PART 2 of the Ponsonby and Massie Podcast interview with the First Minister, John Swinney

In his most in-depth and revealing interview since becoming Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney joins Bernard Ponsoby and Alex Massie:

FEAR FOR SURVIVAL OF THE SNP

* On Humza Yousaf resigning after the collapse of the Bute House agreement "If I go back to that period, which was really, really difficult, I feared for the stability of the government, I feared actually for the survival of the SNP, to be honest. I thought things were in such a bad place."

COLLEAGUE CRIED WHEN HE SAID HE'D STAND

* Recalling a colleague who shared his concerns "I said, well, I'm thinking about it [standing for First Minister] and they burst into tears".

CREDITS BLAIR GOVERNMENT ON CHILD POVERTY

* Swinney gives credit to Labour on Child Poverty "the achievements of the Blair Brown government, the first decade of this century really made an impact on eroding levels of child poverty in our society".

DEFINES HIS RELIGIOUS FAITH

* In a discussion about faith, the First Minister was asked "what does Jesus Christ mean to you personally?". He answered "the love of others, the love and service of others. That's what my Christian faith means to me..... I'd be perfectly happy to talk about that. I don't opt to go on to a podium to do so."

MAKES NO APOLOGIES ON FAMILY JOINING OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS

* On taking his family to official events "sometimes there's a bit of a hullabaloo about taking members of your family to particular occasions. I make no apology for it because if I didn't do that, I'd hardly see them."

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

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