MAYBE it was the suggestion by Mike Russell that the Scottish Government had “many options” or the repeated insistence that there was a plan to secure an second independence referendum later this year.

But whatever the reason many supporters of the Yes cause were disappointed that yesterday’s speech by the First Minister gave no concrete guarantees that a new vote would be held in 2020.

It seemed to deliver the same essential message that the SNP leadership have given on various occasions since the European Union referendum in June 2016 in which Scots voted by 62% to remain while the UK overall voted to leave: maintain party discipline, talk to the “indycurious” and gradually the polls will shift to bring about a convincing independence majority in the longer term.

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Activists wanted more of course: a date for the new referendum, a clever and cunning plan to get around Boris Johnson’s veto over the transfer of indyref powers to Holyrood, a strategy to shoot support up for independence to well over 60%.

And in the end what they got fell short of expectations: a renewed statement on the “cast-iron mandate”, more campaign money, a forthcoming update on a case for independence and a cross party Constitutional Convention on where independence referendum powers should lie.

There was a promise to consider having a consultative referendum if the Lord Advocate advised such a move would be legal – but that was not a development the First Minister was currently backing.

“The issue of whether the specific constitutional reservation in the Scotland Act puts any form of independence referendum outside the powers of the Scottish Parliament – or instead leaves open scope for a non-binding consultative vote – has never been tested in court,” she said.

“That means it cannot be said definitively that it would not be legal, but equally it cannot be described as being beyond legal doubt. If a proposal for a referendum on that basis was brought forward it would be challenged in court.”

And she concluded: “I am not ruling that out. But I also have to be frank. The outcome would be uncertain. There would be no guarantees. It could move us forward – but equally it could set us back. So my judgment at this stage is that we should use our energies differently. We must focus on building and winning the political case for independence.”

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The First Minister’s speech yesterday may not have thrilled Yes activists, but Nicola Sturgeon was also addressing the whole of Scotland – and indeed the wider UK and world.

She made a direct appeal to undecided voters telling them they now faced a choice between Boris Johnson’s Brexit Britain or a progressive independent and European Scotland.

Her address followed a poll yesterday putting support for independence at 51% – an increase in six percentage points since 2014 – and one which revealed most young middle aged and younger voters support independence including 67% of 25 to 49-year-olds.

So her appeal essentially to Yes supporters was independence was coming – to be patient and not to blow it. “When I joined back in 1986, I could scarcely have imagined the position we would be in today,” she said. “We have never been stronger. We are now part of a wider, vibrant Yes movement. And independence has never been closer. It is our strength that will make it a reality.”

It was a message that slow and gradual steps may yet be the way to secure radical constitutional change.