That concludes our live coverage of FMQs.

If you're just joining us or need a recap here are the main headlines from the session:

• The UK Covid inquiry once again dominated party leaders questions to the first minister with Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross reading aloud an email shown to the inquiry suggesting a "real possibility" that a travel ban to Spain would preclude an independent Scotland from re-joining the EU.
• Humza Yousaf denied the Scottish government was prioritising independence, labelling Ross' accusation as "absolute fantasy".
• Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar said the inquiry had shown that government officials "plotted" while Scots fought for their lives.
• The first minister acknowledged that mistakes were made and "lessons need to be learned" from the inquiry but that the Scottish government made the right decisions at the time and for the right reasons.
• The first minister told the chamber that he would initiate an inquiry into the Scottish government's handling of informal messaging.
• Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton asked the first minister whether Nicola Sturgeon had a duty to come back to parliament and explain herself about her running a secretive "government within a government". The first minister said these complaints were for the inquiry to answer.
• Yousaf addressed two cases of measles that had been found in Scotland, warning that cases across Europe are continuing to rise due to under-vaccination and said the health service was working on measure around vaccination uptake.

Thank you for joining us. The editor was Catherine Lyst and the writers were Claire Diamond and Ashleigh Keenan-Bryce.

Jackie Baillie, of Scottish Labour, asks when the remainder of the NHS national treatment centres will open.

Yousaf replies that the next two centres - at the Golden Jubilee in Clydebank and at NHS Forth Valley - will open in the coming months. They will provide additional orthopaedic, endoscopy and general surgery capacity.

He adds that due to budget cuts set at Westminster, a revised plan for what projects can go ahead will be revealed in the spring.

Scottish Conservative MSP Graham Simpson asks the first minister what the Scottish government's response is to Scottish water plans to increase charges by 29% over three years.

The first minister explains that the board of Scottish Water make charging decisions and will announce the charges for 2024/25 shortly. Charges for future years have not yet been agreed - they will be set by Scottish water with approval from the independent economic regulator in line with the 2021-27 price cap.

He adds that in 2023/24, the average charge in England and Wales is 10% higher than in Scotland.

Simpson says he is "not interested in whats happening in England and Wales" and that planned increases are not ok for normal people struggling to pay their bills.

He asks the first minister whether the Scottish government will make a commitment to freeze water charges similar to their freeze on council tax.

Yousaf says the "brass neck" of a Conservative talking about the impact on people's household bills is "quite something to witness".

He added: "With Scottish water, what we end up getting in comparison with England and Wales is better service, lower water charges here...and a public-owned water company with every single penny of profit reinvested back into the public service."

Stephanie Callaghan MSP asks the first minister what steps the Scottish government is taking to prevent a resurgence of measles in Scotland.

The question comes after a warning from the UK Health Security Agency that measles cases are likely to spread rapidly unless more people are vaccinated.

Yousaf responds that there have only been two laborartory confirmed cases of measles in Scotland since October.

But he warns that cases across Europe are continuing to rise due to under-vaccination.

The FM says the health service is working on a range of measures around vaccination uptake.

"Immunisation is the most effective way of preventing illness from infectious disease and the MMR vaccine is extremely effective at preventing measles," he says.

He adds that anyone who has not had both doses of the vaccine should visit the NHS Inform site to arrange to get the vaccine for free. , external

The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader asks about the Covid inquiry too.

Alex Cole-Hamilton wants to know about Nicola Sturgeon's leadership during the pandemic.

He says she led a secretive "government within a government" which did not keep proper records, and wants to know why Humza Yousaf has not ordered a ministerial code investigation into record-keeping.

This is an investigation only Yousaf can instruct, Cole-Hamilton says.

He asks whether Sturgeon now has a duty to come back to Holyrood and explain herself.

The first minister says the proper place for Cole-Hamilton's complaints to be addressed is at the Covid inquiry.

He says no government got every decision right.

Sarwar says: "The Covid bereaved families don't believe the first minister when he gives those assurances."

The Scottish labour leader says the inquiry has been obstructed by the Scottish government "by evidence provided late or not at all".

He says three years ago, the people of Scotland voted for Nicola Sturgeon because they trusted her and believed she did "the best she could" during the pandemic.

"Now those same people have had their trust broken by this government and they're appalled at the cover-up," Sarwar says.

He asks the first minister if it is the case that, like the messages that have disappeared, so has the trust in the government.

Yousaf says he tends to leave the verdict of trust to the people of Scotland.

"This suggestion that somehow we are not being transparent - not only are we collaborating with the UK inquiry, we are the only nation in the UK to specifically establish an inquiry in our country," he says.

Anas Sarwar puts to the first minister that ministers knowingly deleted evidence prior to the Covid inquiry and his response is to initiate an inquiry.

