Scotland has a colleges sector to be proud of. Thanks to the hard work of those who work in further education, more students are achieving recognised qualifications and are going on to further study, training or work.

Social isolation and loneliness are now recognised as having a major impact on our health and wellbeing. And whilst it has often been talked about as something that affects older people, the fact is that it can affect anyone of us – at any age and at any stage in our life.

For the first time since October 2006 a committee of Glasgow City Council was yesterday asked to take a decision on equal pay. After many years of litigation the council unanimously backed the SNP position to end the current legal action on equal pay and instead focus on resolving this protracted and often bitter dispute through negotiation.

Below is a speech given by Nicola Sturgeon at the David Hume Institute on Tuesday 16 January 2018, setting out the Scottish Government’s position on the Single Market, the EU Withdrawal Bill and migration.

The Tories and Labour are failing Scotland on Brexit. There are now just nine months left before the UK is supposed to have a Brexit deal agreed with the EU, and only fourteen months before Scotland will have our EU membership terminated against our will by the Tory government at Westminster.