SNP record trashed by Kate Forbes, says Tory leader
- Published
Ms Forbes said earlier this week that promising "more of the same" in the SNP leadership contest would be an "acceptance of mediocrity"
Scotland's finance secretary has "trashed" the SNP's record during the party leadership contest, the Scottish Conservative leader has said.
Douglas Ross said Kate Forbes had admitted that trains do not run on time, the police are at breaking point and the NHS has record waiting times.
Mr Ross went on to tell Holyrood that a "divided and distracted" SNP was now in a state of civil war.
SNP MP Mhairi Black has warned that the party could split, external if Ms Forbes wins.
Mr Ross was speaking at First Minister's Questions in the wake of an explosive debate between Ms Forbes and fellow leadership candidates Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf on STV on Tuesday evening.
Nicola Sturgeon - who claims to have not watched the debate because she was returning from a visit to a women's library - said that the only verdict on her government that mattered was the "verdict of the Scottish people".
The first minister added: "That verdict has been pretty clear over the eight years of my leadership, winning no fewer than eight elections", and said she did not believe there was any prospect of the party splitting.
The STV debate saw Ms Forbes launch a highly personal attack on Mr Yousaf, the country's health secretary, over his record in government.
Ms Forbes asked her cabinet colleague: "You were transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were justice secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister we've got record high waiting times.
"What makes you think you can do a better job as first minister?"
She also told Mr Yousaf that "more of the same is not a manifesto. It is an acceptance of mediocrity" - a remark that could be interpreted as a dig at both Mr Yousaf and Ms Sturgeon.
The three SNP leadership candidates will take part on a BBC Scotland debate next Tuesday
Mr Yousaf is widely seen as being the preferred candidate of the current SNP leadership, including Ms Sturgeon herself, and has been pitching himself to some extent as the "continuity candidate" in the contest.
Ms Forbes, who was maternity leave when Ms Sturgeon announced she was quitting, has received criticism for her views on issues such as gay marriage and abortion from senior SNP figures, including Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
Mr Ross told FMQs that Ms Sturgeon would not have expected her own finance secretary to have "trashed the government's record".
He said Ms Sturgeon had hand picked Ms Forbes to "rise rapidly through the ranks", with the first minister praising her "forensic grasp of detail" when she promoted her to the finance secretary role in 2020.
The Scottish Conservative leader added: "On this government's record, she has got the detail bang on the money hasn't she?
"If only the candidates had something positive to offer rather than fighting with each other, but Kate Forbes has been so honest about the SNP's record in government that just this morning Mhairi Black, the SNP's deputy Westminster leader, said the SNP could split over this contest.
"Nicola Sturgeon has divided Scotland and now her departure is dividing the SNP, and while the SNP go through this civil war the real priorities of Scotland are being ignored and this divided and distracted is failing to give Scots the health service they deserve".
Mr Ross went on to highlight a warning from BMA Scotland that nearly half of junior doctors are thinking of quitting, and an investigation by the BBC's Disclosure programme that suggested that one in five people in Scotland have been forced to go private for health treatment.
He also said 773,000 people are on NHS waiting lists in Scotland, and that 10 patients a month are having to travel to Lithuania for treatment.
Mr Ross said the SNP was focused on its own "civil war" instead of fixing the NHS
The problems facing the NHS were also raised by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who said it was a "crisis due to SNP incompetence".
Mr Sarwar added: "None of the candidates to replace Nicola Sturgeon are up the job of fixing it.
"The people who created these problems can't be the ones to fix them."
Ms Sturgeon defended her record, saying: "Under the is government we have seen a 20% increase in NHS staff and the highest number of doctors and nurses proportionately anywhere in the UK.
"We have seen a doubling of the NHS budget, we've seen the best performing A&E anywhere in the UK for the last seven years, the only part of the UK with no NHS strikes and the highest paid workforce anywhere on these islands."
And she said whoever succeeds her in the role of first minister must govern and serve "in a way that inspires people to keep placing their trust in us just as they have done consistently since 2007 and just as they have done eight times over the eight years of my leadership."
A poll carried out by Ipsos for Channel 4 News, which will broadcast a leaders debate on Thursday night, suggested that Ms Forbes is the most popular choice to be the next first minister among all Scottish voters.
It put Ms Forbes on 32%, with Mr Yousaf on 24% and Ms Regan on 8% in the poll of 1,500 people in Scotland.
The poll also had Ms Forbes on 32% among those who voted for the SNP at the last election - marginally behind the 33% who backed Mr Yousaf, with Ms Regan on 10%.
SNP members will start voting for the new leader on Monday, with the winner to be announced on 27 March.
The three leadership candidates will take part in an hour-long Debate Night programme from Edinburgh at 20:00 on Tuesday 14 March on BBC One Scotland.