For anyone who enjoys watching political crises spiral, the past few weeks at the Scottish Parliament have looked less like routine government and more like a fire raging through a battery plant.

If you are a cautious taxpayer or voter with a low tolerance for political chaos, this may be the moment to stop reading.

For everyone else, fasten your seatbelt.

After five years as an MSP in the concrete complex at the foot of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, I assumed the conduct of John Swinney’s SNP government could no longer surprise me.

Yet the party’s mix of alleged dishonesty, eye-watering waste, performative grievance and staggering incompetence still manages to produce fresh shocks.

Now the SNP has an unexpected supporting act in Nigel Farage’s Reform, whose inexperience and theatrical politics at Holyrood have handed the governing party another advantage.

Take transport secretary Stephen “mini-Swinney” Flynn, who earns £136,000 a year and recently appeared before the Scottish Parliament’s transport committee.

Whether grandstanding at Westminster or grinning at Holyrood, he appeared strikingly unfamiliar with his brief, including the details of a flammable gas leak aboard a CalMac ferry.

The same committee also heard from SNP backbencher Collette Stevenson, who appeared confused when she asked whether the government’s national transport agency was a charity.

There was also the episode involving SNP innovation minister Alyn Smith, who appeared to nod off in the chamber. In fairness to him, John Swinney was speaking at the time.

Education secretary Màiri McAllan, another minister receiving £136,000 from the public purse, then rejected the evidence that Scotland has slipped down international education rankings.

She also declined an invitation from former UK education secretary Michael Gove to discuss his experience of reforming schools in England.

Scottish pupils facing the consequences should note that this protégé of Nicola Sturgeon refused to consider any lessons from Mr Gove, apparently because he is a Conservative.

That narrow-minded approach reflects the SNP’s longstanding instinct to create distance from allies south of Hadrian’s Wall and turn every possible disagreement with the UK government into a political confrontation.

It also helps explain why Scottish patients still lack a multi-purpose NHS app of the kind available elsewhere in the UK. The responsibility for that failure lies with the SNP government, critics argue.

Scottish police officers are similarly years behind colleagues in England and Wales in access to body-worn camera protection. Once again, the SNP government faces criticism.

At times, I wonder whether the SNP has any limit when pursuing a manufactured dispute with Westminster.

This week brought a grim answer. Scotland’s drug-death rate was confirmed as the highest in Europe for an eighth consecutive year, with 1,133 people losing their lives last year.

Maree Todd then argued that Westminster bore responsibility, pointing to the fact that the Misuse of Drugs Act is a reserved matter.

Not just nonsense, but shameless. Imagine using the tragedy of thousands of people killed by drugs to stoke a dishonest row with Westminster.

Ms Todd is just the latest SNP drugs minister to blindly pursue so-called ‘harm reduction’ policies at the expense of giving addicts the help they need – and cracking down on parasite gangsters who profit from death.

She’s not the first to suggest, although never actually explain why, devolving UK-wide laws on drug classification would save a single Scottish life.

All these SNP politicians conveniently forget that their drug consumption unit is operating when, for years, they falsely claimed that it could not because of the same UK-wide drug law.

KEEP READING: Rare Sea Turtle Eggs Relocated Ahead of SoCal’s Hurricane Polo

And they also forget that Dorothy Bain, appointed Lord Advocate by Nicola Sturgeon, effectively decriminalised possession of Class A drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine.

This misguided policy was enacted five years ago despite the same UK-wide drug laws. It must now be reviewed.

Mr Swinney’s government, having long ago declared a ‘national mission’ on drug deaths, exploits the mass loss of life in furtherance of their nationalist strategy of division.

The Glasgow unit where addicts go to shoot up, at a multi-million pound annual cost to taxpayers, opened at the beginning of 2025.

Since then, drug deaths in Glasgow have risen.

When I challenged Mr Swinney at First Minister’s Questions, he said the evidence proved it was a success. And he committed to pressing ahead with more such units, starting in Edinburgh.

Last year, the Scottish Conservatives gave the SNP an opportunity to do the right thing with a proposed new law to give people the right to help – rather than being trapped in the hell of addiction.

But they, along with their Green party allies, rejected my predecessor Douglas Ross’s Right to Recovery Bill. I’m certain their decision will cost even more lives.

In response to the latest drug death figures, I and my Tory colleagues have worked diligently to challenge the SNP on their fatally failed approach.

At FMQs, I also put Mr Swinney on the spot over Ms Todd’s crass blaming of Westminster.

Following FMQs, I was astonished to hear him say that his party still wanted to decriminalise the possession of all drugs – including ultra potent and deadly synthetic opioids.

His extraordinary admission came just moment after he had acknowledged that these man-made substances already kill many Scots.

This goes to the heart of how wrong the SNP are. They devote vast sums of taxpayers’ money to support drug taking and think they’re being kind. But killing people slowly is no form of kindness.

And they also admit that synthetic opioids represent a whole new level of danger – yet continue peddling the idiotic notion that they should be decriminalised.

That’s why I wrote to Mr Swinney on Friday, urging him to rethink his reckless policy and asking him what kind of message it sends to impressionable young people.

In the midst of all this, Reform indulged in gesture politics.

Malcolm Offord, Farage’s man in Scotland, failed to challenge Mr Swinney about Ms Todd at FMQs – but then called for a vote of no confidence in her.

Knowing that it would not succeed, and having not even attempted to build a case, they then feigned anger when other parties didn’t back them.

Reform’s futile stunt came in the same week that Lord Offord walked out of the chamber as the SNP began a debate on independence.

