Blind to all warnings

FOOTFALL – a measure of the number of people hitting the shops – dropped again last month in a sign that consumer confidence is low. Troublingly, it is also seen by some experts as a sign that we stand again on the cusp of a recession.

So what is the Scottish Government up to at this pivotal juncture? Finance Secretary Derek Mackay is busy complaining that billions which Chancellor Philip Hammond has earmarked to replace disappearing EU funding – much of it lifeline payments for the hard-pressed agricultural sector – is not enough. This is money from the UK Government that would not be coming our way were we to take the SNP’s reckless leap in the dark to independence. And even people within the SNP are belatedly acknowledging how improverished a go-it-alone Scotland would be, with no billions for Mr Mackay to dole out were we to exit the UK.

And what of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon? Fresh from another fruitless jaunt to Europe, she is preparing to meet EU nationals living in Scotland to offer them reassurance. It is questionable what reassurances she can realistically give since we are in uncharted waters with Brexit.

As Paul Sinclair argues elsewhere on this page, Miss Sturgeon should stop using Brexit as a distraction from the inadequacies of her own government.

Scottish businesses, lifeblood of the economy, creators of prosperity and security, need help and reassurance now. They do not need pointless foreign jaunts and the ongoing uncertainty, stoked by the SNP, of another independence referendum.

Royal Bank of Scotland has repeated its warning that its headquarters cannot be in an independent Scotland. It is not an idle threat or mischief-making but rather the dispassionate evaluation of what is best for the business.

We are surrounded by such warnings and pleas for Holyrood to deal with practical real-world issues but the SNP, blinded by separation mania, ploughs heedlessly on.