FMQs has drawn to a close. Here are the key lines that were raised:

• Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay called for the FM to do more for the victims of crime as parliament prepares to scrutinise the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill.
• Findlay went on to call for an inquiry into Scottish grooming gangs, which was dismissed by Swinney.
• The first minister said he is "confident" victims will be better protected if the bill is passed.
• Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the government of "legalising shoplifting" with its "soft-touch approach".
• Swinney called on Sarwar to withdraw the statement, saying it was "baseless".
• New Scottish Greens co-leader used his FMQ's debut to attack Israel, and called for sanctions.
• Lib Dems MSP Jamie Greene raised the issue of public sector pay-offs which cost £4m in 2023-24.

• Michael Matheson welcomed the proposed furlough of Alexander Dennis bus workers but called for more long-term action.

That's all for today's FMQ's. The writers were Steven Brocklehurst and Megan Bonar, and the live page was edited by Paul McLaren.

SNP MSP Michael Matheson asks about the future of major bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, which is in his Falkirk West constituency.

The company set out plans in June to close their Falkirk and Larbert plants with the loss of 400 jobs and move production to Yorkshire.

Managers say they still need to find orders for at least 300 buses a year to safeguard production in Falkirk over the long term.

Yesterday, workers backed a furlough scheme as a last resort to save their jobs.

Matheson welcomed the scheme, which will be backed by the Scottish government, but asked what was being done to secure new orders.

Swinney says they are working collaboratively with the company and others and a further update would be available next week.

Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan asks the first minister for an update on promised investment in the nationalised Ferguson shipyard, aimed at improving productivity and helping it win new orders.

BBC News has reported that 15 months after ministers promised the yard £14.2m of capital investment cash, only about £600,000 has actually been delivered, and that procurement notices for new equipment have now lapsed.

Swinney tells the chamber his government remains committed to investing the money over two years, “subject to due diligence and commercial standards being met”.

“This investment has already commenced with targeted early action to address essential repairs, health and safety improvements, upgrades to facilities and equipment that directly support the yard’s current projects,” he says.

Scottish Conservative MSP Brian Whittle asks about reports that the number of midwifery and nursing vacancies have risen by 60% in six months.

He says the figures are the "latest in a long line of warnings about the perilous position" of healthcare workers.

The FM says the vacancies follow a “seasonal pattern” and overall nursing and midwifery staffing is up 18% since 2006.

He adds Scotland has the "best package of support" in the UK for nursing and midwifery students.

Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Greene asks about public sector pay-offs, which he says cost the government £4m in 2023-24.

He says there have been 300 settlements in the last five years. He says his “primary concern” is what seems to be a “growing trend of reward from failure”. He highlights the cases of Ferguson Marine, the SQA and the NHS.

The FM says “robust” measures have been put in place, but settlement agreements are used “rarely and only in very limited circumstances”.

SNP MSP Ruth Maguire asks Swinney if he would consider increasing payments for the Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods payments to decrease child poverty.

Swinney says reducing child poverty is his government's number one priority.

He says the five family payments which already exist are having an effect and there is a prediction that Scotland will be the only part of the UK which will have falling rates of child poverty next year.

He calls on the UK government to lift the two-child cap on benefits which would have a knock-on effect on bringing more to Scotland which could be spent on child poverty.

Why Swinney has to be strong on diplomacypublished at 12:48 BST 11 September

12:48 BST 11 September

Ross Greer made a point of being strong in his language about Israel and Palestine, talking about “genocide” and “Apartheid”.

But it was notable how measured John Swinney sought to be in his response.

The first minister was clear that he wants to see a ceasefire, and that the strike carried out in Qatar was “unwarranted and unjustifiable”.

But on the specific issue of whether the Israeli President Isaac Herzog should have been welcomed to Downing Street today, he said he understood Sir Keir Starmer’s position that dialogue and diplomacy has to take place.

It’s very different to the tone that SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn took at PMQs yesterday when he slammed the move.

Mr Swinney – who has spent the week engaged in international diplomacy himself – never passes up an opportunity to attack the UK government over domestic politics.

But quite often on international topics like this one, he ends up in a fairly similar place to the prime minister.

Greer follows up by saying the “very least the government can do” is introduce the same sanctions against Israel “that it did against Russia”.

It comes after the Scottish government paused new awards of public money to arms companies supplying Israel.

Swinney replies by saying the government has set out a “whole range of interventions”.

Swinney says he understands the "depth of concerns" about Israeli President Herzog's visit to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer but also understands the argument that there needs to be a dialogue with Israel.

He says any prosecutions would be a matter for prosecution authorities and it would be wrong for him as FM to comment.

Newly-elected Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer uses his first lead role at FMQs to ask about British citizens serving in the Israeli army.

He says any citizens serving are “complicit in war crimes” according to the International Criminal Court Act.

He also shares concerns about the President of Israel’s recent visit to the UK.

