Management consultant Mark McKergow says shadowing UK ministers would be a sensible step for an independent state-in-waiting

FOLLOWING the recent disappointing General Election results, Common Weal director Robin McAlpine wrote on CommonSpace about the benefits of getting away from talking about referendums and onto the meat of developing ideas about how an independent Scotland can work. 

SNP activist and politics graduate Steve Daley warns the SNP will be in big trouble if it doesn't recapture the radical spirit of Yes

THE SNP was never going to do as well as it did in 2015, that much was clear. On top of that the Tories were always going to pick up 4-6 seats as a result of their 'no indy' stance and the relative popularity of Ruth Davidson. 

Blogger Kevan O'Reilly gives his reaction to the General Election result in Scotland

THE TORIES have 13 seats in Scotland. It's the perfect ammunition for Ruth Davidson and her Conservative and Unionist party to appear on political programmes from now until the next election saying that indyref 2 is dead in the water.

They are hoping if they say "Scotland doesn’t want another divisive independence  referendum" enough times we’ll start to believe them.

I wrote an article a while ago, 'The Tories are coming', well, here they are.

Brexit threat justifies giving Scottish people choice, Scottish Greens say (photo above from September 2015 campaigning)

SCOTLAND’S FOURTH MAJOR PARTY, the Scottish Greens, remain committed to a referendum on independence - despite attempts from unionist parties to derail the mandate of the Scottish Parliament. 

Unionist party leaders have continuously called for a future referendum to be blocked, irrespective of the threat Brexit brings to Scotland’s economy and place in the world. 

CommonSpace columnist and Common Weal director Robin McAlpine reveals some of the work the Scottish Independence Convention (SIC) is undertaking

I'D LIKE to apologise in advance for how much I'm writing just now but I've been rather inundated with people who want more information on what's going on and what what the indy movement could be doing next.

CommonSpace columnist and Common Weal head of policy Ben Wray says it would be a mistake to take indyref 2 off the table

SINCE the General Election result in Scotland has become evident, the UK press, Ruth Davidson, Kezia Dugdale and Willie Rennie have all been very clear – indyref 2 is dead. 

This is to be expected – they were always going to jump on any loss in SNP support to push their anti-independence narrative. More worrying is that this has not been refuted by the SNP leadership. 

CommonSpace columnist and Common Weal director Robin McAlpine says the indy movement has a lot to be upbeat about after the General Election 

I REALISE that it might feel counterintuitive for a lot of you but, although disappointed, I'm feeling really quite positive about yesterday's outcomes. 

My biggest concern is absolutely not about whether we face a bigger barrier to independence (which I don't think we do) but that this may hit morale and that we could do without a dip in morale right now.

So, here are some reasons to be cheerful.

Former deputy leader Jim Sillars outlines how he thinks the independence movement should move forward following the General Election

THE SNP election result? I am not going to mince my words. I have been right and the leadership, and membership, have been wrong. 

Lack of modesty? Probably, but what matters are the conclusions the party and the wider independence movement draws from what is a very near disaster which, with many seats held by only wafer thin majorities, could have been a catastrophe.