Next time you’re stuck behind slow-moving traffic on the A9, do not clench your teeth, do not swear, and do not, for heaven’s sake, attempt a risky overtaking manoeuvre. Instead, use the extra time in your car constructively by trying to work out what the dualling of the A9 is actually trying to achieve, by which I mean who is it for? Give the matter some thought as you drive along; then, once you’ve pulled over into a safe place, email me right away and tell me your conclusions, I’d like to know.

Here’s my theory. The dualling is no longer really about the communities along the road and the people who live there. That’s what we were told it was about when the SNP first committed to the project in 2007; they said it was about connecting the communities faster and better. But in the 17 years since that promise was made, the scheme has ground on and on (slowly and expensively) not because of the local people but because of other groups who have an interest in carrying on to the bitter end.

The first of them is government ministers. We now know, thanks to newly released cabinet papers, that John Swinney, good on him, expressed doubts about the A9 project way back in 2008. Speaking to Alex Salmond and the rest of the cabinet, he said engineering difficulties and problems in acquiring land meant the project might never be completed. But despite this, the SNP’s next manifesto........

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