SO we’ve reached the “what language would you use?” stage of bemusement about independence among the UK commentators. I honestly laughed out loud at the normally fairly sensible Adam Boulton on Sky ask the question to a similarly amused Val McDermid earlier this week.

He asked the author: “If independence happened, how much of a divorce would it be? I mean, would you like to see an independent Scotland abandon speaking the sort of English we’re speaking now?”

McDermid replied: “No, of course not, that would be absurd. That would be as absurd as saying we should all speak just Gaelic. I think we recognise that in Scotland we speak three languages – we speak English and Scots and Gaelic. These are all part of our national culture.

Boulton is not the only UK pundit struggling to make sense of the seismic results from Thursday.

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Politicians love elections, especially when we win. I’m thrilled that in Stirling we saw Evelyn Tweed returned as our new MSP, and Keith Brown, our other MSP, re-elected with a cracking vote in the Dunblane and Bridge of Allan parts of Stirling Council. Nationwide, of course, it was an incredible victory for the SNP. We are now digging in for a fourth term in office, which is an amazing achievement.

And for the big prize, independence, a solid, sustainable leap forward. With the Greens included, it is an unarguable fact that there is a fair and square majority for independence in the Scottish Parliament.

For those of a Westminster disposition, had we only used the (rubbish) Westminster first-past-the-post system, the SNP winning 85% of the seats would translate to 552 out of 650 seats at Westminster. Presumably the UK commentariat would still try to find ways of claiming it didn’t count, perhaps because the moon had gone retrograde in Virgo rising or some such nonsense. But it won’t wash, independence won.

An overall majority for the SNP was always going to be a stretch. Some folks got a wee bit breathless contemplating it and that expectation should have been managed better. I’ve said many times in this column that the electoral system we have is designed not to stop a majority but to ensure that the seats allocated reflect the vote. It did precisely that.

So what now? Well, as I write this I am on the train south to Westminster, where I and the other SNP MPs will be busy promoting the reality of Scotland’s vote rather than the Alice in Wonderland takes we have seen in recent days. It was the Queen’s Speech yesterday, where the Tories set out their programme for government and there are plenty of issues in there that are of real and substantial concern for Scotland. This UK Government is hell-bent on a programme Scotland has deep misgivings on and it is our job to give voice to that while thereby making the case for independence.

Closer to home, the shiny new MSPs are off to Big School. As well as being sworn in tomorrow, they are about to be deluged with the logistics of setting up email accounts, employing staff, the intricacies of property law and working out where the canteen is. Part of me is jealous!

There are decisions to make, too, about who will be in which role, ow the government will be set up and all the other housekeeping that happens after every election. It is not my place to make those decisions, of course, and I have no role in the discussions, but I’ll be watching with interest.

And for the rest of us in the Yes movement, we won the election. Fringe parties and issues have been shown for what they are, and we still have an argument to win.

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The referendum will not be tomorrow, but it is when, not if, and no amount of Tory bluster can disguise that. And for our part I think we need to put less effort into generating angst about how to have the referendum (as there are plenty people working on bringing that about) and more into winning the argument in every community across Scotland.

The arguments of 2014 have changed because the circumstances have changed, sometimes in ways that help the pro-independence side, sometimes in ways that need to be explained to a public still reeling from Covid and its consequences.

In Stirling, we are massing the Yes movement and organising ourselves to have discussions in every community we represent, because this is the big shot, independence has never been closer. Having been thrown out my first parliament, I’m working really hard to be thrown out my second as are all my SNP colleagues.

Independence is up to the people of Scotland. Nothing happens until we get that pro-independence majority. That is an energising sense of possibility, same as we had in 2014 when we came so close. I sense a bit of that energy again now that we can unite, focus and keep our eyes on the prize.