WHAT was most surprising about the angry and disgusted reaction to Boris Johnson linking a vote for Brexit to Ukraine’s struggle for freedom was that so many people were surprised.

Is it still a shock when the Prime Minister behaves in a thoroughly tasteless, self-serving fashion? Perhaps those reaching for the smelling salts suffered partial memory loss of late.

The simple truth is: if Mr Johnson was unfit for leadership before the Russian invasion – which he was – he remains unfit today.

Nicola Sturgeon should take note of his awful gaff. Mixing constitutional politics in any way with, and during, the Ukrainian crisis is toxic. The SNP has continually raised the issue of independence throughout the war, and it’s starting to sicken people.

Of course, unlike the terminally clown-afflicted Johnson, few nationalists have been daft enough to attempt linking Ukraine with Scottish independence. Michael Russell, the SNP’s former constitution secretary, and the MSP Michelle Thomson, both tried and were rightly pilloried.

Now, clearly, pushing for a referendum during this crisis isn’t the same as linking Scottish independence to Ukraine’s fight for its life, but it still looks pretty crass and out of touch to most voters.

Read more: SNP should admit Indy is over for now

It’s quite worrying that SNP leaders seem incapable of judging the political consequences of being seen to focus on an issue – which is essentially divisive, whether anyone likes it or not – at such a time. Constitutional wrangling, which pits us against each other, isn’t what most people want right now.

The real concern is that by endlessly harping on about another referendum, which everyone knows isn’t going to happen any time soon, the SNP itself risks putting the cause of independence back years.

We’ve endured a ridiculous hokey-cokey these last few weeks with SNP and Greens hinting one moment that a referendum will happen in 2023, and then the next implying any second ballot will have to take a back seat given world events.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, was at it again on Sunday. Recently, when asked about plans for independence, he implied the notion wasn’t going anywhere soon. “We have got to be respectful of the situation that we are in,” he said, adding: “The only thing I am focusing on today is Ukraine.” Now he says the war shouldn’t push back plans for another referendum.

The entire charade is just thoroughly embarrassing. The SNP has been telling us every year since Brexit that another referendum is just around the corner. It’s like one of those doomsday cults: they predict the Second Coming in February, only for February to pass with no appearance of the risen Messiah, so the date of the Rapture shifts to March, then March shifts to April, and on it goes until belief implodes under the weight of its own absurdity.

To continue this farce during a such a dangerous time for the world looks nothing short of childish. Of course, the party thinks it must throw the red meat of "indy is coming" to its base, but there’s every risk that by squawking inanely about a referendum which isn’t going to happen, while war rips through Ukraine, that the SNP just repels the centrist voters it depends upon.

If the SNP really cares about independence it should perhaps shut up about it for a while. The SNP was once a uniquely disciplined party when it came to messaging and intuiting the views of average Scottish voters. Those days are gone. Its messaging is mixed and confusing, and the party is out of synch with Scotland when it comes to the conversation around independence during the Ukrainian crisis.

SNP leaders are bad poker players. They should heed the lyrics of the old Kenny Rogers song: "you gotta know when to hold ‘em". Just stay quiet for a while. Folk who support independence won’t abandon ship. To continually bang on about the issue now, though, does more harm than good, especially as it’s clear that no referendum will happen next year.

Even if there were a vote, the Yes side, at the moment anyway, would lose. It’s no surprise Gordon Brown seems up for another referendum, mocking the Tories for being scared to take on the SNP. He’s obviously confident that in such a climate, Yes would have no chance of success.

The SNP’s former senior advisor Kevin Pringle thinks it’s “unlikely” there will be a vote next year, warning: “If the Scottish Government pursues [indyref2] within a tight 2023 timescale that people are uncomfortable with … the task of building support for independence itself may be undermined.”

Read more: I believe in independence – that’s why the state of the SNP breaks my heart

It’s telling that the SNP hasn’t yet announced plans for its spring conference when other parties have already had their rallies. Leaders know they will have to square an impossible circle with their base. What SNP activists want is not the same as the Scottish people: 59 per cent of us say talks on the timing of indyref2 should stop. Even among SNP voters, 43% say discussions need to halt. Support for Yes has slipped to 48% against 52% for No. In other polling, more than twice as many Scots prefer remaining in a reformed UK over independence.

A good example of this double bind that the SNP is in was shown in the pages of the independence-supporting National last weekend. Its front page read: “Work on indyref2 won’t be stopped by Putin.” On page six there was this headline: “Brexit gave Putin way to achieve his goal of instability at a low cost.”

Yes voters can like it or lump it, but many undecideds will feel that independence may aid Russia. If that’s the case, how on Earth can anyone campaign effectively for independence right now? Doors would slam in faces. If campaigning is now strategically impossible, why do SNP leaders incessantly toy with the issue, thereby repelling, boring and irritating the floating voters they require?

Continuing the discussion around independence right now is as daft as imagining Douglas Ross as the next occupant of Bute House. If the SNP really cares about independence then it needs to be quiet on the subject until the crisis in Ukraine reduces to such a level that normal politicking can once again resume.

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