For years, the SNP has been angling for a second independence referendum. If the party win an outright majority on Thursday, it will put them in a strong position to demand one. But as David Cameron learned to his cost, insisting on referendums when voters are evenly split unleashes bitterness and rancour, writes Rebecca McQuillan

Two stories were starkly juxtaposed on The Herald’s website this weekend.

One announced that the SNP could be on course for an outright majority in Thursday’s election following a mega-survey by Stonehaven Polling. The other revealed the appalling gap of 35 years in healthy life expectancy between those living in the richest and poorest areas of Scotland.

The two together illustrate the paradox at the heart of this election: that a party in power for nearly two decades, a party with a decidedly lacklustre record, is somehow still on course to emerge dominant, perhaps so dominant that they won’t need any other parties to get votes through parliament.

The SNP have been an OK government with a firm commitment to social justice. They have had their proud achievements, particularly in trying to tackle child poverty, but on the bread-and-butter electoral issues for which they are solely responsible the prevailing mood is disappointment. Long-suffering resignation pervades the national psyche. Difficulties getting GP and hospital appointments, the diminished standing of Scotland’s education system, health inequalities, drugs deaths and overbudget, overdue infrastructure projects, can’t be palmed off on the UK government. The party promises yet more spending, but with a £5 billion budget deficit now looming over the next three years – a black hole of the SNP’s own making – cuts, higher taxes, broken promises or a combination of those all........

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