Tom Peterkin: Suddenly, Salmond and his team don't look quite so untouchable

THE SNP government now looks weaker than at any time since it came to power in 2007. The steady hands of the past few years have become decidedly shaky in recent weeks.

It is a turn of events that must be deeply worrying for the party's leadership, especially since it is those very leaders who are so deeply involved.

In the first couple of years of the SNP's tenure, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon were among the trump cards in the SNP pack. The past few weeks have changed all that. Serious questions are now being asked about the judgment of Scotland's two most senior politicians.

It is a most unexpected turn of events. One could have easily imagined the credibility of the SNP being undermined from the edges. Normally, it is the grassroots that embarrass the party. The deselection of able politicians such as Mike Russell or Andrew Wilson are proof of that. More recently, the rantings of Russell's aide Mark MacLachlan have cast light on an unsavoury aspect of Nationalism.

Now, however, the party's credibility is being threatened by the behaviour of two of its stars – Salmond, the charismatic political performer, and Sturgeon, his highly intelligent deputy.

It is they who have been caught up in the so-called "lunchgate" row that has seen claims of "cash for access" bandied about.

Now Sturgeon has compounded the error by her involvement with Abdul Rauf.

She has argued that her letter – no doubt produced with a flourish by that arch-unionist the QC Donald Findlay in court yesterday – was merely her representing a local constituent "entirely properly". But what does it say about the judgment of our deputy first minister if she is seen lobbying for a serial fraudster?

The truth is, her character reference for Rauf showed the same poor judgment that led to last week's "cash for access" row.

The SNP's problems with "sleaze" look paltry when compared with the expenses excesses that have plagued the Conservatives and Labour – a point that Salmond makes repeatedly when he stresses that he was one of the few party leaders not to have to pay anything back to the Commons authorities.

Nevertheless, in the goldfish bowl that is Holyrood politics, recent events are causing severe embarrassment and surprise.

The thing is, until now, people thought Salmond and Sturgeon were far too clever for this nonsense.