As John Swinney prepares to unveil his action plan for the year after trying to burnish his green credentials the scale of the SNP Government’s failure to deliver on big promises made in the past has been underlined.

The first minister will publish his Programme for Government today after bringing forward the announcement in response to the chaos caused by US president Donald Trump.

The programme will lay out what Mr Swinney’s team plans to do to tackle the priorities he has identified including responding to the climate emergency while growing the economy.

On Friday Mr Swinney urged all parties to recommit to action on climate change amid the furore sparked by an intervention by former prime minister Tony Blair, who claimed debate over climate change is riven with irrationality.

“Though most people will accept that climate change is a reality caused by human activity, they’re turning away from the politics of the issue because they believe the proposed solutions are not founded on good policy,” said Mr Blair.

The comments caused discomfort for current prime minister Sir Keir Starmer following serious criticism of the performance of the Labour Government he leads.

Mr Swinney made his remarks on the day that the right-wing Reform party defeated Labour in the Runcorn by-election and won hundreds of council seats across England.

Reform appears to have capitalised on opposition to net zero policies amid fears about jobs losses that could result from threatened curbs on oil and gas exploration and production.

READ MORE: North Sea jobs cull looms after blockbuster oil and gas deals

But on the day of the by-election Mr Swinney’s team provided a reminder of how little it has done to assuage related concerns in Scotland.

The Scottish Government........

© Herald Scotland