Are asylum seekers in Glasgow getting priority when it comes to housing?published at 21:47 BST

21:47 BST

BBC Scotland: Phil Sim

Reform UK Scotland’s leader Malcolm Offord claimed “people arriving immediately to Glasgow, the asylum city of the UK, are given priority, they are jumping the queue” for services like housing.

Glasgow could be referred to as the “asylum city” of the UK in that 3,686 asylum seekers were housed in the city by the Home Office in December 2025 - the largest number in any local authority in the UK.

But the reality on housing is more complicated.

Asylum seekers who require housing support are given accommodation by the Home Office.

Those who are granted leave to remain are given 42 days to move on from that accommodation but many end up applying to the local council as being homeless.

In Glasgow - which has a long-standing issue with housing - 44% of homelessness applications (1,685) between April and September 2025 involved people who had been granted leave to remain in the UK.

Scottish councils have a statutory duty to find housing for anyone who is “unintentionally homeless”, which can take priority over those waiting for permanent accommodation.

So if a flat becomes available, the council may need to use it as a temporaryhome for a refugee family which has claimed homelessness, in line with its legal duties - as well as the fact this is far cheaper than putting them in a hotel.

However another family which has been waiting months or years in a temporary home for permanent accommodation may see people moving into that flat and feel they have been overtaken.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton describes the party as "in tune with the public" after the Debate Night special.

She claims Swinney made it "crystal clear" he will push for independence if the SNP win a majority and adds only Russell Findlay challenged him on it.

She says Findlay called out the SNP's "dismal record" and adds the Tories will "offer a real alternative to the failed left-wing consensus at Holyrood".

Are energy bills £700 higher than promised?published at 21:34 BST

21:34 BST

BBC Verify: Anthony Reuben

Talking about energy bills, SNP leader John Swinney said: "Labour came in, promised to reduce energy costs by £300, and by the summer energy costs for every household will be £700 higher than Labour promised they would be."

The £300 that he is referring to was a prediction for how much bills could be lowered in 2030 if Labour managed, as promised, to generate almost all electricity from low carbon sources by that date, so it was not a promise for current prices.

When Labour came to power, the energy price cap for a typical family in Scotland, England and Wales paying by direct debit and on a dual fuel contract was £1,568 a year.

The current rate running up to the end of June is £1,641, so that’s gone up by £73 a year.

Swinney referred to what is going to happen in the summer and we do not currently know what will happen to the price cap in July - much will depend on what happens in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysts at Cornwall Insight are currently predicting, external that the cap will go up to £1,861 in July, but of course that is highly uncertain.

If that happens then the cap will have gone up £293 since Labour came to office.

The political reaction is starting to filter in from the parties after the leaders debate.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie, unsurprisingly, declares Anas Sarwar the “clear winner”.

She claims Swinney looked “rattled and out of touch” and describes Offord’s performance as “hapless”.

Baillie adds Labour will “get the basics right” and “fix the mistakes” of the SNP’s 19 years in government.

How many people in Scotland are waiting more than two years?published at 21:22 BST

21:22 BST

BBC Scotland: Aimee Stanton

Highlighting NHS waiting lists,Anas Sarwar said: "How many people in Scotland are waiting more than two years? 5,000. In England, ten times the size, its 300.”

Public Health Scotland data, external does not show the number of people waiting more than two years. Instead it shows the number of ongoing waits over two years.

The latest figures show there were 5,291 ongoing waits longer than 104 weeks for a new outpatient, inpatient or day‑case appointment or procedure, as of February.

In Scotland's data a single patient could be on multiple waiting lists.

Comparing waiting lists in Scotland with the rest of the UK is challenging due to differences in how the figures are recorded by the different health services.

Guidance from the Office for National Statistics, external(ONS), external and Public Health Scotland (PHS) explicitly advises against comparing Scotland's hospital waiting times and lists with those in England and Wales.

