Forget Indyref2, John, how about getting schools and ​​​​​​​NHS done? - Susan Dalgety

I understand that your party members relish the thought of another referendum.

To claim every nationalist vote cast in the Scottish election was a demand for a referendum on independence is misleading (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell)

And I get that why, without an overall majority in the parliament, you need to keep the Scottish Greens – ardent supporters of breaking up the UK - on side.

But please, after tomorrow’s vote, can you forget about holding another divisive ballot for the next few years and focus on the things that really matter to people, like NHS waiting lists and failing schools?

It is not as if your motion will make any difference. It calls for the UK Government to give the Scottish Parliament the powers to hold a referendum on Scottish independence.

Now, no matter who is Prime Minister this time next week or next month, you know that is not going to happen. Why would Westminster give the green light to a vote that might, just might, end in the break-up of the United Kingdom?

No, First Minister, you are, as my old dad used to say, “all talk and nae troosers.” The motion is nothing more than a spot of political theatre.

You’re acting out the role of Braveheart when you’re really more Captain Mainwaring. Scotland doesn’t want another fight over its identity, no matter what your special advisers tell you.

The last one almost split our country in two, and those divisions have yet to heal properly. And while you may have got the largest number of seats at the election, the parties who support Scotland staying in the UK won the biggest share of the vote.

There simply isn’t the appetite for a second referendum and deep down you know it.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is spot on with his amendment to your motion when he argues that people want the Scottish Government to focus on the issues that affect their day-to-day lives: the NHS and public services, growing the economy, tackling inequality, and making sure that every child has the chance to succeed.

He is also correct when he says that all of these things can be achieved through the devolved powers of the Parliament.

When you announced your new cabinet last week, you promised that your "leaner, more agile government" would be focused on the “priorities of the people” – which are more or less exactly as Anas Sarwar has set out.

So why divert attention away from fixing the problems that people are grappling with on a daily basis to waste time on pointless posturing about an independence referendum that is not going to happen?

You will win the vote tomorrow, First Minister. But it will be a meaningless victory. The parliament passing a motion on independence offers nothing more useful than content for the SNP’s social media and material for newspaper columnists.

The people of Scotland would be much better served if the priority for your first full week back in post had been action on one of your stated goals, such as protecting the NHS.

What a shame you decided to play politics instead.