JOHN Swinney has branded the Scottish Conservatives a "bunch of skivers" in a scathing verdict during First Minister's Questions.
The SNP leader hit out after Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said he "pretends to support oil and gas" while still backing "the anti-drilling policy of Nicola Sturgeon and the Green Party".
Findlay asked: "So with 100 jobs being lost every single month, when will John Swinney start telling workers the truth?"
The First Minister responded: "Mr Findlay gets into ever more desperate attempts to try to avoid the responsibility that the Conservative government carries for the difficulties in the oil and gas sector.
"Because Mr Findlay and his party in government brought forward the energy profits levy, they applied it with impetus and increased it and extended it.
"And what is it doing? It's killing jobs in the north-east of Scotland. It's the responsibility of the Conservatives."
Swinney then added: "If Douglas Lumsden was actually at his work on any available occasion, he could be held to account for all his activities.
"But Douglas Lumsden for weeks and weeks has been skiving somewhere else."
He continued: "What on earth has the Conservative Party become, but a bunch of skivers in this Parliament?"
Lumsden, a sitting MSP and formerly the Scottish Tory energy spokesperson, is standing in Thursday's by-election for the Westminster constituency of Aberdeen South following the election of Stephen Flynn to Holyrood.
He is standing alongside Nurul Hoque Ali for Scottish Labour, David Ballantine for the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom, Jo Hart for Reform UK, Jorg Shelton-Eckstein for the Greens, Mel Sullivan for the LibDems and Richard Thomson for the SNP.
A second Westminster by-election is also taking place on Thursday in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, following the election of Stephen Gethins to the Scottish Parliament.
Tanvir Ahmad is standing for the LibDems, Lara Bird for the SNP, Jack Cruickshanks for the Tories, Heather Doran for Labour, and Bill Reid for Reform.
A third by-election is also taking place in England, in the constituency of Makerfield, where Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is hoping to make a return to the UK Parliament, paving away for him to challenge Keir Starmer as prime minister.
Polls opened for all three by-elections on Thursday, with results expected overnight.
