SCOTLAND is closer to independence than perhaps it has ever been since 1707. For the first time since the introduction of the universal franchise, we have consistent majority support for independence. Perhaps even more importantly, we are no longer facing a confident and powerful Westminster which presides over a global power.

We are confronted with a diminished and reduced British state, a chumocracy based upon cronyism and corruption, a state which is in retreat from Europe and seeking refuge in a fantasy version of a long-lost glorious past. It’s a British state which has shown itself to be plainly incapable of dealing with the problems of the age.

Its incompetence isn’t just measured by the economic damage which the UK has suffered because of the pandemic – the greatest economic hit in Europe, damage which is about to be compounded by the unnecessary havoc that Brexit will wreak. Far more importantly, the incompetence and malignant arrogance of the failing British state is measured by the greatest death toll caused by the pandemic in Europe. It’s measured in tears, in grief, in lonely nights alone with thoughts of loved ones who are lost.

We live in a British state which is falling apart. We are facing immense challenges in the months ahead, the economic impact of Brexit will weigh heavily on an economy that is already reeling from the devastation of lockdown. We have a government in Westminster which has demonstrated that it regards times of global crisis as primarily an opportunity to enrich its friends.

It is patently a government which will not be capable of rising to the challenges that lie ahead. Moreover, it is presided over by a lazy, arrogant posh boy who embodies all the worst aspects of an entitled upper-class which thinks confidence and self-belief is a substitute for competence.

He is a prime minister who is loathed in Scotland on a visceral level. All this is an opportunity for the independence movement, but also our greatest risk. It’s an opportunity because we are now confronted by a collapsing house of cards. Better Together MKII will not be able to claim as they did in 2014 that Scotland should not risk the uncertainties of independence when it can have the security, safety and stability of the UK. There is no safety, security and stability any more. Neither can it plausibly offer the promise of greater devolution and strengthening Holyrood – not after the Prime Malingerer called devolution a disaster, and double-breasted Beano villain Jacob Rees-Mogg openly spoke about the need to undo Labour’s “constitutional tinkering”, the most significant of which was the establishment of the devolved parliaments.

However, it also poses a risk because as the dream of independence starts to solidify into reality, we can become prone to fighting amongst ourselves as sections within the movement jockey for power and influence, a tendency exacerbated by the uncertainty and insecurity.

What we must never forget is that all of us are ambassadors for the better Scotland we seek to build and remember that not all of Scotland yet shares our conviction. We cannot assume that internal battles are more important than persuading those undecided of the necessity of independence. There is still much work to do.

THIS is not to pretend that there is no cause for concern about the internal battles within the SNP, nor legitimate concerns about some of the party’s factions, but it does worry me that there are people within our movement who appear to have all but abandoned any attempts to make the case for independence; who concentrate all their time and energies on attacking other factions with whom they have disagreements about strategy or disputes about issues which are not related to the question of independence.

The closer we get to our goal, the more we seem to run the risk of falling into that very Scottish trap of wrestling defeat from the jaws of victory. Despite an unprecedented run of opinion polls showing majority support for independence, we can’t take that support for granted.

The British state and its apologists are going to start the next independence campaign in the way that they conducted the last frantic week of the 2014 campaign, when they were panicked by a single opinion poll showing majority support for independence.

They will be going into the next campaign knowing that they have blown up their arguments from the last time and trashed any trust that Scotland might place in them. They know that they can no longer rely on the EU to make helpful interventions.

They are going to subject us to a barrage of threats, scare stories, disinformation and fear mongering which will make the BBC’s shameful bias in 2014 seem like a paragon of neutral objectivity. We have to be able to withstand that – we have to be organised and we have to be ready.

The good news is that the broader grassroots movement is in robust shape. We have the energy and enthusiasm that comes from knowing that we are on the right side of history. We are facing a demoralised and discredited Unionism that can no longer claim to represent those who oppose nationalism, not when it is in thrall to the intensely regressive and reactionary British nationalism of the Brexit project.

We are almost there, but the last mile in a marathon is the hardest. This is the time for summoning up our resolve and focusing on the finish line that is coming into view.

The approaching 2021 is going to be our year. The year of standing up for Scotland, the year of telling Boris Johnson where he can get off, the year when we let the Tories know that it’s us, the people of Scotland, who will decide the future of this country, not them.