By Rab Bruce’s Spider

Do you remember the days when people used to sneer at Holyrood politicians and say that they were so lacking in ability they couldn’t be trusted to run a sweetie shop? All the really clever politicians were to be found at Westminster, weren’t they?

How times change. The past couple of days have shown that there is only one politician who has considered the potential outcomes and consequences of the EURef and who has shown any degree of leadership. Thankfully, that politician is Nicola Sturgeon who has displayed genuine statespersonship with her calm but authoritative speeches.

In contrast, what has the UK Government done? David Cameron has washed his hands of things while George Osborne spent the weekend in hiding, perhaps along with Theresa May and the rest of the pro-EU Front Benchers. No doubt they are busy plotting their own career moves which is about what you would expect from Westminster politicians who put their own interests before those of the country they are supposed to be governing.

As for Labour, this should be the chance they have been waiting for. With the Government in disarray, they should be putting the boot in and showing some genuine leadership. However, Jeremy Corbyn, who displays all the leadership qualities of a shop manikin at the best of times, has instead been fighting off a revolt among his own Shadow Cabinet.

So, at this time of constitutional crisis, we have no effective Government and no effective Opposition.

But what about the Brexit mob who won the Referendum? Surely they have been prominent and telling us what happens next? Um, no, actually. Boris Johnson went to a cricket match while Michael Gove and Ian Duncan Smith have kept a relatively low profile as has the normally publicity-hungry Nigel Farage. Why? Well, basically because they didn’t expect to win and they have no idea what to do next. One of the pro-Brexit Tory MPs has told Sky News that they don’t have a plan because they expected No.10 to devise one.

It’s quite incredible, isn’t it? Do you recall how mercilessly the SNP were challenged over the Independence White Paper? If that level of questioning had been put to the Leave campaign by anyone in the media we wouldn’t be here now because they didn’t have anything approaching a White Paper. In fact, it seems they didn’t even have a few notes scribbled down on the back of one of Nigel’s fag packets.

What Leave seem to have been hoping for is that a Brexit vote would bring the EU to the bargaining table in an effort to persuade the UK to remain. That is a typically arrogant, Brit-centric view of the world because the EU doesn’t appear to have any intentions of playing ball. There are too many rumblings of discontent among other EU countries and the organisation needs to treat the UK harshly to discourage others from thinking about holding their own referendums. On top of that, the UK has behaved so scornfully towards the EU – whose other members are foreigners, remember – that you can hardly blame them for wanting to kick us out.

But what about Scotland? Some BritNats have been loudly proclaiming that EU sources are ruling out the "Reverse Greenland" option whereby Scotland could remain in the EU while also remaining part of the UK. This unofficial ruling has been proclaimed as a "Blow for Sturgeon" by at least one media outlet who appear not to have noticed that Nicola Sturgeon’s ultimate aim is independence for Scotland. If the Reverse Greenland option is off the table, the only viable option presently available if Scots are to remain in the EU is for the country to become independent and retain its current EU status. By ruling out Reverse Greenland, the EU are helping Scotland’s independence cause. Indeed, there have been several unofficial comments from people within the EU suggesting that a request from an independent Scotland would be favourably received.

There is a long way to go yet and no doubt it will be a rocky and difficult path but Nicola Sturgeon has one major advantage over any of the politicians running the UK Parties at Westminster – she’s competent and puts the interests of her country first.

I didn’t think independence would come for several years yet but the arrogance and incompetence of the ruling class in Westminster seems to be doing the job for us. Fingers crossed.