John Swinney says he won’t listen to Anas Sarwar when Labour calls for a public inquiry to examine whether there was political pressure applied to NHS bosses to open the QEUH before it was safe to do so. Will he also ignore the same call from the father of Molly Cuddihy?

Hollywood star Brian Cox has urged Dundee City Council to finally declare a housing emergency after the SNP-led administration ignored warnings from charities about rising homelessness.

The dad of tragic Molly Cuddihy would back the reopening of Scotland’s hospital inquiry to look at evidence of “political pressure” to get the scandal-hit QEUH open.

Anas Sarwar has launched a blistering attack on Stephen Flynn after the SNP Westminster leader questioned why Pam Duncan-Glancy still has the Labour whip at Holyrood, following today's Record exclusive.

Inmates are set to be released from Scots jails automatically after serving just 30 per cent of their sentence in the latest desperate attempt to ease an overcrowding crisis.

ScotRail shares 'fascist' logo on new trains destined for east coast mainline

Rough sleeping in Scotland has rocketed. Official figures show the number of people reporting they slept rough the night before they formally registered as homeless is up *24 per cent* year-on-year.

Ash Regan has made a last-ditch plea to MSPs to support her plan to criminalise the purchase of sex after the SNP Government said it could not support the legislation.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has reported Peter Mandelson to the Met Police. Flynn said: "There is no question that Lord Mandelson's actions were shameful and unethical - the only question is the extent to which his actions breached the ministerial code and the law"

The Glen Rosa ferry is due to finally (!) leave Ferguson Marine by the end of the year. The taxpayer-funded shipyard has no other orders on the books. But workers remain upbeat. Will their bosses win new contracts to save their jobs?

The chair of NHS Greater Glasgow when the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital opened in 2015 says governance of the £1bn project was "pretty good". Others take a different view.

Tommy Sheridan is attempting another political comeback at May’s election after securing top spot on the Glasgow list for the Alba Party

Melania Trump documentary sells just 16 tickets in Scotland for opening day screenings

With dozens of MSPs choosing to quit this year, Holyrood is likely to have its largest group of new parliamentarians since 1999. The Record has profiled 10 candidates who could make an impact.

John Swinney continues to deny the SNP Government applied political pressure on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital to open before it was safe to do so. Here’s a meeting note from 2019, submitted to the ongoing public inquiry, and raised at FMQs today:

Another grim assessment on just how cash-strapped Scotland's 32 local authorities are. Does not bode well at a time council tax rates for the year ahead are being decided.

The Lib Dems have accused Scots Tory leader Russell Findlay of "leaning into the role of the moustache twirling villain" after he called for a two-child cap on benefits.

A privilege to speak with Jane Duffy about her son Liam, whose bravery won't be forgotten.

Donald Trump has been branded a "total coward" by the mother of a Scots soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Rachel Reeves is finalising a support package worth £100m a year to help struggling pubs across England and Wales. Bars are already closing at a faster rate in Scotland. Will Holyrood follow Reeves' example and step in to help?

Surprise, surprise. The IFS has crunched the numbers after Reform announced it wants to cut income tax rates in Scotland. "The biggest direct beneficiaries of such a change would be the high-income taxpayers". IFS also warns the policy could cost £2.4bn a year by 2030.

Blunt warning from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation: one in five Scots live in poverty, frustration from which is driving "political disaffection"

Should the public inquiry into the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital call John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon to give evidence, following last week's bombshell admissions by the NHS? That's what Labour has demanded in a letter to the inquiry's chair today.

Reform UK have been accused of "Liz Truss levels of nonsense" after announcing a plan to cut income tax for Scots costing £2 billion.

Malcolm Offord has announced Reform UK would cut income tax in Scotland. The party’s new leader said the tax cuts would be paid for by “the reallocation of £9bn currently spent on highly dubious environmental protection, economic development and 132 unaccountable quangos”.

Dundee could become the latest Scottish city to declare a housing emergency. Shelter warns 225 children are living in temporary accommodation, while homelessness is up 24 per cent.

A Reform UK insider told the Record the party was purposefully delaying the announcement of its candidates for the Holyrood election "to shorten the time for media scrutiny".

Louise Slorance, whose husband Andrew died at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in 2020, has published an extraordinarily powerful statement. She refuses to accept the health board's apology and says Andrew was a "dead man walking" due to the hospital's failings.

NEW: Scotland's Information Commissioner has launched a legal action against the SNP Government after it missed two deadlines to release the Alex Salmond files.

A row is developing between the UK and Scottish Governments over defence following comments from John Healey in Edinburgh today. The Labour Defence Secretary said the SNP's continuing opposition to the nuclear deterrent is "jeopardising" the UK's national security.

John Swinney insists the Scottish Government did not put pressure on NHS bosses to open the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital before it was safe to do so. The health board this week told a public inquiry "pressure" was placed on it. Where did it come from?

@allhails.bsky.social Hi Allan. I wondered if your new book features your pictures of North Queensferry c.1960? I remember your image of the Main Street when you previously shared it on Twitter.

Families of patients who suffered illness or death after catching infections at a Scots superhospital have said they were "lied to and smeared" ahead of final evidence from a public inquiry.

Voters are still receiving a “dodgy” Scottish Labour leaflet through their doors - a week after leader Anas Sarwar apologised.

Scotland boycott of World Cup not the way to stand up to Donald Trump, says Stephen Flynn

NHS bosses now admit the £1bn Queen Elizabeth University Hospital was opened too early in April 2015 - weeks before a general election - but "pressure" was applied to ensure it did. Pressure from who? I think we should be told.

But what about the extra bank holiday promised by the First Minister?

Scots jobs and livelihoods are "on the line" as a result of Donald Trump's latest threats to hammer the UK with tariffs.

Ross Greer has rubbished the SNP's strategy to achieve an IndyRef2 at the next election - and says there's a less than one per cent chance of John Swinney's party winning a majority.

Lorna Slater, the former co-leader of the Scottish Greens, will challenge SNP minister Angus Robertson in the Edinburgh Central constituency at May's election.

NEW: Peter Murrell, the ex-SNP chief executive, faces a preliminary hearing at the High Court in Glasgow next month. Murrell, who is separated from Nicola Sturgeon, is charged with one count of embezzlement.

Nicola Sturgeon "has questions to answer" over a scandal at Scotland's flagship hospital, Labour has claimed. Anas Sarwar suggested political pressure was placed on NHS Greater Glasgow to open the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in April 2015 - days before a general election.

Anas Sarwar says Scottish Labour would make public the “Alex Salmond files” related to the James Hamilton inquiry into the whether Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code.

John Swinney has suggested local authorities don't need to raise council tax by more than three per cent in the coming weeks. Safe to say few local finance chiefs will be paying any attention.

Defence Secretary John Healey has reignited a row over SNP failure to invest in a specialist welding school on the Clyde. "John Swinney and the SNP are flaky on the deterrent and weak on defence"

Nigel Farage has suggested a second referendum on independence could take place as soon as the 2030s.

⛵️

I asked Malcolm Offord what he knew about the cost of living crisis, given he's a yacht-owner. The new Reform leader in Scotland replied: "They'll ask me how I got her, I'll say I saved my money, they'll say, isn't she pretty, that ship called Dignity?"

Nigel Farage will shortly announce Reform’s first leader in Scotland today. I wonder who it could be.

Funding for drugs and alcohol policy in the SNP Budget has been cut in real terms for the next year - despite Scotland remaining the drug deaths capital of Europe.