OVER the next few days the ‘Indyref Anniversary’ commentary is likely to reach saturation point.

I’m getting mine in early, before everyone’s bored of it.

Some people feel strongly that the issue should have been settled once and for all, and worry about the country being plunged into the whole process yet again.

For others a second referendum can’t come soon enough, and their enthusiasm to get started outweighs any realistic assessment about whether the result would be any different.

In between these two extremes, a few simple truths should be accepted by everyone.

Scotland did vote No last year, but people who believe in independence have a right to continue to campaign for it; and following the referendum there are many people who believe in it more than ever.

As voters, we all have the right to decide whether or not to back parties which are open to another referendum. There is no reason that it can’t happen if people choose to vote that way.

But here’s another point which I hope might gain agreement – if there ever is another referendum it shouldn’t just be a repeat performance of the same debate.

I think it would be bizarre to imagine that the same arguments would lead to a different result.

Many people have argued that a “material change” in Scotland’s circumstances would justify another referendum. Europe is the usual example; if the UK as a whole voted to leave, but Scotland voted to stay then only independence could allow us to do so.

But holding “Indyref 2” in that context might be even harder than last year.

There would be huge uncertainty about whether we could maintain the Common Travel Area if the rest of the UK left Europe but we stayed.

Retaining the UK’s terms and conditions of membership might be harder to justify too.

I’ve little doubt that Scotland will ask itself the independence question again, but when it happens it should be with greater clarity about some critical questions.

Winning the EU referendum and ensuring the whole UK stays in Europe would be far better than trying to exploit an anti-EU result.

Even more importantly, the weakness of the SNP’s position on currency mustn’t be repeated.

I’ve always thought that if Scotland were independent we should aim to have our own currency, and this weekend the Scottish Greens will kick off a research project to develop new approaches to that issue.

Given the work that’s been done on alternative and supplementary currencies (like the Bristol Pound) and the potential of secure digital “crypto-currencies”, there is scope to develop Scottish currency options even now, well before independence is taken back to the ballot box.