The desire for an independent Scotland does not appear to be going away anytime soon. On Thursday, Scottish nationalist leader Humza Yousaf thundered, “At the next election, page one, line one of our manifesto will say ‘vote SNP for Scotland to become an independent country.” Some would dismiss it as a feel-good banter to win a few delegates. After all, the ruling separatist party has suffered a significant drop in the last few months with a loss in the key by-elections on top of noteworthy resignations. Considering how the UK government believes it had settled the question in the 2014 referendum and the Supreme Court had dealt a death blow to the referendum battle last year, it would be a tough fight to keep up the light. Even at its best, the independence referendum campaign in Scotland had been a reassertion of some of the things that mattered most to ordinary men and women. Many Scots believe that independence gives them a chance to lay the foundation of a more socially democratic nation. How both governments have failed to give them a concrete line of action when it comes to economy and social cohesion. Those on the other side of the divide would argue that nationalism has no place in today’s world and unless the separatists have a magical ace up their sleeves that ensures an independent Scotland would not face the same problems as the UK, some in a more extreme form, it might seem worthwhile to go for the divorce option. But while the United Kingdom may have subsisted, one cannot argue against the immediate need for reforms and decentralisation. Regardless of independence, Scotland needs more power over its industry and economy. Between an overwhelmingly weak industrial investment, an ageing population that accounts for increasingly poor health and dire housing shortages that give a whiff of trouble in welfare paradise, there’s a lot that should be debated. *