HERE we go again. The Scottish Government announces another push for an independence referendum and the Opposition parties fall over themselves to explain why it's not the right time.

In amongst all this noise, much of the population sighs and gets on with their lives. And we can't blame them.

Scottish politics has been caught in a holding pattern since 2013. Unable to go forward but with roughly half of voters unwilling to go back to simply being that bit of the UK stuck at the top. The bit that produces whisky, oil and the odd genuinely talented politician, such as Alex Salmond, Ruth Davidson and Nicola Sturgeon.

But even these three have been unable to secure overwhelming support for or against independence.

The issue is not going away and it will need to be settled before we can tackle the big issues we face: a cost of living crisis, an ageing population, relatively low productivity and levels of entrepreneurship, an NHS in trouble, and an economy too heavily dependent on the public sector. And on top of these problems, and exacerbating most of them, is Brexit.

So what does The Herald see as its role as the Scottish Government publishes the first of what it promises will be a series of papers setting out the case for a new referendum and independence?

Primarily, we are a Scottish paper. We are written, edited and published in Scotland. Our offices are in Bath Street, Glasgow, and our printing plant is in Cambuslang – you'll see it as you scoot along the M74 link road.

We have been here since 1783 (with a few changes of personnel, of course). We are, in the modern parlance, embedded in Scotland. We employ journalists across the land and will always put Scotland first.

Our editorial direction does not come from London, as that of many of our competitors does. The "Scottish" editions of the Daily Mail, Times, Telegraph and Express are as Scottish as warm beer and jellied eels. And that's not very Scottish at all.

Our role is not to cheer-lead for independence or the Union or to be swayed by the passing popularity of any politician. It's to provide readers – and wider Scottish society – with the information we all need to make informed decisions about the country's future.

It's to interrogate the SNP's claims, to separate reality from wishful thinking, but it's also to examine how independence could see the country thrive.

We look forward to the forthcoming Scottish Government briefing papers. Some readers may think that it's time to move on from the constitutional argument but it's an question we need to settle so why not join the discussion and contribute your views at letters@theherald.co.uk?