchy for a period of time but I hope an independent Scotland would be a republic in the future.
Regan says:
I’m also a republican and my preference would be to have an elected head of state. Listen, SNP policy is of course to keep the monarchy and I think that was the right policy at the time.
She adds that the Queen’s death has created “new circumstances” on the issue before telling Mackay that if she was first minister, she would attend the King’s coronation – something the other candidates endorse.
And with that, the first televised SNP leadership debate is over. Thanks for following along.
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