Data for England measures those waiting to start treatment, while Scottish data is a count of those at different stages between diagnosis and treatment.

NHS England , externaldata shows, external that, at the end of January, there were 200 cases where patients had waited more than two years to start treatment.

Swinney right about NHS waiting times for planned treatmentpublished at 21:13 BST

21:13 BST

Susie Forrest
Health assistant editor, BBC Scotland

John Swinney says the government has made progress on reducing long waits for planned treatment, and he's right.

The number of waits over a year for inpatient and day case procedures - hospital operations - has reduced from around 37,000 two years ago to around 20,000.

But there's acknowledgement that no-one should wait in pain more than a year for treatment - and there is still a lot of work to do post-pandemic.

Are 800,000 Scots on an NHS waiting list?published at 21:02 BST

21:02 BST

BBC Scotland: Aimee Stanton

After the debate moved on to health, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “800,000 Scots were currently on an NHS waiting list”.

However, Public Health Scotland (PHS) says there is no single database for all patient data so it is not possible to definitively say, external how many people are on a NHS waiting list in Scotland.

In the PHS waiting list data a single patient could be on multiple waiting lists.

It estimates, external that 578,804 individuals - around one in 10 of Scotland's population - were on at least one new outpatient, inpatient or day‑case waiting list as of 28 February.

This is a fall on the previous month’s figures, when around one in nine were estimated to be on a waiting list.

This also doesn’t include all types of waiting lists, such as those for key diagnostic tests.

The number of long waits of over a year for a planned hospital appointment or procedure in Scotland has been falling since July.

But a target to eradicate long waits by the end of March was missed by the Scottish government.

SNP attacked over state of the health servicepublished at 20:55 BST

20:55 BST

Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland chief political correspondent

The SNP is the party with a record to defend when it comes to devolved areas like the NHS.

So it's no surprise John Swinney faced a multi-pronged attack from Labour, the Lib Dems and the Tories over the health service.

But this was also uncomfortable territory because of the reaction of the audience - many of whom seemed pretty unimpressed by what they were hearing.

Is the North Sea losing 1,000 jobs a month?published at 20:50 BST

20:50 BST

BBC Verify: Nicholas Barrett

Arguing for more drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said that "1,000 jobs a month are being lost in the North Sea".

The figure comes from a forecast made by the Energy Transition Institute (ETI) - a think-tank based at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

It has predicted that 1,000 North Sea oil and gas jobs will be lost every month until 2030.

We spoke to the ETI about this figure and they said they expect 600 to 800 oil and gas jobs a month to go between now and 2023.

The remainder - they told BBC Verify - would be “indirect” job losses, meaning people that benefit from the oil and gas industry indirectly such as taxi drivers and hospitality workers.

In all, 70,000 jobs have been lost over the last decade according to a report, external by the Scottish Affairs Committee.

That works out at 7,000 job losses a year or 583 a month.

What makes a mandate for an independence referendum?published at 20:44 BST

20:44 BST

Phil Sim
Scotland political correspondent

There is a dispute ahead of every election in Scotland about whether it might lead to an independence referendum.

The UK Supreme Court ruled in 2022, external that the constitution, including the union between Scotland and England, is a matter for Westminster rather than Holyrood.

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had brought the case to query whether MSPs could legislate for an independence referendum.

Judges unanimously concluded that they could not do so without a transfer of powers from Westminster - known as a “section 30 order” - as happened ahead of the previous vote in 2014.

The question is whether the SNP can persuade UK ministers to grant such an order again.

The party had previously argued that a pro-independence majority at Holyrood should be enough to do this.

But the SNP and Greens had just such a majority last term, at the time of the Supreme Court ruling, and John Swinney now says an outright SNP majority would provide a mandate - noting that this is what happened for the 2014 vote.

This morning, Labour’s UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting ruled out a deal for a referendum saying “we’re not having one”, adding that “this country has had enough of chaos”.

After that brief outbreak of consensus on the World Cup the leaders debate draws to a close.

