Politics news – latest: PM backs chancellor as budget looms; tough questions and fiery cross-examination as SNP hopefuls clash in Sky News debate
Rishi Sunak says Jeremy Hunt will still be chancellor at the next election; the three SNP leadership candidates take part in a live Sky News debate as the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon continues.
Rishi Sunak on the deck of the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier in San Diego
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Rishi Sunak on the deck of the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier in San Diego
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Key points
Rishi Sunak tells Sam Coates that Jeremy Hunt will still be chancellor at next election despite criticism ahead of budget View post
SNP hopefuls set out pitches to replace Nicola Sturgeon in fiery Sky News debate View post
Forbes, Yousaf and Regan on whether independence is their top priority View post
Regan says she can’t give ‘full details’ about aspects of independence plans View post
Forbes faces questions around views on social issues View post
Yousaf quizzed on frontrunner status and record as health secretary View post
Connor Gillies: Sturgeon will have been watching through her fingers View post
Jon Craig: This looks like a two-horse race View post
Joe Pike: Awkward concession from one candidate View post
Westminster Accounts: How much your MP has declared in earnings and donations View post
Live reporting by Tim Baker and Sharon Marris
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4h ago
17:10
Sunak delivering speech on Aukus
Rishi Sunak is in San Diego, California.
He is speaking alongside US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Outlining the change in the world stage over the past 18 months or so, Mr Sunak lists China alongside Russia, Iran and North Korea as challenges.
He says that the UK will also up its commitment to defence spending – rising above the Nato baseline of 2% to 2.5%.
Mr Sunak then praises the Aukus plan, which will deliver new nuclear-powered submarines for Australia.
The UK will contribute the expertise to build the boats, creating jobs in Barrow-in-Furness and Derby.
The interoperability of the Aukus fleet will “raise the standards of nuclear non-proliferation”, and allow for the navies to train and maintain the vessels in tandem.
He says the countries have been allies for over a century, and shared blood together to defend their shared values.
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5h ago
17:00
SNP leadership debate in full
The three candidates in the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister took part in a live Sky News debate this evening, hosted by political editor Beth Rigby.
You can watch the programme in full here:
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5h ago
16:52
Supporters of the candidates have their say
The dust from the SNP leadership debate on Sky News has settled, to an extent.
Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies spoke with supporters of the three candidates in the aftermath.
Neil Gray, an MSP who is supporting Humza Yousaf, denied there is any panic from his chosen candidate.
He added that Mr Yousaf is ahead among SNP voters – who are key constituents in the race.
Michell Thomson, part of Kate Forbes’ campaign team, pointed out that party unity was not the point of the debates.
She had been asked about the attacks the candidates had launched against each other during the debate.
Ms Thomson also criticised deputy first minister John Swinney’s endorsement of Mr Yousaf – saying he should have remained neutral like First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Naturally, Mr Gray disagreed.
Bailey-Lee Robb, an SNP councillor and support of Ms Regan, tried to claim that the former treasury minister knew what was needed to set up a currency.
However, Ms Regan could not answer this question when repeatedly asked by Beth Rigby.
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5h ago
16:30
At the end of the debate, it looks like a two-horse race
With Labour hoping to stage a fightback in Scotland, Humza Yousaf calls Sir Keir Starmer “a pale imitation of a Tory”. Ooh!
He says his price for supporting a minority Labour government would be a promise to allow a second independence referendum.
Kate Forbes says the leadership election is about reaching out to new voters and even No voters. That’s her pitch: the Heinekin candidate who has the widest appeal.
And when it’s all over, it has become clear that the self-proclaimed front runner Mr Yousaf has the most to lose in this contest. Is safety-first enough? Maybe not.
Will Kate Forbes’ much-debated religious views prevent her from winning? Possibly.
Or are the SNP’s members more socially conservative than the party activists, as often happens in political parties?
Outsider Ash Regan is clearly enjoying the attention and publicity of the campaign. If she wins it will be a major upset.
It looks like a two-horse race, between the establishment candidate and standard bearer of the old Sturgeon regime, Mr Yousaf, and the newer, fresher candidate, Ms Forbes, who would be more of a gamble for the party.
In other words, old v new.
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5h ago
16:21
Sturgeon will have been watching through her fingers
Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies was in the room, watching the debate as it happened.
He says it was an “explosive” affair, with the candidates tearing strips off each other.
Having so long emphasised party unity and cohesiveness, outgoing first minister Nicol Sturgeon will have been “watching though her fingers”, according to Connor.
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5h ago
16:20
Candidates give their take on debate performance
by Jenness Mitchell, Scotland news reporter
Following the debate, Ash Regan said she was feeling “great”.
She added: “We’ve got one more debate to go. It’s quite clear we’re all getting very tired, but we’ll keep going.”
