The Herald: Neil Mackay unspun banner NEW

WHEN both sides of Scotland’s political divide line up against an idea, you know it’s probably half decent. British nationalists and Scottish nationalists have been falling over themselves to attack the recent floating of the suggestion that any future referendum on independence contains a third option: ‘Devo Max’.

Full transparency as always with me: regular readers will know I’m a moderate supporter of independence. I would like to see Scotland go it alone, free from Westminster - an institution that’s been rotten to the core for the 50 years I’ve been on this planet. However, the SNP has to fundamentally remake the case for separation. The prospectus is so weak it should be on life support, with unanswered questions ranging from borders to the EU and from defence to currency.

I’d want to see a new prospectus which fully and honestly addresses these difficult points before I would vote Yes a second time. Failure to do so, would probably guarantee my abstention. There’s nothing fundamentalist or nationalist about my personal politics, and I would not use my vote to sell Scotland into a half-baked fantasy world that did nothing but satisfy the SNP. Like many, my Yes vote is contingent upon the SNP satisfying my existing concerns.

There’s an outrageous sense of entitlement among these British and Scottish nationalists saying ‘No’ to the concept of a Devo Max box on the ballot paper. It is not for them to decide what’s best for the rest of us. They aren’t gods or princes here to decree from on high what our choices in life must be; the arrogance and authoritarianism is astonishing.

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