SNP must show they care more for the common weal than for the ideology of independence, writes Joyce Mcmillan

conscious that hundreds of thousands in the cautious middle ground of Scottish politics must be addressed and persuaded, if another independence referendum is to result in a “yes” vote.

Nor is the question of whether and when Scotland should seek another referendum the only tough decision facing the First Minister this autumn; for the coming Brexit crisis, whatever form it takes,

will involve steering a path through some of the roughest white water ever seen in British politics. The first and starkest decision involves whether or not the Scottish Government – as committed remainers – should support the growing call for a People’s Vote on whatever final deal Theresa May cuts, or fails to cut, with the EU 27, with the option of remaining in the EU firmly on the ballot paper.

At present the First Minister – no doubt conscious of the substantial minority of leave voters among her own supporters – contents herself with saying that she would not stand in the way of a second EU referendum, and would be “perfectly happy” to see one take place. As the heat is turned up at Westminster this autumn, though, that holding position may not be enough; and if the SNP fails to support an increasingly widespread call for a second EU vote, it will run the risk of appearing like a party not seriously interested in preventing the damage likely to be inflicted by Brexit, but rather poised to take advantage of it for its own political gain.

And at the same time, the SNP will face