Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has said the SNP has not sufficiently laid the “groundwork” for independence.
Speaking during what is expected to be the final debate ahead of voting closing on Monday – hosted by Times Radio – Ms Forbes said the party has not worked in a “respectful fashion” with the other side of the independence debate.
The Herald is only £1 for three months.
This offer ends Friday so click here and don't miss out!
The candidate has stressed the importance of change for the SNP, pitting herself against Health Secretary Humza Yousaf who has been considered by many as the continuity candidate in the race.
The leadership candidates appeared in what is expected to be the final debate in the race (Paul Campbell/PA)
“I don’t think the groundwork has been done sufficiently on that case for independence,” she said.
“Not that the case isn’t there, but because we haven’t been persuading, we haven’t been working in a respectful fashion with those who aren’t yet persuaded to persuade them.”
READ MORE: Kate Forbes - No second attempt if I lose SNP leadership contest
Ms Forbes went on to say “the root of all of this is trust”, adding that good governance would increase support for independence.
“Good governance is important for the sake of our NHS, but say for people, but it’s also political – govern well, and you earn the right to try and persuade the people,” she said.
“And the second thing I would say is around trust – earning confidence and the trust of the Scottish people is also important when it comes to making the case for independence.”
Mr Yousaf said it was a “personal disappointment” to him that support for independence had remained around the same level as was seen in the 2014 referendum.
“We just don’t have that consistent, sustained majority for independence,” he said.
READ MORE: SNP MP calls Kate Forbes a sex-obsessed religious fundamentalist
Mr Yousaf said it was a “personal disappointment” to him that support for independence had remained around the same level as was seen in the 2014 referendum.
“We just don’t have that consistent, sustained majority for independence,” he said.
He added that he “agreed with a lot of what Kate has said”, although it is not clear if his assessment around the case for independence was the same.
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