It's been a busy, noteworthy week in Scottish politics, with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delivering her long-awaited "scene setter" for a second independence referendum.

 

Social media is never a particularly pretty place when Scottish politics gets going on its biggest, central question. But one response that depresses me is the contention that The Scotsman is part of a vast conspiracy to prevent independence. I don't want to bore you with a media studies essay... but it's our job to ask difficult questions of proposals of any consequence. And, whether you are indy or union-minded, or like many of our readers somewhere in-between, we can likely all agree there is no question of more profound importance than our constitutional future.

 

The Scotsman's view on Sturgeon's launch was clear - for all her talk of substance, we weren't taken by her references not to Scotland but to an array of other countries. "Scotland cannot choose from an a la carte menu of other countries' virtues. Nations are weaved from complex webs of culture, history and fortune. You don't get to order up the low taxes of Ireland, and the brilliant healthcare of Denmark, and expect it all to gel," our leader column said the next day.

 

We also featured a range of other opinions, as you'd expect, Murdo Fraser felt the launch was more about the First Minister's political future than Scotland's, while Joyce McMillan expressed dismay that Unionists were wheeling out "abysmal" arguments which, in the main, "offered a profoundly unattractive mixture of insult, misrepresentation and vaguely threatening negativity".

 

The Scotsman will be sure to cover all the angles of the debate - about whether there should be a referendum, and the potential outcome should it ever take place - and bring the full spectrum of Scottish thought to our pages in the months ahead. Your own opinions will also be very welcome.

 

Looking ahead, I suspect many of us will be looking forward to getting away on holiday - especially if you're reading this in the decidedly dreich East of Scotland today. So do look out for our special Edit supplement tomorrow, where we offer some suggestions for brilliant holiday reading, listening and viewing. We've paid particular attention, this summer, to the entertainment you can download to your device before you head away. Given all the delays at airports already this summer, you might welcome the distraction...

 

Finally, I should point out that tomorrow's Saturday Scotsman has a voucher to enable you to buy the print edition of Scotland on Sunday for just £1 the following day. It was a huge success last time we tried this, so I hope you'll take full advantage and enjoy The Scotsman's sister title in print this weekend.

 

Whatever you're doing, I hope you have a wonderful and restful weekend.