Overlooking Independence minister Jamie Hepburn’s Scottish Parliament office is the New Calton cemetery.
Any spare plots could be used to bury Nicola Sturgeon’s failed referendum strategies.
Plan A - a deal with the Tory Government - was rejected by successive Conservative Prime Ministers.
The second option of Holyrood organising a vote without Westminster’s approval was killed off by judges.
Her last throw of the dice - turning the general election into a ‘de facto referendum - was undermined by internal dissent.
The SNP’s independence ‘convention’ on June 24th has been called to agree a new approach.
Hepburn, alongside new First Minister Humza Yousaf, will play a key role on the day, but he has limited room to manoeuvre.
All roads to a referendum appear blocked by the Tories and the alternatives reek of desperation.
Some people want to enlist the support of foreign countries behind calls for indyref2, but a motion passed by the parliament in Luxembourg is unlikely to prove decisive.
Hepburn’s positive response to a multi-option referendum, including devo max, is fascinating as he is clearly looking to life under a Labour Government.
If Starmer fails to win a majority, so the theory goes, he will have to make concessions on a referendum to the SNP to pass legislation.
But there are flaws with argument that the SNP will struggle to counter.
Starmer is adamant he will not budge on indyref2 and a minority government led by him will look to the Lib Dems, not the SNP.
Showing any weakness on the SNP would be weaponised by the Tories and lead to a loss of votes in the Red Wall.
Some on the Labour Left, such as former MSP Neil Findlay, support a multi-option referendum, but their influence has waned.
A real alternative could be to hold Labour’s feet to the fire on delivering more powers to Holyrood without a referendum.
Hepburn and Yousaf could at the same time try to build up support for a modernised case for independence.
Arguing for a referendum would be easier if independence was the settled will of the Scottish people.
This month’s convention should be grounded in realism and an acceptance the SNP have a weak hand to play at this moment in time.
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