Humza Yousaf has warned his SNP leadership rivals not to ”create shortcuts that don’t exist” after Ash Regan pledged a new Scottish currency would be ready ”within months” of independence.
The Health Secretary ripped apart Ms Regan’s suggestion on currency, insisting that it “lacks credibility”.
Ms Regan had said an independent Scotland could set up its own currency within months of leaving the UK.
Read more: Ash Regan says Indy currency ready in 'a couple of months'
She told ITV Border that if she became first minister, she would start work on infrastructure which would “let us move to a Scottish currency within months of becoming independent”.
When she released a paper on independence last year, Nicola Sturgeon said it would be “irresponsible” to set a timetable for the move to a new currency.
She said an independent Scotland would continue to use sterling for a period after independence, moving to a Scottish currency when economic conditions are right.
Mr Yousaf was asked about Ms Regan’s claim as he visited the Mayfield and East Housing Development Trust on Thursday.
He said: “I just think that lacks credibility.
“I’ve seen some suggestions that you could create a central bank – we don’t have the power to do so.
Read more: Alex Salmond queries Humza Yousaf's gay marriage vote excuse
“It’s really for Ash to put forward her proposals. But I think when we’re trying to convince people of the case for independence, we’ve got to put forward credible plans because that is the only way people will come towards our cause.
“If we begin to try to create shortcuts that don’t exist, circumvent legal processes, then I think people will far from supporting us – support will decline.”
Kate Forbes, who is also running to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and First Minister, has said she supports the currency plans set out by the current Scottish Government.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel