The SNP’s Slumbering Summer – Spectator Blogs

I have it on good authority that, as matters stand, some senior figures within the SNP are concerned by the way the party has lost – or is perceived to have lost – momentum this summer. Of course, the road to the independence referendum is a long one and there’s ample time for the nationalists to up their game. Nevertheless, right now, their message is not cutting through as effectively as they would hope. That’s the subject for a column I’ve written for today’s Scotsman:

Even so, the SNP’s message has become oddly blurred. What is independence actually designed to achieve? For months now, the party has reassured voters that much of what they hold dear about Britain will remain unchanged post-independence. The “social union” is a real thing and Nationalists are surely right to stress that, in many ways, it would remain strong even after independence.

Yet the more the SNP reassure voters that less may change than they fear, so it also weakens the case for change at all.