Nicola Sturgeon chose her favourite newspaper group to outline her new vision for a second independence referendum on Friday.
The First Minister knew she’d be preaching to the converted in the SNP supporting National newspaper.
Its readers, who form the party’s core support, regard IndyRef2 as the holy grail, a priority above all others.
In electing to speak primarily to this audience, the First Minister appears to have forgotten an all-important lesson which she absorbed immediately in the wake of the 2014 vote – that if any new Yes campaign is to succeed, it isn’t Yes voters who hold the key. It’s No voters.
Of paramount importance in this is a belief that the SNP are performing competently– at least – at the day job.
Alas, there are few encouraging signs.
As we reveal today, ScotRail posts worst year on record as under-fire train firm falls to new low has crashed to a desperate new low, with the firm posting its worst year on record.
ScotRail posts worst year on record as under-fire train firm falls to new low
The performance of public transport is one of the very visible ways the public can gauge the performance of the Government at actually running public services effectively.
On this front, it is difficult to imagine that the thousands of passengers left waiting on platforms every day would be particularly enthusiastic about extending the SNP’s control any further.
In education – the area Sturgeon pledged to make the defining priority of her government in 2015 – there is also little to shout about.
Just this weekend, Jim Scott, professor of education at Dundee University, claimed the proportion of children leaving with no qualifications at all has quadrupled in some areas since the SNP overhauled the school curriculum.
The uncomfortable truth for the First Minister is that her Government’s Curriculum for Excellence appears not to be closing the attainment gap between rich and poor as she so desperately wanted.
Nicola Sturgeon claims more Scots are open to independence because of Brexit
Turning to the NHS – also controlled from Scotland – there is again cause for concern.
A headline grabbing move to enshrine a patient’s right not to have waiting list times exceeded has been broken. Not just once. The number of occasions is in six figures, rendering the entire initiative farcical.
Nobody knows whether or not an improvement would do much for any Yes campaign’s chances.
It would be nice to see the SNP striving harder to find out.
