Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, has lambasted the Scottish Government over what he calls its "failing" sexual health strategy.

Scotland's Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison MSP, unveiled the Sexual Health Strategy Second Annual Report last week, outlining a £1m investment in sexual health services across Scotland and the phasing in of new drop-in sexual health clinics in rural areas.

In a strongly worded response to the report, Cardinal O'Brien accused the SNP administration of carrying through a strategy "which they did not devise and which has demonstrably failed".

The Cardinal aired his views in a letter sent to Ms Robison, in which he pointed to a "catastrophic decline in sexual health as measured by all the relevant indicators", namely the rise in abortion rates in Scotland.

He also repeated his 2004 call for the Scottish Government to "consider alternative approaches to sexual health, which set sexual activity within a moral context".

"Scotland has as you know one of the worst records in Europe on 'sexual health' yet we continue to pursue approaches which are patently flawed. By far the most glaring omission in the current orthodoxy, is the intentional absence of any moral framework," he wrote.

"This is an utterly inadequate vision for the future health of our citizens. Trumpeting the increased provision of Sexual Health Clinics and services is a measure of failure not success."