The Scottish National party leadership candidate Humza Yousaf has appeared to backtrack on his plans to take the UK government to court over Nicola Sturgeon’s self-identification plans, claiming he would need to scrutinise Scottish legal advice. The frontrunner tipped to replace Sturgeon had previously insisted he would fight the UK government in court over its blocking of the gender recognition reform bill. But in the final leadership debate, hosted by Times Radio, Yousaf appeared to temper his previous vows, insisting it would be “responsible” to follow legal advice. “Obviously, we will take legal advice in the round – you have to do that,” he said. “If you get an unequivocal answer from your lord advocate that says this cannot be won, you would do the responsible thing and not take that to court.” But keen to mark himself as the only candidate prepared to challenge the UK government, he added: “If we were independent we would not have a foreign government coming in, for example, and vetoing our legislation.” Kate Forbes, the finance secretary who is the other frontrunner in the race, backed reforming the law to make it easier for transgender people to change their gender and hoped to “find a way forward … that perhaps has a bit more respect at the heart of the dialogue”. She had previously said she would not have voted for the bill if she was not on maternity leave. But Ash Regan, the third candidate, criticised Yousaf’s remarks, claiming his attempt to challenge the UK government would fail. “I don’t think that shows us standing up to the UK government,” she said. The debate became heated as the two frontrunners clashed over whether children should be taught about gender identity in school. Yousaf said he was “comfortable” for his daughters to learn about it, but recognised some situations when parents should not be told. “During the course of the GRR [gender recognition reform] bill, one of the first conversations I had was with a young Muslim who was trans,” he said during the Times Radio debate in Edinburgh. “He told me very clearly that if his parents had known he was transitioning, reprisals would have been pretty difficult. “So of course I would want a 15-year-old who is considering transitioning to be comfortable enough to be able to talk to their parents. But that’s not the reality for every single person.” Forbes expressed her concern if parents were removed from the conversation. “I think just having a purely affirmative approach is a problem for our young people. “I have recently had a baby – at the 20-week scan they discovered the fact it was a little girl. It wasn’t assigned, it was a little girl. It’s critical that there aren’t conversations going on that don’t seek parents’ consent.” The candidates also clashed on tax, as Forbes said she was more in favour of growing the economy and getting people into more well paid jobs, but Yousaf called for a “progressive taxation” similar to that proposed by the Scottish Trades Union Congress, which he claims could raise £200m.