LET me get one thing straight. I’m not saying the SNP is the Mafia.
But they do have an omerta. A strict honour code. And it was smashed to bits by Kate Forbes on live TV.

The golden rule of the SNP is simple: You shall not criticise the SNP or the SNP-run government.

Implicit in this is that you don’t publicly ridicule any of the capos — let alone the Don herself, for God’s sake.

It may not be written down, but it’s etched on hearts of the Nats faithful and usually followed to the letter.

But in Tuesday’s STV leadership debate, Forbes didn’t just break the omerta, she machine-gunned it.

The line that has already gone down in Scots political history came when she was given a shot at ‘cross-examining’ Yousaf.

Political hacks had speculated beforehand about whether the candidates would take it easy, given the omerta.

Then Forbes told Yousaf: “You were a transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were Justice Secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as Health Minister we’ve got record high waiting times.

“What makes you think you can do a better job as First Minister?”

If this line was delivered in parliament by a Tory or Labour MSP it would have been a burn. That it was spoken by an SNP cabinet colleague . . . ooft.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters