Almost a year after the Deputy First Minister announced she’d be quitting politics, her Christianity and integrity continue to trigger civic Scotland’s cultural politburo.

One of the most important speeches made by a Scottish public figure in recent years was largely ignored by the media. You’re left to conclude that the message and the person delivering it made them feel uncomfortable. It really ought to have done.

The speaker was Kate Forbes, former deputy first minister, and perhaps the most able politician to have emerged from Scotland in the devolved era. More than a few people I know who voted No in 2014 have told me they’d seriously consider moving to Yes at a future referendum campaign if Ms Forbes was leading it.

She commanded a level of popular personal support across Scotland that those party colleagues who betrayed her could never match. People who disagreed with Ms Forbes’ economic vision for Scotland admired her for sticking by her principles.

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Instead, the party leadership turned on her and hounded her out of politics because she was a Christian who hadn’t – unlike her boss, John Swinney – compromised her values and beliefs for personal gain.

Ms Forbes, who was also a very able finance minister before the most important job in the cabinet fell into the hands of the SNP’s scarecrow wing, spoke last month at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London. She recalled how........

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