Sarwar clash brings back the fireworkspublished at 12:34 BST 11 September

12:34 BST 11 September

Philip Sim
Scotland political correspondent

If there were fewer rhetorical fireworks than usual between Russell Findlay and John Swinney, the exchanges with Anas Sarwar more than made up for it.

The Scottish Labour leader suggested that shoplifting has effectively been legalised, leading to a broadside from the first minister about his rhetoric.

It did seem like perhaps the first minister didn’t have the specific figures on shoplifting to hand, because not only did he resort to going in hard on Mr Sarwar personally, he kept harking back to the fact Labour didn’t back the budget back in February.

It’s notable how upset the first minister still is about that - seven months later, he rarely misses an opportunity to bring it up.

By the end of the questions the issue of shoplifting had been long forgotten, and somehow it was a row about Ian Murray being sacked and the respective records of the Scottish and UK governments.

Swinney responds to Sarwar's claims by referring to the "chaos" of the Labour government in London.

He says the resignation of Angela Rayner last week added chaos to chaos.

Then he brings up the sacking of Ian Murray as Secretary of State for Scotland.

"How on earth can the Labour party come here and challenge me on my record when they are presiding over a shambles in Westminster," he says.

Sarwar says Swinney is "living on another planet" because shoplifting is up and fewer than half of these crimes are solved.

Swinney repeats his point on his government's record of investment in policing and to tackle retail crime.

He says overall crime is at one of its lowest levels in 40 years.

In response, the first minister says Sarwar is "at the bottom of the barrel today".

He says Scotland is not a soft-touch country and this shows up in the fact the prisons are fuller than ever.

He says Sarwar's charge is "baseless" and "unworthy of the Labour leader in the Scottish parliament".

"He should withdraw it today," he says.

Swinney says there was money in the budget to tackle retail crime and Labour did not vote for the provision.

"What we have today is another example of Mr Sarwar coming in here and ramping up the rhetoric and failing to deliver on the reality for the people of our country," he says.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar questions Swinney on shoplifting, which he says is up 124% since the last election.

He accuses the Scottish government of a "soft-touch approach" and says criminals feel they can help themselves.

"Will John Swinney and his SNP government apologise for effectively legalising shoplifting in Scotland?," Sarwar asks.

Findlay takes a (slight) step back from confrontationpublished at 12:19 BST 11 September

12:19 BST 11 September

The Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill has changed quite a bit since it was first tabled.

It was originally going to include a pilot of rape trials conducted by a single judge, rather than a jury.

That and a number of other provisions have been dropped, after ministers conceded they couldn’t get those proposals through parliament - and Russell Findlay welcomed that.

But he wants to see more changes - and that meant he actually took a less confrontational approach than usual.

Since he became first minister, John Swinney has made much of his willingness to work with other parties across the parliament on legislation.

Mr Findlay has proposed amendments around plea deals, which in theory could end up becoming law - which is why he was hoping to put the pressure on today, but in such a way that doesn’t alienate SNP members from backing it.

The FM says the government will consider all amendments.

He adds the government is “committed” to ensuring the voice of victims is central to how the justice system proceeds.

Findlay follows up by asking for a Scottish grooming gang inquiry to give "those victims a voice".

Swinney highlights the work of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and an ongoing police investigation and says he is not "persuaded" another inquiry is needed.

Findlay raises the issue of plea deals. He says: “All crime victims must be told when secretive plea deals are struck.”

The Scottish Tory leader quotes a victim who says the government is only “pretending to listen”.

He asks the FM to back his plea deal amendment.

Angus Cochrane

Image source, Getty Images

MSPs will have a final debate and vote on the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill next week.

The wide-ranging proposals within it are too numerous for one live page post, but here are some of the key points.

• The bill proposes the removal of the not proven verdict from Scots law – a legal idiosyncrasy that can be traced back to the 17th Century.
• Controversially, the bill initially included plans for juryless rape trials in a bid to increase conviction rates. This was dropped by ministers following criticism from lawyers and judges. The government also dropped proposals for criminal juries to be cut from 15 to 12.
• The bill does, however, propose the introduction a two-thirds majority for a guilty verdict. This is up from the current rule of a simple majority of at least eight jurors out of 15.
• The legislation would pave the way for a sexual offences court to be set up, and for the creation of a victims and witnesses commissioner.
• The bill also aims to establish legal protection for the anonymity of victims of sexual offences, and to provide legal representation to complainers in sexual offence cases when defence teams apply to use evidence relating to their sexual history or character.
• And the bill proposes that the failure of a murderer to reveal the location of their victim’s body would have to be considered when a decision is made about their release on parole.

John Swinney says he believes the bill will make a difference by making sure the interests of victims are “better protected by our justice system.”

“I am confident the bill, after the scrutiny parliament will give it next week, will be in a position to do so,” the first minister says.