The MSPs' debate on the programme for government will go on at Holyrood until what's known as decision time tonight and will carry on in the chamber tomorrow.

Here are the key lines that emerged this afternoon:

• John Swinney pledged 100,000 additional appointments in GP surgeries as he outlined his programme for government 12 months ahead of the May 2026 election
• The FM hopes this will tackle the "8am GP postcode lottery" for booking appointments
• Other measures announced included the permanent scrapping of peak-time rail fares
• The government also intends to lift the complete alcohol ban on trains.
• Russell Findlay, the leader of the Scottish Tories, described the government's plans as "more of the same", as he sought to portray John Swinney as the man who broke government now trying to fix it
• Speaking for Scottish Labour, the party's leader Anas Sarwar asked the FM "is that it?" then accused Swinney of stealing some Labour ideas
• Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater said she was delighted the SNP had adopted her party's policy of scrapping peak-time rail fares and she asked for bus fares to be capped at £2
• Scottish Lib Dems leader Alex Cole-Hamilton criticised what he described as 20 years of SNP failure on planning and housing

That's all from our live coverage of today's programme for government statement. The editor was Paul McLaren and the writers were Craig Hutchison and Katy Scott. Thanks for joining us.

Captain Swinney reckons he has steadied the SNP shippublished at 16:20 British Summer Time 6 May

16:20 BST 6 May

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

One of the most striking things to take away from this session - which fires the starting gun on the Holyrood election campaign - was the first minister’s tone.

John Swinney took over the SNP a year ago at one of the most testing moments in its recent history, and quickly suffered a brutal drubbing in the general election.

But today, sparring confidently with opposition leaders and back benchers, he appears to be having a great time.

Mr Swinney has always relished the cut and thrust of parliamentary debate, but he clearly feels he has steadied the ship.

He said at the turn of the year that he had put the SNP back on the front foot, and intended to keep them there.

This programme was designed to deliver that. Some of the trickier legislative challenges have been shelved, and some attractive retail policies set out.

Mr Swinney is sharpening his government’s focus on its key priorities as we drift towards polling day.

Susie Forrest
BBC Scotland

Mr Swinney has pledged to continue Nicola Sturgeon's unsuccessful quest to close the so-called attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils in Scotland's schools.

The latest figures, external showed the difference widened for pupils sitting National 4s, National 5s and Highers last year.

In the year ahead, up to £200m will be ploughed into the Scottish Attainment Challenge to reduce gaps in literacy and numeracy in primary school. Ministers are also pushing ahead with reforming school qualifications and updating the curriculum in key subjects and launching a new Centre for Teaching Excellence.

The government has been criticised for failing to plan for the huge increase in the number of pupils with additional needs. Now there will also be an additional £29m in 2025-26 to recruit and train specialist staff to support them.

Ministers will hope to see the changes feed through to exam result success in secondary schools.

UK trade deal with India chimes with Swinney's hopes for Scottish exportspublished at 16:02 British Summer Time 6 May

16:02 BST 6 May

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

As John Swinney stood up to deliver his priorities for the year until the election, another announcement was being made, with at least as significant a potential impact on the Scottish economy.

A trade deal with India has been struck, in principle at least, with the UK government. Once ratified, it should bring down the sky-high tariffs on Scotch whisky - from 150% to 75%, and then reducing over the next 10 years to 40%.

That remains higher than most of India's other tariffs at present, but it's a big boost to getting into the world's biggest market of whisky-drinkers. Despite those high tariffs, it is already the biggest importer of Scotch by volume of spirit.

Other goods will find it easier and cheaper to access the vast and fast-growing Indian consumer market; salmon, lamb, medical devices and cars, while some clothes and shoes from India could become cheaper in the UK. Indians have also secured concessions on work visas, including recognition of musicians, chefs and Hindu yogis.

