Nicola Sturgeon will regret her 'basket of deplorables' moment

Nicola Sturgeon has for many years been hailed, particularly by commentators south of the border, as the consummate political leader – someone who effortlessly dominates the Scottish political scene. In doing so, it’s said, she repeatedly shows up the public-school boys in the Westminster government for the bluffers that they are.

That unearned reputation is starting to slip, now that Sturgeon’s dogged pursuit of radical transgender policies, via her now-blocked gender bill, has blown up in her face. The public outcry over the case of ‘Isla Bryson’ – the male rapist briefly held in a women’s prison – has shown that the SNP has lost the room and the moral plot when it comes to the gender issue.

Now, Nicola Sturgeon has demonstrated that famous political nous once again by dismissing her critics as bigots. A strategy that has, of course, worked brilliantly for politicians in recent years.