LIVING in London a decade ago, I was often amazed and amused at the ignorance of some - mainly educated Home Counties types - of my English colleagues about Scottish politics.

“Yes, but Scottish Parliament legislation surely has to be voted on at Westminster, to give it legitimacy...” was one gem spouted by a senior journalist at a big Fleet Street paper.

In some ways, I think things have changed for the better on that score over the last 10 years, not least because the two most recent referendums and general elections and their fallouts forced at least some of our southern neighbours to do a crash course in Scottish life.

You’ll still find plenty of old Tories sticking to outdated ideas and stereotypes about the Scots, of course (that at least goes with the job description), but what really surprises me is the number of English-based Labour politicians, supporters and commentators (including some Scots) that are still embarrassingly out of touch with political realities in Scotland.

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A recent piece by Guardian columnist Zoe Williams is a case in point. An incisive and thought-provoking writer on many matters, I’d say Scottish politics isn’t Ms Williams’ strong point. Not if she honestly believes the push for Scottish independence will be quelled, even reversed, by, wait for it...a Labour government. Ms Williams claims the SNP’s entire raison d’etre will be scuppered, all arguments for independence rendered pointless overnight, simply by Jeremy Corbyn becoming PM, a Labour Saviour riding in to save Scotland not only from the Tories, but those nasty nationalists. Come on, don’t make us laugh.

We’ve heard such talk before, of course. Indeed, it’s almost as if indyref never happened. Stay with us, Scotland! All Scotland needs is a progressive Labour government that will nationalise the railways! Only Labour vows to give more powers to the Scottish Parliament! Selfish Nationalists are really just Nigel Farage in a kilt! Jeez. That might actually be Richard Leonard’s next manifesto.

Those who think Mr Corbyn would be an easy or credible answer to the complex constitutional, economic and social questions raised for Scotland over the last weeks, months and years of Westminster governance are either hilariously ill-informed, wilfully ignorant or both.

This is parallel universe stuff. For a start, didn’t these folk notice that Scotland dumped Labour unceremoniously after the 2014 referendum - will losing 97.5 per cent of your MPs in one go ever be beaten at a general election, one wonders - and has been notably immune to the Corbyn brand from the start? And with Mr Leonard’s Scottish party currently polling around the 15 per cent mark, surely no one sane would claim even a sniff of recovery is under way.

It’s also worth pointing out that Mr Corbyn is unlikely to win the parliamentary majority for his agenda, no matter how progressive, without Scottish votes.

Haven’t these Labour Saviour types felt the temperature of the electorate lately? Don’t they see that Boris Johnson is heading for a majority in England? They also don’t seem to recall that - Blair’s aside - Labour governments don’t tend to last very long. There have been 10 Tory prime ministers since 1945 (to five Labour PMs) yet the last time Scotland voted Conservative in a general election was the late 1950s.

Indeed, what I find most curious about the Labour Saviour Complex is that it so completely fails to address the fundamental attraction of independence: getting the government you vote for. After all, England does.

And isn’t the wish to make your vote count - Brexit being a case in point - a matter of self-determination rather than Nationalism? The idea that Scottish independence is in itself a blood-and-soil type evil, that even considering it makes people guilty of some sort of thought crime they should feel dirty about, is a trope still peddled by Labour politicians and supporters old and new. It’s monumentally insulting and patronising, of course. And, as we can see, such condescending nonsense gets them nowhere with Scottish voters. Instead, it has been their undoing.

If ever it needed to be rammed home, the Brexit debacle has only reiterated to many Scots that we are not all in it together, that the “precious Union” is a fantasy easily sold down the river by those who claim to covet it most. We cannot simply unsee the extraordinarily damaging and ugly scenes of the last three years, not least Scotland’s wishes and best interests being dismissed without a second thought.

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Looking forward to the inevitable forthcoming general election, even if Mr Corbyn did miraculously win a majority and introduce a progressive policy mix Scottish voters approved of, surely this would only make them more determined to ensure progress is no longer given and taken away at the whim of English voters.

None of us know for sure whether and when Scots will vote in another independence referendum. If and when they do, it’s clear the economy, Scotland’s place in Europe and the widening democratic deficit that enabled this bonkers Brexit will take centre stage in the campaign. The Labour Saviour Complex will not.