Summary

  • First Minister John Swinney says UK tax body HMRC has been contacted over the potential illegal reclaiming of VAT costs by his party

  • The statement came after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the tax authorities should be looking at the possibility the SNP used the business claim back system on illegal purchases by Peter Murrell

  • The former SNP chief executive pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,000 of his party's funds. A £124,500 motorhome was included in the more than 1,000 items Murrell illicitly bought over a 12-year period

Live Reporting

Edited by Paul McLaren

  1. New FMQs format already under scrutiny

    Kirsten Campbell
    BBC Scotland political correspondent

    Today's FMQs will just feature the party leaders. But some MSPs are already questioning whether the new backbench FMQs on a Tuesday will achieve the aim of increasing scrutiny of the government and making the Scottish Parliament more effective.

    Presiding Officer Kenneth Gibson created a dedicated 30-minute session to allow more time for local representatives to raise concerns directly with the first minister.

    A record number of backbenchers submitted questions for the inaugural question time, about issues as varied as business rates, rent controls and local parking charges.

    But no questions about the Peter Murrell embezzlement case were selected, despite it being the main news story in Scotland.

    One MSP said they were "raging" and suggested plans to make FMQs more topical had fallen at the first hurdle. Another expressed surprise, telling me: “Murrell’s crimes have dominated the news agenda for more than a week and they give rise to so many legitimate questions that require answering by John Swinney – not least why he and Nicola Sturgeon sought to silence those who raised concerns about the SNP’s finances."

    A staffer for a different party said Kenneth Gibson would start to get pushback from business managers if he blocked similar questions in future, especially when he had allowed comments about Labour's links with Peter Mandelson.

    Gibson did not respond to claims he'd said he was " bored" of the story. Instead, a Parliament spokesman said “We don’t comment on question selection other than to say the selection of questions is a matter for the presiding officer.”

    The issue has been raised several times already in the Holyrood chamber, with an urgent question on Tuesday 26 May and at last week's FMQs. It seems certain to come up again today.

  2. Welcome

    Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of First Minister's Questions at the new time of 14:00.

    FMQs now takes place twice a week, after Presiding Officer Kenneth Gibson announced a shake-up of how Holyrood operates.

    As part of the overhaul, FMQs on a Tuesday has a 30-minute slot for backbenchers to question John Swinney and there's another 30 minutes on Thursday for party leaders to quiz the FM.

    We'll bring you reports and analysis throughout the proceedings and as ever you can follow events in the chamber by clicking on the Watch Live icon at the top of this page.