OVER the next few weeks, I’m attending many summer events and meeting residents across the constituency while also celebrating the wider achievements of Scottish athletes and para-athletes at the Commonwealth Games.

It’s a source of pride when Scots do well at the Olympics as part of Team GB, but there’s something special about also seeing tartan and the Saltire take their place among the global Commonwealth of Nations.

Local man Micky Yule carrying the team flag as the epitome of triumph over adversity was unforgettable, as was the achievement of Eilish McColgan, particularly for those who remember her mum’s prowess in the pre-lottery funding days when Team GB medals were more elusive.

Scotland has something to cheer in a summer of sport where elsewhere there are immense cost-of-living challenges: sport offers valuable reminders that Scotland is a distinct nation with its own traditions and ambitions, but also its own problems and solutions.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries apparently forgot Glasgow hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and the Tory leadership front-runner Liz Truss needs reminding that Scotland’s democratically elected leader cannot be “ignored” as she claimed. Presumably Tory members who applauded the offensively dismissive Trust comment also forgot that the 2019 Westminster election saw Ms Truss win her seat with 35,507 votes while Ms Sturgeon’s party won 1,242,380; in 2021, 1.2 million also voted for a second independence referendum.

Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak has belatedly discovered the “cherished Union”, saying: “We can’t just bury our heads in the sand and pretend [the SNP] aren’t there – we need to stop them in their tracks.”

The SNP’s direction of travel has been clear since 2007: how Mr Sunak will derail an engine driven by the unwavering and increasing votes of the people of Scotland isn’t clear, but what Scotland is hearing sounds like a Westminster politician’s ‘déjà vu’ promise in pursuit of power.

How to test the credibility of Sunak’s ‘vow’, when the 2014 vow promised Scotland would be treated “fairly”? Call a General Election with each SNP and Green candidate enabling the voters of Scotland to answer this question: should Scotland be an independent country?