Here are all the highlights from this afternoon’s session at Holyrood:

• Russell Findlay challenged the Scottish government on support for businesses after US President Donald Trump’s announcement on new tariffs.
• The Conservative leader called for John Swinney to back his calls for the UK government to lower tax on whisky and produce a new USA export plan.
• Swinney said he would “leave no stone unturned” in taking forward the whisky industry’s concerns.
• Jackie Baillie accused the SNP of “breaking Scotland’s NHS” and putting GP practice “at crisis point”.
• The first minister said he recognised challenges in the NHS, but did not accept the health service had been broken under 18 years of SNP government.
• Outgoing Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie called for protection for renters following the removal of a cap on increases.
• Swinney wished Harvie well after announcing his departure as co-leader and said government is “on renters side”.
• Swinney and Conservative Douglas Lumsden clashed over future plans for the North Sea, with the first minister accused the Tories of “cuddling up to Reform”.
• The first minister said he would abide by “the rule of law” over potential legal action surrounding the future if the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil fields.
• Liam Kerr accused the Scottish government of “lacking a strategy” for dealing with overcrowding in prisons.

That's all from the team covering FMQs. Your writers today were Katy Scott and James Delaney, while Mary McCool was editor. Thanks for following.

Scottish Conservative MSP Liam Kerr is up next with a question on overcrowding in prisons, saying the Scottish government lacks a "holistic strategy".

He asks if the first minister will "put the public first" and rule out the release of long-term prisoners after charities warned of potential dangers.

The first minister begins by saying the question "sums up the problem" but he is interrupted by MSPs speaking.

"Apparently the Conservatives believe in free speech unless it's me that's speaking," Swinney jokes.

He says the Scottish government does have a holistic strategy and the Conservatives should "engage constructively" in discussions on how to address "real challenges" the government is facing.

• Early release of prisoners begins in Scotland

The Scottish government had been broadly supportive of ending Crown immunity for the prison service prior to Wednesday’s meeting between the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and the parents of two young people who took their own lives in Polmont Young Offender's Institution.

But the SPS’ chief executive giving her backing to the plans could see that pursued sooner rather than later.

Teresa Medhurst made the comment during a meeting with the families of Katie Allan and William Brown, also known as William Lindsay, who both died by suicide at Polmont in 2018.

Under the Crown immunity doctrine, the Crown, which includes the SPS, cannot be held criminally responsible for deaths in custody.

Campaigners have long challenged the law, arguing that the public and private sectors do not operate on a level playing field.

The families met the Scottish government's justice secretary, Angela Constance, at Holyrood ahead of a statement to parliament last week.

A government spokesperson told BBC Scotland News it would "continue to pursue the lifting of the SPS corporate Crown immunity".

Labour MSP Katy Clark asks the first minister whether the reported increased annual cost of Scotland's prisons to over £77,000 per prisoner represents good value for public money.

Swinney says the reported figure is “wrong,” and says the average cost of a prisoner annually is closer to £48,000.

Clark says Scotland has the highest number of prisoners in Western Europe. She says some prisoners have to be kept in custody, but asks if Swinney will accept that resources should be shifted to alternatives to custody, which are more effective to rehabilitating prisoners.

Swinney says there has been a £25m increase in funding for community justice over the past two years, and the government will look at expanding the community justice capacity.

In a similar vein, the SNP's Fergus Ewing is up next with a question on the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields.

He says developers had gained the necessary licences, complied with government regulations and made huge investments.

He warns that if they are declined final permission "because the rules have changed", the UK government could be sued billions to recover costs.

A reminder - Ewing recently announced he would not run for the SNP at the next election and has been at odds with the SNP over what he believes is a lack of support for the oil and gas industry.

Ewing asks if the first minister will confirm that the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields "must go ahead".

Swinney says he is a "strong believer in the rule of law" and the Scottish and UK government will have to consider the implications of recent court decisions.

Image source, Reuters

SNP MSP Kevin Stewart asks about comments from the chair of the North Sea Transition Task Force that its future should be a national mission.

Swinney points out his “frustration” with successive UK governments on the failure to explore the Acorn Carbon Capture project.

Conservative Douglas Lumsden asks whether the SNP will “ditch its hostility” towards the oil and gas sector.

