Nicola Sturgeon has said she is committed to plans to cut the tax paid by air passengers, despite claims there is "not a shred of credible evidence" to support the move.

Patrick Harvie called on the First Minister to ditch Scottish Government proposals to cut Air Passenger Duty (APD) by 50% by the end of this Parliament.

He claimed data in support of the cut was "plucked from the air" and "mostly based on well out of date research".

The Scottish Green co-convener pressed Ms Sturgeon on the issue at First Minister's Questions, saying: "Adding to that the lack of any clear impact as to the effect of this policy on the environment, the one thing we do know about this policy is it will be an effective tax cut to a highly profitable, highly polluting industry while public transport languishes.

"Isn't it time to shelve this whole plan until the Scottish Government has got anything approaching an evidence base?"

Ms Sturgeon said reducing APD "will be a tax cut for the individuals and the families who use air travel, including families who go on holiday and may well welcome a reduction in the cost of going on holiday".

She said while ministers "take account of competing priorities", the Government "have been very clear on our commitment around APD and I am absolutely clear about that commitment today".

She also stressed: "Across all policy areas, the obligations we have to reducing emissions and to protecting our environment are absolutely key.

"Scotland is already meeting its climate change targets, Scotland is seen internationally as a world leader when it comes to reducing emissions and tackling climate change, that's something all of us should be proud of and we should continue to make sure that in everything we do we set environmental standards that the rest of the world wants to emulate."

She told Mr Harvie the "environment must be a consideration in every decision we take, including decisions around aviation and any decisions around APD".

He responded: "I'm glad she thinks environmental considerations should be a factor in setting aviation tax levels. I hope to have the Government's support, therefore, in writing that into the legislation so that no future government is able to ignore that important consideration."