Sun comes out for First Minister, but storm clouds loom

AS THE media chatted on the steps of Bute House waiting for the famous black door to open yesterday, the talk was as much about the first decent sunshine of spring as politics.

A couple of optimistic reporters were even sporting Ray Bans.

Few anticipated the thunderclap that awaited them within.

Since the morning after the Brexit vote, when she declared a second referendum “highly likely”, the First Minister has seemed engaged in a never-ending tease campaign.

Somehow the likelihood of a referendum was forever increasing, but it was never in sight.

Despite being “all but inevitable”, it was also strangely intangible.

That ended at 11.40am, when Ms Sturgeon said Scotland “will have a choice” on whether to stick with Brexit in the UK or try an alternative under independence, most probably between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, when a Brexit deal comes into focus.

Although most present already sensed a referendum was coming – SNP ministers have been in campaign mode for weeks – it was still quite a thing to hear.

The First Minister made a few faint nods to a last-minute compromise with the UK Government over her plan to keep Scotland in the EU single market, but only just.

“Even at this late stage, I am not turning my back on further discussions should the UK Government change its mind and decide it is willing to agree to our compromise proposals,” she said, offering merely “further discussions” rather than calling off a referendum.

Far more frequent were complaints about shoddy treatment by Westminster.

“Our efforts at compromise have instead been met with a brick wall of intransigence. The language of partnership has gone, completely.”

As an example of that broken relationship, she cited the Prime Minister’s imminent announcement on the triggering of Article 50.

Despite Theresa May saying she wanted a UK-wide approach to Brexit, Ms Sturgeon was still in the dark about the timing, even though it might be just 24 hours away.

Confidently cracking jokes with her audience, the First Minister deftly pulled the rug from under Mrs May’s announcement, while making it synonymous with Scotland’s future.

She also avoided the partisan atmosphere of this week’s SNP conference in Aberdeen.

Instead of speaking against a sea of giant foam hands, she made the most of her official residence, insisting she was acting in Scotland’s interests not merely playing to her party’s rank and file.

Asking the Scottish Parliament’s consent next week about a transfer of referendum powers will continue that restrained approach. But there