Humza Yousaf has said the UK is the “poor man of north-west Europe” as he set out his views on industrial policy in an independent Scotland.

In a speech at Glasgow University, he also said the views of those who do not support independence should not be dismissed.

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”.

The First Minister gave his speech a few hours after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar spoke in Rutherglen about the upcoming general election.

Mr Yousaf said his speech was the first in a series he would deliver on the Scottish economy.

He said: “The working assumption is that there will be an absence of substantial policy debate at Westminster.

“And that may be a reason why the rhetoric in this election year is likely to be particularly fierce as Labour and the Tories throw ever more ugly insults at each other.”

He 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.”

He pledged that an independent Scotland would see “large-scale public investment in key areas of competitive advantage”, as well as a Government department focused on industrial policy.

The First Minister said the UK’s living standards are “abnormally low” and the country is the “poor man of north-west 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”.

The Conservatives described Mr Yousaf’s speech as “delusional”.

The party’s chairman, Craig Hoy, said: “The First Minister’s case for ripping Scotland out of the UK rests on myths, fantasy economics and the fanciful hope the public forget that last month’s disastrous tax-and-axe budget was the product of years of waste and dismal growth under the SNP.

“He has the powers to improve the lives of Scottish workers now but instead has chosen to make Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK, damaging our competitiveness.

“Humza Yousaf is a weak leader in charge of a feuding, scandal-ridden party, which is why he is banging on about the one issue they agree on – breaking up the UK – and ignoring the country at large.”