PEOPLE across Scotland could be forgiven for having a feeling of déjà vu in recent weeks.

It would seem that, yet again, the first minister is preparing to launch another drive for independence.

It will follow the report published by their Growth Commission, which was set up by the first minister to examine the options for an independent Scotland.

The SNP plan to use this report as the basis for a debate among their members about the type of independent Scotland for which they should argue in the event of a second referendum on separation.

While not yet published at the time of writing, the report was widely expected to include plans for a new Scottish pound. Such a plan would generate significant uncertainty and would also be incredibly costly.

In an interview with the Telegraph last week, Professor Ronald MacDonald of the Adam Smith Business School warned that an independent Scotland would have to find around £300 billion in foreign exchange reserves to protect it from economic shocks and speculators.

It should, however, come as no surprise that a 'Growth' Commission set up by the SNP would put promoting independence over growing the economy.

As I have said in this column before, while they continue to obsess over the constitution, the SNP have failed to do their day job properly and the economy, in particular, has suffered.

The Scottish Government have even failed to meet their own economic targets. They have failed to match the UK's GDP, they have missed their target for increasing exports and they have missed their target to increase expenditure on research and development.

It is estimated that the Scottish Government's failure to meet their own economic targets has resulted in an £80 billion loss to the Scottish economy.

Moreover, the SNP's failed economic policies are now having a real impact on the pay packets of ordinary, hard-working Scots.

In addition to the Scottish Government's recent tax changes that mean anyone who earns over £26,000 will pay more in income tax than someone earning the same in the rest of the UK, the wage gap between Scottish and UK average full-time earnings is rising.

Recent projections suggest that it will increase from £404 to £764 over the next five years. With these pressures on family finances, the last thing Scotland needs is the uncertainty of another referendum.

We should instead be focussing on what we can do to improve Scotland's economy and we in the Scottish Conservatives are doing exactly that. We recently set up the Scottish Future Growth Council that brings together figures from academia, business and industry to consider how we deliver sustainable growth.

The group has set a target that we should not just be aiming to match average UK growth but rather to beat it consistently.

This is indeed an ambitious aim but the Scottish Conservatives are ambitious for Scotland and we are determined to show that, by the time of the next Holyrood elections, we have a plan to run the Scottish Government and to deliver real economic growth.