Has Nicola Sturgeon discovered a sudden enthusiasm for free speech? The former SNP leader has today reviewed Salman Rushdie’s latest book Knife for the New Statesman. Steerpike has read it so you don’t have to. Cliche abounds: ‘Rushdie pours himself, heart and soul, onto the page.’

The former FM also writes that:

It is clear that [Rushdie] sees the response by some to the fatwa not just as a betrayal of himself, but also of the principle of free speech, which he defends with every word he writes.