In almost every opinion poll, the priorities of the people of Scotland rank just about the same. Usually jobs and incomes come first, followed by the state of the National Health Service. In the mix too are concerns about standards in our schools.

But if you were to try to judge the people’s priorities from the issues which make the headlines out of Holyrood, you would find a massive disconnect. The right to die is the newest legislative kid on the block. Gender recognition is still unresolved although the decision not to prescribe children with drugs not designed for them, but which block puberty, has yet to be discussed.

And the First Minister so believes that there is a rising tide of hate in this country he has championed a controversial piece of legislation to soothe his fears – or grab him a headline – in the Hate Crime Act. Then there were the climate change targets which, however high they were in the people’s priorities, were so divorced from reality that they have now been dropped in what is not just a political embarrassment for the SNP/Green coalition but for Scotland as a whole.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters