Inside politics: It is a question that is exercising lots of minds, but we’re still no closer to a definitive answer

FOR A man determined to delay posing for a further two years the most important question facing Scotland, Alex Salmond was only too happy to ask a few of his own at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Salmond was in pretty good form when he interviewed Ian McEwan, the Booker Prize-winning novelist, at an event this week. These events are an opportunity for Salmond to show off his literary “hinterland” with some of the discussion straying from McEwan on to the First Minister’s admiration for poets other than Robert Burns – in particular, Philip Larkin and the Welsh nationalist poet RS Thomas.

It was also a chance for the SNP leader to display a decent line in self-deprecating wit, a trait that does not get much exposure during his appearances at First Minister’s Questions.

After joking that he was not that well-read because he was a politician, Salmond did point out he was well acquainted with works of fiction, having written manifestos and election pamphlets.

Well-read or not, Salmond was certainly well-briefed on the contents of McEwan’s latest spy novel, Sweet Tooth– so much so that his interviewee appeared anxious the First Minister did not give too much of the plot away.

Elsewhere in Edinburgh, the plot was thickening at an act that Salmond must have been keeping a very close eye on. “The Dancing of Angels on the Head of Pin Show” may not be as spectacular as the Speed of Light show on Arthur’s Seat or even as entertaining as the Salmond/McEwan book festival double act, but it has captivated the political classes. The aforementioned angels are not appearing at the Festival but are a description of the latest semantic manoeuvrings in the battle for a suitable referendum question.

To most people, there appears nothing to choose between the meaning of the form of words conjured by the expert elections panel set up by the pro-Union parties and the question favoured by the SNP. Lord Sutherland’s panel suggested the SNP’s Yes/No question – “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?” – should be replaced by a statement. Voters should be asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the phrase “Scotland should become an independent state”.

Already, some have interpreted Sutherland’s contribution as a concession to the SNP, arguing that the construction of the phrase serves as a statement of intent that goes against the wishes of the pro-Union parties, while its failure to explicitly say independence involves splitting the UK has also been criticised by commentators.

However, the hope is that the similarity in the differing forms of words favoured by the opposing factions will settle any questions about the question and that we can move on to the real issue of what independence actually means.

Because, unlike the plot of McEwan’s latest thriller, Salmond is giving away precious little on that.