After more than two years, the police inquiry into the SNP's finances is still unfinished. Enough is enough.
It is now urgent that Police Scotland and the Crown Office bring Operation Branchform to an end. That its continuation must be negatively affecting those at its centre is unarguable.
Far more important is that public patience is being severely tested. The longer the matter is left in limbo the more ridiculous the conspiracy theories will become, and the more the bona fides of Police Scotland will be questioned. If there is one body that people should have good reason to trust in troubled times, it is the police. When the reputation of the police is eroded, the line between order and chaos becomes ever more thin, ever less secure. We cannot risk that.