No strengthened

The Scottish Labour and Lib Dem leaderships’ decisions to allow their MSPs to support independence, and the Conservatives’ opposite stance, could actually strengthen the No cause.

Better Together rarely mentioned the SNP’s terrible record in office or the wind farms and fracking debate, housing record, police, declining education standards and healthcare because previous Lib Dem and Labour coalitions were equally guilty and the Conservatives 
did not want to divide the No campaign.

The resulting lowest common denominator campaign frittered away a huge lead, saved only by George Osborne’s hard line on currency and the voters’ common sense.

If there is a next time, the SNP could face an array of unfettered politicians arguing sensibly for and against different flavours of independence and currency, hampered by wackier ones from their own side.

The SNP may be the ones who are held back by their own broad alliance of political, economic, cultural and environmental fantasists and chancers.

Allan Sutherland

Willow Row

Stonehaven