I’ve had enough.

It was a smug, hypocritical tweet from a leading SNP member that finally pushed me over the edge.

Scotland is being torn apart by a ruling elite, hellbent on forcing through a divisive #indyref2, regardless of the cost to our economy, our society, even our well-being.

English friends and acquaintances say to me, “we wish we had Nicola, she is so left wing, so progressive. And so able.”

She is certainly able. And tenacious. And a mite obsessed. No, make that completely and utterly obsessed.

From the moment she and her husband wake up in Bute House (he is, of course, the SNP’s chief executive – Scotland’s elite is as small as it is powerful), she works obsessively on her nationalist dream.

But she sure ain’t progressive, or left wing. She doesn’t have space in her diary to be either.

Nationalism is not a progressive ideology, and for Nicola Sturgeon, nationalism is first, last and everything.

As Scotland’s powerful First Minister she spends no time at all  developing, then delivering progressive policies that would bring economic and social justice.

Despite the fact that Scotland receives around 20 percent MORE in public spending per head than England our economy is stuttering; child poverty is going up; our schools are failing the majority of our children; our FE colleges were destroyed by the SNP; and the NHS is struggling.

Indeed, based on this snapshot of Scottish life, you could argue Nicola Sturgeon has more in common with Theresa May than just their fetish for high heels.

Which is why this general election is so important for Scotland.  We need to send a message to Nicola Sturgeon that enough is enough. That we Scots are no different from the rest of the UK.

We worry about our families, our jobs, whether we can pay the bills, whether our children can pay theirs. We want a competent NHS, which is as good at providing a GP service as it is delivering emergency care.

We want schools that encourage and hone all our children’s talents, whether they are academic or more practical. Or like most of us, somewhere in the middle.

Yes, we voted to stay in the European Union. So did London. Leeds. Liverpool. Manchester and Belfast. Oh and Bristol and Bath.

I have worked, in a range of roles, in every general election since 1983.

My only contribution to this one will be on social media (yawn), as I am currently travelling Europe in a van, and won’t be back in the UK until September.

But I know that there are hundreds of Scottish Labour activists who will be knocking doors, delivering leaflets and calling voters every minute of every day until June 8^th.

And the formidable Kez Dugdale and her staff will get barely a wink of sleep until it is all over.

We won’t win back every seat we lost in 2015 – I don’t believe in unicorns either – but if the majority of Scots can send a message to the SNP that they too have “had enough”, then maybe our country can start healing, and the Scottish government will start doing its day job.

See you on Twitter 😏

• For my English friends, here is a quick guide to the Barnett Formula, that shows how much more money per head of population the Scottish Government has to invest in public services.
• And here’s a reminder that Scotland was NOT the only part of the UK to vote to remain in the EU.