Neil McIntosh Editor of The Scotsman

Hello Voornaam,

Forgive the unusual midweek email from me, but I thought it was worthwhile given today's news that the Supreme Court has ruled the Scottish Parliament cannot call an independence referendum on its own: it needs Westminster's consent.

While the ruling's direction was predictable, it does fire a starting gun towards a General Election in 2024 that the SNP will try to use as a "de-facto referendum" on Scottish Independence. Whether we like it or not, we face at least another two years of our "national question" being at the forefront of Scottish life.

And that, in turn, means we at The Scotsman should consider how we want to approach covering that story. As subscribers, I wanted to share my thoughts with you first, and get your feedback - should you wish to offer some - via the usual [email protected] email address.

First, activists and propagandists on social media will tell you The Scotsman is hopelessly biased one way or another on the matters at hand, selectively quoting those columnists and letter-writers with whom they disagree. Their intent is to try and diminish and discredit all that we do. I think this position is dishonest (although depressingly common), and in recent months I have seen it used to claim that we are both hopeless Nationalist lackeys, and also Unionist lickspittles (you may add your own additional, and perhaps less appealing, adjectives).

Neither is true, of course.

My belief is that a willingness to publish a breadth of opinions on independence is a strength of The Scotsman, and one we will continue. We will be running columns and letters backing, and rejecting, both a referendum and the independence cause. We will run the work of contributors who think Nicola Sturgeon is doing a dreadful job, and others who think she's doing well. None of these contributions will be "the Scotsman's view" on the matter, and none of these views will cross into our news coverage.

That news coverage will also not be unquestioning, of either side. It's our job to ask difficult questions and contextualise the answers we get back. This isn't bias: it's journalism, on behalf of those who pay for it.

We will, of course, offer The Scotsman's broad view on the major issues through our leader column - including tomorrow, on the matter of if, when and how we should have another referendum. But this view only offers guidance and transparency on the questions we think matter. That opinion will not bleed into our new coverage of the substantive issues.

All through our coverage, we will never forget that our principle purpose is to serve you, the reader, and ensure that you are properly informed on the issues, views and events which are shaping all our futures. My team, living and working in the same communities as those we serve, are entirely committed to producing a trustworthy and compelling account of all that is to come. The principles of "impartiality, firmness and independence" - pledged in The Scotsman's prospectus of 1816 - remain as necessary today as then.

I hope this outline of our approach is helpful. Do, as ever, get in touch if you have any thoughts or questions.

Best wishes,

Neil McIntosh

Editor, The Scotsman