This looks like the biggest trade deal to be struck since Brexit, at which point Whitehall took on responsibility for trade from Brussels. India has been very slow to negotiate trade. It may be that the Trump tariffs have speeded things up.

That emphasis on exports chimes with one of the themes of the first minister's programme for government. To help grow the economy, he wants to help boost exports from Scotland, particularly for smaller companies, with more trade missions and specific grant funding.

There's an offer, also, of more support for the Acorn carbon capture project, if the UK government pushes it along with much higher levels of available funding. And as we already knew, the Scottish government is seeking to get faster growth into the economy, with planning reform, reform of skills and reversal of a big cut to the housing budget.

Swinney hopes public transport plans will put more money's in people's pocketspublished at 15:55 British Summer Time 6 May

15:55 BST 6 May

David Henderson
BBC Scotland transport correspondent

When John Swinney became first minister a year ago, he promised new priorities.

But on transport, he's backing one of his predecessor's big ideas - namely Humza Yousaf's pilot scheme to remove peak rail fares and shift to off-peak fares all day.

He says it will put more money in people's pockets, with less C02 pumped into our skies..

This is a subsidy for rail commuters, and he'll hope they'll notice the difference.

The trade union body, the STUC, have already given it a warm welcome.

They say peak fares were a tax on workers, that hit commuters directly in the pocket.

Add in free bus travel for young, disabled and older people, and there's a substantial sum being spent on helping Scots get around on public transport.

That reflects this government's focus on improving connectivity as a way to grow the economy.

And these key groups may welcome a little help with the cost of living, in the run up to a Scottish election.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

The government is promising an additional 100,000 appointments in GP surgeries by next March. My understanding is that it will do this by providing GP surgeries with enhanced services payments.

That will enable family doctors to proactively bring in people with conditions like high blood pressure, migraines or cholesterol problems for check-ups before they're feeling unwell enough to ask to see a doctor.

That has the benefit of providing preventative treatment and also removes these patients from the 8am rush for last-minute appointments.

Ministers believe this could help tens of thousands of patients, some of whom might have required multiple on-the-day appointments

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Ferreting out the detail from the PFG paperwork it’s based on extra appointments, but not just those 8am ones.

GPs will be funded to deliver an extra 100,000 “enhanced service” appointments by next March – essentially reaching out to people with key risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar or obesity – and treating them directly.

That takes them out of the “rush” for appointments at 8am, and also means you can potentially catch some of the patients' health issues before they develop into something serious.

Government officials believe adding these “MOT” sessions could free up GPs and thus have the knock-on effect of actually delivering even more appointments than has been promised by Mr Swinney – the intention being, if it works out, to under-promise and over-deliver.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

There's been a lot of speculation at Holyrood about whether the first minister might reshuffle his cabinet and have a fresh team to deliver on the pledges in the programme for government before the next election.

There is already a ministerial vacancy after the sad death of the Drugs and Alcohol Policy minister Christina McKelvie.

Other cabinet secretaries, like the Finance Secretary Shona Robison, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon have signalled their intention to stand down at the next election, and it's been suggested they could be replaced in advance to give more junior politicians government experience.

But the chat is that any changes are more likely to be made when the Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan returns from maternity leave.

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

John Swinney has kicked plans for legislation on misogynistic abuse and LGBT conversion therapy into the long grass.

He still wants to take short-term action when it comes to these issues, but they won’t get their own bespoke bills in the months ahead.

The first minister says he’s limited by the time left in this parliament, and that these issues are still vitally important to him.

These were both areas where legislation had the potential to tease out SNP splits.

The government would have had to spell out how both pieces of legislation would interact with transgender people – there would likely be different (and strongly held) opinions amongst SNP MSPs.

And that’s an internal debate that John Swinney won’t regret avoiding in an election year.

What's to be made of Findlay and Sarwar's responses?published at 15:29 British Summer Time 6 May

15:29 BST 6 May

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

All of Holyrood’s parties have been workshopping their election platforms for months now, so in a way the responses to John Swinney’s speech today were unsurprising.

