Now, a drama of Shakespearean proportions is unfolding north of the border.

Alex Salmond and Nicholas Sturgeon used to be political soulmates.

She looted up to him.

He mentored her.

She was his designated successor as First Minister.

Now, Simon is accusing his former protege, not just of misleading or even lying to the Scottish Parliament,

but being part of a Scottish government and SMP cabal designed to destroy him.

Sturgeon says there's not a shred of evidence to support his claims, but her Crown Office has

censored key parts of his evidence and her SMP is arguing strongly that it should not be published.

Of course, it already has been by the spectator.

So why the fuss, you might ask, reasonably?

Well, here's the answer.

Because unless the parliamentary inquiry also publishes the evidence, the inquiry cannot consider it when it comes to its conclusions.

Clever, eh?

To break down the significance of this week's events, I'm joined by Fraser Nelson, the Spectator's editor, Katie Bowles, Spectator's Deputy Political Editor and Alex Massey, our Scotland editor.

Welcome to you all. Let's go straight north of the border first. Alex. Give us an update. Is Alex Salmond now going to testify before the parliamentary inquiry tomorrow? All the indications are that he is going to appear tomorrow, Friday morning. But then of course all the indications have been that he would appear on several previous occasions and something at the last moment has always come up that has made it impossible for him to do so. However, this time we are assured that he will testify before the committee tomorrow and then next week

Nicola Sturgeon will have her say at long last her appearance having been

postponed on as many as half a dozen occasions as this committee has tried to

make its tortuous way through a sort of morass of treacle and made very little headway while trying to do so.

So this is after two, two and a half, three years of this saga finally coming to a head.

And the implications are possibly explosive. It is entirely possible that this could one day be seen as the, as the few

days in which Nicola Sturgeon's career comes to an abrupt end. And with it, there are all sorts

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