When is FMQs today? How to watch live as Nicola Sturgeon attends First Minister’s Questions at the Scottish Parliament

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is set to answer questions from MSPs at Holyrood.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.

When is FMQs?

First Minister’s Questions will be held at 12 noon today (Thursday, May 27).

What will Nicola Sturgeon say?

While it is not yet clear what questions Ms Sturgeon will be asked, the First Minister is likely to take questions on her priorities after the SNP won the Holyrood election earlier this month.

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On Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon has revealed her SNP Government is in talks with the Scottish Greens over a possible formal co-operation agreement, saying that by working together the two parties “can help build a better future for Scotland”.

The First Minister’s comments came as she set out her “unashamedly ambitious” plans for the coming days and months, also making clear her intention to hold a second Scottish independence referendum and insisting it would be “undemocratic” for the UK Government to block one.

She promised the first 100 days of her new Government will see a consultation take place on setting up a National Care Service – hailing this as “the most important public sector innovation” since the NHS was established.

The 100-day plan will also see the “first phase” of work to recruit 3,500 more teachers and classroom assistants for Scotland’s schools, in a bid to help youngsters whose education has been disrupted by coronavirus.

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Ms Sturgeon is also expected to address the coronavirus situation in Glasgow, having said on Tuesday there are signs for “cautious optimism” about the Covid-19 outbreak in the city, which remains at a higher restriction level than anywhere else in Scotland.

The First Minister told a Scottish Government briefing there may now be signs that cases in Glasgow are stabilising.

Glasgow City Council is the only local authority area in to remain in Level 3 of restrictions – prohibiting different households mixing at home and meaning hospitality venues cannot sell alcohol indoors.

Travel in and out the area is prohibited.

Ms Sturgeon said: “In Glasgow, the seven-day average of new cases has increased since Friday: from 112 new cases per 100,000, to 137.

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“However, it’s important to recognise that the extensive public health efforts that are underway in Glasgow will take time to work through, given the scale and complexity of the city so it’s important that we don’t lose heart.

“In fact, just in the last two days or so, we may have started to see some signs that case numbers are stabilising. Test positivity has also remained fairly stable over the past few days, at around 4%, so that would be another reason to be cautiously optimistic that we’re not seeing test positivity shoot up on an ever-increasing basis.”

She said there are also positive signs in East Renfrewshire, which remained in Level 2 on Friday despite having a higher seven-day average case rate than Glasgow.

Ms Sturgeon usually begins FMQs by sharing the latest figures for Covid-19 in Scotland.

Where can I watch FMQs?

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The weekly session of the Scottish Parliament will be live streamed on The Scotsman at 12:30pm, with up-to-the-minute news and analysis on our dedicated live blog.

You can also watch the announcement via the Scottish Parliament TV site.

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