But don't go away, we will be fact checking and bringing you analysis from our correspondents of what was said during a frequently rancorous 90 minutes.

Image source, Getty Images

Stephen Jardine wraps up the evening by asking each of the leaders about what they would do to celebrate if Scotland win the World Cup this summer.

John Swinney says a statue of Scott McTominay's iconic goal against Denmark would be a fitting addition to the mural on the south side of Glasgow.

Ross Greer says another bank holiday, if Scotland lift the trophy, would be more than justified.

A fitting legacy would be funding grassroot sports in our communities, he adds.

Malcolm Offord says he would settle for a smile from Steve Clarke.

Anas Sarwar agrees with Greer and says everyone should have access to sports.

He says: "Imagine the final, England against Scotland, Scotland hammer them 3-0 and that's something else I'll disagree with Keir Starmer on."

Alex Cole-Hamilton talks about the struggles faced by hospitality and says the change of licensing laws for the World Cup is important.

Russell Findlay criticises Swinney's bank holiday but says because he is a Conservative, he believes in "aspiration and ambition" so hopes Scotland can win and then retain the World Cup.

Findlay accuses Swinney of attempting to “bludgeon” people into submission over a second independence vote.

He says Scotland need a first minister that “gets on with the day job” of “fixing the country”.

He claims Swinney “by every measure” has been distracted by independence.

The Scottish Tory leader adds “Scotland has got worse” as a result.

Image source, Getty Images

John Swinney says it is perfectly conceivable that indyref2 could happen by 2028.

The SNP leader says he is appealing to the people of Scotland to give him an "emphatic mandate" through the election of an SNP majority.

He adds this would allow the future the country to be decided through a referendum on independence two years from now.

Alex Cole-Hamilton says he hasn't given independence "a moment's thought" because constituents want him to concentrate of cost of living, health and education.

He says his constituents wanted him to get things done and work with other people.

The Scottish Lib Dem leader says he doesn't think it matters to people as much as Swinney does.

Offord says there were a number of factors at play when the 2014 independence referendum took place.

But he adds no one on the doorsteps when he has been campaigning has been talking about another vote.

He says the result was “divisive” and that voters did not want the “rancour” of another ballot 12 years later.

Offord says people want Holyrood to “get on with the day job”.

But he, like Nigel Farage, says if there was an appetite at 60% in favour of another referendum, that would be a different point of view.

Independence: The dividing line in Scottish politicspublished at 20:32 BST

20:32 BST

Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland political correspondent

A final question on the constitution - which for more than a decade has been the key dividing line in Scottish politics.

And we're back to that recurring question - what circumstances would constitute a mandate for another referendum?

Neither Anas Sarwar nor Russell Findlay give a clear answer.

But their stance could become problematic if John Swinney succeeds with his ambition to win another overall majority at Holyrood.

Stephen Jardine repeats the question asking what would constitute a legitimate mandate for a second independence referendum.

Russell Findlay accuses the SNP of only being interested in one thing "breaking up our country".

The Scottish Tory leader says Swinney would use a majority to secure indyref2 via a weak prime minister.

He says: "I believe in Scotland's place in the union."

Findlay then turns his attention to Malcolm Offord and claims his party has pro-independence candidates.

John Swinney says the decision day on 7 May is about democracy and allowing the people of Scotland to decide their own constitutional future.

He says he looks forward to defeating Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, which Sarwar calls arrogance.

Swinney says he wants the people of Scotland to have the choice of independence and adds no Labour Westminster politician should take that away.

Sarwar says he opposes independence and a second independence referendum but asks voters to put that to one side and cast their ballot on live issues.

He says the election is about fixing the NHS, giving opportunities to young people, building more homes and the cost of living crisis.

Sarwar says it is the job of those in favour of independence to set out how it should happen and his is giving an alternative to the SNP.

He asks again for five years of a Scottish Labour government to “confront the big challenges” the country faces.