CAN Nicola Sturgeon stop Brexit? The National carried a fascinating and provocative article this week by Kirsty Hughes, a founder of the Scotland for Europe campaign, lawyer and Director of the Scottish Centre on European Relations.

Kirsty asked why the Scottish Government and the SNP are not loudly demanding an end to the whole Brexit process, given that the wheels have well and truly come off the cart. She blames pessimism and lack of confidence about playing a leadership role and concludes; “Maximising Scotland’s potential depends on a debate about halting Brexit not just limiting its damage.”

She’s right about that – but is the SNP leader really able to stop Brexit if she chooses?

Compared to the leaders of every other main party, Nicola Sturgeon has been unambiguous in nailing her colours to the mast right from the start when she produced a “soft Brexit” document 18 months ago. Despite the deafening silence from British politicians and journalists then, despite the fact her proposals have since been heavily borrowed, and despite the fact many independence supporters want her to jettison British interests and “weaponise” Brexit, she has stalwartly tried to extricate the whole of the UK from the car crash of Brexit, not just Scots.

In this thankless endeavour she has been roundly ignored in London. Her MPs, likewise. Sure, the SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, got a proper debate about the impact of Brexit on devolution after an unprecedented walk-out last week – but in that hard-won debate about Scotland’s future, the legitimate demands of Britain’s third largest political party were roundly ignored.

You get my drift. If the SNP was taken seriously at Westminster, we might not be standing on the brink of indyref2. But we are.

Discussing the impact of a Sturgeon call for to halt Brexit is interesting but fairly pointless.

The genuine, democratic mandate of our First Minister confers real clout in Scotland and some clout in London when UK broadcasters decide to give her airtime. But generally her currency halves in value the minute it passes Carlisle. The SNP simply aren’t taken seriously by any part of the British establishment and never will be until they break the rules or leave.

Witness the everyday shambles of yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions. The session started with Theresa May marking the 70th anniversary of the Windrush vessel’s arrival in Britain despite the fact she personally created the hostile environment that has led to deportations and intolerable stress for Commonwealth citizens here.

She then insisted the UK is ahead of Europe in the quest to achieve net zero emissions in the fight against climate change. That’s just a downright lie. But no-one in the Chamber made a squeak. This kind of hollow claim is just not unusual.

The SNP’s Ian Blackford asked if Theresa May still plans to welcome Donald Trump despite news that he cages children and separates refugee babies from their parents.

Shamefully, despite the gravity of the subject, there were heckles, but no reply from Theresa May. She did, though, toss in a totally inappropriate jibe: “glad to see the SNP back in their seats so you could ask that question.” Ian Blackford ignored the taunt, and asked if the UK will end the indefinite detention of refugees – like every other country in Europe. Theresa May muttered that her government is studying a report on that very subject. Great comfort to refugees behind bars on World Refugee Day I’m sure.

I then listened to the Radio 5 analysis where attention focused not on timely questions about Trump’s imminent visit, but the enduring puzzle about last week’s SNP walk-out. The presenter said: “We had an SNP MP on just hours before the walk-out but he said nothing about what was coming. Could that mean it wasn’t planned?”

Political correspondent: “Well, they would claim it was spontaneous but that’s hardly likely.”

Discussion then ended.

Now, as I write, MPs are debating a meaningful and final Brexit vote in the Commons, but Radio 5 Live has switched to World Cup coverage.

Tory rebels may be preparing to vote against Theresa May and could concievably bring down her Government. But first we have to find out if Portugal has gubbed Russia. Mind you, the news did report that Lord Sugar is sorry for causing offence with a tweet comparing the Senegal team to beach vendors in Marbella in a thinly veiled variant of the old “they all look the same to me” meme.

Outrageous – sure. But he’s a Lord – you cannae sack him. Mhairi Black explains it all in a Facebook video about the archaic rules governing Westminster that’s gone viral in Scotland but has probably been seen by just a handful of viewers further sooth.

Welcome to the harsh reality of the “Mother of Parliaments”. It is another world, which faithfully reflects a different and increasingly hostile political culture. Can the leader of the SNP make any meaningful impact in that other world? It’s doubtful.

AND there are bear traps along the way. If Nicola Sturgeon gets “on to the front foot” about a second EU referendum to halt Brexit, as Kirsty Hughes suggests, there are obvious political dangers – like setting the precedent for another referendum to validate the terms of independence after a Yes vote next time around.

The SNP could back a simple repeat of the original 2016 European referendum question, rather than a vote on the Brexit deal. But there are a few problems with that. Firstly, that formulation isn’t the focus of the Lib Dems who’re driving the second referendum campaign.

Secondly, a second referendum to correct what was originally an advisory vote further undermines the authority of a British Parliament that has – I now hear -- not found the energy to defend its own right to decide.

Thirdly, there is the horrible prospect, that a second referendum would simply produce the very same result.

That seems extraordinary given the welter of bad news about jobs, economic prospects and the constantly falling value of the pound against the much mocked euro. But polling by Lord Ashcroft shows two thirds of Leave voters would vote Leave again, even if it meant the breakup of Britain. Amongst Tory Leave voters, the figure is almost three-quarters. Now of course, this is a UK-wide poll. And of course, there are Tory Leave voters in Scotland.

But given the demographics of the UK, the overwhelming majority of respondents to the Ashcroft poll live south of the border.

It may be hard to credit, but many English voters actually buy the idea that bygone days of imperial glory will return once they keep foreigners out, close borders and take back control of everything that’s currently negotiated with other trading partners in Brussels.

These last two years have taught most Scots that we live in an interdependent world where independence simply lets you decide with whom to share sovereignty.

But poll after poll suggests the majority of English voters see things differently. They want the illusion of control. However damaging, however pointless, however ill-conceived.

They just want Brexit. If the very real prospect of losing all car industry-related jobs from the north-east hasn’t persuaded the Geordies to become Remainers – and it hasn’t – it’s hard to see how anything Nicola Sturgeon says will make the blindest bit of difference.

In politics, as in life, you reap what you sow. And England is about to reap a bitter harvest – the product of decades preferring delusion to reality, enduring Dickensian levels of poverty and inequality to avoid questioning the seductive myth of British uniqueness. Most Scots look at Westminster and see an antiquated, class ridden, top down and unfit for purpose institution. Most English voters do not.

Of course, Kirsty Hughes is absolutely right to point out that Nicola Sturgeon’s plea for the softest of Brexits, retaining membership of the Customs Union, single market and other EU mechanisms, is still a massively bad deal compared to the current advantages of full membership.

She’s also right to say the long term interests of Scotland and Ireland are best served by stopping Brexit altogether because an independent Scotland would face a huge trading disadvantage, if rUK is no longer an EU member.

That’s why I was happy to take part in a film by English filmmaker David Wilkinson, called Postcards from the 48%, which screens this Saturday night in the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Because English opinion is what needs to shift to save the UK and English people need to lead that fight.

Meanwhile, the upshot for Scots is crystal clear. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief negotiator on Brexit, told the SNP’s Joanna Cherry MP in the Commons yesterday that Scotland is “obliged to follow the decision of the majority” on Brexit because of the ‘institutional structure’ of the UK.

Put bluntly, if English Tory Remain rebel MPs have lost the will to tackle Brexiteers in their own party, the good ship Britannia is heading for the rocks. And there is precious little Nicola Sturgeon can do about it now, except launch the lifeboats.

Tickets still available for Postcards from the 48% film plus post show discussion including Lesley Riddoch. https://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/2018/postcards-48/06-23_19-00