Saturday’s march for independence was noticeably thinner than previous ones. Perhaps even the SNP's diehard supporters aren’t being kidded by old slogans, says Feature Writer of the Year Kevin McKenna

No preparations for a Holyrood election are complete without the SNP suddenly rediscovering their desire for an independent Scotland after a long period of silence.

I recall a former SNP spin doctor telling me that he actively discouraged MPs and MSPs discussing independence during term-time. He felt too few of them possessed the intellect to discuss it under pressure. In the white heat of an independence campaign, how would the SNP manage to convince a majority that they could be entrusted with all the levers of independent statehood when they’ve failed so lamentably with the limited devolved powers at their current disposal?

Even so, you’d still expect them to have produced some workings prior to this election, which Mr Swinney insists can be the first step towards being independent by 2030.

The First Minister has come over all Braveheart in recent weeks with talk of independence. Yet, he appears not to have given any thought to persuading a sitting UK Government to grant him even another referendum. Nor does he appear to have looked around him at what’s been happening beyond these shores. The world in 2026 is a far different place to what it was in 2014.

Then, there was a chance of persuading other nations to the cause of Scottish independence. The world liked what it saw of Scotland. Alex Salmond and several on his front bench were respected at Westminster and spoke with confident authority when they were on the global stage. They wanted to welcome an independent Scotland back into Europe.

Their most........

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