Humza Yousaf will rip up plans to ban alcohol advertising if he succeeds Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister.
The Health Secretary is "minded" to scrap a consultation on booze restrictions and start again after businesses blasted the proposals.
He also said he would be keen to increase the £25 a week Scottish Child Payment for low income families in his first budget.
Yousaf, the bookies’ favourite in the contest, is vying with Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and backbencher Ash Regan for the top job.
In an interview with the Record, he addressed concerns about a consultation which has considered banning alcohol sponsorship for sports and live events.
It could also see distillery and brewery shops barred from selling branded merchandise to visitors, as well as drinks branding being removed from pub umbrellas and glassware.
Yousaf said the consultation had “concerned” some businesses: “I’d be minded to withdraw it, but let me make it absolutely clear, with the absolute determination to bring that consultation forward, once again.”
He said he thought the Government should “push ahead with restrictions on alcohol advertising” but added:
“I see the damage that alcohol does to people’s health, but it’s clear that the current consultation is causing some degree of concern.”
“I think there’s often a lot of misinformation around particular issues that affect business and I think we’ve got to make sure that if we are producing a consultation that is ultimately going to affect business, we’re doing it in a way where we explain before the consultation goes out, what it is we’re trying to do.”
On the cost of living crisis, the Glasgow Pollok MSP called on the UK Government to extend support for energy bills past April.
He was also asked whether he would go further on the SCP as leader: “Without a doubt. It’s transformational. The benefit of being First Minister is you get to choose what your priorities are. I would want to see us continue to increase that in order to make sure that it’s helping the poorest and the most vulnerable in our society.
“In my first budget, I would seek to see what we could do to increase the Scottish Child Payment.”
If he defeats Forbes and Regan, he will also try to persuade Deputy First Minister John Swinney to u-turn on his decision to stand down from Government:
“He would be the top pick of any first minister to be in cabinet. I’ve got a feeling that I might fail that task. I’ve got pretty decent powers of persuasion, but when I spoke to John it seemed like his mind was very much made up in that regard. But I would love to have John around that cabinet table.”
As leader, Yousaf would seek to promote the abilities of a wider group of people than has been the case in the past: “Nicola Sturgeon said herself in her resignation statement that when somebody is such a dominant political force people don’t get to see the other talent that exists around the party, because they become the absolute focus.
“I would hope that with a new leader in place, and I hope that is me, that we can bring that team Scotland, team SNP approach, and it’s got to involve our MPs in Westminster. It’s got to involve our group in the Scottish Parliament. It’s also got to involve our exceptional leadership at local government level.”
On independence, Yousaf said he would focus more on building support for the policy rather than the timing of a referendum:
“We’ve got to make sure that while we talk about process, it doesn’t distract us from policy. And what I mean by that, wholeheartedly, is that I genuinely believe we’re not going to get independence until we have that sustained majority for it.
“So we can get ourselves stuck in a rut, or a quagmire of process, and talk about nothing else, but that’s not going to inspire people out there to vote for independence.
“People are going to be inspired by a vision. They’re going to be inspired by what we can do with the powers of independence.”
He also had a dig at Regan’s suggestion that an independent Scotland could dump the pound after a few months and set up a central bank in a devolved parliament.
“We obviously want a Scottish currency, our own Scottish currency in an independent Scotland, as soon as is practically possible. But we’ve got to make sure we transition to that,” he said.
“I think people in Scotland would not believe us, we wouldn’t be credible, if we say that we can set up a Scottish central bank before we have the powers to do so. They want credible arguments.”
He also accepts that customs checks would be necessary between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK due to Brexit: “I would accept that in countries where one country is in the European Union and the other isn’t there would have to be some sort of border.”
The result of the contest will be announced on March 27.
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