The candour of finance secretary Kate Forbes in today’s Record is admirable.
She has given a refreshingly honest account of juggling one of the most powerful positions in cabinet with the side effects of pregnancy.
Many women will recognise the pressures of trying to hold down a job while also trying to hold down morning sickness.
Just as Nicola Sturgeon openly discussed the menopause, Forbes feels it is important to discuss the realities of being a woman in a man’s world.
And when high-profile women speak out, others feel they can too and change follows.
Forbes often finds herself the only woman in the room but she has refused to copy the aggressive style of some men.
She would rather navigate a problem than bulldoze it and that’s just one reason we need more women in politics.
As Forbes goes through the journey of pregnancy and then motherhood in the parliament, she hopes to use her experience to impose change.
In the last election, four female MSPs did not seek re-election because they could not sustain a family life and a parliamentary career.
Lengthy travelling times for MSPs mean many such as Forbes are away from home for half the week.
Last-minute changes to votes mean childcare arrangements for MSPs are thrown into disarray.
The pandemic showed parliament can function with remote working so some changes need to become permanent.
A modern Scotland needs a cross section of politicians to be truly representative and that includes mothers and mums-to-be.
They should be given all the help they need to pursue a life of public service along with raising a family.
The lying game
If proof were needed of the rotten nature of Boris Johnson’s politics, it was in his trademark smirk when asked for a reaction to the death threats faced by Sir Keir Starmer.
The Jimmy Savile slur repeated by the Prime Minister about Starmer’s time as head of the Crown Prosecution Service is a conspiracy theory from the far fringes of politics.
The Tory leader’s false accusation about failing to prosecute Savile led to an angry mob setting on Starmer and now the online murder threat.
The Savile slur was not uttered by accident in the heat of the moment – it was a pre-determined lie.
And Johnson will know it landed when he is still being asked about it more than a week later.
Hence the callous smirk while his opponent faces a death threat.
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