SNP First Minister John Swinney spent the night in an A&E — not on a trolley, but to observe the ongoing crisis and “congestion” in the service he presides over.

Mr Swinney spoke of his visit just days after he was forced to apologise at First Minister’s Questions to a retired police officer who spent more than five hours lying in pain on the floor of an A&E before being treated.

He told the Daily Record newspaper: “I spent [a] Saturday evening in the emergency department of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and I obviously saw a lot of congestion.