MY daughter’s last day of term was a rule-breaking free-for-all.
Pupils were allowed to bring electronic devices from home, wear what they wanted and – most importantly – do absolutely no school work whatsoever.
This is as it should be.
It was the same in the 90s, when I was at primary school - though given none of us had tablets or portable computer games, we were content to just bring in a decidedly analogue board game or teddy to mark the last day.
On Thursday, MSPs were getting ready to go off on summer recess.
Many, if not most, will surely be feeling glad to see the back of this parliamentary session.
The last FMQs before recess wasn’t the no-holds-barred affair that we have come to expect, however.
I thought that climate activists would have pulled out all the stops to squeeze in one final protest before the summer break but there was no sign of them at all. Maybe there was an old oil painting that they urgently needed to deface with soup or something.
MSPs might have been tempted to test the admirable patience of the Presiding Officer and see how rowdy they could get before she was forced to bang the wee gavel.
At the very least, I thought we could expect a few parting schoolboy taunts between the three leaders. They’re not likely to bump into each other before September, there was surely scope for some butt-head-bogey-breath stuff.
But no, this was a serious FMQs for serious times. It’s a good thing that the oddballs, journalists (and oddball journalists) who tune into the session each week don’t expect light relief.
Douglas Ross asked about disgraced surgeon Dr Eljamel, the former head of neurosurgery at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
"The actions of Dr Eljamel ruined people’s lives, but the actions of the health board suggest a cover-up at the highest level." Douglas Ross began.
"First Minister, doesn’t this simply demand a full public inquiry?"
Humza Yousaf said he had met with some of the victims of Eljamel and wanted to begin his answer by reiterating "just how much sympathy I have for the trauma that they have undoubtedly suffered at the hands of Professor Eljamel".
He said that a public inquiry hadn’t been "ruled off the table" but the reason he hadn’t committed to one thus far was that a public inquiry could take "some years" and he was exploring whether there is a way that former patients of Eljamel could get answers quicker.
Anas Sarwar asked when the Scottish Covid Inquiry would begin questioning Scottish ministers and whether grieving families would get "the answers they deserve" before the end of this parliament.
He went on to ask Humza Yousaf if all ministers – past and present – had complied with the "do not destroy" instruction in relation to emails, texts and WhatsApp messages and whether they’d would be handed over in full to the inquiry.
Humza Yousaf said yes, the Scottish Government will fully comply with the request.
I would love to be on the team sifting through those messages.
You’d have to sort them into two separate piles: One labelled "Relevant: Scottish Government Covid Response" and the other "Irrelevant: Minister Was Drunk Texting During Lockdown".
That’s us until September, folks.
Summer is usually a quiet time in politics, but I have a feeling this year might prove the exception to that rule …
