SNP politicians were keen to get out of today’s manifesto launch and get a picture with the document itself. You can expect to see a lot of those on your social media feeds.

But privately there’s an acknowledgement that they face a difficult election in a couple of weeks.

The bar is high for the party - it was massively successful in Scotland in 2019.

Candidates will talk about how turnout could affect things.

And it must be said that there’s enthusiasm for John Swinney’s leadership. They think he’s doing a good job.

But many feel it’ll be a tough ask to wake up on 5 July with a result that’s in any way comparable to the SNP successes of previous elections.

Image source, PA Media

Scotland has the highest rate of drug deaths of any European country.

The SNP manifesto promises to tackle the “drugs deaths crisis” by decriminalising drugs for personal use - something it announced it wanted to do 12 months ago.

Coupled with drug treatment rooms this would mean Scotland having a very different approach to the rest of the UK. Or it would have – it argued - if drugs policy were devolved.

The reality is that drugs policy is reserved to Westminster. It is a point the SNP has made repeatedly whilst in government. Scottish ministers have responsibility for health not drugs.

They say they need to have control of both to turn the drugs death crisis around.

But Labour and the Conservatives have made clear they don’t agree with this point nor the policy to move towards decriminalisation.

They argue the SNP could and should have done more while in power to tackle the high numbers of drug deaths.

Image source, Reuters

As my colleague David Henderson just reported, one of the SNP’s key pledges is to "rejoin the EU".

This brings Brexit into the election frame, where others have been keen to avoid mention of it. But it also raises questions about how rejoining could work.

Scotland could claim to be in line with most European single market and customs rules, making accession easier than other candidate nations.

But it does not have the central bank or the currency that EU accession requires. Nor, under current estimates, would it meet the usual budget deficit limit that EU members are supposed to adhere to.

The other key economic problem with that policy is what happens at the border with England. Brexit has shown how difficult it can be to be on the perimeter of the EU.

If the river Tweed and Cheviot hills mark that boundary, Scotland would face more friction in trading with England and Wales - which currently form, by far, its biggest "export" market.

SNP sets up clear dividing line on Brexitpublished at 13:17 19 June

13:17 19 June

David Henderson
BBC Scotland Correspondent

On Brexit, the SNP aren't mincing their words.

It's been "a disaster for Scotland", they say.

This is quite an important theme for two reasons - it’s such a contrast with Labour and the Conservatives’ messaging – and Brexit is hugely unpopular in Scotland.

That's quite a contrast with much of the UK, where Brexit isn't a major election issue.

A majority of Scots voted remain - so they're pushing at an open door here.

Leaving the EU, say the SNP, has wiped billions of pounds from the Scottish economy, pushed up food prices and harmed public services.

Ending freedom of movement, they claim, makes it more difficult to recruit staff in the NHS, social care and other key sectors of the economy.

The SNP say this will not change whoever wins the general election.

Their solution? An independent Scotland in the EU.

As time passes, it gets harder for the SNP to avoid blamepublished at 13:00 19 June

13:00 19 June

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor

This is the toughest election the SNP has faced since 2010 - when Labour last won in Scotland.

Why? Because the SNP’s been in power at Holyrood for 17 years. As time passes, it gets harder to avoid blame for the difficulties in devolved public services like the NHS and education.

There’s been huge turmoil over the last couple of years. Three first ministers, a police investigation into the SNP’s finances and internal party friction over gender reform and the now defunct Holyrood power-sharing deal with the Greens.

For some in the independence movement, there’s frustration over the SNP’s lack of progress on this issue.

For others, Labour are seen as an alternative route to change at this election which is why John Swinney is working hard to persuade voters that Labour and the Conservatives will be equally tight on public spending in the coming years.

Scottish Tories argue that the SNP's manifesto can be summed up in one word - independence. They say it misses all of the people's "urgent priorities".

This was echoed by Scottish Labour, which accuses the SNP of being "woefully out of touch" - condemning what it described as the "latest string of half-baked and unserious pledges".

"This is a tired party with no fresh ideas and the wrong priorities," says Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie, referring to the SNP's "17 years of broken promises" (in the Scottish government).

As for the Scottish Lib Dems, the party says a pinch of salt is required to digest the SNP's pledges on the NHS.

Fact-checking the SNP’s austerity warningpublished at 12:52 19 June

12:52 19 June

Speaking at his party’s manifesto launch, SNP leader John Swinney has claimed spending cuts would come under both the Conservatives and Labour, should either win power.

