EVERY once in a while, bitter political rivals are moved to show one another a little mutual support.

Two examples of this from the last week are worth highlighting.

Anyone who has followed the stream of sexist, racist, homophobic and generally nasty comments by UKIP members will have known more or less what to expect of the party's first politician elected in Scotland.

David Coburn MEP didn't win many friends during the European election campaign, particularly in light of his rude and patronising treatment of women candidates.

But when he directly compared a Scottish Government Minister to a convicted terrorist he stepped over a line from offensive to outrageous.

Humza Yousaf is a capable Minister and a likeable guy.

People in all parties will tell you that.

I don't agree with him on everything, and it's part of my job to challenge members of the Government on a daily basis.

But in directly referring to him as "Abu Hamza" the UKIP MEP has shown himself to be not only crass and insensitive, but openly racist and Islamophobic.

By refusing to discipline Mr Coburn, UKIP themselves have once again shown that they don't just do dog-whistle politics; they are perfectly willing to tolerate this kind of man as a leading figure in their party.

To see him defended by the likes of Roger Helmer, group leader of the UKIP MEPs, who has a long track record of sexism and homophobia, only confirms what kind of party UKIP are.

Following the comments by Mr Coburn, naturally many SNP members expressed support for Yousaf, but they were by no means alone.

I've seen people from all political parties (apart from the obvious) voicing their outright opposition to Mr Coburn's bigoted views, and offering Humza unequivocal support.

Kezia Dugdale, Scottish Labour's deputy leader, used a newspaper column to show genuine solidarity with her political opponent.

That's absolutely as it should be.

I suspect there are few people who were taken in by UKIP's election message last year who actually want this crude and offensive bigot representing them.

But at least now they know what kind of man he is, and what kind of politics UKIP truly represent.

The second note of cross-party support I want to mention is about my own party, and I'll dwell less on that.

I only want to say thank you to the 10,000+ people who added their voices calling for the inclusion of the Greens in STV's election debate next month.

The fact that they included Nicola Sturgeon, Jim Murphy, Ruth Davidson and Willie Rennie shows that they are open to a broad and respectful debate, allowing the voters to make up their own minds.

To add your name, please visit http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk/stv-invite-the-greens/