The Tories paint John Swinney as the same old politician who has spent most of the last 20 years in government - and even managed to bring up the topic of independence, the issue they regularly insist we all need to move on from.

Labour are particularly aggrieved that Mr Swinney has focused on the “8am lottery” for GP appointments, given that ending the “8am rush” was a big part of Anas Sarwar’s conference speech earlier this year.

But the proposal seems to be a little different - the Labour leader was talking about renegotiating the GP contacts, while the first minister seems focused on increasing capacity in the system.

Also, that’s just life in opposition. If you’re the third party in the parliament you can have all the good ideas you like, but it’s the government that actually gets to do stuff.

Kevin Keane
BBC Scotland environment correspondent

Back in 2019, the Scottish government became one of the first in the world to declare a climate emergency and spent the following years pledging to tackle it across the board.

But now it’s barely being mentioned, even though the science demonstrates that the future is looking even more bleak than was understood six years ago.

So, what has changed?

Yes, we’ve had a global pandemic and a war in Europe which has put a major squeeze on finances. But equally significant is the shift away from consensus politics where all parties agreed this was an urgent priority.

Despite scant mention in the first minister’s speech, there are actually six whole pages of actions to tackle the climate emergency in the programme for government document although many of those actions are a continuation of existing commitments or have already been announced.

What we’re perhaps seeing is a growth in “green-hushing” where companies and politicians keep quiet about efforts to address climate change to avoid challenge.

And with the new kids on the block – Reform UK – providing the strongest challenge in years against the “net-zero” agenda, bringing it to the forefront of the last programme for government before a Holyrood election is likely seen as the most sensible move politically for the SNP.

Is the focus on GP numbers and services what voters are looking for?published at 15:22 British Summer Time 6 May

15:22 BST 6 May

Andrew Kerr
BBC Scotland political correspondent

When the first minister sat down after delivering his speech, it was time for his opponents to react - in particular to write their own prescriptions to improve the state of the NHS.

They were critical of the pledges made by John Swinney - including the one to improve GP numbers to cut down the stress of the 8am GP phone call.

The Conservative leader Russell Findlay said the pledge to increase GP numbers was a promise made eight years ago - and he said it has "not been kept".

Meanwhile on the other side of the chamber, Anas Sarwar, Labour's leader, questioned where was the plan to fix the NHS? He claimed Mr Swinney was not "recognising the scale of the crisis" in the NHS.

Mr Swinney lashed back - saying he wasn't recognising the impact of the Covid pandemic on the health service.

The first minister wants to focus on delivery - he'll now hope his proposed changes to GPs give a sense of reassurance and deliver the change in the service that voters are clearly looking for.

Image source, scottish parliament

Alex Cole-Hamilton says the government's record on planning reforms, skills development, housing and rural development "should give us all pause".

The Scottish Lib-Dem leader accuses Swinney's government of presiding over a planning system that takes years to approve projects, that Scotland is not building enough affordable houses and that the erosion of further education means we're in no position to generate the skills base we need.

The first minister hits back by arguing GDP per person in Scotland has grown by 10.3% since 2007, compared to 6.1% in the UK.

Swinney defends his government's action on planning and on the question of housing, the Scottish government has a record of building more affordable houses per head of population than any other part of the UK, he says.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

A couple of nuggets from the programme for government document, which for whatever reason didn’t feature in John Swinney’s speech…

The government is going to take free bus passes away from young people who indulge in anti-social behaviour on public transport – although the timescale remains unclear.

Meanwhile train passengers will be able to toast the removal of peak rail fares, because the alcohol ban on services is going to be lifted.

There’s clarity about next year’s budget bill already, with a pledge for “no further divergence from the UK on income tax” before the election – this had been trailed by Shona Robison already, but is now set out in black and white. No new bands, no increases to rates.

