Labour’s John McDonnell has given England’s Tories a huge election gift – Brian Wilson

Leaving aside implications for Labour in Scotland, which do not seem to trouble him one iota, John McDonnell’s foray to Edinburgh had an even odder dimension.

John McDonnell has said a future Labour government would not block a second independence referendum

Spontaneously, he offered the Tories in England a massive gift on a plate, or at least in a pocket. “Vote Miliband and get Salmond” was a powerful weapon in 2015. Now, thanks to Mr McDonnell, it can be updated; this time with greater credibility.

Offering a second independence referendum in such incoherent terms could only be interpreted as clumsy ground-laying by Mr McDonnell for some kind of post-election understanding.

My own view is that if there is a pro-independence majority at Holyrood after 2021, it will be impossible to refuse a referendum. However, Labour’s job is to campaign against that outcome and focus on issues affecting people’s daily lives.

For unlimited access to Scotland’s best news, sport and expert analysis, SUBSCRIBE to The Scotsman website here

I don’t know if Mr McDonnell reached Edinburgh with a thought-through plan or if he was winging it in a soft interview – or which would be worse. In that respect at least, he might take lessons from Nicola Sturgeon.

For her, life is one long PR opportunity and soft interviews in non-political settings are low-hanging fruit. Every word is tailored for the occasion. Sadness about Salmond, I’m not sure how much I should say...

Well, nothing, actually – but here is the perfect opportunity for positioning.

Then a well-rehearsed headline about Corbyn being as much to blame for a “no deal” as Johnson. No interviewer to say: “What about your own MPs’ repeated voting down of a deal that would have prevented ‘no deal’?”

If and when that day of reckoning comes, the spotlight may yet be a little more harsh and the chair less comfortable.