In this opinion column, Daily Mail writer Euan McColm argues that the latest joint declaration by nationalist leaders from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland proclaiming the end of the United Kingdom is meaningless political theatre. He traces a long history of SNP leaders, from Alex Salmond to Nicola Sturgeon to current First Minister John Swinney, repeatedly claiming independence is imminent without ever delivering a second referendum, and contends Swinney is simply continuing this pattern of empty promises to keep supporters engaged.

The piece centres on a meeting this week between Swinney, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill, who signed a document asserting that Westminster's time is coming to an end. McColm dismisses the document as worthless symbolism, comparing it to a chip wrapper, and notes it followed Swinney's earlier claim that Andy Burnham would be the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He also references past controversies, including Sturgeon's ring-fenced independence referendum fund and her husband Peter Murrell's imprisonment for embezzling SNP funds, as evidence of a movement long on rhetoric but short on results.