John Swinney insists independence 'must address the issues that matter to Scots'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

John Swinney has said the SNP needed "fresh perspective" on how to build support for Scottish independence.The Deputy First Minister - who ruled himself out as a replacement for Nicola Sturgeon last night - poured scorn on the suggestion that members who left over the last year should be readmitted.He said it would be "preposterous" to let former SNP members back into the party to vote in the election to find a new party leader.The SNP’s governing body has said the race for a new leader will last less than six weeks, while its special conference to discuss the way forward for Scottish independence has been postponed.So far no candidates have officially declared themselves - but as the Record revealed last night, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf is expected to announce he is running to become Scotland’s next First Minister.Swinney said his party needed "fresh perspective" on how to build support for Scottish independence.The MSP, who is a former leader of the party, said: “Independence cannot be some abstract concept, it has to be a means of addressing the issues that matter to the people of Scotland.”He was asked if SNP members who left in opposition to its policy on gender recognition reform would be allowed back into the party to vote in this contest.Ash Regan, a former Scottish Government minister who quit her frontbench role in protest over the policy, has called for members who left over the last year to be readmitted.Swinney said: “It would be an absolutely ludicrous proposition that you open your membership lists when you’ve got a major vacancy of this type.

It’s just preposterous.”He was also asked about a tweet from Regan on Friday morning, where she said SNP MPs should be allowed to stand in Holyrood elections.Swi