Independence could motivate voters - but Labour avoids the subjectpublished at 17:04 BST

17:04 BST

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

On one of the biggest issues in Scottish politics, Labour have nothing to say. Quite deliberately.

Independence doesn’t feature in this manifesto at all. Even when some of their political opponents say there could be a second referendum in the next Scottish Parliament (it’s important to note the UK government would have to agree to this).

Scottish Labour are hoping that the constitutional debate has moved on from 2014. They believe that voters - regardless of whether or not they want independence - are currently more concerned with, for example, the state of their local hospital.

And they think they can paint other political parties as living in the past if they continue to talk about the constitution.

But there is still evidence to suggest that the independence question motivates voters in Scotland.

And Labour politicians still find themselves occasionally facing an awkward question that they don’t really see to have an answer for - if the UK is a voluntary union, what’s the legitimate way to leave?

We've condensed the Scottish Labour manifesto into easily readable sections. Here are the party's top priorities:

• Improve the NHS
• Top up tax-free childcare
• Back nuclear energy
• Replace business rates
• Fix potholes
• 125,000 new homes
• More teachers and classroom assistants
• Build the Glasgow Airport rail link

You can skim through the party's proposals for the NHS, the economy, the cost of living and more in our digest here.

Image source, Getty Images

Anas Sarwar joined the Scottish Labour party at the age of 16.

He took over his father's Westminster seat - Glasgow Central - in 2010.

He held the seat until the 2015 election, when the SNP won all but three seats in Scotland.

Sarwar then turned his attention to Holyrood and was elected a list MSP for Glasgow in 2016.

The following year, he ran for Scottish Labour leader. He was firmly in the New Labour camp, while his opponent - Richard Leonard - was seen as an ally of Jeremy Corbyn. Leonard won.

But the next time the top job came up - in 2021, less than three months before the Holyrood election - Sarwar won.

He became the first non-white leader of a major political party in the UK.

Labour say classrooms would be safer and calmer with phone banpublished at 16:12 BST

16:12 BST

Lucy Adams
Education and social affairs correspondent, BBC Scotland

Scottish Labour are keen to distinguish themselves from the SNP by saying they would ban all mobile phones in classrooms.

Currently, the position in Scotland is that headteachers can ban mobile phones if they wish to - but there is no national policy.

In lieu of a blanket policy, some councils - including Edinburgh - have introduced their own ban on smartphones in class.

But teachers say the practicalities can be more complicated.

They have pointed out that it can be hard to police an outright ban because of the time taken to remove phones, with some pupils refusing to hand them over and some parents insisting their children need phones at certain times of day.

There is also a cost to the pouches used in Edinburgh to store phones during the school day.

Labour's manifesto says taking phones out of classrooms would make schools safe and calm places for learning.

They would also back a UK-wide ban on social media for under-16s to better protect young people from cyberbullying and harmful online content.

Image source, Getty Images

The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) Scotland said there was "much to welcome" in Labour's manifesto, such as the shift to more care in the community.

Policy vice chair Dr Chris Williams praised commitments to support remote practices as well as GPs in deprived areas.

He also noted plans to take an "evidenced approach" to safer drug consumption rooms, drug testing and tackling alcohol-related harm.

However he said RCGP Scotland had hoped to see more clarity on long-term funding arrangements for general practice.

Dr Williams also said the promise of delivering an appointment with a GP within 48 hours was "extremely ambitious".

"It will be almost impossible to achieve without substantial action to increase GP numbers and expand capacity," he added.

AI in the NHS could be useful - but it won't be simple or cheappublished at 15:42 BST

15:42 BST

Claire McAllister
BBC Scotland health reporter

Scottish Labour says it will invest £680m in technology and digital improvements in the NHS.

Some of that money would go towards rolling out an NHS app and patient portal within the first 100 days in government.

An app is already being piloted in Lanarkshire but it will be 2030 until it is supposed to be fully up and running across Scotland.

There are multiple promising studies coming from Scotland’s universities on the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare but each come with environmental and ethical concerns, over things like privacy and data protection, which are not easy or fast to solve.

