Broad girn

For the last six months, politics in Scotland has been dominated by the threat of a no-deal Brexit. Now that it seems that a deal might well be possible, Nicola Sturgeon is still girning, (“Over to EU on Johnson’s deal or no-deal gamble”, Scotsman, 3 October), seemingly moving from one script to another with no shame whatsoever.

It has always been the likelihood that we will get a deal, simply because it is too important to both sides for this not to happen. Everyone says a nodeal scenario is the least preferred option. The best way to do that is to do a deal, however imperfect that might be.

Whether Brexit then turns out to be a success or not depends on how people adjust to it. We know that the vast majority of farmers and other businesses who might actually be affected by Brexit just want the situation clarified, even if the outcome is not their first choice.

All our politicians should therefore be focused on achieving a deal. The Brexit process has travelled too far for us to go back. That is the political reality. The worst place to be is actually where we are now, stuck in limbo and not knowing what to do.

With that in mind, Ms Sturgeon has got to cut out the relentless negativity. Any country that is exposed to this over such a protracted period of time must surely start to lose focus and faith in itself. Ms Sturgeon does not have any answers to this.

No doubt, her spin doctors will have produced a book of lines to take for every possible scenario, including one for not leaving at all, so that she can flip from page to page, which

ever way the wind is blowing. Every one of these lines will deride anyone who disagrees with them, every option will be portrayed as the worst available, and every line will use language that maximises the grievance that can be milked from the situation.

The political reality is that the SNP are politically irrelevant to this process. They said at the outset that they would oppose Brexit under any circumstances, so any discussions will inevitably be taking place elsewhere. Their cards are already marked.

It is time we started paying attention to what actually is happening here, and to ignore the grating and irritating noise of Ms Sturgeon in the background.

VICTOR CLEMENTS Mamie’s Cottage, Aberfeldy,

Perthshire