NICOLA Sturgeon was at her best during the new, extended First Minister's Questions on Thursday when she spoke about the sickening murder of Liam Fee.

The First Minister rarely fails to find the right words and strike the right tone when she discusses the things the whole country is talking about. The toddler's brutal abuse and horrific killing at the hands of his mother, Rachel Trelfa and her civil partner, Nyomi Fee, is one such moment.

Jenny Gilruth, the new SNP MSP whose Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency includes the place where Liam died, asked about what should happen next.

Would the facts behind the case be made public following the completion of a review by Fife child protection committee? Would any failings by the authority's be "dealt with robustly?"

Ms Sturgeon spoke for everyone when she described her horror and sadness at Liam's death. And on behalf of everyone she extended her sympathy to all those affected by the case, including two other boys who suffered the cruelty meted out by Trelfa and Fee.

She said she expected as much as possible of the significant case review's findings to be published. Any lessons from the case must be learned swiftly, she said, before making a point that cannot be emphasised enough.

She said: "It is important to say—this is a fundamental point—that the only people who are responsible for the death of Liam Fee are the people who were convicted of his murder.

"They are to blame and no one else."

Not everyone has responded as well to a case which will continue to shock Scotland for many years.

Some campaigners fighting the controversial "named person" child protection initiative immediately declared that Liam had been failed by the scheme.

Their comments were reported prominently by media outlets committed to getting the "state guardian" legislation, as they call it, repealed.

It didn't seem to matter that if was far from clear whether Liam Fee had a 'named person'.

He had a 'contact point' as part of a scheme the government has endorsed as a pilot for named person. But, as John Swinney, the Education Secretary, pointed out on BBC Radio Scotland, there are significant differences.

What, if anything, Liam's death tells us about the effectiveness or limitations of named person is surely a question for when the case review is published.

But if some people jumped to conclusions, the SNP also responded badly, at least until its leader stepped in.

The party quickly issued comments from MSP Rona Mackay, who said it was "deeply distasteful for any campaign group to politicise the tragic murder of a young child".

It smacked of an effort to silence perfectly legitimate questions, something the SNP has a tendency to do.

Indeed, its previous attempt had come all of three hours earlier when, in an extraordinary press release, MSP James Dornan demanded an apology from opponents who had the temerity to question Ms Sturgeon's £10bn infrastructure deal with two Chinese companies. If questions can't be asked about a plan, revealed by Freedom of Information, for a giant PFI scheme mass-producing pre-fab council houses in a Chinese-owned factory near Falkirk, what should we be inquiring about?

The SNP's attempt to close down the debate about named person helped no-one.

Opponents and supporters alike should want to ask searching questions about the scheme, in whatever form, and how it operated in the case of Liam Fee.

Interestingly, the Scottish Conservatives, who campaigned relentlessly against named person in the run-up to last month's election, chose not to raise the issue in the chamber on Thursday.

It surprised a few people but, according to sources close to the Tory leader, Ruth Davidson did not want to jump in before the facts were clear.

The debate about named person will go on.

As ministers prepare to roll it out across the country, concerns will continue to be raised about possible intrusion into family life.

Are we happy to accept that if the scheme improves the odds - even by just a little - of preventing another tragedy?

The Fife review may shed some light and Ms Sturgeon, at least, is not afraid of the answers.

She was spot on again when she told MSPs: "Questions are rightly being asked about whether there is any more that the system could or should have done to protect that little boy."