AS the school summer holidays edge ever closer, parents across Scotland will be busy completing last minute administrative tasks before the final bell rings.
On Thursday, my daughter sent me on a Supermarket Sweep-style jaunt to gather the (annoyingly specific) gifts and cards she wanted to give her teacher and her favourite lollipop man.
I only just made it back in time for the start of FMQs but to be honest, I wish I hadn’t bothered power-walking so vigorously up the hill to get home.
There was no happy end of term vibe to be found in the chamber, only a depressing exploration of the state of our politics.
But on the plus side, I did have the good sense to pick up a bottle of wine while I was out at the shops.
Nothing says "school’s out for summer" better than a bottle of £10 plonk that’s reduced to £6.50.
There were no surprises when it came to the choice of topic for both the Labour and Scottish Tory leader.
The fall-out from the Patrick Grady sexual harassment ruling has dominated the week’s news, thanks, in part, to Ian Blackford’s woeful handling of the whole matter.
Douglas Ross began by asking Nicola Sturgeon whether she agreed that every victim of sexual harassment should be fully supported to which she replied that yes, she absolutely did.
He went on to ask why, if that is the case, Patrick Grady still has the backing of the SNP.
Nicola Sturgeon pointed out that these issues are not unique to the SNP and that it is incumbent on all political parties to do better when dealing with issues around sexual harassment. Douglas Ross countered that by claiming that these issues were in fact "systemic" within the SNP.
Here’s where I get annoyed.
Political parties quizzing each other on how they deal with abuses of power within their own ranks is like vultures arguing about who is the most bloodthirsty.
It’s pointless.
They all use one another’s guilt as a way to excuse their own.
The fact that I could list instances of violence, harassment, sexual misconduct or sexual violence that have occurred in every party is the problem.
At any given time, a political party could either be pointing the finger at their opponent or creating a human shield around one of their own.
Anas Sarwar said the SNP had shown "support for the perpetrator but no support for the victim".
"Do you agree with your SNP Chief Whip that it’s more important to protect the SNP than to protect the victim?" he asked.
"Nobody has said that it is more important to protect the SNP than to protect the victim" replied the First Minister.
"I think I’ve made my views today very clear that support for victims of sexual harassment must come first. If that doesn’t happen…then the obligation is on the organisation – and in this case that is the SNP – to reflect on that, not somehow suggest that it is the victim that is at fault."
Next week will be the final FMQs before summer recess and it can’t come a moment too soon. I might nip back down to the supermarket and pick up another bottle of bargain wine to mark the occasion.
