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FOR months, whenever anyone asked about the referendum debate, we all had to furrow our brows and say: “Well, it’s all about the process, isn’t it? What about the politics?”

Now, when even Alex Salmond could stand the tedium no longer, we have at last started talking about the issues.

And the rapidly dawning realisation is that this debate is not really about the politics either – never was and probably never will be.

For example, the Government paper released on Monday was a serious, impartial piece of work. It could not have been more about the “issues” but Unionists and Nats alike turned it into another bunfight, hearing only what they wanted to hear and rubbishing the rest.

That’s not a reasoned, rational debate. That’s a stairhead rammy.

Monday’s report is, we were told, the first in a series from Westminster that will calmly assess the issues and drop an anvil on the SNP’s “With one bound, we’ll be free” rhetoric.

And they will. Up to a point. The point comes when voters remember there are always a thousand reasons for not doing something. Because really, the SNP have only one reason for people to vote yes. We would, they say, be a better, more grown-up country, taking our own decisions and living with the consequences.

That’s it. That’s the issue.

The SNP and fellow Yes campaigners are not trying to sell a showhome with carpets in and bathroom fitted. They’re selling a plot of land.

What an independent Scotland looks like will depend on what independent Scots want to build.

Of course, voting yes to independence would be a leap of faith, like Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade when he steps on to that invisible bridge.

But, the SNP say, the bridge exists here like it has existed elsewhere.

And we should have more faith than most, they say, because our bridge is anchored in the oil fields deep beneath the North Sea.

The sound and fury on Monday signified nothing because voters already know that independence will mean serious talks with London and Brussels. They also know that, while everyone will be looking for the best deal, simple self-interest means all sides will want an

independent Scotland to prosper.

There are serious discussions to be had about how much economic freedom an independent Scotland using the Bank of England’s pound would have, but the idea that England would deliberately try to sabotage an important political and economic ally is for the birds.

The No campaign needs to start explaining why the Union can make Scotland better not why independence will be a terrible thing as Scots, mired in a swamp of endless negotiations, wander between our mud huts borrowing cups of woad.

If, as their campaign claims, we will be better together, they need to start telling us why.