For years, Scotland’s offshore wind has been central to the SNP’s pitch for independence, with Scottish ministers dating back to Salmond’s premiership repeating claims that Scotland boasted 25% of Europe’s wind potential. The trouble is, the SNP policy wonks had forgotten Scandinavia exists. The actual figure is around 5% of Europe’s wind potential – they were only out by a factor of 5.

The issue was raised in Holyrood by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, who decried a “pattern of misinformation”. If the Lib Dems are criticising misleading statistics, they must be bad. What makes the matter worse is the SNP has continued to parrot the figure into the present day. A Scottish minister, the Green’s Lorna Slater, deployed the figure as recently as this week. Unlike Salmond himself, this is one inconvenient remnant of his leadership the party has been unable to get rid of…