Consider the weasel. It is Scotland’s smallest carnivore, the nemesis of mice and other small animals, and a sleek, elusive shadow when spotted in the wild.

But like all animals who dwell in the country’s green places, it is under threat from climate change and the disruption to its habitat that may bring.

Yet the weasel, presumably as noble an animal as any other, is in the news not because of its perilous position with regards to man-made global warming, but through a link to its more furtive qualities.

The Scottish Government has been accused of trying to “weasel out” of its commitments to curbing climate change, after a report warned it is now “beyond credible” that Scotland’s target to reduce emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 will be met.

It is reported that the Scottish Government has now ditched the 2030 goal, but remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2045, it says.

The move is a major climbdown for the administration at Holyrood – and a serious tarnishing of the SNP’s once-mighty green credentials.

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