Politics is about choices.
One of the best things about this job is the ability to bring important issues to wider attention - or to try and focus the minds of MSPs across Parliament on an urgent crisis.
So when the Nicola Sturgeon spent the week that saw the Bank of England confirm that inflation was going to hit 11% talking about division rather than the cost of living crisis, it is fair to say that my worst suspicions about the SNP were reconfirmed.
Government ministers toured television studios desperate to talk about their latest PowerPoint presentation on Austria’s fiscal framework.
How things have changed since the Scottish Parliament election when Nicola Sturgeon was asked directly what people should do if they wanted a First Minister focussed on fixing the crises we face but don’t want independence.
She answered: “They should vote for me, safe in the knowledge that getting through this crisis is my priority”.
But during the last week she abandoned that promise, it was the return of the Nicola Sturgeon who wants to divide our country and pit Scot against Scot.
Back in the real world people asked when more support was coming to help them pay their bills.
While Tory ministers try to blame workers asking for a fair pay deal during this crisis, the SNP have been missing in action.
We should be in no doubt - people across Scotland are already making impossible choices because they cannot afford to keep up with rising bills.
More than half of Scots have said they are spending less on their shopping or skipping meals to try and make ends meet.
It is unacceptable when one child goes to bed hungry, but today across Scotland and the UK it is becoming just another thing people have to do in order to survive.
We’ve seen reports of NHS workers being forced to leave their homes because landlords are putting their rent up - in some places by as much as 20%.
And perhaps one of worst consequences of this cost of living crisis is the news that price rises risk engulfing the very people who provide vital help to those who are struggling.
A worrying 40% of Scottish charity leaders surveyed said they feared the cost of living crisis would send their organisations to the wall.
We can choose to act now - to work at every level of our government to bring down bills, to protect jobs and make sure everyone goes to bed with a full stomach in a well-heated home.
But that isn’t how ministers in Holyrood or Westminster have responded.
That isn’t how ministers in Holyrood or Westminster have responded
Instead the Tories have given £9.6 million worth of energy bill support payments to second home owners, and Nicola Sturgeon will tell you that she doesn’t have the money to help, while wasting millions and lining the pockets of those who need it least.
Parents shouldn’t go hungry to feed their children while ministers dawdle or pursue pet projects.
Politics is about choices.
GRADY SCANDAL SHOWS CULTURE OF CONTEMPT
The SNP cannot escape from the fact they operate a culture of secrecy and cover-up.
Refusing to publish the result of the bullying probe into ex-Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing, with the public told it’s not their business to know how ministers treat staff.
We’ve had cover-ups when it comes to the awarding of government ferry contracts and cover-ups around the deaths of children in hospital.
And a culture that has contempt for anyone who dares ask a difficult question.
No story has made that clearer than the SNP’s response to the ruling that ex-Chief Whip Patrick Grady made an unwanted sexual advance on a teenage staff member.
Instead of being properly punished by his party and resigning from Parliament, the SNP closed ranks, and even cheered his return to the fold.
Those who speak up against the powerful must know that if they do so their concerns will be taken seriously.
Instead Ian Blackford and his colleagues side-lined the victim and cheered Grady on.
It is clear that you’re close to the leadership of the SNP they will protect you. That degrades us as a country.
Why do the SNP think it is one standard for them and a different standard for everyone else?
GLASGOW ON STANDBY
Watching nation after nation give the UK’s Sam Ryder ‘douze points’ was one of the best TV moments of 2022 - perhaps only narrowly beaten by the joy Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra showed when they pushed us into second to take home the trophy.
It is right that Ukraine gets a chance to host next year’s contest - but if that sadly isn’t possible I’m sure the Hydro in Glasgow would relish becoming Kyiv in spirit for one night only.
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