Swinney denies he is hostile towards oil and gas and says he is committed to a “rational transition” to net zero, including relying on oil and gas for a period of time.

He accuses the Tories of “cuddling up to Nigel Farage” over abandoning climate change targets and references Jamie Greene’s comments about the party being in “a dance” with the Reform leader.

Swinney says there are opportunities for tenants to seek a review of a rent review which they believe is "unacceptable."

He says the Scottish government is bringing forward a housing bill and introducing the "concept of rent controls".

Harvie say he is grateful for the kind, personal remarks from the first minister.

But he fears the first minister is being "complacent" about the housing issue and there is nothing holding back a "tide of unaffordable rent rises".

Swinney says people can be assured the government is on their side and there are strict legal processes to ensure landlords follow rules about rent rises and ending tenancies.

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, is up next with a question on rent rises.

He says the Scottish government withdrew "critical protection" against rent rises on Monday and landlords can now set rents to "uncontrolled, free market levels" which tenants cannot prevent.

Harvie asks if the first minister understands why tenants across Scotland are "fearful" about what he has done.

Before he answers the question, Swinney expresses his "good wishes" on Harvie's decision to step down as co-leader of the Scottish Greens.

"I have always enjoyed our encounters," he adds. "We will have many more of them before the summer and I wish him well for the future."

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

We look set to go into next year’s Holyrood election with John Swinney and Jackie Baillie as the only two remaining MSPs defending the same seat they won in 1999.

These are two adversaries who know each other very well – and two who frequently savour a big clash in the Holyrood chamber.

Ms Baillie was singing from a familiar songbook, repeating Anas Sarwar’s frequent attack about the SNP’s management of the NHS.

Mr Swinney meanwhile attacked Ms Baillie’s use of figures – as he does most weeks, regardless of whether she is asking a question or not – and accused her of only being interested in “politics, politics, politics”.

He would have to concede that after 26 years of these exchanges, there has been no shortage of politics.

Back to the chamber, and Jackie Baillie accuses the SNP “spin machine” of “pretending everything is fine”.

She asks: “Isn’t it the case, that after 18 years in charge, if the SNP had a plan to fix the NHS, they would have done it by now?”

Swinney says he hears the same thing from Baillie every single week and says it is “not good enough” for her to “create the alarm” with her questioning.

He says Scotland is treating more cancer patients on time within the 31 and 62-day standards than the same quarter five years ago.

He says record funding was put in to the health service by the Scottish government and accuses Baillie of “not being interested" in properly funding the NHS.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

There isn’t really a big policy difference between Russell Findlay and John Swinney when it comes to US tariffs.

They are both worried about high tax rates on exports; they would both like to see a better deal for whisky.

But the interesting difference is that the Tories are only too happy to fire in about the UK government’s approach.

John Swinney loves nothing more than giving the Labour administration a kicking on their domestic policies, like welfare cuts.

But he has always been clear that he is behind Sir Keir Starmer’s approach on the world stage.

It does reflect the fact that Scottish ministers don’t have much of a role in international trade negotiations, but also the fact that the FM and PM are similar characters – both hoping for cool heads and pragmatic solutions to win out.

Baillie says there is no one else left to blame after the SNP’s 18 years in power.

She accuses the SNP of “rinse and repeat” and asks if Swinney accepts the claim made by the chair of the BMA Scotland’s GP committee that general practice is “at crisis point”.

Swinney says Baillie has ignored the impact on population health caused by the Covid pandemic, not just in Scotland, but across the world.

He says he “recognises the challenges in the NHS,” and says Scotland has more GPs per 100 people than anywhere else in the UK.

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

Jackie Baillie is up, standing in for Anas Sarwar with the Scottish Labour leader in New York for Tartan Week.

She brings up the Scottish government’s latest plan for the NHS and accuses the SNP of making patients wait for a year for treatment - adding this is the “height of their ambition”.

She asks if the government knows they have “broken Scotland’s NHS”.

Swinney says he does not agree, but accepts there are “challenges” in the health service.

He points to additional funding for NHS boards in April 2024 to deliver 64,000 additional procedures and says 75,500 had actually been delivered by the end of January this year.

Findlay says the new tariffs will put Scottish jobs and businesses at risk.

