In today's Scotland on Sunday, Labour leadership candidate Iain Gray says:

Scottish Labour should never be afraid of the verdict of the Scottish people in an independence referendum, but that referendum should ask a straightforward, honest and fair question. The Referendum Bill the SNP have published fails this basic test and we should not support it.

Quite. The SNP’s preferred question sugarcoats the whole issue.

They want to ask people whether or not “the Scottish Government should negotiate a settlement with the government of the UK so that Scotland becomes an independent state”.

That wording gives the impression that the public would simply be asked to sanction a gentle series of exploratory fireside chats involving Holyrood and Westminster buddies.

It gives no indication of the likely reality – of no holds barred, high stakes negotiations with the likelihood of protracted legal proceedings and no predictable outcome.

It’s also ambiguous. Would a second referendum be needed to approve such a settlement? Could such uncertainty be exploited to encourage “yes” votes? Stranger things have happened.