"Speaking on STV's Politics Now programme last night, Mr McConnell said: "The biggest problem with independence is the journey there.
"I think it's a debatable issue about the condition of an independent Scotland because it would depend on the kind of government that voters elected."
... But pressed again on whether he thought Scotland could survive as an independent country, he replied: "That would depend on the government that was elected by the people. It would depend on the policies they follow.
"The issue is not what government would there be in an independent Scotland - the issue is the move towards independence and whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing and common sense would tell anybody, not politics but common sense, that an international company that was thinking about investing in Scotland in a period when independence was being considered by the government of Scotland, that international company would hesitate."
Is it really the case that the biggest problem with independence is the journey there? Some might say that the dissolution of a 300 year old union from which - admittedly arguably - both sides have benefited enormously, that the prospect of re-inventing wheels, right left and centre, when both sides are well-served by long-standing shared arrangements, that the openness of an independent Scottish economy to the slings and arrows of increasing globalisation offer rather more worrying problems than simply getting from here to there.
And, tactically, why does the First Minister want to fight the forthcoming battle on the SNP's chosen ground? I can't see the attraction of a slogan such as 'Vote for Labour; we'd probably opt for independence if it wasn't too difficult to make it happen'. Knowledge of tactics was what Mr McConnell was supposed to be good at. Or have his World Cup footballing preferences gone to his head?
This morning, there will be certain Labour politicians tearing their hair out in frustration.
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