Forbes has widely been described as
socially and economically conservative, in contrast with the generally socially liberal policies of the SNP. During her leadership campaign, Forbes received scrutiny of her religious and socially conservative views on abortion and LGBT rights. In an interview with STV News, she criticised the "
illiberal" debate about her religious views and questioned the meaning of
liberalism, stating "have we become so illiberal that we cannot have these discussions? Because if some people are beyond the pale then those are dark and dangerous days for Scotland."
Scottish independence As a member of the SNP, she supports
Scottish independence. During the
2021 Scottish Parliament election, Forbes told business leaders she wanted a second
Scottish independence referendum to be held once the "immediate impact" of the pandemic was over. She has called for a restart of the SNP's independence strategy. She has considered Sturgeon's proposal of using a parliamentary election as a de facto referendum to be a way to apply pressure on the UK government to grant permission to hold a formal referendum "rather than it being necessarily a referendum in and of itself". She said she wanted to achieve independence by delivering
economic growth. At the first hustings, Forbes said she would seek the "legal powers to hold a referendum" on independence within three months of the new UK general election. In the 2023 SNP leadership election, Forbes was the only one of the three candidates to share the official party position that the British monarchy should remain head of state in an independent Scotland, though she said that she found the issue to be of little importance.
Economic policy ,
Rebecca Evans, and
Conor Murphy at the Finance Interministerial Standing Committee in
Cardiff, July 2022 In 2018, Forbes was a member of the
Sustainable Growth Commission, a blueprint of the
economic policy and
currency for an
independent Scotland. The commission proved unpopular among many left-wing SNP members for its embrace of
liberal economics. The
Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) stated it would "further
austerity under the SNP Sustainable Growth Commission's plans", while
Common Weal, a left-wing pro-independence
think tank, described it as shifting the Scottish economy to the right. Forbes supported the proposed currency arrangement of '
sterlingisation', which would mean an independent Scotland would not benefit from the central bank
quantitative easing, a
monetary policy of massive borrowing programmes during times of economic crisis. As finance secretary, she stressed the need for more
progressive taxation in order to tackle inequality and support
economic growth. In March 2022, Forbes launched a report outlining
Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation, which is her plan to improve Scotland's economy over the following 10 years. In her official manifesto, Forbes put eradicating poverty and promoting
economic growth at the heart of her policy.
OpenDemocracy claimed her economic agenda was "dangerous" and compared her
economic policy to that of
George Osborne and
David Cameron, who oversaw a
large-scale austerity programme in the early 2010s. Forbes stated the
Scottish Government's proposed
deposit return scheme would cause "economic carnage".
Social issues In 2018, Forbes made a
pro-life statement at a prayer breakfast, saying that the treatment of the unborn is a "measure of true progress" one day after a Westminster debate on abortion. In 2023, she said she "couldn’t conceive of having an abortion" herself, however, she "wouldn’t change the law as it stands". Forbes supports buffer zones for abortion clinics as she has said that women should not "be subjected to fear and harassment". Forbes has stated that she is opposed to sex before marriage and to childbirth before marriage, considering it "wrong according to [her] faith"; however, she stated that "the birth of a child should still be celebrated". Forbes also stated that others have the choice to do so, as "In a free society you can do what you want". On 20 February 2023, Forbes stated that if she had been an elected MSP in Holyrood when same-sex marriage was legalised in Scotland in 2014 she would have voted against the measure. However, in the same interview she clarified that she would not attempt to reverse existing same-sex marriage laws in Scotland. Forbes has stated that she believes that a
trans woman is a "biological male who identifies as a woman". She said a "rapist cannot be a woman" and that
Isla Bryson, a
transgender woman who was convicted of raping of two women prior to her gender transition, is a "man". However, in 2024 she said she supports the
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, noting that "the first minister has been absolutely clear that the Scottish government intends to promote, to protect and to enhance the rights of every LGBT person in Scotland, and I wholeheartedly endorse that position." In April 2019, Forbes was one of 15 SNP politicians who signed a public letter calling on the Scottish Government to delay its manifesto commitment to reform the
Gender Recognition Act in Scotland. In January 2022, she told
The Times that her position had not changed, that the Scottish Government should not rush to change the "definition of male and female" and said the Scottish Government "risked creating bad law". In the same month, Forbes signed off the proposed bill in a Scottish Cabinet meeting and when later asked why she did so despite her concerns she refused to answer. She did not participate in the final vote on the
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in December 2022 due to being on maternity leave. She later stated that she would not have supported the bill. == Electoral history ==