Wendy

In advance of the Electoral Commission's conclusion on Wendy's dodgy donation I thought I'd choose this time to restate my opinion on the affair.

For me, Wendy's 'sins' sit in between those of Peter Hain's and Allan Johonson's.

Peter Hain's actions have led him to be referred to the police and the sums involve amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Of course he should have resigned.

Allan Johnson does genuinely seem to have complied with the law regarding his £3,334 donation. For me it seems it was the donor that has acted (at worst) sloppily. Of course he deserves to stay on.

Which brings me to Wendy Alexander.

She has broken the law which Scots and Independent is at pains to reinforce.

For me though, the overriding decision that people must make is do we really care? It's £950 for a contest in which Wendy was the only candidate. And I wager there would be very few people who would want to see her head roll for such an innocuous crime. So let's give her the token slap on the wrist and move on.

Doing 80mph in a 70 zone or not wearing your seatbelt involve instances where one has broken the law. Any sort of punishment for either of the above is generally seen as heavy-handed and, for me, Wendy's £950 is nothing more than the political equivalent of 'unintenionally' going over the speed limit. One has to really ask if an Electoral Commission and even a police investigation is really worth the time and money involved.

Will Holyrood be a better place for having a chastised and chastened Wendy Alexander at the helm of the Labour Party? Are people outwith the Holyrood Bubble baying for her blood? Is there anyone else in the Labour ranks who could do as able a job as she?

The answer to all of the above is a resounding "no" so let's hope the journalists and opposition parties end this charade of outrage and dismay and we can let Wendy get back to shooting her mouth off in First Minister's Questions and getting smacked back down by Alex every week.