So ambitions to invest in AI scanners and equipment to detect cancer early could be a very useful innovation but not one that is necessarily simple or cheap to bring to the NHS.

Image source, Getty Images

Party leaders have been digging into the subject of Scottish independence on the campaign trail.

It was the topic that sparked some of the liveliest debate in last night's BBC Debate Night special.

We've not yet heard from Reform UK today - they are expected to host a rally in Aberdeen later tonight.

But we know the party's Scottish leader, Malcolm Offord has not ruled out a future referendum if support for a Yes vote reaches 60%.

He also said last night that another referendum would be "divisive".

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), an independent economics think tank, has posted an initial response to Scottish Labour's 98-page manifesto.

David Phillips, head of devolved and local government finance at the IFS, says Labour did not pledge big tax cuts or expansions in entitlements in the way that some other parties had - but it would still face tough choices on tax and spending if it won the election.

He says Labour was mainly focused on improving and reforming existing services although they do aim for bigger changes - including tax cuts - if economic conditions allow in the future.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar put improving the NHS at the centre of his pitch to voters ahead of next month's Holyrood election.

However, the IFS says challenges in improving performance in the NHS - as well as schools and other public services - should not be underestimated at a time when funding is severely constrained.

Phillips says just maintaining existing health and social care services would likely mean that cuts would need to be made in other areas of government.

Image source, PA Media

Scottish Labour's manifesto is "not a serious or credible plan to deliver the change Scotland needs", according to the Scottish Conservatives.

The party's deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said Labour had refused to outline how its plans would be paid for, which she claimed followed the blueprint set by UK Labour leader Keir Starmer at the last election.

Hamilton said that Scottish Labour were also "dangerously complacent" about SNP leader John Swinney's plans for another referendum as soon as 2028, with independence not mentioned once in their manifesto.

She added that Labour had failed to support the North Sea oil and gas industry by not backing new drilling and were committed to high taxes and increased spending on benefits.

Sarwar wants Scotland to benefit from nuclear powerpublished at 14:45 BST

14:45 BST

Kevin Keane
Scotland environment correspondent

Nuclear energy has been the backbone of our electricity supply system for more than half a century, but in Scotland it's on the way out.

Since the closure of Hunterston B in North Ayrshire in 2022, there has been only one operational nuclear power station at Torness in East Lothian and by 2030 Scotland will be nuclear free.

The SNP's long-held opposition to new nuclear is now in stark contrast to what's happening south of the border, where a huge new facility isbeing built at Hinkley Point in Somerset and the first small modular reactor has been confirmed for north Wales.

But large-scale nuclear power is expensive and costs for the Hinkley Point facility have rocketed from £18bn in 2017 to £42bn today.

It's hoped the smaller reactors can be more financially efficient and Anas Sarwar has said he wants Scotland to benefit from the "investment, jobs and zero-carbon energy" that can come from new nuclear.

It's unclear how Labour will pay for its NHS planspublished at 14:26 BST

14:26 BST

Lisa Summers
BBC Scotland health correspondent

It's not a surprise the NHS features at the top of Labour's plans and there is a pick-and-mix of proposals in this manifesto.

So how will Labour "fix the NHS"?

Cutting waiting times, guaranteeing GP appointments within 48 hours, and better use of technology are common themes for all the parties.

With other plans to pay social care workers more, provide menopausal clinics and improve NHS dental care, it is unclear how Labour will bring in staff and pay for all its promises.

Cost cutting proposals to drastically reduce the number of health boards may require a change to current policy of no compulsory redundancies in the NHS.

Labour want to see better cooperation right across the UK meaning patients who travel can be seen more quickly, but services are stretched everywhere and transport, operations, and aftercare come at a cost.

They will compel students to work for the NHS for at least five years after they qualify which might address some gaps but will not fix the workforce crisis.

Image source, Getty Images

Some other political news emerging this afternoon - the leadership of Your Party Scotland (YPS) has declared the party is "over" after a mass resignation of the committee.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn set up the left-wing party with ex-Labour MP Zara Sultana last year, with Corbyn previously saying he fancied his chances in Scotland.

However the party did not stand any candidates for the Holyrood election.

