are crying out for political leadership. for leaders who argue for what they actually believe in. and i passionately believe independence is the best opportunity we have to build a more prosperous and fairer country. snp leaderjohn swinney launching his election campaign in the next hour. staying with the election. labour says its committed to reducing the number of people legally migrating to britain if it forms the next government. but speaking earlier the shadow home secretary yvette cooper refused to set a target or any date by which a reduction would be achieved. net migration, the difference between the number of people arriving in the uk and leaving, stood at 685,000 last year. labour s plans include more apprenticeships in jobs that are currently reliant on a significant level of migrant workers. here s our political correspondent lone wells.
for their children. and it s heartbreaking for us as health care professionals, as pharmacists, to have to send patients away, or to have to tell them that they re going to have to wait longer to get the medicines. the uk is not the only country in the world experiencing problems with drug supplies it s a global issue. but the npa says it wants all the main parties in the election to commit to tackling the shortages. dominic hughes, bbc news. let s refocus on the uk election. the scottish first minister has taken his election campaign to the north east of scotland, insisting his party can remove the remaining rump of tory mps both there and in other parts of the country. snp leaderjohn swinney is expected to urge people to take part in a scottish national service by using the general election to vote tory mps out of office. let s speak to our reporter ben philip in aberdeen. just talk us through what we can expect today. just talk us through what we can meet today-
scotland. and as we have been hearing today from the conservative party, this expansion of the levelling up funding, some 30 towns across the uk set to receive £20 million if the conservatives are elected back into government, mr swinney said the snp has already invested significantly in communities across scotland, including on a major road project, the aberdeen bypass, which was completed in 2018. we spoke to mr swinney a short time ago, and he said he is here to talk about the damage done by what he has described as the triple whammy of austerity, brexit and cost of living which he says has been caused by damage done by westminster. 0n the oil and gas situation, and at the industry s future, he said he is keen to work with the industry to reach and net zero, but the same eyes message today very much that it is here in
the north east to remove conservative mps in power the snp s message today. i conservative mps in power the snp s message today. conservative mps in power the snp s message today. i believe we can -la a snp s message today. i believe we can play a little snp s message today. i believe we can play a little bit snp s message today. i believe we can play a little bit of snp s message today. i believe we can play a little bit of what - snp s message today. i believe we can play a little bit of what john . can play a little bit of whatjohn swinney said a little earlier on. let s hear from the man swinney said a little earlier on. let s hearfrom the man himself. i have been talking during this election i have been talking during this election campaign about the damage that has election campaign about the damage that has been done to scotland by the triple that has been done to scotland by the triple whammy of austerity, brexit the triple whammy of austerity, brexit and the
expect today. that is right. john swinne , expect today. that is right. john swinney, scotland s expect today. that is right. john swinney, scotland s first - expect today. that is right. john i swinney, scotland s first minister is campaigning here in north east scotland today, a key battleground for the snp and conservatives. it is very much a divided political make up very much a divided political make up and the snp very much see themselves as the challengers in this area for the three conservative seats that are here. there are six conservative seats in scotland, three here in the north east. here in aberdeen south, it is currently an snp constituency held by snp westminster leader stephen flynn, and mr swinney earlier, a short time ago, visited a cafe here, which is well known for dolphin watching. as you may be able to see, there is also evidence in the harbour behind me of the city s oil and gas industry, a very important issue for voters in this area. but mr swinney s messag