First Minister Humza Yousaf described the UK is the “poor man of northwest Europe” as he set out his views on industrial policy in an independent Scotland.
In a speech at the University of Glasgow on Monday, he pledged “large scale” investment in competitive industries after independence, but said any economic transition would not take place overnight and he was not promising “rivers of milk and honey”.
Mr Yousaf gave his speech a few hours after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar spoke in Rutherglen about the upcoming general election and urged independence supporters to back his party in 2024.
The first minister said he would strive towards a “deliberative process” in trying to persuade people on the merits of Scottish independence and those who believe otherwise should not be “dismissed”.
The SNP leader referred to a report from the Resolution Foundation looking at income inequality in the UK compared with other countries.
He said that the average household would be £8,300 better off if the UK had the average income inequality of similar countries.
Using the same analysis for Scotland, Mr Yousaf said: “The prize for the typical Scottish household would be even greater, they would be £10,200 better off.
“That then, is the huge prize of independence.”
Mr Yousaf said the UK’s living standards are “abnormally low” and the country is the “poor man of northwest Europe”.
He added: “Far too many people in Scotland [and] right across the UK are losing hope.
“They look at Westminster and they see no one that is offering them a different choice.
“Just more of the same decline, but perhaps managed more competently than the current Tory government.”
Taking questions, he said the economic changes in an independent Scotland would not happen overnight.
He said: “I’m not selling independence as being an overnight change, that somehow the day after we become independent there will be rivers of milk and honey and the manna will fall from the sky.
“There will be challenges, of course, there will be difficulties. It will be a transitional process.”
In contrast, he said the UK’s economic problems are “hardwired, it’s systemic”.
He also said “Keir Starmer is going to be the next prime minister of the United Kingdom barring a catastrophe”.
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Earlier in the day, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the SNP and Tories will resort to “dirty tricks” to cling to power at Holyrood and Westminster.
Mr Sarwar hailed 2024 as “the year of change” with the general election, which is almost certain to take place before 2025, providing Labour with the “chance to change our country for the better”.
His comments came as he made a direct pitch to independence supporters, saying: “We may ultimately disagree on the final destination for Scotland.
“But on this part of the journey, let us unite to change our country and get rid of this Tory government.”
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Mr Sarwar promised a Labour government would “reset devolution and take it back to its founding principles”, telling supporters that the “endless, childish squabbles between both two bad governments must come to an end”.
He also stressed the upcoming general election was “just the first step”, saying that there was also a “chance for change in 2026 with a Scottish Parliament election”.
This, he said, gave Labour the chance to form a “competent government” at Holyrood, as he insisted: “Devolution was never meant to be about two governments fighting with each other and ultimately failing Scots.
“Devolution was always meant to be about Scottish solutions to Scottish problems and two governments working together in the national interest to actually deliver for Scotland.”
