With Ian Blackford on the ropes over his backing of sex pest Patrick Grady, now would be a good time for the First Minister to get in front of the cameras and actually say something. Maybe try to explain why a bunch of her own party’s MPs were caught clapping in support of a colleague suspended for sexual harassment. Not so.

Instead, she’s jetted off to Italy for a few days in the sunshine to attend the Global Women Leaders’ Summit, where she’ll talk about “protecting women’s rights, driving gender equality & tackling climate change”. Arriving in Bellagio via a flight which pumps out approximately 200 kg CO2…

No doubt Guido won’t be the only one to spot the problem here. In October 2021, Green Party co-leader – and Sturgeon’s own Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity – tweeted this just before COP26:

It is possible to get from Rome to Glasgow by train, world leaders could have decided to do this. They didn't. This is exactly what I mean. We need our leadership to *change* how they do things. pic.twitter.com/RQIxf2QS3B

— Lorna Slater (@lornaslater) October 31, 2021

“We need our leadership to *change* how they do things.” How’s that going? Well, the leader of her own government certainly didn’t get to Bellagio by bus.

Exactly what Sturgeon plans to say at the summit is anyone’s guess. Perhaps someone will ask her how she’ll “protect women’s rights” when her own government is now removing the words “women” and “girls” from medical advice leaflets. Or maybe it’s worth questioning how she’ll do anything to sway global climate policy when international relations aren’t even in the gift of Holyrood. Either way, at least it’s currently 26 degrees in Bellagio, although thunderstorms are forecast for later today…