If populism has peaked, however, it is far from dead. Brexiteers can still cause immense damage; the battle to succeed Ms Sturgeon may throw up another divisive snp leader. And moderation carries dangers of its own: the gradualist approach is not sufficient to meet the challenge of Britain’s woeful productivity or to overhaul its creaking public services. But a more rational form of politics is taking hold, in which competence matters more than ideology, problems demand policies rather than scapegoats and a cause like Scottish independence is advanced by good governance rather than grandstanding. ■
