Polls show Yousaf is facing double jeopardy - John McLellan

With two incumbent leaders battling with poor poll ratings and the dreadful hand dealt them by their predecessors, no wonder Labour’s tails are up after so long in the doldrums.

The latest survey by Redfield & Wilton puts Labour on 48 per cent and Conservatives on 27, but with 51 per cent believing Labour will win suggests fatalism among their opponents, and that spells danger for Humza Yousaf as well as Rishi Sunak.

Having to unpick the mess created by Nicola Sturgeon and the Greens and hidebound by his own record as health minister, Humza Yousaf is struggling to make his mark and after just 100 days in charge half of Scots think he’s doing a bad job.

With huge problems in the NHS and care services as well as the economy, there is no question where his priorities should lie.

But his hands are tied by demands from his own side to prioritise the seemingly ill-fated independence campaign.

When every poll points very clearly to the general election result falling well short of an endorsement for independence, common sense says this is no time for the distraction of an undeliverable fantasy, especially if an electoral slump sets back Nationalism even further.

But if he dumps independence as a priority, he’ll be dumped by his own side for selling out.

But if he does make it a priority, as he says he will, and the SNP contingent at Westminster is smashed by resurgent Scottish Labour while the Conservatives shore up their strongholds, he’ll almost certainly be dumped anyway.