First Minister's Questions has drawn to a close. Here are the key lines that emerged today:

• Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay argued the welfare spend was "not fair or affordable" and that income tax was too high in Scotland
• The first minister disagreed and defended his government's budget and social security expenditure, adding his government stood "shoulder to shoulder with disabled people"
• Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar returned to the issue of the QEUH, arguing patients were "lied to" and damaged by prophylaxis drugs. He asked Swinney how he slept at night
• The first minister said he could not give his opinion on clinical decisions and that the hospitals inquiry would provide the answers
• Cross-boundary childcare was the issue Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay focused on, as she called for government intervention in West Lothian where funding for placements is being cut
• Swinney insisted the council was getting a nearly 8% increase in funding and should follow statutory guidance on childcare provision
• The dual role of the lord advocate was again raised during FMQs, with Tory MSP Liam Kerr asking if the SNP would support a Westminster bill that would split the role
• Swinney replied the Scottish government's proposals on the dual role would be published before the Holyrood election

That ends our live coverage of FMQs, thanks for joining us. Today's editor was Mary McCool and the writers were Craig Hutchison and Rachel Grant.

Shape of the coming campaign is clearpublished at 13:01 GMT

13:01 GMT

Phil Sim
Scotland political correspondent

It's not just the opposition who get to make their electoral priorities clear during FMQs.

Yes, we had Russell Findlay nailing his colours to the mast about tax and benefit spending, and Anas Sarwar made his familiar argument about people being let down by SNP-run services.

The leaflets were already printed on both of those fronts.

But we know SNP ones have been too - and thus there were two backbench questions teeing up John Swinney to talk about energy bills, and his party's "It's Scotland's Energy" campaign which claims bills could be lower following independence.

The first minister also managed to shoehorn in two mentions of his visit to Shetland - could that by any chance be an SNP target seat?

And in the final moments of the session there was a plug for the network of GP walk-in centres, which Swinney announced at SNP conference and which will undoubtedly form a key part of his rebuttal to Sarwar's arguments.

There are still a handful of weeks left of the parliamentary term, but the shape of the coming campaign is already pretty clear for all of these parties.

Responding to news that fewer women are attending cervical cancer screening, SNP MSP Ruth Maguire asks what the government will do will make sure all women's health services are accessible to women with the most economic and social challenges.

Swinney says the uptake of screening is "not where we want it to be".

He says the first self sampling tests will be available from March in some of the most deprived areas of Scotland.

They commit £1m annually to cancer screen inequality, he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba asks for the first minister's response to the outcome of the University of Aberdeen UCU strike ballot.

It resulted in 83% of those voting in support of strike action and 90% in favour of action short of a strike.

Four strike dates at the University of Aberdeen have been announced for next month.

The first minister encourages the union and the university to work constructively to seek a resolution to this dispute.

Villalba says over the last two years over 440 jobs have been lost and she highlights strike action across the country. She asks what action is being taken to address the " financial crisis in our higher education sector".

Swinney again stresses the importance of dialogue between the university leadership and trade unions and he insists the resources for higher education have increased.

SNP MSP Kevin Stewart also calls for the dispute to be resolved and highlights the record funding for higher education in the budget.

Image source, PA

Just yesterday, Dorothy Bain again defended her actions over memos sent to the first minister about the criminal case against Peter Murrell.

Bain appeared in the Scottish Parliament chamber for the second time in just over a week after it emerged that Swinney was first given details of the scale of embezzlement charges in March 2025.

It was previously thought that the government was first told of the sum last month.

Bain denied suggestions from the Scottish Conservatives that she had been misleading in her earlier statement to MSPs and insisted it was normal for the first minister to be made aware of major investigations and court cases.

Our colleague Dave Cowan looks at why the lord advocate briefed Swinney on the Murrell charge after the Crown Office released 30 previously confidential updates to Scotland's first ministers.

The dual role of the lord advocate - as head of the prosecution and as a minister providing legal advice to the government - is raised by Conservative MSP Liam Kerr.

It's an issue that has been raised in the chamber multiple times in recent weeks after it emerged that Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain had briefed John Swinney on former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell's embezzlement charge.

Swinney says the government's proposals on the dual role will be published before the election, but considers that the current position is appropriate in the meantime.

When Kerr asks if SNP MPs will be told to support a bill in the UK parliament to enable this dual role to be split, then immediately take action to implement those new powers, Swinney points out he would first need to win the election and lead the next government.

He adds that he is glad Kerr believes that is what he will be able to do.

Back to the chamber, the first minister points out the Labour-led West Lothian Council are not following the statutory guidance on cross-boundary childcare.

Swinney says the council will get an increase of 7.8% to its budget and his government is fully funding 1,140 of high quality early learning and childcare.

He adds it would be helpful if the council could provide affordable childcare.

Image source, Getty Images

At their spring conference last week, the Scottish Greens unveiled proposals for the"biggest expansion to childcare in a generation".

The party pledged to extend the current funded childcare hours to all children in Scotland from the week after they turn two, and to offer 570 hours of funded childcare for every child aged from six months to two years.

Currently, three to five-year-olds can get up to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year. But two-year-olds only qualify for funding if their parents meet a certain criteria.

Co-leader Gillian Mackay said parents were being “saddled with nursery fees that cost more than the mortgage”.

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

The Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay focuses on childcare provision as the current system is not working, she says.