Kate Forbes said she was “delighted”.
She said: “I was very happy. It was very relaxed. I have full confidence in the voters. They want someone who is going to keep winning elections.”
Humza Yousaf said he always gets nervous before a debate, but was “buzzing” after this one.
He stated the race so far has “been lively”, but he managed to deliver the messages he wanted during the show.
Mr Yousaf added: “One more to go.”
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5h ago
16:08
Was Yousaf guilty of mansplaining to his two female rivals?
It’s Humza Yousaf’s turn to face a grilling from Sky’s Beth Rigby on his government record. And he’s on the defensive on his record as health minister.
He’s guilty, too, of mentioning opinion polls far too often.
He’s also not very gallant towards Kate Forbes. “Don’t interrupt,” he tells her. Sounds like mansplaining!
Now he’s at it again. “Your support and your ratings have fallen,” he tells Forbes this time. Never mind the polls, where’s the vision?
To be fair, he’s positively at a disadvantage in this format, up against two women rivals.
At one point he blames Alex Salmond for misrepresenting him over a missed vote.
Beth jumps in and points out that it was her interview with Mr Salmond in which he made the claim.
Mr Yousaf possibly also at a disadvantage as the establishment candidate.
It’s easy for Ash Regan to attack the SNP government’s record. And she does with relish!
All three say they’d take advice from Nicola Sturgeon.
And well they might. On this showing, she’d wipe the floor with this trio if she were a candidate in this election!
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6h ago
16:03
Candidates’ answers to JK Rowling question show how split the SNP are on gender recognition legislation
The fact two of the three candidates call J K Rowling “brave” and all three say she’s a “national treasure”, demonstrates how split the SNP are on gender recognition legislation.
The Harry Potter author opposed Nicola Sturgeon’s self-ID legislation.
All the candidates believe Sir Keir Starmer will be the next prime minister, although Humza Yousaf throws in a dig at the Conservative and Labour leaders: “One’s a Tory but one’s a pale imitation of a Tory”.
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6h ago
15:58
Quick-fire questions
Q – If you win, will you ask advice from Nicola Sturgeon?
Ash Regan: Of course I would.
Kate Forbes: Absolutely yes, she’s exceptional.
Humza Yousaf: Yes.
Q – Would you ask advice from Alex Salmond?
All of them say no, with one making the point that he’s in a rival party.
Q – Is JK Rowling a national treasure?
Yousaf: Yes…although I disagree with her vehemently on the issue of transgender rights.
Forbes: Yes, and I do think she’s brave. (When asked if she disagrees with Rowling’s stance on trans rights, she says: “no I don’t disagree with her”.)
Regan: Yes, I think she’s a national treasure. I think she was very brave (regarding speaking out on trans rights)…
Q – After the Lineker asylum tweets row, should the BBC director-general stand down?
Forbes: He has not done the BBC any services.
Regan: (The row) has been managed badly. It’s up to him.
Yousaf: I genuinely don’t think government ministers should be interfering with who is in charge of a public broadcaster.
Q – Will the next PM be Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer?
Regan: Starmer
Forbes: Starmer
Yousaf: I’ll work with anybody to kick out the Tories. I suspect it will be (Starmer).
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6h ago
15:57
Would you work with Labour – and on what grounds
The “final” question is whether the leaders would work with Labour – assuming they are the largest party.
Mr Yousaf says his price to work with Labour would be if they were given the power to hold another referendum.
Ms Forbes says something similar, saying any support needs to be contingent on a new referendum.
Mr Regan agrees too.
Mr Yousaf calls Sir Keir Starmer a “pale imitation” of a Tory, while Ms Forbes says that Labour is a fellow progressive party.
Mr Yousaf says the party does not need to be overly worried about Labour, while Ms Forbes says the contest is about a reset and reaching out to “no” voters.
Ms Regan says current support needs to not be taken for granted.
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6h ago
15:54
Regan by far the most successful ‘attack dog’ in this debate
Kate Forbes focusses on the area of trust in her cross-examination of Humza Yousaf.
Mr Yousaf counters that trust in Ms Forbes may be high because she’d “not had a public service delivery role in government” like his experience as health secretary, transport minister and justice secretary.
An awkward scratchy argument between Ms Regan (“don’t put words in my mouth”) and Mr Yousaf (“don’t interrupt me”) over transport policy.
Ms Regan is by far the most successful attack dog debater of the three – perhaps because she has least to lose.
Whereas Mr Yousaf and Ms Forbes will be keen to get the second preferences of Ms Regan’s supporters.
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6h ago
15:45
Yousaf survives questioning about record as health secretary
Sky News polling must be pretty dispiriting for Humza Yousaf:
– Twice as many people think he’d be a bad first minister as a good one.
– 22% of respondents think he’s competent versus 40% incompetent.