They walked away having already submitted an amendment to the SNP’s debate motion. Many of the Reform MSPs appeared startled.

Okay, they got a couple of headlines. But as they walked away, and let the SNP off the hook, I and my Scottish Conservative colleagues went toe-to-toe.

On behalf of scunnered Scots, we used the indepdence debate to pummel the SNP over their dire record of high taxes, soaring benefits, chronic NHS waiting lists, worsening education, and rising crime.

The people of Scotland are becoming increasingly tired of the Holyrood bin fire. I get it, I really do.

But while Lord Offord’s Reform indulge in attention-seeking stunts for social media likes, I and my party will keep doing the hard job of holding the SNP to account with a firm and relentless determination.

Kaia Gerber has received support from her Palm Royale co-star Laura Dern in the days following the sudden death of her brother, Presley, at age 27.

The 59-year-old Jurassic Park actress visited Kaia’s Hollywood Hills home with flowers and groceries. Kaia was later seen carrying the items inside with the help of a friend on Thursday.

Dern wore a black sweater with faded blue jeans, while dark sunglasses shielded her eyes.

Presley, the 27-year-old model son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, died on Sunday at a rehabilitation facility in Santa Monica, California. His death is being investigated as a suspected overdose.

In addition to working alongside Kaia onscreen, Dern has shared a close friendship with Crawford for decades. The pair have regularly supported each other at major industry events.

The Daily Mail has contacted Dern’s representative for further comment.

Dern, the daughter of the late Diane Ladd and actor Bruce Dern, has appeared with Kaia in the Apple TV+ series Palm Royale. Her Hollywood lineage has also made her one of the original Hollywood nepo babies.

Dern is among several prominent friends of the Gerber family who have offered their support.

Earlier this week, George Clooney, 65, and his wife Amal, 48, were also seen arriving at Kaia’s home.

Clooney was regarded as a second father figure to Presley. He watched Presley and Kaia grow up and was affectionately known to them as Uncle George.

The two-time Oscar winner has been friends with Rande since the mid-1990s, before Rande married Crawford. The pair later co-founded Casamigos tequila with others in 2013, selling the brand in 2017 for up to $1 billion.

His long-standing relationship with the family made Clooney a trusted and familiar presence in their lives.

Dern’s visit came as further details emerged about the circumstances in which Presley’s body was discovered.

On Wednesday, sources described as being close to the investigation said Presley had allegedly been found in a bedroom at the high-end rehab house on Sunday, September 20, according to TMZ.

Presley had checked into the facility just the night before he was found dead after going into cardiac arrest.

According to TMZ, the sources with knowledge of the investigation alleged that Presley’s body was not on the bed, but instead was found nearby in the room, though they did not specify an exact location.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Presley’s representatives for comment but has not yet received a response.

MUST READ: Jay Slater’s Mother Returns to Tenerife to Learn How He Died

The sources additionally told the outlet that the potentially deadly narcotic fentanyl has not been a focus of the investigation into Presley’s death at this time.

However, final confirmation of any substances that may have played a role in his death will have to wait until the Medical Examiner’s toxicology report is released.

The Daily Mail previously obtained audio of the 911 emergency dispatch call made from the Santa Monica rehab, in which an automated voice could be heard saying ‘cardiac arrest’ followed by ‘overdose’.

Perhaps the most chilling detail from 911 dispatch audio is how rapidly Presley’s condition worsened within minutes.

The first call was made on Sunday, September 20 at 9.35am regarding a cardiac arrest, however, just three minutes later it was upgraded to an ‘overdose,’ then finally at 9.40am the priority was upped once again as it was ‘upgraded’.

Shortly after the release of the 911 dispatch audio, sources close to the model told TMZ on Tuesday that a physician had been prescribing him ketamine despite knowing his past problems with the drug.

Ketamine can be used to treat drug addiction; however, that is not the use approved by the FDA.

Presley’s close friends are allegedly angry that the doctor had prescribed the dissociative anesthetic to him while knowing that addiction struggles had been a regular problem for him, according to TMZ.

A Santa Monica Police Department spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Mail on Monday that emergency services were called to a luxury rehab Presley had been staying in on Sunday morning – before he was pronounced dead at the scene.

‘On September 20, 2026, at approximately 9.35am, Santa Monica Police Department officers responded to a report of a possible overdose in the 1000 block of Berkeley Street. Upon arrival, officers located an adult male who was deceased,’ the statement read.

‘SMPD detectives are investigating the death as a suspected overdose. At this time, there is no indication of foul play. The investigation remains ongoing.’

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has not determined the official cause of death yet but the autopsy was completed as of Monday morning and Presley’s body was ready for release.

Per TMZ, Presley had been staying in a separate house on the grounds of the Santa Monica rehab, and had roommates. It was also claimed Presley had only checked into the rehab on Saturday night, hours before his death.

His death comes just weeks after his younger sister Kaia opened up about the enormous toll her brother’s struggles had taken on their famous family – admitting the turmoil had effectively ‘leveled everyone’.

‘When something like that happens in a family, it kind of levels everyone,’ she told Vogue.

Kaia praised her brother’s willingness to strip away the secrecy surrounding his struggles.

She described his honesty and openness as ‘refreshing,’ contrasting it with the intensely private way their parents had traditionally handled family life.

‘My parents for most of our lives were very, very private and didn’t share anything – and now we have this absolute teacher, my brother, who says, “I’m gonna be very human for everyone.” There’s only so much you can hide from the world,’ she said.

‘And trying to put a lid on something just makes the person feel like you’re ashamed of them,’ she noted.