He said Scottish families face more tax rises because of the Scottish government, pointing to recent rises in council tax.

He asks if Swinney will lower the burden on Scots and businesses.

Swinney says the government will implement over £700m of business rate reductions for Scottish businesses.

He says that the Scottish government's new economic agenda has seen improvements in economic performance.

The Scottish Tory leader said the Scottish Whisky Association was "worried" about the Scottish government and whether it would help them.

Findlay said the Scottish government announced a USA export plan to identify the best opportunities for Scottish businesses in America last year, but it was cancelled within months.

He asks if this was a mistake and if Swinney will reverse the decision and produce a new USA export plan.

The first minister says the line of questioning was "bizarre" because the Conservatives "demand that the government close our international offices" which are "critical" for Scotland's success abroad.

He said the Scottish government would look at opportunities to promote Scottish products overseas and stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" with the industry.

Findlay refers to the Scottish Chambers of Commerce which warned that many firms will now struggle to survive, specifically whisky businesses.

He said this follows an increase in whisky duty "imposed" by the UK government six months ago.

He asks if the Scottish government will back his call for the UK government to lower its "record high tax on whisky".

Swinney says the UK government will make its financial decisions and the Scottish Tory leader was able to make his representations to them.

He said the government had had extensive dialogue with the Scottish Whisky Association and would "leave no stone unturned" in taking forward the industry's concerns.

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay goes straight into Donald Trump’s new tariffs, saying they will cause “significant harm to many of our industries”.

He says that Scotland exports about £4bn worth of goods to the US each year adding: “It’s our largest export destination."

He asks if the first minister will instruct the government and its business agencies to do whatever they can to support business and protect Scottish jobs.

Swinney says that is “absolutely” what the Scottish government and says the tariffs are “not good news” across the world, with negative implications for the US as well.

He says the Scottish government will engage with the UK government who are responsible for international trade.

First Minister John Swinney has taken his customary seat at the heart of the government's front bench and he sits poised ready for the first question from Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay.

You can watch the political jousting by clicking on the watch live icon at the top of the page.

Stick with us for reports and analysis throughout FMQs.

Angus Cochrane
BBC Scotland News

Image source, Getty Images

The talk of parliament this morning, other than the US president’s plans to reorder global trade, is the news that Jamie Greene hasquit the Scottish Conservative group.

Greene accused the party of becoming "Trump-esque in both style and substance" and adopting “Reform-lite” policies.

The West Scotland MSP has often cut an isolated figure on the Tory backbenches since being removed as the party’s justice spokesperson in 2023 – a sacking he claims was linked his support for the government’s controversial gender recognition reforms.

The announcement is therefore not a tremendous shock, but it is a blow for leader Russell Findlay.

Greene will now sit as an independent, leaving the Conservatives with 30 MSPs in the chamber, and facing a battle to hold onto that large a cohort at next year’s Holyrood election.

One party chief who will not be leading his party into that election is Patrick Harvie, who announced on Wednesday he is stepping down as Scottish Green co-leader.

After almost 17 years in the role, he says it’s time “for a new face to join the leadership team”.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

There are plenty of big stories around in politics ahead of FMQs – but opposition leaders might be as nervous about them as John Swinney.

The threat of US tariffs on goods from the UK is the sort of thing a business-friendly Tory leader might ask about.

But Russell Findlay will know that he’s likely to hear a thing or two about the fact one of his quit the Conservatives this morning.

Jamie Greene’s resignation letter was a brutal one, slamming Mr Findlay’s “Reform-lite agenda that appeals to the worst of our society”. Mr Swinney will look for any opportunity to read from it.

Meanwhile Jackie Baillie is leading for Scottish Labour, with Anas Sarwar away in the States.

Mr Swinney is heading to New York himself for Tartan Week, but not until after the big Holyrood set piece of the week.

Some in the SNP have already raised an eyebrow at the fact Mr Sarwar will be absent – although his deputy is more than capable of leaning into a scrap with the first minister on her own account.

Ultimately – at least as it stands – there isn’t a huge amount of difference between the parties on how they’d like to approach the issue of American tariffs.

The SNP seem quite happy to follow the calm, measured negotiating strategy of Sir Keir Starmer.

But the big news of the day is still likely to provide a flashpoint between them this afternoon.