The Minister in charge of Scotland's response to the scandal of rising drugs deaths has been sacked.

Joe FitzPatrick has been removed as Public Health Minister and replaced by Nicola Sturgeon with a Minister for Drug Policy.

Mr FitzPatrick was under fire after the latest statistics showed another rise to a new record of 1264 deaths in 2019.

He said this evening: “I spoke with the First Minster today and agreed that I should leave government."

He added: "As the minister responsible for this area I, ultimately, take my responsibility. It is clear that my presence as a minister will become a distraction, when we should be focused on achieving the change we need to save lives."

The First Minister said: “While the time has now come to make a change in the public health brief, no one should doubt Joe’s hard work, dedication and sincerity.  He will continue to champion the interests of his constituents at Holyrood, and I wish him well in the future.”

Angela Constance, a former Education Secretary, will take on the job of Drug Policy Minister.

Her remit is tackling and reducing the harm of drug misuse, supporting the rehabilitation and recovery of those living with drug addiction, and reducing the unacceptable number of deaths from drugs.

Ms Sturgeon said: “Scotland’s record on drug deaths is simply not good enough and as First Minister I know we have much more to do.

“As a first step I have decided to appoint a dedicated minister, working directly alongside me, whose job it will be to work across government to improve outcomes for people whose lives are affected by drugs.

“We must not accept a situation in which people who use drugs are allowed to fall through the cracks, with so many dying premature and avoidable deaths as a result. Behind the statistics are real people whose lives matter, and I am absolutely determined that we take actions to fix this.”

Ms Constance said: “I intend to get straight down to business, meeting with people who are at risk of dying from drugs, learning from the families of those we have lost and working with those in our communities and public health teams who are providing such valuable support.

“Government can and will do more and I am determined to use the short time before the election to work with the Drug Death Taskforce on the actions necessary to reduce Scotland’s drug deaths and better support those living with addiction.”