IT’S TIME FOR NICOLA TO PUT UP OR SHUT UP:

The nation is on pause as Nicola Sturgeon makes up her mind about a second bid to destroy the UK. So is it now time for her to...

WHEN Nicola Sturgeon succeeded Alex Salmond as leader of the SNP two years ago, she took charge of a party energised by defeat. The Nationalists may have lost the independence referendum, but rather than retreating, they lurched forward with renewed enthusiasm. Tens of thousands of new members signed up, each hopeful defeat in September 2014 was merely a pothole in the road to the desired destination.

To keep these recruits on their toes, Miss Sturgeon dangled in front of them the tantalising prospect of a second referendum on the future of the UK. All talk of the vote on the constitution being a once-in-a-generation thing was forgotten. The SNP faithful were encouraged to believe that they were on the brink of a final heave that would see them victorious.

But here’s the thing: having marched her members up the hill, Miss Sturgeon marched them down again. The SNP’s manifesto for last year’s General Election contained no promise of a second referendum. Those who had been told that, with a rush and a push, the land would be theirs were to be bitterly disappointed.

Consolation came in the shape of 56 Nationalist MPs, a landslide that left Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats with just one Scottish representative apiece at Westminster.

Before Momentum was the ragbag of activists and campaigners that keep Labour’s hapless leader Jeremy Corbyn afloat, it was what the SNP claimed to have in bucketloads.

The General Election proved it and it was now not, said Miss Sturgeon, a matter of if but when Scotland became independent.

Mr Salmond, who had stepped down as leader in order to conduct feuds with the press, the Governor of the Bank of England, the Treasury and anyone else he considered may have conspired to rob him of referendum victory, enthusiastically supported this point of view. The dream, he said, shall never die.

But Miss Sturgeon did not just have to consider the desires of pro-independence Scots; she had also to ensure that the pro-UK majority – a number of whom were willing to vote SNP at elections – felt reassured.

The message to those who believed in the endurance of the Union was that a second independence referendum would not be foisted upon them. Rather, there would only be another vote if the Scottish people demanded one.

Then, as you may have noticed, Miss Sturgeon proceeded to explain at length, on what seemed a daily basis; why the aforementioned Scottish people would soon want one.

A crucial factor, said the First Minister, would be the result of the EU referendum. If Scots were to vote to remain while the rest of the UK voted to leave, this would represent a ‘democratic deficit’ and a second independence referendum would be on the table (as if it had ever been anywhere else).

In their manifesto for this year’s Holyrood election, the Nationalists asserted their right to hold a second referendum should the circumstances demand such a thing.

Then, less than two months after the Scottish election, the majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU while the UK as a whole chose to leave.

The scenario Miss Sturgeon had previously described as a potential trigger for a second referendum had come to pass. Since then, the normally cautious First Minister has become increasingly gung-ho on having a second crack at breaking up the UK.

Senior colleagues, such as Mr Salmond, have appeared at rallies organised by Yes campaigners who have been in go-again mode since the day after their defeat.

Next Saturday, at the SNP’s annual conference in Glasgow, thousands of party members will crowd into the hall to hear Miss Sturgeon’s keynote speech. Many of them – most of them, I’d wager – will want to hear that it’s now game on for a second independence referendum.

ONE could hardy blame these campaigners for believing that the time is now. Miss Sturgeon has tantalised them with the prospect of another referendum for the past two years; in response, they have loyally waited, accepting whatever intellectual contortions the First Minister performs as necessary if they are to win their ultimate prize.

Miss Sturgeon has ramped up her anti-UK rhetoric in recent days, attacking Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Government as xenophobic. The First Minister has never been more clear in her message that, as far as she is concerned, Scots hold close values different to those held close by our neighbours on these islands.

So surely, next Saturday, she must call a second independence referendum? Surely the cards have been dealt in her favour and Scots will rush to line up behind her in order to call time on the UK? Surely the time is now?

Certainly, SNP members are entitled to think all this is so – and Miss Sturgeon has nobody but herself to blame for this.

One might go as far as to say that if she does not call that second referendum, she is playing a game with the issue. The circumstances under which she said another vote would be required are upon us. We are living with the ‘democratic deficit’ of which she warned.

Of course, there’s that irritating refusal of the majority of Scots to get behind the idea of independence. Polls continue to show that most Scots remain stubbornly in favour of the United Kingdom.

Mr Salmond is a gambler by nature. He believed that his chutzpah would win the day back in 2014, even if polls suggested – correctly – that he was backing a loser. Miss Sturgeon is not so reckless. But she is a Nationalist. Her political objective is the break-up of the UK; and if she does not act now, she may reflect in years to come that she lost her bottle when faced with an opportunity to achieve it.

If the First Minister does not give her members what they want next weekend, many will be desperately disappointed They may feel let down. They may wonder what the point is of supporting the SNP if it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to.

On the other hand, if she does, many Unionists will feel that the SNP has betrayed its promise that another referendum would only come along when a majority of Scots wanted one.

It is time for Miss Sturgeon to make her position clear, either way.

Scotland is on pause, our services neglected and our economy facing unnecessary uncertainty, while the First Minister teases us with the prospect of another referendum.

Next Saturday, Nicola Sturgeon must put up or shut up.

Surely, next Saturday, she must call a second poll