NICOLA Sturgeon’s announcement that she wants to restart the Scottish independence debate based on hope and ambition has sent the opposition parties into a flat spin.

The Tories are delighted to jump back on their only political bandwagon, keeping the Union at any cost and attacking the SNP. Some would argue that they’ve never stopped banging that drum.

Meanwhile, with Labour in disarray on standing up to the Tories over Brexit, not to mention Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to back his Scottish colleagues’ bid to prevent a Tory devolution power grab at Holyrood, it’s left to the SNP to lead the way with some positive, joined-up thinking about Scotland’s future.

Our First Minister’s comments precede the publication of the much-awaited Growth Commission report this week, featuring detailed analysis of the economic practicalities of independence, the transitional process and the benefits of managing our own affairs.

Nicola Sturgeon was keen to emphasise the opportunities that would come with independence, shifting the debate from the damage and despair caused by Brexit to a discussion of a far more positive vision for Scotland. And these arguments deserve to be heard, whatever side of the political divide you are on, as there is everything to play for in the run-up to European B-Day on March 29, 2019.

Of course, many of us have never stopped thinking about independence and how to achieve it, so the opposition parties can hardly be surprised that it is back on the table. For Michael Gove to suggest there isn’t any real support for a second independence referendum shows just how divorced from reality the Tories are on Scotland.

Maybe no-one told him about the recent march in Glasgow, where tens of thousands peacefully celebrated their support for independence. Ironically for Gove, it’s the actions of him and his less than merry band of Brexiteers that have spurred on discussions of indyref2 and, deep in the bowels of Tory HQ, they know it.

However, this home truth hasn’t stopped Ruth Davidson from launching her familiar refrain. Her cries of woe over constantly having to talk about independence and the constitution is all smoke and mirrors. Like ducks on the water, Davidson, Gove et al are paddling furiously below the surface in a desperate attempt to escape from the current carrying them towards Brexit cliff edge. The same can be said of Labour, who can’t seem to agree on a coherent Brexit approach and refuse to understand the basic premises of the single market and the customs union. SLAB’s slave-like adherence to the Union prevents them from making any real progress, stuck in a drab political cul-de-sac. Within this chaotic clamour, it’s the Scottish Government that stands out as the voice of reason.

Nicola Sturgeon has emphasised that no discussion of a date for a second referendum can truly start until at least the autumn, when we should have more clarity on Brexit and closure on the devolution power grab. In the meantime, we can look forward to some healthy debate on the matter as well as much panicked spin from the opposition parties.

Cue Ruth Davidson’s new bid to make the Tories less London-centric. She’s arguing for new government bodies taking powers from Brussels post-Brexit to be set up in Scotland.

I assume this is an attempt to placate worries over the power grab, but this is a risky approach, especially when we know that the Scottish Office is no more, that Mundell is a Secretary of State for Scotland in name only and that the UK Government has taken his department under its wing and under the control of central command. Makes it hard to imagine the PM agreeing to control of repatriated powers in Scotland, even under her own team. And if the Scottish Tories are so exercised about more powers coming to Scotland, then why didn’t they vote to protect devolution at Holyrood from the worst aspects of their party’s single-minded Unionism? At any rate, their attempts to rewrite history will be in vain. They are facing an uphill struggle if they think it’s going to be easy to persuade Scottish voters to settle for sloppy seconds.

The Scottish Conservative leader is also arguing for her party to become more liberal to attract the younger vote. Surely some mistake when you shared a platform with Arlene Foster of the DUP at the Policy Exchange event this week?

It’s hard to plead tolerance and broadmindedness when you’re working with someone who actively opposes equal marriage and LGBTI rights.

Of course, this Better Together appreciation concert would not have been complete without former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy and former chancellor Alistair (Lord) Darling, who also joined the Scottish Tories and the DUP at the Union and Unionism conference. It was a display of rather revolting chumminess – more reflux than redux. Richard Leonard’s argument for “real and radical change” as an antidote to independence seems questionable when Labour’s former ministers are hand in glove with the Tories. It’s equally difficult to take their promise of “economic and social transformation” on poverty and inequality at face value when they have consistently failed to stand up to the Tories on austerity or take them to task on Brexit.

As for Labour in government in Wales, unlike the Scottish Government, they’ve failed to mitigate the bedroom tax or provide free care for the elderly, or abolish tuition fees. They’ve also just abandoned their hold on devolved powers, preferring to rely on the Tories to keep them safe. Pretty poor all round.

There’s so little difference between the Unionist parties and no-one is offering anything new. No matter how much the Scottish Tories spin Brexit for Scotland, no matter how much they implore their party to respect Scotland’s interests in the Union, they’re fooling no-one. Same goes for Labour. We’ve seen the Brexit analysis and we know it’s going to be bad. We didn’t even want it in the first place. We know as far as Westminster is concerned, we’re second-class citizens and that will never change. The time is right to think again. Roll on indyref2!