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Nicola Sturgeon is one of Britain’s best hopes of avoiding the self-inflicted damage of a hard Brexit.

It’s beyond question that leaving Europe’s single market would be economically disastrous for Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The energies of anyone interested in this country’s future should be concentrated on stopping the xenophobic right-wingers desperate to inflict it upon us.

So Sturgeon is right to make this a top priority.

It’s also fair for her to retain the right to call a second independence referendum if Scotland looks set to be forced into the calamity of a hard Brexit.

The SNP leader’s central political ambition remains Scottish statehood. It will never be far from her thinking.

And if the threat of the break-up of Britain can help focus the UK Government’s mind on Brexit, then all the better.

But for that strategy to work, the threat has to be taken off the table if Sturgeon gets the soft Brexit she is demanding. It’s only right that she has done so.

Cynics will point to polls showing no appetite for a second indyref as one reason for the First Minister’s comments yesterday.

But is a soft Brexit likely? The rhetoric from Theresa May would suggest not.

Another independence referendum could still very much be on the cards.

A fitting sentence

It’s extremely rare for a business owner to go to jail over health and safety failures.

But in the case of Donald Craig, the punishment is entirely justified.

His company hired out a damaged cherry-picker that ended up killing worker Gary Currie and seriously injuring one of his colleagues. The pair plunged more than 90 feet when the crane buckled over.

Craig was yesterday jailed for two years over the 2012 tragedy and his company were fined £61,000.

He had a duty of care to ensure the equipment provided to his workers was safe. His failure to do so led directly to the death and he deserves everything he gets.

An unlikely hero

Those who remember football legend Chic Charnley from his playing days might be surprised by our front-page story today.

The talented midfielder was a notorious hothead, getting sent off 17 times during a nearly 20-year career.

But he’s now shown a softer side by persuading a depressed mum not to commit suicide this Christmas.

Joanna Renfrew says she would have ended it all if not for the good fortune of flagging down Chic’s taxi.

He managed to convince her that life is worth living after all and she’s now on the road to recovery.

The only card Chic will be getting this year is a thank-you card.