KNEES up of the week was Nicola Sturgeon’s Christmas drinks for the media at Bute House. Letting her frown down for the evening, the FM fired off a series of gags, including one about Labour spindoctor Alan Roden winning the Tartan B******s prize for the year’s most fanciful reporting in his previous role as Political Editor of the Scottish Daily Mail. “That makes him officially the only person in Scottish Labour to have won anything this year,” noted the FM.

MS Sturgeon also challenged the notion that Russian interference won the US presidency for Donald Trump. That theory overlooked one key fact. Our very own Kezia Dugdale had gone to America to work for Hillary Clinton’s campaign and inadvertently finished her off. “It wasn’t Putin, it was the curse of Scottish Labour,” she laughed.

THE Tory leader copped it next. “2016 has been an eventful year,” said the FM. “We’ve even had some polls suggesting Ruth Davidson is more popular me. Is she f,f,f-” she spluttered. “I mean, is she fundamentally different in her politics from me? Yes, she is.” Phew.

TALKING of Mr Roden, in a previous Unspun we revealed he had prematurely congratulated himself in Labour HQ by emailing what he thought was an ace press release too soon. NEW POLL REVEALS PUBLIC, ran the subject line, followed by absolutely nothing else. Such is the love Red Roddo inspires, his staff have now hung a copy on the office wall to taunt him.

THE conveners of Holyrood’s committees had their regular meeting the other day. One lively item was a request from the European committee to visit Paris in the spring. Nat boss Joan McAlpine was asked why she and her colleagues wanted to go. There’s an election on, she replied. But there are also elections in Romania and Albania, observed Labour’s Neil Findlay. ‘Why not go there?’ We hear Ms McAlpine’s crestfallen look was almost as memorable as that of the SNP’s Bruce Crawford, who could barely contain his laughter. However the Euro-jaunt was approved in Le Fin.

PHOTOCALL of the week involved SNP MSP Emma Harper bringing two adorable spaniels to the Holyrood lobby to highlight the problem of puppy-trafficking. As the sleepy animals were cooed over by a huge crowd, various SNP ministers lined up to pose for photos. However cynics hoping for a Blue Peter moment were disappointed by the beasts’ amazing bladder control. “Uch, they dugs are drugged,” moaned one disgusted Labour MSP.

FINALLY, a look ahead to 2017, which two broadcasting heavyweights must be dreading. For January 1 sees the release of cabinet papers covering Henry McLeish’s resignation as FM amid an expenses scandal. Peter MacMahon, the adviser who told Henry he’d be fine, is now Pol Ed of ITV Border. But not as bad as BBC legend Brian Taylor, who dismissed the entire affair as “a storm in a teacup”. Henry threw in the towel almost immediately afterwards. We wish them, and you, Merry Christmas.