At last weekend’s SNP conference in Aberdeen, John Swinney comfortably squashed a motion by party rebels over how to achieve independence and to deliver a timeline. The party’s high command thus insulted and gas-lit those members seeking a statement of intent, argues Herald columnist Kevin McKenna

So, is that it? More than 11 years after the first referendum on independence, the party mainly tasked with delivering it has effectively admitted it has no idea how it will set about trying to secure a second one. There is delusion; there’s M&S delusion and then there’s SNP delusion: trust us; we have a tactical plan, but we’re not telling anyone about it and don’t ask any questions.

What we do know isn’t much more than what we knew at this time in 2014: that a Yes majority is still required at Holyrood and that this would trigger "negotiations" with the UK Government. Should Westminster stick to what every Prime Minister has said since 2014 – that Scotland had its chance – then what? No-one in the SNP will say.

In the course of several months after the first referendum on independence, I approached two senior party advisers and four of its smartest elected politicians at both Holyrood and Westminster. I’d expressed to them my hope that substantial time and resources would be devoted to assembling an economic and strategic task force assigned to plug those gaps in the 2014 Yes offering which gave the unionists their crucial advantage in the weeks immediately prior to September 18.

Read more by Kevin McKenna

I’d put........

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