Intervention has reopened wounds in Scottish politics
It's been almost a year since Alex Salmond 's death but the former first minister 's legacy continues to be a contentious topic.
Nicola Sturgeon never reconciled with her political mentor after he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault in 2020.
Salmond was ultimately cleared in court but he never forgave those in his former party that he viewed as betraying him.
His allies believe there was a conspiracy against him and have vowed to continue fighting to clear his name.
So it's in that context that Sturgeon has published her long-awaited political memoir this week.
Extracts published over the weekend have seen the former first minister try to claim that it was Salmond who leaked details to the press of a Scottish Government investigation into his behaviour.
That's prompted a furious backlash from Salmond's allies, who firmly believe the leak came from Sturgeon's camp.
Regardless of who is right, the squabble is unedifying and does not reflect well on Scottish politics.
There will be some in the SNP who will be quietly hoping the hype around Sturgeon's book dies down quickly.
With the party desperate to hold on to power at next year's Holyrood election, the last thing it needs is to get bogged down in another row over its two most famous former leaders.
John Swinney has a big enough job on his hands without the public being reminded of how divided some of his former colleagues are.
It's in everyone's interest that this row is put to bed once and for all.
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Each penny counts
It's outrageous that a firm at the centre of a £6million NHS corruption scandal was still carrying out work for one health board three years after they were first charged.
NHS Lothian carried on using the services of Oricom until March last year.
It comes after four men were jailed for a total of 29 years in June following a major investigation into the award of lucrative NHS contracts to the Ayrshire-based telecommunications firm.
At a time when the health service is under pressure like never before, bosses should be double-checking where each and every penny is being spent.
Taxpayers' cash certainly should not be handed over to a firm where employees were fleecing the health service.
Contracts with Oricom should have been ripped up as soon as there was any suspicion over its activities.
Bosses at NHS Lothian must answer as to why this situation was allowed to continue.
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