Cross party talks are needed to agree an urgent response to drug deaths, according to the Tories.

The Scottish Government’s Drug Death Task Force published its report after one year last week.

However, the Conservatives said with deaths rising year on year not enough is being done.

The party’s health spokesman Miles Briggs has called for the Government to include opposition parties to discuss the task force progress.

The annual drug related death figures for 2018 were due last month but have been delayed due to a dispute over toxicology lab services.

The figure was expected to have risen once again from the record high in 2018 reported last year, when 1187 people died in Scotland and 290 in Glasgow.

Mr Briggs said: “It is clear that not enough is being done to tackle the drug deaths crisis in Scotland and immediate action is required to start saving lives.

“This is a national emergency that needs a national response to start making positive changes to Scotland’s drug culture, with all parties working together to make this change. “