The National:

THE Holyrood election campaign remains in its infancy, so few concrete conclusions can be drawn.

But one consistent theme has emerged – nobody likes to hear the Tories constantly bang on about why Scots shouldn’t be able to decide their own future.

Dogulas Ross should have learned that at the first leaders’ debate. The Moray MP succeeded in uniting a disparate panel, which came together to lambast him.

Eventually, he was told off like a school child by Anas Sarwar after trying to turn a debate about prejudice into a debate about Unionism.

Even his base support were unimpressed, with Unionists taking to social media to urge the Tory chief to wisen up.

READ MORE: 'He needs to do better': Unionists unhappy with Douglas Ross's debate performance

Things got so dire he was “relegated to the subs bench” by a Baroness, who tried to rally Scots to back the Tories in a democratic election – something she won’t have to bother with down in the Lords.

It is with eager anticipation, then, we await the reaction to the Conservatives’ latest campaign effort, which underlines that they have learned nothing.

Posting photos of their new leaflet online, Adam Dalgleish wrote: " Desperate stuff here from @ScotTories. For a party fighting against an “obsession” of independence they seem to be awfully obsessed themselves, feeling the need to mention it *32* times in their latest leaflet."

He added: "Oh and not a single policy in amongst it."

Another Twitter user added: "Two days in a row, same Tory leaflet ... harping on about stopping indyref2. They simply do not have a clue. People want to hear positive stuff, not some recycled USA negative electioneering."

READ MORE: Douglas Ross 'on subs bench' as Scottish Tories draft in Ruth Davidson

With sections including “HOW TO STOP ANOTHER REFERENDUM” and “How ‘party’ votes stopped another independence referendum 5 years ago”, the flyer tells you all about the Scottish Tories’ inventive policies – or more accurately, the complete lack thereof.

The leaflet is plastered with mentions of independence, but also makes space for the party’s “stunning success” in recent elections – ie not losing as badly as they were expected to.

Time for a rethink, Douglas.