What are little MSPs made of? The answer to that one could take a long time before the final period put it to rest, but the best we can do off hand is to liken them to the old nursery rhyme. What are little boys made of? Slugs and snails and puppy dog tails. This last is of particular relevance. Our parliamentarians have been engaged recently on a favourite pastime - protecting the animal kingdom.

So far, they have held out a protective hand to foxes, and to mink, even though there are no mink farms in Scotland. They have thrown a protective curtain round lobsters, assuring them of their right not to be boiled alive. Now it is the turn of dogs. They shall not have their tails docked.

This has taken time in preparation and in discussion. Meanwhile, 12 603 children were aborted last year, the highest annual number since 1967. Children are so well exposed to sex education that the natural urge to experiment has been unleashed well and truly. The number of teenage births in some areas has increased sharply. Even at that our population is in decline. No matter. What counts for MSPs is that the tail wags the dog.