One of the problems with nationalism – of any stripe – is its uglier undercurrents. The Scottish National Party has made great strides presenting itself as civic and progressive, but it’s usually never too long before blood-and-soil arguments start to come through. So you’ll hear fairly sinister arguments about how the SNP’s opponents are not really Scottish (a point made about me quite often) or that their opponents are not just wrong but malign, even evil and detestable.

Speaking ahead of her party conference, Nicola Sturgeon forgot herself. ‘If the question to me is: would I prefer a Labour government over a Tory government,’ she told her fellow Scot Laura Kuenssberg. ‘I detest the Tories and everything they stand for, so it’s not difficult to answer that question.

Sturgeon’s colleagues spent the rest of the day being asked if they agreed with her language. Strikingly, none of them would do so – mindful that this is one of these moments where the carefully-constructed mask of civil nationalism could slip. The SNP tends to be quite big on hate crime – and accusing opponents of hatred – yet here was its leader on national television identifying hate as one of her motivating political forces. What to do?

Want to see more SNP fails? – Economic Matters