SHOULD we heed the call to the SNP from LibDem leader Vince Cable to join forces with those calling for a second EU referendum in the hope we can ditch Brexit? We might start by pointing out that the LibDems are being hypocritical when it comes to advocating second chances.

At their Scottish spring conference in Aviemore, Willie Rennie delivered yet another of his robotic calls to oppose a second independence referendum, telling the SNP to “move on”. Either Willie is way off message or the LibDem leadership is as hypocritical as ever.

In their defence, the LibDems argue that the 2014 Scottish independence referendum was debated on precise terms whereas the EU vote in 2016 was a pig in a political poke. In other words, folk voted to reject independence having weighed all the pros and cons, whereas they were bamboozled on the real outcome of quitting Europe and so deserve a second go once the full terms of the Brexit deal are clear.

Willie Rennie and co are talking specious nonsense and they know it. The Scottish referendum was conducted in a blizzard of fake news, a deliberate misrepresentation of the independence case, and outright collusion between the London media and the Unionist parties. It ended, as we all know, with the infamous Vow, which promised domestic home rule and equal status for Scotland in the affairs of the UK, if only we voted No. The failure to deliver on that specific promise clearly invalidates the 2014 result and justifies – constitutionally and politically – a second independence referendum.

The terms of the Vow were violated not by the failure to deliver full home rule, including fiscal autonomy.

Scotland voted to stay in the EU, but that decision has been overridden by the Tory government, implying that no matter what Scotland decides, it can be trumped by England. So much for treating Scotland as an equal partner in the Union – which was the essence of the Vow.

EU Remainers such as Cable and Rennie are outraged that voters were misled by the Brexiteers during the 2016 European vote – so misled that this justifies a second bite at the referendum cherry. Memo to Vince and Willie: the massive misinformation that dogged the Euro vote (on both sides) was modelled directly on the successful negative campaign spun by the No side in the Scottish referendum two years before.

You happily joined in that negative campaigning in 2014. It’s a bit rich pretending to be upset now that you’ve been on the receiving end of the same tactics.

Being a deal more consistent than Messrs Cable and Rennie, I can see the argument for both indyref2 and EUref2. But that does not mean I’m a fan of getting into bed with the LibDems.

Vince Cable’s call for a second EU referendum is a transparent manoeuvre. The LibDems have been down at six to seven per cent support in the UK polls for nearly a year. They are clinging to their call for a rerun of the EU referendum rather as a drowning man clings to a bit of passing flotsam.

I’m also mindful that many pro-independence supporters voted Leave. Equally, lots of Remain voters (myself included) gave only conditional approval to the existing EU. The European Union as an institution is in desperate need of democratic reform, especially after its failure to oppose Spanish state repression in Catalonia or the cruel austerity it imposed on Greece. The SNP should be wary of being sucked into supporting the EU warts and all, as the LibDems favour.

As I have argued before, the Scottish Government must offer pro-indy Leave supporters some hope that we are serious about reforming the EU and the European Central Bank. As a party, the SNP should also seek to build ties directly with other left-wing movements in Europe.

That said, there is a case for the SNP government itself calling a fresh EU referendum in Scotland, which gives Scottish people a chance to accept or reject the precise Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May. We might call on the LibDems to back this unilateral move – I’m sure Mr Rennie would find an excuse to demur. In current circumstances, I can’t see any Brexit deal which would favour Scotland, so we would be calling on Scots – Remainers and Leavers – to reject the outcome of the negotiations.

Doubtless, Theresa May would refuse to recognise the legitimacy of such a vote, triggering a constitutional crisis. The local Ruth Davidson Party will reveal itself as … er, the Tories. Scottish Labour would find itself deeply split. Most importantly, assuming Scots vote to oppose the Tory Brexit deal, the Scottish Government would secure a popular mandate to negotiate a separate constitutional and economic future for the Scottish nation, with both Europe and the UK. Theoretically, that could include a separate economic status within the UK, on a par with Northern Ireland. That assumes the current negotiations retain the North’s open border with the EU, which I doubt. Otherwise, we are talking about initiating a political process that leads to directly Scottish independence.

What relationship that independent Scotland eventually had with the EU would be subject to further negotiation, but at least it would be determined by Scots, in the interest of Scots alone. That is a deal we can sell both to Leavers and Remainers.

There is absolutely no point in holding a second EU referendum in Scotland unless we are willing to follow up the likely rejection of the Tory Brexit deal by Scottish voters with immediate moves towards independence. If the UK Government refused to negotiate, we would be talking about calling an independence election or referendum unilaterally.

Hopefully, common sense would prevail in England, allowing Scotland to go its own way. Calling EUref2 in Scotland is the equivalent of the Catalan referendum of last October: it would trigger a constitutional crisis that nobody could tiptoe away from.

The alternative approach is to call an immediate independence referendum in the wake of the Brexit negotiations, rather than focus on EUref2. Much of the movement is in favour of this option.

Instead, my inclination is to focus popular anger on rejecting the dire Tory Brexit deal, because it exposes the complete lack of interest Theresa May and the extreme English Brexiteers have in Scotland and its people. We thus maximise support for a wholly Scottish solution to the crisis – support that leads to independence.

My main worry is that we are treating Scottish voters like sheep. In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica affair, it is increasingly obvious that referendums can be manipulated by the well-funded and unscrupulous. Yet we got close to winning the 2014 independence referendum.

Why? Because of an extraordinary, self-directed campaign in working-class housing estates that circumvented the traditional, pro-Unionist) media.

In other words, the mass of ordinary folk for once ceased to be political objects and became political actors. The same process has been apparent in Catalonia recently. It is only by re-energising that grassroots, mass involvement in the political process that we will achieve independence – next year or whenever. Everything else is tactics.