The SNP’s latest independence paper blames the UK for Scotland’s problems, but the party itself is principally responsible for the state of Scottish public services. If they win the election again next year, it will be a missed opportunity to end the constitutional blame game, writes Rebecca McQuillan

Another autumn, another SNP conference, another speech by John Swinney.

How many will that be in total? Literally dozens. Swinney was already a veteran of the party conference stage back when press releases were issued by fax machine. Plenty of well kent faces will be up there with him this weekend. It will be a bit like going back to your old school 20 years after leaving and finding that the same headmaster and half the old teaching staff are still there. That’s the trouble with the SNP, it’s looking awful stale.

But it will probably get in again next year anyway. In spite of struggling public services, policy debacles and diminished poll ratings, the most likely outcome of next year’s Holyrood election is yet another SNP-led regime, so divided are the parties vying to replace them.

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Pffffff. The worst bit about this is the prospect of John Swinney going through the motions of talking up an independence referendum hardly anyone wants, possibly including himself. We’re already being fed the line that another vote is an important priority for him even........

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