But he claims he’s had the “most difficult and toughest jobs” in government for decades.
Mr Yousaf’s claim that his public support has quadrupled seems a little misleading, although it is unclear which figures he is relying on.
But he survives defending his record as health secretary partly because he’s faced so many questions on the topic in recent months.
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6h ago
15:43
Yousaf adopts a safety-first approach – but the approach risks coming over as complacent
When he eventually gets going, Humza Yousaf comes over very much as the establishment candidate, challenging the promises of the insurgent Ash Regan.
A safety-first approach from the frontrunner in the opinion polls.
But he also appears to be a bit wooden and lacking in passion and charisma.
Tackled by Beth Rigby on the economy, Kate Forbes clearly knows her stuff.
It would be worry if she didn’t! It this was a TV quiz show, this would be the round in which Ms Forbes played her joker. It’s her strong suit.
Then, on conversion therapy, not her chosen subject by any means, she says it’s abhorrent, but her answers are less fluent and at times laboured.
Don’t forget she’s a member of the Free Church of Scotland, the “Wee frees”.
When Mr Yousaf boasts that he’s overtaken her in the polls and the SNP mustn’t abandon its progressive agenda and its supporters, she says she’ll serve all of Scotland. Ouch!
“The only poll that matters…,” Forbes says, using a famous Margaret Thatcher quote, is the one of SNP members in the election.
Mr Yousaf’s cross-examination hasn’t gone well and boasting about his opinion poll sounds a touch complacent.
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6h ago
15:41
Humza Yousaf grilled on health service
Health secretary – and continuity candidate – Humza Yousaf is next up.
Despite some polls making pretty grim reading, Mr Yousaf says the momentum is with him, and that gaining popularity among the SNP shows he will get more popular with the public.
The health minister is then challenged on the roughly 64% A&E wait times meeting the target of four hours – compared to the target of 95%.
Mr Yousaf points out that he has not been meeting targets in the NHS due to the pressures of the pandemic.
Mr Yousaf was put in charge of the health service in 2021.
Beth Rigby highlights that targets for cancer care have only been met once in a decade – which is not pandemic-affected.
Mr Yousaf claims there have been improvements.
He is then probed on his post-pandemic targets.
While it is pointed out that 7,288 are waiting for in-patient care, Mr Yousaf says he only pledged to cut the waitlists in “most specialities”.
He is asked if, in the face of these facts, he deserves a promotion.
Ms Forbes then asks why Mr Yousaf why he is not trusted.
Mr Yousaf says he is not popular with Labour and the Conservatives because is he a progressive.
He also says the finance minister has not had a service-delivery-based job, while he has had three (health, transport and justice).
Ms Forbes asks how Mr Yousaf will govern when he doesn’t have public support – but the health secretary says his numbers are improving.
Ms Regan then questions why Mr Yousaf claimed credit for a crossing when he had no role in it.
She says he came in for one year at the end of a ten-year project.
Mr Yousaf says the project came in under budget and accuses Ms Regan of attacking the SNP and giving ammunition to their opponents.
Ms Regan denies this; saying she praised the project itself and was just criticising Mr Yousaf.
She asks if Mr Yousaf will take responsibility for the failures in the NHS, to which he eventually says he does.
Then Ms Regan asks why Mr Yousaf missed the vote for equal marriage.
Mr Yousaf says this was something brought up by Alba Party leader Alex Salmond, and says he was helping someone abroad.
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6h ago
15:40
Forbes trying to fix problems caused by bad headlines around her stances on social issues
Kate Forbes says “I certainly don’t disapprove” of unmarried couples and gay married couples.
“Conversion therapy is abhorrent, coercion is abhorrent”.
After her campaign struggled in its first few days due to bad headlines prompted by her views on social issues, Ms Forbes is trying to fix some of these problems.
Humza Yousaf is trying to exploit Ms Forbes’s perceived weakness with SNP voters on social issues by suggesting she is “abandoning the progressive agenda” of the party.
“With SNP voters, the momentum is with me”, he claims.
Yet Sky News polling suggests Ms Forbes is most popular with Scots, if not with SNP members.
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6h ago
15:39
Forbes asked about conversion therapy and how she would do the independence vote differently
Kate Forbes is asked firstly about child poverty. Beth asks if she will increase the Scottish child payment.
Forbes says she is “open to increasing Scottish child payment”. She says this is one way – not the only way – of dealing with the cost of living crisis.
Forbes says she won’t set budgets ahead of next year – “they need to reflect challenges at the time”.
She is asked about earlier comments reflecting her uneasiness with the idea of gay marriage.
“I will set out the right of everybody in Scotland to live and love without fear,” she says.
“My job is to represent everybody without prejudice and to deliver for all of Scotland.”
