In a comment piece, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay criticises First Minister John Swinney's Programme for Government, unveiled at Holyrood, arguing it amounts to "gimmicks and meddling" rather than serious governance. He accuses Swinney of dropping his election pledge of free school bags for primary one pupils, reviving a near-identical independence bill to Nicola Sturgeon's, and proposing a supermarket price-fixing scheme that business groups, including the Scottish Retail Consortium, have branded ineffective and unnecessary.

Findlay highlights the flagship pledge to cut Scotland's NHS boards from 14 to two, saying the SNP bears responsibility for the health service's crisis and hundreds of thousands of Scots waiting for treatment, while warning any reform must not strip rural areas of local services. He also criticises the government for failing to back new North Sea oil and gas fields or set out costed plans for roads and ferries, and cites recent GERS figures as evidence that independence would mean steep tax rises and spending cuts, urging Swinney to focus on taxes, benefits reform and education instead.