All 12 members of its Interim Scottish Executive Committee (ISEC) - made up of volunteers who have overseen the running of the party since December 2025 - have unanimously left their roles and pledged to help form a new party.

The ISEC - made up of former MSPs as well as people who have never been involved in politics before - have cited concerns about a dismissive attitude from the party's UK leadership towards Scotland continuing to be ignored as their reason for resignation.

Niall Christie, the sole Scotland representative on Your Party's Central Executive Committee, has also resigned with immediate effect.

During a visit to a nursery in Linlithgow this morning, Scottish Greens co-leaders Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer also turned their attention to the subject of Scottish independence.

The pair believe a majority of pro-independence MSPs should trigger another referendum, saying they hope to return the biggest number of Green MSPs to Holyrood ever.

Mackay says they hope the Labour government at Westminster will stop standing in the way and an independence referendum will be in the "very near future".

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton says there are “no circumstances” under which his party would support another independence referendum.

He says “the last thing Scotland needs” is 18 months of arguing about independence.

The ferries fleet in "absolute crisis", schools on their knees, a crisis in the NHS and people struggling to meet their household bills are all things the Lib Dem leader says are more important.

He pledges that every Lib Dem elected would oppose a second referendum.

SNP leader John Swinney is out on the campaign trail in Oban on his birthday.

During a visit to the Scottish Association for Marine Science, he said it was necessary to have another independence referendum now due to the "many challenges we face" in the UK.

He pointed to Scotland not receiving the benefit of energy resources "powering so much of our economy", and the country being taken out of the European Union "against our will".

When asked what he would do if the UK government refused to hold a referendum, he said it could not stand in the way of the democratic wishes of the people of Scotland if an SNP majority was elected.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are proposing to ban mobile phones from schools “from bell to bell”.

Walking his dog in a park in Edinburgh, Scottish Liberal Democrats leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton, says children need room to breathe and room to think.

He adds with the mobile phone notifications going off in class time just now, they’re just not learning.

Cole-Hamilton says they want to give teachers the ability to teach and children the ability to learn but that has to be backed up with legislation that removes mobile phones from classrooms.

Climate is no longer front and centrepublished at 12:52 BST

12:52 BST

Kevin Keane
Scotland environment correspondent

This is the first of the three manifestos launched so far to unequivocally back the legally-binding target to reach "net-zero" climate emissions by 2045.

"Net-zero" refers to the point where any residual planet-warming greenhouse gases being added to the atmosphere are offset by things like tree planting or technological removals.

Where the Conservatives and Reform have each committed to scrap the "ideological" goal on cost grounds, Scottish Labour says that without action it would end up costing the country more in the long term.

That's a view backed by experts at the International Energy Agency and reflects the costs of preparing for and responding to more extreme weather events, rising sea levels, climate migration and so on.

But unlike in previous elections, the climate question is no longer front and centre. In fact it didn't receive a single mention in Anas Sarwar's manifesto launch speech.

The Scottish Greens, the SNP and the Scottish Lib Dems have still to launch their manifestos.

If you're just joining us, Scottish Labour have now launched their manifesto.

The party has put improving the NHS at the centre of its pitch to voters ahead of next month's election.

Anas Sarwar said his party would end the 08:00 rush for GP appointments, cut waiting times and reduce bureaucracy in the health system.

He has also pledged childcare tax breaks for parents, to fix potholes and to lift a Scottish government block on new nuclear power.

Sarwar said the choice at this election was between "more of the same with the SNP, or change with Scottish Labour".

You can read more details about the manifesto launch here.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay was at a photo call earlier to launch his party's fund to tackle potholes.

He said potholes were "a symptom of the neglect" of the SNP government.

The former journalist also turned his attention to the subject of Scottish independence, saying there is no case for a second referendum.

He added Scotland has had its say on independence and attacked what he calls the "SNP's obsession".

Away from the Labour manifesto launch, other parties have been hitting the campaign trail.

Scottish Greens co-leaders Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer visited a nursery in Linlithgow this morning.

If elected on 7 May, they say they would raise the school starting age to seven and introduce a play-based kindergarten stage for three to six-year-olds.

Mackay told BBC Scotland News: "We believe education doesn’t just happen behind a desk."