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?
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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