SNP plays for time

The Scots have a word for long-windedness: blether – and there was a lot of it in Nicola Sturgeon’s speech to the SNP conference in Glasgow yesterday. After 11 years in power – as long as Margaret Thatcher was in office – what have the Nationalists to show for their endeavours? The First Minister cited the £100 “baby box” as one of their achievements that “make hope possible”.

But they are being judged by voters on the issues of literacy and numeracy, missed NHS waiting targets and the failure so far of controversial plans to integrate Police Scotland and the British Transport Police.

Higher income taxes came into force earlier this year and will damage Scotland’s competitiveness whatever the SNP says. It was telling that the foreign politician who Ms Sturgeon quoted as looking favourably on her policies was Bernie Sanders, the radical American presidential hopeful.

However, it was not her litany of alleged SNP domestic policy triumphs that lifted her audience yesterday. It was the reason why the SNP exists – independence. The party’s activists are desperate to embark on another separatist campaign just four years after losing the last one but Ms Sturgeon is cautious. Another defeat would be curtains for their ambitions.

She acknowledged the pressure for another referendum but urged patience until the shape of the Brexit deal is known. But if the mess she is predicting fails to materialise, why would the Scots want to break their union with their closest neighbour and biggest customer?

Three years from now, if Brexit is perceived to have been a success, the SNP would have to find a different tune to sing.