You can’t knock her vision.. but no details

It’s been a good week for Nicola.

Reports suggest she has got her wish to start talks with Downing Street on IndyRef2.

Her tactics of shock and awe appear to have stunned Theresa May into sitting down at the table.

Little wonder her troops, lit with enthusiasm like kids at a Christmas tree, lapped up a conference speech.

She is a better speaker than Salmond – funnier, warmer. It was a polished masterclass and humorously honest about her intended audience being outside the hall.

She tried to reach out to those who greeted the news of IndyRef2 with dread.

Interestingly, she used a line Salmond had previously rejected – that “we all want the best for our nation”.

In recognising that all parties are “nationalist” in that they want the best for Scotland, she is trying to move away from the SNP’s historic condescension of others by claiming only they are really Scottish.

Her pitch to Scotland was essentially this – when it comes to a choice, whether you like it or not, it would be best to go down a Scottish road than a Tory UK one.

Nicola did nothing to answer important questions on currency and spending.

She knocked May for chaotic Brexit but is in danger of being the pot which calls the kettle black when it comes to content.

You can’t knock her vision but until she puts some numbers to her details, it’s hard to know whether Tory austerity would be worse than independence cuts.

She promised an honest and frank assessment of the economy would be published later in the year.

It could be the game changer the Nats need to lift the mood of dread felt by people not in the SNP.