The first thing to say is that the argument between the Scottish government and the British government over the former’s gender recognition reforms is not about trans people. The broad principles of those legislative changes are not the chief issue, whether one happens to support them or not.

The second thing to note is that this ought not to be a constitutional crisis. Invoking a provision of the Scotland Act which established the Scottish parliament is not an ‘assault’ on that legislature. Granted, no previous bill has been subject to a Section 35 order of the kind now invoked by Alister Jack, the Secretary of State for Scotland. Granted, too, it might be preferable if such legislative tensions – of a sort that are an all-but-inevitable consequence of a multi-tiered constitution – were refereed by an established and clearly-understood process, freed from political grandstanding and special pleading.

Nevertheless, we are where we are. The argument deployed by many SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parliamentarians that the Scottish parliament’s bill must stand because it enjoys overwhelming cross-party support is not one worthy of respect in a democratic society. In essence, it suggests that the Scottish parliament be permitted to act unlawfully if a given measure is sufficiently popular. The law is the law, however, and it applies to Nicola Sturgeon and her allies as surely as it may from time to time clip the wings of His Majesty’s government in London.

As a psychological matter – and politics is a game of feelings as well as facts – this offends nationalist self-regard. Holyrood has become accustomed to thinking itself a sovereign parliament, the equal of its Westminster counterpart. This is a conceit but a deeply felt one. SNP politicians can hardly be expected to think differently but it is salutary to recognise that a good number of Unionists broadly share this view. And, again, it is easy to understand why, for being reminded of Holyrood’s subsidiary status is unwelcome.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters