A FEW weeks ago, and I swear this is true, I was in a group discussing Theresa May when one of my contemporaries among the friends gathered round the table opined that as May is desperate to be the new Margaret Thatcher, it was only a matter of time before the unelected Prime Minister picked some issue on which to go to war to distract the UK’s populace from the impending disaster that is a hard Brexit.

In seconds we were unanimous – Gibraltar was the likely starting point for May to send in the troops and the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Trident submarines and General Tom Cobley and all. Little did we know that a mere four days after triggering Rule 50, May would be threatening to do exactly that with her Defence Secretary Michael Fallon saying the Tory Government would back Gibraltar’s British sovereignty “all the way”.

Then the far from subtle hint of former Tory leader Michael Howard was that “thirty-five years ago this week, another woman prime minister sent a taskforce halfway across the world to defend the freedom of another small group of British people against another Spanish-speaking country, and I’m absolutely certain that our current Prime Minister will show the same resolve in standing by the people of Gibraltar.”

Yesterday an official Downing Street backed Howard: “All that Lord Howard was trying to establish, was the resolve that we have to protect the rights of Gibraltar and its sovereignty – we’ve been very clear that we will support fully Gibraltar’s right to its sovereignty.”

What utter fools and charlatans they are. All they have done is provoke Spain into saying it will no longer oppose an independent Scotland joining the EU. Yippee! Just keep talking, Tories, and Scotland will indeed be free.

So why all this politics in a sports column? Simple – the plight of Gibraltar reminds us that your nationality can quite often be defined by what country you support at football or other sport.

It’s the infamous ‘cricket test’ promoted by Norman Tebbit: “A large proportion of Britain’s Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for? Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?”

Now Gibraltar is not a member of the United Nations, as the UK is the ‘administering power’ for the Rock – believe it or not, the UN General Assembly checks and adopts that status on an annual basis.

Nor is Gibraltar a full member of the European Union even though the UK represents it – the Rock has unique status in the EU being outside the Customs Union, VAT area and Common Agricultural Policy.

But there sits Gibraltar in UEFA – since 2013 -– and now Fifa as well.

It’s now becoming very clear that the UK is heading for a hard Brexit and no deals will be done on immigration because the Tories have become UKIP, as the Gibraltar remarks prove.

I don’t think there will be any exemptions for footballers, rugby players or any other sports people who might want to ply their trade in Britain, or for that matter financiers, scientists or the spouses of people living here – for if there was such an isolated exemption, the courts would ensure that everyone else could get it too.

It’s hard Brexit all the way, and sport will have to kow-tow to the UK Tory Independence Party.

At the appropriate time when we know for certain that it is a ruinous hard Brexit, Scotland will then make a choice either to be independent or not. Writing for The National and being a good SNP member, you might expect me to be backing independence, and indeed I do.

It cannot be denied, however, that there are going to be serious issues which the sporting world will need to discuss before the next referendum which I have dubbed Indyredux because we’ll do it again and get it right this time.

In an independent Scotland, presumably with free flow of labour, Scottish football and rugby clubs will have a huge advantage as they will be able to employ players like Moussa Dembele of Celtic and Leonard Sarto of Glasgow Warriors while in a hard Brexit, English football and rugby will be denuded of many of their stars. The FA and RFU are not going to take that sitting down and would want an independent Scotland punished.

What about all those British Governing bodies such as the British Olympic Association or the British Boxing Board of Control? Can we presume that Scotland will just enter the Olympics on our own?

British Cycling? Would Sir Chris Hoy preside over a Scottish equivalent? Would we have professional governing bodies or diddy committees spending oodles of cash watching over minority sports played nationally by two men, two women and a dug (Wee Ginger variety, of course)?

Most of all, we always presume that Scotland will remain a separate entity within football. What’s to stop those nations who want the UK to have one team rather than four pointing to a hard Brexit and saying ‘sorry, old boys, but you’re really all Brits now so play under the Union Jack and let’s forget all this Saltire nonsense.’ The time for sport to sort out its approach to independence has come again. This time, as with all the other activities in Scottish society, the Yes side must have clear answers.