IS the UK a voluntary political union between the four countries it is made up of? That is certainly what the Unionist side has always said.

I am sure you remember as clearly as I do David Cameron’s speech in Edinburgh just before the referendum in 2014.

What is of interest this week, though, following the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Scottish Government cannot hold a referendum without Westminster giving permission, is something he said a little bit later: “But it is a nation that has chosen over the last 300 years to be part of a family of nations. A family of nations that enables this great country to punch way above its weight in the world.”

Well, don’t we know it? From having our natural resources wasted by numerous Conservative governments to the fact that we haven’t actually voted for them since 1955. The key word there, among the usual pretence of Etonian Tories actually caring about Scotland, is “chosen”.

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Given what the Supreme Court said this week, Scotland doesn’t get to “choose”. One more thing promised in 2014 by Better Together that was proven false.

I should say that this isn’t the fault of the justices of the Supreme Court. They have a job, and that is to interpret and apply the laws written by Westminster. The court was asked to determine whether the Scottish Government could hold a referendum under the current devolution laws. They said it didn’t.

They weren’t asked if the Scottish Government has a mandate to hold a referendum. That mandate was secured at the last Holyrood election when the Scottish people elected a majority of indy-supporting MSPs to deliver a second referendum.

It has always been my belief that the way to achieve independence must be through a legal democratic route. The judgment makes it pretty clear that the only way, under the current laws, to do that is with Westminster’s permission.

What was the No side’s reaction to the judgment? Well, the Tory Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, talked about anything but independence. It is the usual, insufferable, “nobody actually cares about independence” type of patter they always hit out with.

They continue to treat support for independence as though it is a fringe issue. It is a secondary thing that people don’t want to talk about. When asked why the people of Scotland keep voting for independence-supporting parties, they just pretend they didn’t hear you and go back to pretending that nobody cares about it.

Remember, the Tories have repeatedly made elections in Scotland about referendums. “No indyref2!” They lost. The fact that neither Alister Jack nor the Prime Minister can tell us how the people of Scotland can make their desire for a second referendum known should serve as a wake-up call to us.

My colleague Ian Blackford asked the Scottish Secretary if he would see to it that the Scotland Act gets amended to allow the people of Scotland to choose when they want to hold an independence referendum. He didn’t answer.

Asked directly about the Scottish Government’s current mandate, he started talking nonsense about list seats vs first-past-the-post seats. Ian asked the Prime Minister a similar question about the mandate, and it was back to talking about how nobody really cares about independence.

It was also striking to see the Prime Minister refuse to call the Union “voluntary” when questioned by Philippa Whitford.

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I don’t know if anybody bothered to ask Keir Starmer about the ruling.

The Yes side took a different tack, as you would expect. We hit the streets, making it known that we care deeply about this issue. That it isn’t a daft side argument. Independence is critical – to escape the Tories, to escape Brexit, to escape the constant clown show that is Westminster.

And to, most importantly, choose a different future, where we put the needs of people before the needs of party donors. It isn’t a fringe issue, and it most certainly isn’t going away.