She is asked about conversion therapy – she says this is “abhorrent…doesn’t have any place in Scotland”. She will “continue to support banning” it.
Beth asks a number of times whether it should be allowed by consent. Forbes says: “It’s (a person’s) choice but I do not think we should allow conversion therapy in Scotland.”
She adds: “People should be able to live as they choose, in a tolerant society.”
Humza Yousaf asks: “Why do you think you now have a negative rating among SNP supporters?”
Forbes: “I don’t think that’s where you’re particularly strong (on the polling). I’ve actually got higher net positive ratings than either of the party leaders.”
Ash Regan: “Why would you want to repeat a failed strategy (previous independence referendum)?”
Forbes: “I don’t think there has been enough work done on creating the case for independence…these are the things we need to do.
“The process, I think, almost takes care of itself, when you see that significant support for independence.
“Despite the fact we’ve had Brexit, cost of living crisis…that dial hasn’t shifted enough – I think that’s because we haven’t listened to voters.”
Forbes says she “won’t be going cap in hand (to Westminster)”. But she isn’t specific on her plan.
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6h ago
15:23
A Truss-style insurgent candidate v Sunak Mark 2?
As the Sky News debate between the three candidates for SNP leader gets under way, Kate Forbes comes across as the Rishi Sunak of this campaign.
Sensible answers, no extravagant promises from this finance minister, just like we heard from former Chancellor Mr Sunak in his TV debates against Liz Truss.
For example, Sunak Mark 2 acknowledges that tackling the cost of living is the top priority for her and Scots and then, asked if independence will come in 10 years, says modestly: “I hope so.”
Ash Regan comes over as the Liz Truss insurgent candidate: bold pledges and ambitious pledges, a promise to deliver independence and a Scottish currency.
All the sort of crowd pleasers that will please the activists.
Sound familiar? All very Truss-like. But she won, of course, in the ballot of the Tory members. Could the outsider prevail in Scotland?
In the early stages of this debate, it’s Regan and Forbes dominating the debate.
Humza Yousaf if being squeezed out so far. Is he playing it safety first?
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6h ago
15:20
Awkward concession as Regan struggles to answer question about independence
Ash Regan struggles to answer Beth Rigby’s question about the financial institutions necessary for an independent Scotland: “The central bank and the currency”.
And there is an awkward concession from Ms Regan about her plan for independence: “I cannot fill in all the details at this point”.
She is on fiery form batting away attacks from Kate Forbes and Humza Yousaf.
“You make a lot of promises without specifics”, says Mr Yousaf.
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6h ago
15:13
Regan says she can’t give ‘full details’ about aspects of independence plans
Ash Regan is confronted with a series of polls which show she is by far from well known or popular among the electorate.
But she says these are not necessarily the qualities which are needed for a first minister.
Beth Rigby asks her about the plans she has revealed for wanting to establish a Scottish currency.
Ms Regan says the case for a new currency was not well made during the independence referendum.
She says that her commission would build up the plans for a new money system – meaning the switch can happen when independence is achieved.
Ms Regan is pushed on what institutions are needed for a new currency, but is only able to name the central bank – and not any others.
She says she can’t give “the full details” having been quizzed a handful of times by Beth.
The questioning then moves to a mooted concept of an independence thermometer – asking how big it is and where it would go.
Ms Regan says this is a borrowed idea, and could take the form of a published index.
Ms Regan is then cross-examined by the other candidates.
Ms Forbes asks what Ms Regan’s plan is to make the economic case for independence and how it would help people.
Ms Regan says that the case needs to be made that the economy will be safe in the case of independence.
Mr Yousaf then clashes with Ms Regan over her plans to introduce a new currency.
He also asks what her plans would be if she takes over in two weeks.
Ms Regan says she would build roads, for example.
Mr Yousaf pushes for an example, and Ms Regan says she would dual the A9 road.
Asked how much this would cost by Mr Yousaf, Ms Regan says it has not been put to tender, but smaller contracts could help with the financials.
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6h ago
15:10
Independence for Scotland the first question the candidates are grilled on
The first question for the potential leaders is on independence and where it sits on their list of priorities.
Ash Regan says Scotland is, as part of the UK, is suffering disproportionately as a result of being part of the UK.
She says a hard Brexit is having a disproportionately harsh impact on Scotland.
Kate Forbes says her priorities are the cost of living, public services.
She says independence “has always been about a means to an end” and “power is so far removed from the people”.
Humza Yousaf declares that independence is the golden thread that runs through everything we do.
We have a Tory cost of living crisis, he declares, pledging to invest in public services but we can’t do that while the Tories continue their austerity agenda.
Beth asks the leaders: Is independence your top priority yes or no?
Ash Regan: No straight answer
Kate Forbes: No straight answer
Humza Yousaf: “Yes independence is my top priority.”
