John Swinney to face FMQs after Programme of Government announcement

The First Minister will face questions from opposition leaders just days after announcing his new Programme for Government.

John Swinney promised Scots will benefit from 100,000 more GP appointments as he announced his “programme for a better Scotland” – which will also see peak-time rail fares scrapped “for good”.

He also provided a cost of living guarantee to keep council tax, water bills “substantially lower” than England and Wales, promised to restore winter fuel payments for pensioners and provide stronger renter protections, and vowed to keep prescriptions, eye appointments, bus travel for young, disabled and older people, and university tuition free.

But with the next Holyrood elections being held in a year’s time on May 7, 2026, three of his keynote announcements – on GP appointments, ending peak-time rail fares, and restoring winter fuel payments – echo commitments already made by Scottish Labour.

Opposition leaders have already criticised Swinney’s Programme for Government for what they perceive as a lack of ambition, and the First Minister is likely to be questioned on some of the decisions his government has taken.

Trade deals are also likely to crop up at FMQs as rumours of a UK-US trade deal loom over Westminster.

The US President teased the announcement of a “major trade deal” with a “big, highly respected country” in a post on his Truth Social platform overnight, and Downing Street has said Keir Starmer will provide an update on trade talks with the US later on Thursday.

There are reports that both nations are winding up to announce a US-UK trade deal.

The rumours have come just days after the UK struck up a multi-billion-pound trade deal with India on Tuesday, which now Tory leader and former trade minister Kemi Badenoch failed to secure during her time in government.

The deal is expected to benefit Scotch Whisky makers as it makes it cheaper and easier for both nations to buy and sell goods and services to one another.

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves said the “transformational” India trade agreement that will make a “massive difference” to the whisky industry in Scotland.

“It will more than half the tariffs applied to Scotch Whisky being exported to India and India is the biggest market in the world now for whisky,” she said on Wednesday.

“Having that access for Scotch whisky to the Indian market will make a massive difference for good jobs paying decent wages here in Scotland and putting money in people’s pockets.”