The Scottish labour leader recalls events during the Salmond inquiry in 2020 where accusations of a cover-up were met with promises of a review. He points out this happened again during the ferry scandal.

Sarwar says: “They simply don’t get it.”

The first minister reiterates that every decision made was made with one priority in mind - how to protect people from Covid.

He acknowledges that ministers may not have got everything right, adding: "I promise those who have been bereaved by Covid, not only will we continue to co-operate with both inquiries, we will also learn lessons from those inquiries too."

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says three weeks of the Covid inquiry has shown that senior ministers and officials of the Scottish government knowingly deleted evidence and "plotted" while thousands of Scots fought for their lives.

Sarwar asks the first minister why protecting the SNP is more important to the first minister than getting to the truth.

Yousaf says this is a "complete mischaracterisation" of what has been heard at the inquiry.

He says: "Yes, we should have done better on retention policy of those informal communications.

"But in the course of this pandemic it came to the important decisions that helped to save lives. I believe we took the decisions for the right reasons."

Now Douglas Ross turns to Humza Yousaf's WhatsApp exchanges with Scotland's national clinical director, Prof Jason Leitch.

He refers to an exchange where Yousaf - who was the health secretary at the time - says "I'm winging it and will get found out sooner or later."

Ross says Yousaf had "joked about not knowing what he was doing".

The Tory leader points out that at this time 10,000 people in Scotland had already lost their lives with Covid.

"Hasn't the whole SNP government been found out?" he asks.

Yousaf replies that the inquiry has heard from an academic that Scotland had the lowest level of deaths per 100,000 people.

He accepts that there are things the Scottish government should have done differently, but says the whole Scottish government was working to protect the people from the harms of Covid.

Humza Yousaf comes back to say that not only did Douglas Ross' boss - Boris Johnson - not retain his WhatsApp messages, but he took the Covid inquiry to court (and lost) to prevent having his messages disclosed.

The first minister then quotes the UK government's Scottish Secretary Alister Jack who said he deleted his own WhatsApp messages and "didn't think anything of it".

This is "astonishing", Yousaf says, calling it "hypocrisy".

Douglas Ross says Alister Jack was wrong to delete his WhatsApp messages and says Humza Yousaf has to say Nicola Sturgeon was also wrong to delete her messages.

Image source, PA Media

Yesterday at the UK Covid inquiry, Nicola Sturgeon gave her evidence.

Here's a reminder of what she had to say:

• One of her regrets was not locking Scotland down two weeks earlier at the start of the first wave
• She fought back tears as she said a large part of her wished she hadn't been first minister during the pandemic
• None of the decisions she made in the pandemic were based on political considerations
• She denied making decisions on instinct and with a small band of trusted advisers
• She admitted deleting her text messages but said everything of relevance was available on the public record
• She also told the hearing that she thought "every day" about some of the decisions she'd had to make during the pandemic

Douglas Ross says the first minister's response is "bizarre".

He notes that the Scottish government did briefly open up a travel corridor with Spain but had to close it down again after just five days.

"They were thinking about independence instead of focusing purely on public health," he claims.

He adds that Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf's responses to the message are not available.

The Tory leader then moves on to critiicse Nicola Sturgeon for deleting her WhatsApp messages from over the pandemic.

Humza Yousaf responds that the email was sent by a Scottish government civil servant and not from an SNP official.

"To suggest the decision around Spain was made for any other reason than epidemiology is an absolute fantasy," he says.

Yousaf says if the plan was to "curry favour" with Spain then surely the logical move would have been for the Scottish government to put the Mediterranean country on the exempt list.

The first minister concludes that his government always prioritised protecting the public.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross asks the first question of Humza Yousaf.

He inquires about an email which was referenced at yesterday's UK Covid inquiry.

He says it included "senior SNP government figures" discussing a travel ban to Spain in July 2020.

Ross quotes the email, which says the Spanish government will conclude the ban is "entirely political" and "won't forget" about it.

The email warns of a "real possibility" Spain could block an independent Scotland joining the EU as a result.

The Tory MSP highlights that Humza Yousaf, Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney all received this email.

One likely topic during FMQs today is the UK Covid inquiry.

The inquiry has heard from key figures from both the Scottish and UK government who led the response, focusing on governance and decision-making during the pandemic.

This morning, the UK government's Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has been giving evidence.

He will be the last witness of the inquiry's three-week stint in Edinburgh.

Yesterday, Humza Yousaf's predecessor as first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, gave evidence to the inquiry.

Image source, Getty Images

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of First Minister's Questions.

We'll bring you the live action from Holyrood as Humza Yousaf faces his weekly grilling by opposition leaders.

The session starts at noon and you can follow it here or watch live from the chamber by using the play icon in the tabs above.