SNP leadership campaign: Independence and poll woes – key moments of fiery Sky News debate
The SNP’s three leadership candidates engaged in a fiery clash during a live Sky News debate as they failed to agree on several issues.
Ash Regan, Kate Forbes and Humza Yousaf are battling it out to replace Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon after she announced she was stepping down last month.
Taking part in a live debate on Sky News, hosted by political editor Beth Rigby, the trio tried to win over SNP voters moments after an exclusive Sky/YouGov poll found 54% of Scots want to remain part of the UK.
These are the key moments from the hour-long debate on Monday evening:
Independence
The whole reason for the SNP’s existence – but the trio could not agree on whether it is top of their agendas.
Asked if it was their top priority, Ms Regan said Scotland was suffering disproportionately from being in the UK while Ms Forbes said her priorities are the cost of living and public services.
Mr Yousaf, seen as the continuity candidate, was the only one who answered with a straight answer, saying: “Yes, independence is my top priority.”
Regan’s Scottish currency plans
Ms Regan was grilled on her plans for establishing a Scottish currency after saying earlier in the campaign one could be introduced quickly after independence.
But she struggled to explain exactly how that would come about and what other issues would have to be addressed if Scotland becomes independent.
She said she would set up a commission to establish plans for a new monetary system but pressed on what institutions are needed for that she only said a central bank.
Ash Regan
Ms Regan admitted she could not give “the full details at this point” and insisted she only meant she could introduce a new currency within two months of independence if all the plans had been established beforehand by a commission.
Asked by Mr Yousaf what she would do if she became first minister in two weeks, Mr Regan said she would make the A9 road a dual carriageway but admitted she could not determine how much that would cost.
Polls, polls, polls
The trio, especially Mr Yousaf and Ms Forbes, bickered over who was more popular with the public.
Mr Yousaf insisted the momentum is behind him, despite some polls making for pretty grim reading.
He put himself over as the candidate that is popular with SNP voters, while Ms Forbes claimed she had the backing of more Scots overall.
But, in the end, it is only the SNP members who matter as they – not the wider voters – will determine who wins the leadership of their party.
Mr Yousaf accused Ms Forbes of losing SNP supporters as he boasted about overtaking her in the polls but she said she was “ahead in key metrics”.
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Humza Yousaf
The Sky News poll released on Monday afternoon found 44% thought Mr Yousaf would be a bad leader, while Ms Regan came in at 39% and 36% for Ms Forbes.
But he batted off suggestions he had been a bad health minister, saying finance minister Ms Forbes had not been in a service delivery role while he has had “the most difficult and toughest jobs” in government for decades (health, transport and justice).
He defended his record as health secretary, which he started in 2021, saying waiting times were down due to the pandemic and Scotland had a speedy COVID booster roll out.
Ms Regan admitted her name is not so well-known but said she is “far from a rookie”, having been in government for nearly five years.
“I’m definitely less well known than the others but a good first minister does not depend on how well known they are but on their abilities, their plan and a good team,” she said.
Conversion therapy, same-sex marriage and JK Rowling
Ms Forbes made headlines early in the campaign after saying her faith means having children outside of marriage is “wrong”.
Asked about unmarried and gay married couples, she told the debate “I certainly don’t disapprove” and said she would “defend the rights of everybody in Scotland to live without harassment and fear”.
She went in strong on whether a plan to ban conversion therapy should go ahead, saying: “Conversion therapy is abhorrent.”
But she got a bit tangled up when asked about people who wanted it done to themselves, saying people “should be allowed to live freely as they choose, I do not think there should be conversion therapy in Scotland”.
Kate Forbes
Mr Yousaf tried to exploit Ms Forbes’ perceived weakness with SNP voters on social issues by suggesting she is “abandoning the progressive agenda” of the party.
He claimed: “With SNP voters, the momentum is with me.”
However, Sky News polling suggests Ms Forbes is most popular with Scots, if not with SNP members.
All three were asked if JK Rowling is a national treasure following her remarks about trans people, with Ms Regan and Ms Forbes agreeing she is and was “very brave” to talk out.
Mr Yousaf agreed she is a national treasure for her books “but I disagree vehemently with her view on trans rights”.
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Is JK Rowling a national treasure?
Labour?
The candidates were asked if they would work with Labour if they were to win the next general election as polls suggest.
Ms Regan and Ms Forbes said they would while Mr Yousaf said he would “work with anyone to kick out the Tories”.
Mr Yousaf said his price to work with Labour would be if they gave him the power to hold another referendum.
The other two also agreed on that but differed in their opinions of the Labour Party.
Mr Yousaf called Sir Keir Starmer a “pale imitation” of a Tory and Ms Forbes said she would “always side with fellow progressive parties”.
A report into the deadly Lisbon Gloria funicular crash has said the cable linking the two carriages snapped.
The carriages of the city’s iconic Gloria funicular had travelled no more than six metres when they “suddenly lost the balancing force of the connecting cable”.
The vehicle’s brake‑guard immediately “activated the pneumatic brake as well as the manual brake”, the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents said.