He said: "It's not just me saying austerity is coming round the corner."

Swinney has previously talked of £18bn worth of cuts ahead.

Public spending overall is due to rise over the next Parliament but the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, external has estimated that spending on some government departments could fall – and it has used a figure of £18bn of cuts by 2028-29.

This is because the government has pencilled in even bigger rises for some government departments including the NHS and defence.

But that means other unprotected areas such as courts, further education and local government would face a spending squeeze.

Labour has said it will stick to the broad outlines of the Conservatives’ current spending plans.

However an improvement in the economy could make these cuts unnecessary – or the next government could find a way to raise more tax.

This manifesto will be exactly what SNP supporters want to hearpublished at 12:34 19 June

12:34 19 June

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent, reporting from the manifesto launch

Much of this manifesto is aimed at appealing to the SNP core vote.

There’s a plan to “empower” independence negotiations, and a promise to “reverse Brexit”.

We can dissect how deliverable these policies are right now, but for many who are sympathetic towards the SNP it’s exactly what they want to hear.

There are a couple of nuggets aimed at the north-east of Scotland too.

The party seems to be sounding a bit more sympathetic to the idea of new oil and gas drilling. And there’s scepticism about hitting the industry too hard with any windfall taxes.

Even with a good result, SNP MPs won’t have the numbers to make their policies a reality without other parties backing them. Many policies are aims, rather than deliverable pledges.

But their argument will be that, because they’re not part of a wider UK party, they’ll be more effective at reflecting Scottish concerns.

The manifesto is published and SNP leader John Swinney has made his pitch to voters.

Here are some of the key lines from Swinney's speech in Edinburgh:

• Decisions about Scotland should be made by people who live there, he said
• An independent Scotland would re-join the EU, Swinney said, adding that independence would help build a "fair and prosperous economy", but "success is not guaranteed"
• He condemned what he called an "outrageous Westminster power grab" and accused the UK government of passing laws undermining devolution
• The SNP will press the UK government to scrap the two-child benefit cap, he pledged
• Swinney positioned the SNP as the only party committed to ending spending cuts
• The SNP will introduce a "keep the NHS in public hands" bill, he said
• Swinney also called for the abolition of the House of Lords and an end to spending on nuclear weapons

We'll be bringing you further analysis of some of the finer detail of the SNP manifesto throughout the afternoon.

A closer look at the SNP's pledges on healthpublished at 12:14 19 June

12:14 19 June

Susie Forrest
BBC Scotland Health team

The manifesto proposes a "Keep The NHS in Public Hands" bill, to prevent "further privatisation" of the health service. This reflects what Scotland's health secretary recently described as a different "tolerance of engagement" with the private sector, compared to NHS England.

In 2022/23, NHS Scotland spent £116m on external providers (0.7% of what it calls the frontline health budget), compared to a bill of £11.5bn for the UK Department of Health (6.5%) - nine times more, according to a Scottish government spokesman.

But currently Scotland has a much higher proportion of patients facing very long waits for planned NHS treatment than England - with around 8,000 waits over two years for hospital procedures or specialist appointments.

It's against that backdrop that members of the public in Scotland appear increasingly willing to turn to the private healthcare sector out of their own pocket.

The Nuffield Trust recently reported that their number had risen 80% in Scotland since 2019. In England that figure was up by just 20%, although it still remains highest relative to the size of the population.

The politicians know how deeply we care about the NHS and that’s why they are all putting it front and centre of their manifestos. But as a voter, it is quite difficult to understand how these pledges will become reality because health is devolved and this is a Westminster election.

If you are interested here is some analysis that will help explain how it all works.

Like all parts of the UK, Scotland is experiencing record waits for NHS treatment, delays getting people out of hospital and enormous pressure in social care.

John Swinney blames Westminster for not funding the NHS adequately and is calling for the next UK government to boost spending by £10bn a year with £1.6bn of that coming to Scotland. But for the last 17 years it has been the SNP government in Holyrood making decisions about healthcare priorities and opposition parties accuse the Scottish government of years of mismanagement.

If you can step away from the politics and ask experts, they say whomever is in charge, be it Westminster or in Holyrood - the NHS is in need of fundamental reform.

And with that, SNP leader John Swinney's manifesto launch is over. While he's been outlining his party's key election pledges, our team of correspondents in Edinburgh, Glasgow and beyond have been picking over the contents of the manifesto itself.

We'll bring you the key pledges in a moment, and then analysis from our correspondents. So stay with us.

And finally, the last question: If you don't get a majority in this UK-wide election, does it undermine the 2021 Scottish Parliament mandate you claim to have on independence?

Swinney says it is his view that if people want Scotland to be able to progress to be an independent country they should vote for the SNP.

"That is the way we will be able to pursue the democratic wishes of the Scottish people," he says.

He ends by saying he does not claim to have a mandate, as the question suggests - it is what the people voted for back in the 2021 election.

The SNP leader is asked about two of his party's candidates who have been criticised for their comments on Russia.

The SNP has stood by those candidates, a reporter notes.

He asks Swinney if this is an SNP return "to bending the knee to Putin on Russia Today?"

Swinney replies: "No. Under no circumstances. I think the Putin regime is evil, and must be confronted at every opportunity."

What the manifesto says on North Sea fossil fuel licencespublished at 11:56 19 June

11:56 19 June

Kevin Keane
BBC Scotland environment correspondent

The manifesto confirms that the SNP remains firmly on the fence when it comes to issuing new oil and gas licences for the North Sea.

Having previously proposed a presumption against new exploration, they've rowed back by saying applications should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and subject to a climate compatibility test.

It's worth pointing out that such a test applies already and only covers greenhouse gas emissions from the production process, not from burning the oil and gas which is then sold - ultimately, after refining - to consumers.

Their bigger focus is on transitioning to a green economy; indeed they demand a revival of Labour's abandoned commitment to invest £28bn per year in developing such a sector.

More immediately they call for the UK government to match its £500m "just transition fund" for Scotland's oil and gas heartlands.

And they say that while they support a windfall tax, it shouldn't be a "raid" of the north east of Scotland - where the oil and gas sector is based - but should be a wider tax which is "balanced across companies".

A Financial Times reporter asks Swinney about North Sea oil and gas licences. He asks if it would be better to give clarity to the energy industry on whether those licences will be granted in the future or rule them out to appeal to climate-minded voters?

Swinney says the manifesto is setting out a "rational basis" for oil and gas licences.

He says his party has highlighted the importance of achieving net zero in the manifesto, and doing that with the oil and gas sector in a "managed and orderly" way.

Every circumstance has to be subject to a climate compatible assessment, he says.

He adds that the prime minister has authorised 100 new licences, describing it as "utterly irresponsible".

What makes you think Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will listen to you about devolution of tax after the election? Swinney is asked next.

He responds that this is a question which is better put to the Labour Party, which has got a "big test" coming up if it wins on 4 July.

Will they stand with the SNP on devolution or will they pick up where the Tories have left off? Swinney asks.

The first minister says the general election is a moment for devolution and the wishes of the Scottish people to be respected, which will only come about if there's a strong vote for the SNP.

SNP manifesto draws dividing lines with Labourpublished at 11:49 19 June

11:49 19 June

David Henderson
BBC Scotland Correspondent

From page one, the SNP's manifesto stands in sharp contrast to that of its main Scottish rival, Labour - which was launched yesterday.

Within five sentences, the SNP says independence is its goal.

It's the key pledge. And it's mentioned repeatedly.

Contrast that with Labour's manifesto - which gave just one terse mention of the "I" word, on page 121... and which made clear that Labour doesn't support either independence or another Scottish referendum.

It's the key division between the parties.

But there's more.

The SNP also attacks Brexit from the outset, knowing a clear majority of Scots voters voted against it.

By contrast, Labour's Scottish manifesto made just one short reference to Brexit, on page 125.

The SNP says this proves they're more in touch with Scottish values and voters.

The next question is why people should vote for the SNP given its record in government in Scotland.

Swinney argues that the Labour Party will prolong child poverty by keeping the two-child benefit limit.

"I can't fathom that," he adds.

"This election is supposed to be about change. Where's the change?"

BBC Scotland's David Wallace Lockhart puts to Swinney that the manifesto reads a lot like earlier ones, which talk about independence and in the near term about reversing Brexit.

He asks: "Are you not asking Scots to send MPs to Westminster who will not be able to deliver on these policies?"

Swinney responds by saying that everybody knows Brexit is a "total disaster" that's undermining the economy.

"That's got to be said out loud," he says.