After the general election, the pretence that the next big battle for independence is just around the corner will finally have run out of road.
Also: Delays in SNP fraud investigation risk impression of cover-up, senior lawyers warn.
Also: Further outrage over Ferguson Marine as embattled shipyard at the heart of the ferry fiasco is found to have paid generous bonuses to bosses – without the Scottish Government’s approval.
The second part of our series on reducing demand for government, in which we set out a programme for change – focused on families, civil society and government.
As the Nationalist/Green centre of gravity shifts leftwards to try and hold on to voters to switched to Yes in 2014, what future is there for the party’s increasingly vocal right wing?
The reason the Nationalists are suffering now is that despite a long run of uncommonly able leadership, and opponents perhaps less willing to defend the existence of their state than in any other country on earth, Scottish independence is just not a good idea.
What party leader doesn’t know it needed a £100,000 loan – and what spouse doesn’t know their partner made one?
And her government has decided that the best time to do all this is in the middle of the most serious energy crisis in decades.
Plus: Starmer needs to bring Cooper and Benn into his top team. But will they even want the jobs?
For many, Brexit is a powerful justification for a new independence referendum. But this, too, works both ways.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Tories double down on their referendum threat… whilst the SNP start to back off from the idea.
Plus: I’ve been around the political lobbying world for 30 years, but the Greensill scandal has genuinely floored me.
It helps the Nationalists avoid scrutiny of their record and undermines Johnson’s pledge not to grant another vote.
The best George Galloway’s party can hope to achieve is taking seats from other unionists. They’re more likely to hand them to separatists.
Those who claim the Conservatives would benefit from a spell in opposition to ‘rest and detox’ are misguided. My first nine years in Parliament were spent in opposition, and it was a frustrating experience.