As the new parliamentary session starts after our Easter recess, returning SNP members have much to ponder as we analyse the continuing onslaught and schadenfreude of opposition parties.

But Labour and Tory politicians might just want to reconsider their pontification and calm down their attacks.

I take the current alarming stories to heart, but one thing I know Scots really hate is hypocritical, faux outrage from people in political parties with long track records for sleaze.

There is no purpose in anyone jumping to conclusions. Due process has to be take its course. There is no doubt the past number of weeks have been exceptionally difficult for the SNP – politicians, members and activists alike - from the sudden resignation of Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney, then the handling of the numbers surrounding the current party membership.

But it has obviously all been overshadowed by the arrest of Peter Murrell and Colin Beattie and ensuing events that have led us to where we are now.

A fractious campaign exposed division in policy, priorities, and certain values. All of this played out in the full glare of publicity, which of itself was no bad thing, and a resultant media frenzy.

So perhaps now is an opportune moment to take a deep breath and consider where we are?

And remember, we have become unused to having leadership election - the last one was nearly 20 years ago - and the stakes were heightened this time round because, as the party of government, our new leader was destined to be First Minister.

We must also recognise that the unforgiving nature of our political environment right now means every comment and action is pored over and amplified, sometimes out of all perspective. That’s just how it is.

It certainly created an uncomfortable and difficult few weeks for us but, after such a long time dominating Scottish politics, it was also inevitable.

I will not attempt to minimise the anger of members who justifiably want to know what has happened or deny that mistakes have been made.

However, I do find myself making this observation: the country now has a new First Minister and a new administration, yet our opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament are utterly failing to focus on the vital public policy agenda. They are obsessing with the SNP as a political party.

We have been subjected to outrage and indignation from the likes of Jackie Baillie and Craig Hoy. You would be excused, therefore, for thinking that these issues must relate to Scottish Government matters. But they do not.

Humza Yousaf is the nation's new First Minister and he is working hard to run the country well. The issues we are dealing with as a party, the scrutiny we are under, the demands for transparency and openness, are about the members of the SNP and the party's donors. Due process will take its course in relation to the police investigation; and as far as reforming the SNP is concerned, that is the responsibility of all of us in the SNP and no one else. The 'help' of Ms Baillie and Mr Hoy are very much not required.

In the last few days we’ve been 'treated' to the sight of Mr Hoy demanding – again - that Nicola Sturgeon be suspended for things said in an NEC meeting. That is the same Craig Hoy who is chairman of the Scots Tories, a party hardly renowned for scrupulous financial transparency.

A cynic might ask why Labour politicians are not so exercised with demands to know where the billions in taxpayers’ money that has been poured into private companies and businesses owned by Tory party donors during the pandemic. Where is Jackie Baillie’s regularly televised outrage at that?

The unionist parties appear to believe they have finally found a chink in the SNP armour, and they are hammering away as hard as they can to try to break the party and, they hope, kill off the opportunity of independence.

Not for the first time, they have completely misread the Yes movement, the public mood and the strength of the desire for independence.

And from that reality springs great hope for those of us who are committed to the cause of independence, which is bigger than any politician or any party.

It is the SNP’s founding principle, the very reason we are party members – and it has not changed.

That is where we must re-focus our attention and get back to that founding principle with a renewed vigour and determination.

The desire for independence is not some abstract concept, it is the founding principle of building a better country for all, a guiding light to politicians who must only be answerable to the people of Scotland who elect them, not Westminster parties which control them.

It is the rational, logical next step in controlling all the issues that affect us as a nation, and our desire is as strong today as it has ever been. We must continue to nurture that desire, understanding and determination to be independent.

Humza Yousaf will reinvigorate our members by making the changes the party needs and leading from the front, including bringing back members we have lost.

We must also govern effectively and focus on the areas people want us to focus on: we must highlight and tackle the immense problems inflicted on us by damaging Westminster policies.

We must remind folk that independence is not an abstract notion, it is the solution to making our country better than the one we inherited, for our children and grandchildren.

And please, spare us from the pontifications of those who would keep us in a union where industrial-scale corruption is the norm.

Jim Fairlie is the Scottish National Party MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire.