With the Holyrood elections set for next week, a new poll from Savanta Comres suggests the SNP has lost its momentum; it’s now projected to lose two seats from 2016 and fall four seats short of an overall majority. Anything less than a majority is a hammer blow to Sturgeon’s hopes of calling a second independence referendum…

Yet even if Sturgeon were to get her wish, support for independence continues to wane. The same survey shows that just 42% of those polled back independence, with 49% opposed and 8% undecided. Removing the undecided voters brings the result to a 54-46 split for ‘no’ – almost identical to the 2014 outcome…