Cunninghame North MSP Kenneth Gibson was given a warning by the Scottish Parliament's presiding officer during a statement by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. 

During the question and answer session following the First Minister's weekly covid-19 statement, Mr Gibson asked her a question surrounding independence.

He said: “Given that across the 12 nations and regions of the UK, Scotland attracted the second highest number of overseas-backed investments after London in the years since 2014, does the First Minister agree it's time for Unionist politicians to dispense with the scare stories about this government’s commitment to independence deterring investment, desist from talking down Scotland, and back the outward-looking, innovative nation that Scotland is as we recover from covid-19?”

Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone stepped in and warned Mr Gibson that questions must be kept relevant to the First Minister's statement. 

Ms Johnstone was applauded by opposition MSPs in the chamber after telling Mr Gibson that he was "straying beyond the bounds of this statement".

Answering the Cunninghame North MSP's question, the First Minister said: "What it does show is that in the face fo a global pandemic, Scotland remained the top UK inward investment destination outside of London, and that has been the case for eight of the past 10 years. 

“We also managed to grow our inward investment at a time when it shrunk across the UK as a whole.

"So whatever our different political viewpoints, whatever our different ambitions for the country, surely in the face of this really tough time we are facing as a country to welcome thoroughly good news for the Scottish economy.”