FIRST Minister’s Questions are a highlight of the Scottish political week. MSPs get to ask anything they like of Nicola Sturgeon, who then invariably replies.
It’s a pretty simple format that shouldn’t take much explaining. You ask a question, then listen to the answer.
Today in Holyrood however, the First Minister had to remind one MSP of the second part of that basic procedure.
Jackie Baillie, the now (twice) acting-but-never-quite-actual Scottish Labour leader, had asked Sturgeon about concerns around the Covid roll-out.
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Baillie cited the issues raised by some elderly people in Fife who have yet to receive their vaccination appointment.
The Labour MSP added: “Last Friday, the Health Secretary said that all over-70s would have their appointment by the end of the week. When that didn’t happen, people started to worry.
“So, can the First Minister explain what has gone wrong to leave people … in the dark?”
Considering Baillie has sat in the Scottish Parliament since its creation in 1999, you might be forgiven for assuming she knew what to do next.
Instead, she started answering her phone.
This caused the First Minister to tell her off, leaving Baillie sporting a grin which would have been better placed on a school child caught stealing sweets.
In answer to the question which Baillie may not have cared about quite as much as she was purporting to, Sturgeon said: “Nothing is going wrong.
“But let me say two things. Any MSP across the chamber who has individual cases of people not getting a [Covid vaccine] letter they should pass those on, and perhaps Jackie Baillie would like to turn her phone off as well while I answer her question.
“They should pass those details on and we will obviously look into them.”
Hopefully, those Labour MSPs who were told of the Fife residents' issues will have already done that.
If not, their constituents may not be too happy about being used as ammunition in FMQs rather than actually having their problems dealt with.
(And Labour certainly was collecting up complaints from different constituencies for Baillie to reel off, unless Fife is now in her Dumbarton area. Baillie claimed her inbox was "full of similar" stories, but declined to tell any).
READ MORE: If Boris Johnson cared about Scots he would not have broken rules to visit vaccine lab
Sturgeon went on: “Anybody in a priority group who is worried about not having had an appointment can contact the vaccination helpline.
“If you’re worried about your appointment or about not having had your letter yet you can phone the helpline on 0800 030 8013.”
The First Minister said that differences in approach from health board to health board meant that some people under-70 in certain areas may receive the jag "maybe a few days" before those in other areas.
She also insisted that the Government is on track to hit its target of vaccinating everyone in the over-70 category by mid-February.
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