John Swinney needs a Hail Mary shot. It’s not that he’s doomed to lose the next Scottish election and see the curtain fall forever on his political career.

He’ll probably cling on in some minority administration. And then, of course, there’s the question: who on Earth would replace him?

But his administration is weak and anaemic. It’s bereft of ideas and energy. That’s what happens when you hold power for a generation.

The biggest problem for the SNP and Swinney, though, is independence. The leadership has no notion of how to achieve another referendum, and it struggles to explain precisely what independence actually means. When your flagship policy is in tatters, then you’re in tatters.

If Swinney could find a way to revivify the independence campaign, then he’d see life flow back into his party. Working out how to get people interested in the Yes movement again – whether for or against, it doesn’t really matter – would send a blast of electricity into the neck-bolts of this moribund party.

Read more by Neil Mackay

That means he must take some risks. The game hasn’t gone his way, so he needs to grab the ball and make a mad dash for the goal: an all or nothing desperation move.

Donald Trump could be the very man to help him score. Trump’s imminent arrival in Scotland is just about the last event the [[SNP]] wants to deal with: he represents everything they despise, but he’s a president whom they cannot risk offending.........

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