This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter.

All eyes are currently on the strange, whacky and cowardly behaviour of Nigel Farage in Clacton. He failed to turn up to his own election count because he was scared of being embarrassed by a man wearing a trashcan on his head; he called Count Binface ‘the establishment candidate’; and Reform now claim he’s under threat even though police say he’s not.

Here in Scotland, though, if you’re a Kremlinologist of the Yes movement there are some rather strange and cowardly goings-on when it comes to Scottish independence. These shenanigans have been mostly overlooked thanks to the dominance of UK politics at the moment - either in the shape of the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, or Fag-ash Farage.

The Yes movement - and indeed the entire cause of independence - has been left to moulder for so long by the SNP that it’s starting to distort and warp. It’s a bit like a baker leaving their sourdough starter unfed for too long: it festers.

A recent poll found that 69% of SNP voters would strongly support a unilateral declaration of independence. Until now, any discussion of UDI was found firmly on the wildest fringes of the Yes movement. 

UDI would see the Scottish government simply state that the nation was now independent from the rest of Britain. It’s un. Scotland would be a pariah on the world stage.

Matters could get a little ‘kinetic’ with England to say the least. It’s the kind of step which........

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