Yousaf bound for history's trashcan if he doesn't tackle SNP's past

The SNP must move into a future free from the influence of both Nicola Sturgeon, and Alex Salmond for that matter; his hangers-on still hold sway. Some in the SNP are effectively Salmond’s fifth column. Old days need buried. Deep. Just as Conservatives now realise their only possible future lies far from Boris Johnson, so too must Scottish nationalists when it comes to past leaders.

Read more: Time to shut up about independence and govern properly

Salmond and Sturgeon supporters differ in every respect save blind allegiance. If the SNP is ever to govern Scotland in a fashion that resembles competent then both leaders need to be consigned to history. Whatever the current investigation’s outcome, public opinion matters. Whatever the truth, impressions matter. Past leaders tainted the party. A new era needs to be built.

Yet how can the SNP bury the past - in the interests of governing Scotland - when the current First Minister is "Mr Continuity", keeping Ms Sturgeon’s memory alive? The answer is simple: it can’t. If Humza Yousaf wants any future as leader, then he must wield an axe when it comes to the past. He must prove he’s looking to the future: throw excess baggage from the doors of the airplane lest it crash. He must make clear there’s nothing "continuity"  about him.

Crucial to that endeavour is tackling how the party approaches independence. Independence made the SNP. It was the party’s path to power. But independence can also kill the SNP. Politics has a taste for dramatic irony, after all.

The fatal flaw of the Salmond years and the Sturgeon years was this: they led a party that’s essentially a campaigning organisation, not a party of government. Its every move was about boosting independence. That made for bad thinking, bad relations with the UK Government, and bad - very bad - policy. If all you care about is Topic X, then you are inevitably going to let every other topic in the alphabet go to the wall.

Endlessly beating the indy drum worked for many years. But that time is done. In an era when poverty rises around the public neck like a drowning tide, there’s something disgusting about a party which fixates on constitutional dreams, especially when it hasn’t worked out what those constitutional dreams mean in practice, or how to achieve them.

Read more: SNP may be done, but independence is worth fighting for

In the stygian gloom of SNP thinking a few spots of light appear which Mr Yousaf could follow, if he’s to make the necessary changes. He himself has said he wants to focus on making the case for independence. There’s only one way to do this. If Yousaf opened the window of Bute House and shouted down to the Scottish people, "hey there, what’s the best way to make the case for independence", he’d hear these words with one voice: 'Govern Scotland well’.

The SNP is at a fork in the road. In one direction lies oblivion. In the other, there’s the slim hope of an effective future; that future might not mean power at the next election, but nor does it have to spell ruin.

To govern Scotland well, the SNP must attempt to bring Scotland together. Yet can a party which split Scotland ever be a force for unity? The chances are slim, but it’s possible. Simply working hard in the interests of the people, without resorting to cries of "independence" every day, would be a start. Average independence supporters are sick of this, so how on Earth must unionists feel?

So Mr Yousaf must forget talk of turning every election into a campaign for independence. He’s finished if he follows that path. Yes, half the country supports independence, but all of the country wants good government. Most independence supporters - who aren’t SNP partisans - are sick of the endless diversion, grievance and failure. They want a party which works hard on good policy.

Even worse than endless electioneering around independence is the suggestion of a pact with Alex Salmond’s Alba. The past needs buried, not resurrected like Frankenstein’s monster. Mr Salmond is one of the most loathed figures in political life, utterly sullied by association with Russian TV. Any attempt to embrace him slits the SNP’s throat.

Jamie Hepburn, the Independence Minister (a title which should never have been created in the interests of national unity) maybe got close to a path to the future when he suggested recently that Devo Max shouldn’t be ruled out.

Read more: Ready for the next disastrous Scottish Government policy?

The SNP could favour incremental change through Devo Max without splitting Scotland again. Suggesting more powers would only rile extreme unionists. The party could attempt repositioning itself: prioritising hard government work over independence campaigning, to show voters what devolution can do. This would implicitly build support for independence.

Simultaneously, it could propose talks with any new Labour government about Devo Max, something Sir Keir Starmer would evidently engage with given recent statements by Gordon Brown about reshaping the Union. If new powers were won, and the SNP enacted effective policies, then there would be no better - gentler - way of making the case for independence.

Mr Yousaf recently mentioned making life difficult for Sir Keir if he takes power. This is another position to bury. Learn to co-operate not fight. Voters are sick of political squabbling at our expense. We want Edinburgh and London working together.

The SNP doesn’t have to forfeit independence. It just needs to get it in perspective, make it part of the package.

Yet the SNP is incapable of change. Mr Yousaf just announced he’s to publish another independence white paper focusing exclusively on the constitution. Why? Because independence is all this party has left. It’s intellectually bankrupt. If he doesn’t change, Yousaf will find himself in history’s trashcan as well.