RUTH Davidson now has four questions to the First Minister but maybe the Presiding Officer should take three back off her.

She only needed one as she kept the real point she wanted to make up her sleeve while going through the motions with the first three.

The Conservative leader began her quizzing of Nicola Sturgeon on the threat of a teachers strike over workloads and showed typical Tory disdain for two of the party’s pet hates, workers’ industrial action and red tape.

She criticised the SNP for only after nine years are they now asking teacher for examples to address.

But when she got to her feet for her final question she brandished what has been the Conservatives weapon of choice to attack the SNP with, the named persons scheme, saying it increased the burden on teachers.

“Shame” cried the SNP benches.

Ms Sturgeon branded the move “cheap political point scoring” and said teachers would be “horrified”.

Kezia Dugdale and the First Minister then embarked on a rare consensual exchange.

In summary the Labour leader asked ‘is Scotland better off in the EU?’ The First Minister said yes. and they repeated it twice more.

That raised the heckles of Margaret Mitchell, Tory vote leave campaigner who wanted to make a point of order but was told to wait till the end of the session.

That gave her time to simmer away ready to explode that the Labour and SNP pro remain leaders had reached purdah rules.

Before we got to that point Willie Rennie asked more about education and said he ‘wondered what planet the First Minister thought she was on’.

Extended FMQs allowed more backbench questions meaning Mrs Mitchell had to wait even longer to cry foul.

We heard about campaigns to ban energy drinks and unhealthy foods from schools and a row about health boards planning to close vital services.

Which after Kezia Dugdale’s questioning gave the First Minister her opportunity to slag Labour.

Ms Sturgeon doesn’t like to let Thursday lunchtime go by without attacking or belittling the party so she was grateful for Neil Findlay raising hospital cuts.

She said Mr Findlay ‘used to make these points from the official opposition benches, now it’s from the third party benches’.

The Tories lapped that one up more than the SNP backbenchers.

When it finally came to dealing with Mrs Mitchell’s gripe, Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh astounded MSPs.

As Dugdale and Ms Sturgeon’s exchange could be pretty much summed up as: Kezia: “I think we should vote remain Nicola what do you think?”

Nicola: “Yeah I think the same, with bells on, Kezia.”

But Mr Macintosh decreed it didn’t breech purdah rules.

In fact he said he listened “very carefully” and somehow concluded “they did not take a side on either side of the referendum debate.”

Margaret Mitchell was probably left wondering what planet he was on.