Flowers for the victims in Lisbon. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
But the measures “had no effect in reducing the vehicle’s speed”, as it accelerated and crashed at around 60kmh (37mph), and the disaster unfolded in less than 50 seconds.
Questions have been asked about the maintenance of the equipment, but the report said that, based on the evidence seen so far, it was up to date.
A scheduled visual inspection had been carried out on the morning of the accident, but the area where the cable broke “is not visible without dismantling.”
The Gloria funicular is a national monument that dates from 1914 and is very popular with tourists visiting the Portuguese capital.
The Gloria funicular connects Lisbon’s Restauradores Square to the Bairro Alto viewpoint
It operates between Restauradores Square in downtown Lisbon and the Bairro Alto neighbourhood.
The journey is just 276m (905ft) and takes just over a minute, but it operates up a steep hill, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions.
How the disaster unfolded
At around 6pm on Wednesday, Cabin No.2, at the bottom of the funicular, “jerked backward sharply”, the report said.
“After moving roughly 10 metres, its movement stopped as it partially left the tracks and its trolley became buried at the lower end of the cable channel.”
Cabin No.1, at the top, “continued descending and accelerated” before derailing and smashing “sideways into the wall of a building on the left side, destroying the wooden box [from which the carriage is constructed]”.
It crashed into a cast‑iron streetlamp and a support pole, causing “significant damage” before hitting “the corner of another building”.
Cable failed at top
Analysis of the wreckage showed the cable connecting the cabins failed where it was attached inside the upper trolley of cabin No.1 at the top.
The cable’s specified useful life is 600 days and at the time of the accident, it had been used for 337 days, leaving another 263 days before needing to be replaced.
The operating company regards this life expectancy as having “a significant safety margin”.
The exact number of people aboard each cabin when it crashed has not been confirmed.
Britons killed in disaster
Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident, including another British victim who has not yet been named.
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Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.
Any remaining residents in Gaza’s largest city should leave for a designated area in the south, Israel’s military has warned.
Israeli forces are carrying out an offensive on suburbs of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, as part of plans to capture it – raising concern over an already-devastating humanitarian crisis.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure to stop the attack and allow more aid in, the military has announced a new humanitarian zone in the south.
Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Gaza City residents should head to a designated coastal area of Khan Younis.
There, he said they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter.
On Thursday, Israel said it has control of around 40% of Gaza City and 75% of the entire territory of Gaza.
Many of the city’s residents had already been displaced earlier in the war, only to return later. Some of them have said they will refuse to move again.
That’s despite the military claiming it is within a few kilometres of the city centre, coming after weeks of heavy strikes.
But the war in Gaza has left Israel increasingly isolated in the diplomatic sphere, with some of its closest allies condemning the campaign that’s devastated the territory.
Just two weeks ago, a famine was declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.
A resident runs with his belongings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
There is also concern within Israel, where calls have grown to stop the war and secure the release of the remaining 48 hostages.
Israel believes 20 of those hostages are still alive.
Even as relatives of those hostages lead protests, Mr Netanyahu continues to push for an all-or-nothing deal to release all hostages and defeat Hamas.
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On Friday, Donald Trump said Washington is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas to release the captives.
“We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty,” he added.
Hamas is “asking for some things that are fine”, he said, without elaborating.
A man was heard screaming in the water moments before he died after a shark attack in Sydney, witnesses have said.
Emergency services responded to reports that a man in his 50s had suffered critical injuries at Long Reef Beach shortly after 10am (1am in the UK) on Saturday.
The man, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, was brought to shore but died at the scene, authorities have said.
Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for examination, and beaches near the area are closed as drones search for the animal.
Police are liaising with wildlife experts to determine the species of shark involved.
Pic: Sky News Australia
Surfer screamed ‘don’t bite me’
Speaking to Sky News Australia, witness Mark Morgenthal said he saw the attack and that the shark was one of the biggest he had ever seen.
“There was a guy screaming, ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge,” Mr Morgenthal said.
“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.”
Mark Morgenthal said it ‘looked like a six metre shark’ in the attack. Pic: Sky News Australia
Victim was a father and experienced surfer
New South Wales Police Superintendent John Duncan said at a press conference that the victim was 57 years old, calling the incident a “terrible tragedy”.
“The gentleman had gone out about 9.30 this morning with some of his friends, about five or six of his mates,” he added. “He’s an experienced surfer that we understand.
“Unfortunately, it would appear that a large, what we believe to be a shark, has attacked him. And as a result of that, he lost a number of limbs.
“His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later, his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it.”
Mr Duncan added that officers “understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter… and obviously tomorrow being Father’s Day is particularly critical and particularly tragic”.
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Local surfer and eyewitness Bill Sakula also told reporters at the beach: “It’s going to send shockwaves through the community.
“Everyone is going to be a little bit nervous for a while.”
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Surf Life Saving NSW has deployed a drone to search for further shark activity.
Its chief executive Steve Pearce said: “Our deepest condolences go to the family of the man involved in this terrible tragedy.”
Shark attacks are very rare, with this incident widely thought to be the first in New South Wales this year.
The last time a person in Sydney was killed in a shark attack was in February 2022 – the city’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.
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