Even the SNP are noticing their own 'blank cheques for the public purse' - John McLellan

Perhaps at just 110 pages, the document was somewhat lacking in detail, little things like dates and numbers. And although not directly comparable, it was in stark contrast to 2018’s 345-page ‘Strategy for inter-generational economic renaissance’ from the SNP’s Growth Commission, now much derided by the party’s left wing.

Lack of detail is becoming such a theme with the SNP’s bolder plans that even its own MSPs are noticing, such as Falkirk East’s Michelle Thomson, the former Edinburgh West MP, who this week took the Scottish Government’s national care service proposals to task.

Estimated to cost up to £1.3bn with no guarantee the bill won’t be higher, Ms Thomson said she had “no confidence whatsoever” in plans so lacking scrutiny it was like giving a "blank cheque for the public purse" to the Scottish Government.

"How do we end up in the position where a financial memorandum does not even begin to cover the fundamentals,” she said. “I can [have] no confidence whatsoever, based on my experience mostly in business that [it] represents any level of accuracy and therefore value for money whatsoever.”

Ms Thomson could also do her country a service by using her business expertise to scrutinise the independence plans, because if it’s value for money she’s worried about, she should be very worried indeed.