Forbes sees richer, cleaner and fairer Scotland in 10 yrs

AN INDEPENDENT Scotland could be better off within a decade of leaving the UK, Kate Forbes has said.

- KATRINE BUSSEY

Finance Secretary Forbes, who hopes to become first minister, was speaking as hustings continued in the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon.

Fellow candidate Humza Yousaf said he would not just be Scotland’s first minister but a “first activist” for independence, while Ash Regan said she would seek to “heal the rifts” within the party if she was elected.

Forbes, who returned from maternity leave after the birth of her daughter last summer, stressed the need to use “each and every opportunity to make the case for independence”.

She told the hustings in Dumfries: “We need to set out in the first 10 years of an independent Scotland how we will be wealthier, greener, fairer. People need to see it.