Ten years on from the historic independence referendum, Scotland is in a sorry state of disrepair and disunity.
Since 2014, the endless debate about so-called independence – or breaking up the United Kingdom to be exact – has sapped the nation’s soul and inflicted wounds that will take many years to heal.
A wasted decade of political purgatory has cost our country dear and left our economy and public services in a desperate mess.
This only happened because SNP politicians – starting with Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney – arrogantly refused to accept the decisive outcome of Scotland’s biggest ever democratic exercise.
In 2014, I was a journalist who kept my political views to myself. But the damage being inflicted on our country by nationalist politicians was a major motivation in my decision to become a Scottish Conservative MSP.
The No voters won on the day but the SNP has never accepted the result
In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, and without pause ever since, narcissistic nationalists have refused to take No for an answer and instead squander the Scottish Parliament’s precious time and far-reaching powers in pursuit of their endless obsession of breaking up Britain.
In autumn 2015, they held a worthless Holyrood debate on ‘Scotland’s Future’ and two years later there was more posturing with one about ‘Scotland’s Choice’. On and on they continued, barely stopping for breath, with similar pointless pontificating in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and this year too.
Throughout this time, virtually every utterance from Sturgeon and other senior nationalists contained no regard or respect for the express view of the majority of Scots who understand and value the clear benefits of the Union.
At First Minister’s Questions, Sturgeon, Yousaf and now Swinney kept banging the same broken drum. If only the Edinburgh parliament had absolute control of the economy, taxation, security, defence and other reserved matters, they would have us believe that Scotland would become a tartan Nirvana. Their fantasy being untroubled by hard facts.
Where did all that get us? Nowhere.
In that time, the SNP advanced their case not one inch. No solutions were found or even, in truth, sought.
The economic case for separation is even more fatally flawed than it was a decade ago.
Meanwhile, Scotland remained trapped in a doom loop, with the SNP presenting ‘independence’ as the only solution to every ill and issue of the day.
All that time was wasted, which should have been spent reforming our NHS so that getting a GP appointment is not an ordeal, rebuilding our education system so that aspiration is encouraged, and fixing a broken property market that gives too few young people the opportunity to own their own home.
None of that was attempted by SNP leaders who have failed our country with their non-stop nagging.
Just imagine the difference to the renewable energy sector if the Scottish government chose to focus on its development, rather than on taxpayer-funded policy documents about independence.
Or think how our islanders could be served by a modern and efficient ferry fleet if only the SNP had prioritised delivery instead of droning on about another referendum.
How many more lives would have been saved if SNP First Ministers made tackling the drugs crisis a genuine public health emergency, and not as an aside to their real interest of constitutional blather.
After a decade, it is clear that increasing numbers of folk across Scotland are sick fed up with it. Even many ardent nationalists now accept that independence is finished for the foreseeable future.
The public wants change, but they have resoundingly rejected independence as the vehicle for that change.
There’s a deep desire to build a new Scotland rooted firmly within the UK.
So we now have the opportunity to have a frank discussion about what should be done differently in our country.
Not framed around pie-in-the-sky proposals that cannot be delivered, but based on the practical realities of where the economy stands, the systemic failings in public services, and the everyday difficulties facing hard-working Scots.
Under my leadership, the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party would seek to lead that debate.
I will not be a bystander, meekly observing the left-wing consensus at Holyrood, which regularly puts fringe issues at the top of the agenda.
We need to put forward our own positive and compelling Conservative vision of a new Scotland where aspiration, opportunity and ambition are encouraged and rewarded.
With just 19 months before the next Holyrood election, the hard work to build our own case must begin now. We cannot afford to waste time turning inwards.
We need to resolve to do what the Nationalists could not these past ten years – provide real solutions that deliver tangible benefits in the interests, hopes and needs of people the length and breadth of Scotland.
Let’s learn from the SNP’s monumental mistakes by committing to working diligently on the bread-and-butter issues that people really care about.