Tom Peterkin: Prepare for a long, hot summer of wrangling over the wording of the referendum ballot paper

THE fight for a second question on the independence referendum ballot paper notched up a couple of gears earlier this week and almost went into overdrive yesterday.

Alex Salmond’s rhetoric in Holyrood sent a clear signal to those obsessives who are charting every step on an increasingly convoluted constitutional journey.

At First Minister’s Questions, there was yet more evidence – as if any more were needed – that the First Minister is manoeuvring himself full square behind a two-question ballot that includes a Devo Max option.

Quizzed (yet again) on the constitutional question, Salmond couldn’t wait to list the number of people and groups who have indicated that they believe there should be a second question.

Former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish, Pat Rafferty of Unite, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Grahame Smith of the STUC were all cited by Salmond as proponents of a Devo Max option.

Although the analysis of the Scottish Government’s consultation into how the referendum ought to be conducted has yet to be published, Salmond’s language suggests it is very clear which direction he is heading.

Such was the enthusiasm with which those names sprang from his lips, one almost had to remind oneself that the referendum consultation states that its “preferred policy” is independence.

Earlier this week, Salmond’s cause was helped by polling released by the Future of Scotland campaign suggesting support for a second question and a mid-way settlement. The key poll finding for Salmond, however, is the one which suggests that he cannot win a straightforward, single Yes/No question.

There are many within his party for whom a fall-back is unacceptable. Why devote one’s life to a party – whose raison d’etre is independence – only for the waters to be muddied by a second question that falls short of the SNP’s cherished dream? There were one or two glum faces on the SNP benches when Salmond recited his list of second-question supporters.

On the evidence so far, it seems unlikely that Salmond’s supine backbenches will trouble him. Salmond has run a very tight SNP ship and dissenting voices have been few and far between. In any case, there is another view held by the party’s pragmatists – including Salmond himself – who believe that winning a second question offers progress towards independence.

His most difficult battle is with the UK government, which has made it clear that its priority is for the constitutional debate settled with a single question on independence.

Not only are we faced with an endless summer of arguments about the merits or otherwise of independence, but we are also in line for some bitter wrangling over the format of the referendum ballot paper.