Mackay says this week West Lothian Council voted to cut all funding for cross-boundary placements meaning parents in Falkirk are set to be hit with a huge bill.

Young children and families are facing an "unacceptable level of disruption", she adds.

"Will the first minister intervene and help the families who will be impacted by this and will his government provide an urgent solution to councils cutting funding for cross-boundary childcare?"

Phil Sim
Scotland political correspondent

Questions always hit home harder when they relate to members of the public who feel they’ve been let down by services - particularly when they’re in the public gallery to watch.

Today there was a whole group of families watching Anas Sarwar’s questions to John Swinney about the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

That made for a serious and measured exchange, lacking the rancour and name-calling we often see between these two leaders.

Swinney said he would be meeting with some of those families in due course.

But for all of that, it came back to a very familiar conclusion - that the first minister does not want to prejudge the outcome of the ongoing public inquiry.

For all that he may well be sympathetic to the calls for a specific panel to look at these cases, he is not going to budge on that until Lord Brodie’s report is published.

The Labour leader says all the families he has mentioned are represented in the chamber today.

They want the truth and for no other family to suffer like they have, Sarwar says.

He adds that the inquiry will not look at individual cases and cannot give them the answers they need. He asks for an independent expert panel to look at each case.

Swinney says he will be meeting families today and in the coming weeks.

But he says he needs to reserve his position until the outcome of the public inquiry is known.

Sarwar says some families believe their children have been left with life-long debilitating conditions as a result of taking prophylaxis drugs.

He outlines cases of children given these treatments after March 2018.

Sarwar says these families would ask John Swinney, "how do you sleep at night?"

The first minister says he cannot give his opinion on clinical decisions, but he can recognise families' suffering and reassure them that the inquiry is designed to capture the evidence and provide answers.

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

Anas Sarwar returns once again to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital scandal.

The Scottish Labour leader highlights the use of prophylaxis - treatments given to prevent disease - which he says some children at the hospital were given for nine months, with side effects.

He says patients were told these were "standard treatments, not connected to the hospital environment".

"Why were they lied to?" he asks.

Swinney says he is not a clinician and the inquiry will give answers to these questions.

Straightforward exchanges between Swinney and Findlaypublished at 12:27 GMT

12:27 GMT

Phil Sim
Scotland political correspondent

The exchanges between John Swinney and Russell Findlay may have been somewhat ill-tempered, but they were also reasonably straightforward - they illustrate that these are parties with very different ideologies and priorities.

In short, the Tories think benefits spending is unaffordable and that income tax is too high.

The SNP think the current approach is "fair and affordable" - they are happy to stand on a record of taxing higher earners more, while expanding benefits to more people.

Yes, there's a lot of rhetoric around it about "going after the benefits of disabled people" and "nonsense smears".

But this is a fairly honest disagreement between two parties at opposite ends of the political spectrum. They simply have completely different beliefs.

That's actually very useful in an election year for voters trying to choose who to vote for.

People are forced to pay tax says Findlay, who argues the government should get people off benefits into work.

The Scottish Tory leader says a government report wants more people to qualify for ADP (Adult Disability Payment) which would lead to another £1bn to the "SNP's already bloated benefits bill".

Fundamentally, he says all other parties want to keep spending more on benefits - while the Tories want to reduce the benefits bill.

Swinney hits back saying Findlay is going after disabled people and undermining their quality of life.

The first minister insists his government will stand shoulder to shoulder with disabled people in society.

He says there was money in his budget for schemes to get people back into work, which he reminds the chamber that Findlay did not support.

The Scottish Tory leader insists welfare spending is neither fair nor affordable as Scots are already paying £1.8bn more each year in "SNP income tax".

"And it's going to get worse," he adds.

Findlay references the Scottish Fiscal Commission report which says one million Scots will be in receipt of benefits by the end of the decade.

"I think the government's approach in its budget and in its social security expenditure is fair and affordable," replies Swinney.

The first minister details cost of living support from his government and the social contract including prescription charges and tuition fees.

"Of course people don't pay tuition fees here in Scotland."

The majority of taxpayers in Scotland pay less in taxation than if they lived in other parts of the UK, he adds.

The first minister replies: "Yes I do believe that it is fair and affordable."

Swinney adds the budget just passed will ensure people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect.

Image source, Scottish Parliament TV

Findlay reminds the chamber welfare is paid for by taxpayers and adds £1 of every £7 spent by the SNP government is spent on benefits.

The Scottish Tory leader asks: "Does John Swinney think that is fair and affordable?"

The Scottish Fiscal Commission report found:

• more than a million people in Scotland could be in receipt of disability benefits by 2031
• close to a million could be paying higher rates of income tax by that time
• It predicted social security costs could rise from £7.4bn in 2026-27 to £9.2bn by 2030-31
• It warned ministers that the next government will either need to raise more in taxes or cut spending in other areas
• The report forecast that more than 80% of social security spending could be on disability payments
• SFC chairman Prof Graeme Roy said that almost a million Scots would end up paying more income tax largely because the government has frozen the threshold at which people start paying the higher rate at £43,663 – meaning wage growth would lead to more people paying the higher charge

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay asks John Swinney about the cost of Scotland's benefits.

It comes after the Scottish Fiscal Commission released a report yesterday which said more than a million people in Scotland could be getting disability benefits by 2031.