The government is also going to bring forward a bill to regulate non-surgical procedures which are offered for “cosmetic or lifestyle purposes”.

Image source, scottish parliament

Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater says she is “delighted” that the Scottish government has committed to her party’s policy of scrapping peak rail fares.

She says the government refused to do this earlier in the year but “we finally got there”.

Slater calls for more “brave decisions” to make public transport cheaper, like capping bus fares at £2 across Scotland.

Swinney welcomes Slater’s “encouragement” but says public finances were more difficult earlier in the year.

He says the transport secretary is taking forward pilot work on capping bus fares agreed in the budget and the government will look at its results.

Image source, scottish parliament

Anas Sarwar kicks off his response to Swinney's statement in a similar vein to Russell Findlay.

“Is that it?” the Scottish Labour leader asks the first minister.

He calls Swinney's plans “embarrassing” and, while he admits he may have agreed with some of the plans, Sarwar claims that’s because they were “nicked” from Scottish Labour.

The statement fails to recognise the crisis in the NHS, he says, and it fails to address the issues in schools as well as homelessness.

Swinney says new government funding has helped the NHS recover from Covid and treatment delays, and literacy and numeracy levels have increased in schools.

The attainment gap is at its narrowest in some of the key aspects of literacy and numeracy, he says.

And the Scottish government has delivered more affordable housing per head of population compared to England and Wales, he adds.

The FM says Russell Findlay will not stop him trying to find common ground between parties.

Swinney insists his government will allocate a greater proportion of new NHS funding to primary care which will benefit GPs.

He says the majority of people in Scotland pay comparitively less than they would in the rest of the UK.

Swinney accuses Findlay of having a "billion pound flaw" in his argument on tax.

On his "lifetime commitment" to independence, the first minister it remains his dream because he wants Scotland will have a better standard of living, arguing "Brexit has resulted in the decline of the standard of living for people in this country".

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

By convention the programme for government is usually set out in September.

But John Swinney has brought the speech forward to allow him a year to deliver on the plans before the next Holyrood election.

In practice any legislation will need to be passed by the end of March, when the Scottish Parliament will be dissolved ahead of the campaign.

That doesn't give a lot of time for scrutiny, which perhaps explains why there are so few bills in this programme, with just six bills proposed.

There are already 14 government bills going through the parliamentary process, including the justice bill which will abolish the not proven verdict.

Image source, scottish parliament

It's now the turn of Russell Findlay to respond on behalf of the Scottish Tories and he says this has been a "flimsy" programme for government and just "more of the same".

He adds: "John Swinney is the politician who has failed to deliver for the last 18 years."

Findlay adds Swinney cannot be the solution as he has caused the problems.

He goes on to lambast the Scottish government income tax policy and argues the tax burden should have been reduced.

The Scottish Tory leader insists the FM will not find an economic case for independence "because there isn't one".

"This is more of the same from the same old John Swinney."

The GP headcount has gone up - but that's not the full storypublished at 15:01 British Summer Time 6 May

15:01 BST 6 May

Susie Forrest, Health assistant editor BBC Scotland

We heard a lot from John Swinney on increased numbers of GPS.

In 2017, the Scottish government pledged to recruit 800 extra GPs over the next decade. By 2024, the estimated headcount of fully-qualified GPs in Scotland had increased by 53 from 4,385 to 4,438.

But ministers have been challenged by the profession over how they count those doctors. Over the same period, the so-called Whole-Time Equivalent figure has actually shrunk from 3,529 to 3,453 - because more GPs are working part-time.

While hundreds of new GPs have started work, older doctors are reducing their hours or retiring.

Earlier this year, the spending watchdog Audit Scotland said reduced spending on general practice had put more pressure on GPs, and proposals for more nurses, physiotherapists and other specialists to support them had moved too slowly. And they said the government was unlikely to hit its target of 800 more GPs by 2027.