Nicola Sturgeon says she underestimated depth of polarisation in Scottish politics

In a rare intervention, the former first minister also admitted the period since she left office “hasn’t unfolded exactly as I anticipated”.

It came as she spoke out against the reaction to a proposed pilot of judge-only rape trials in Scotland. Ms Sturgeon urged those on both sides of the debate to “take a breath” and insisted the issue should be “beyond party politics”.

The SNP was thrown into chaos in the weeks following Ms Sturgeon’s resignation as first minister. Last month, her husband Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP, was arrested and released without charge as part of an ongoing investigation into the party’s finances.

Writing in The Guardian, Ms Sturgeon said one of the reasons she gave for her decision to stand down in mid February “was a concern about the part I might be playing, however unwittingly, in the polarisation of our politics”. She added: “On the issue of polarisation, I think that, if anything, I underestimated the depth of the problem.”

She said it was “depressingly striking in today’s politics just how quickly people adopt fixed and immovable positions”, and stressed the issue of juryless rape trials was a case in point. Plans for a pilot scheme have sparked a huge backlash from the legal profession, with the Tories urging ministers to go “back to the drawing board”.

Ms Sturgeon, who was first minister when the relevant legislation was signed off, expressed her hope “that it is not too late for us all to take a breath”, adding: “This issue matters. It should be beyond party politics. And it should not be beyond our body politic to approach it differently.”

She said there were “valid points on both sides”, but the proposal “seeks to address a genuine issue”.

“We should proceed on the strength of evidence and reasoned argument and, where necessary, make amendments to the bill as it stands,” Ms Sturgeon wrote. “It is surely at the end of that process – not before it has even started – that a judgment should be made on whether or not it is possible to design a pilot that might help tackle the denial of justice for many rape victims, without compromising the rights of those accused of such crimes.”