The National launch day review: a McPravda for Scotland's separatists? The Scottish public have five days to prove their appetite for a permanent pro-independence newspaper, editor Richard Walker told the giddy throng at Glasgow's SNP rally on Saturday. As the pilot launch of the National hit the streets on Monday morning - from Herald and Sunday Herald publisher Newsquest - less charitable observers were suggesting that launching at a political party's hoolie might not have been the most auspicious of starts for an organ that insists it will not be a mouthpiece for the SNP. Is the National nothing more than McPravda? Labour's George Foulkes was not slow to make the link: Others (including the odd SNP MSP) tweeted photos of themselves with the launch issue, as they did with the Sunday Herald's front page declaring support for independence back in May. There's certainly plenty of love for the product in the world of pro-indy social media; whether there are enough of them to buy 50,000 copies of the initial run remains to be seen. Retailing at 50p in print or £1.50 for a week's digital subscription, initial sales figures aren't in yet, although apparently signs are good. This isn't surprising given the novelty value and the bounce its sister paper the Sunday Herald has enjoyed since declaring for independence. Others are more sceptical. Here's the political editor of the Scottish Daily Mail, Alan Roden: The National is notable for style as much as content. There are big visuals, including a "picture of the day" on the centre spread (can't imagine where they got that idea from). The graphics tend toward the messy - like the dog's dinner of an entertainment page - but it's certainly aiming high and steering clear of too many images of middle-aged men in suits. The National's entertainment pages. Photograph: The Guardian/Libby Brooks The National's Scottish coverage on launch day feels very central belt-centric - and Holyrood-filtered. One of the key appeals of the yes campaign during the referendum was that it expanded Scottish politics beyond this narrow geography, taking it into rural and local communities. The National will have to do better at reflecting that. There's much stronger international coverage than one is used to from a Scottish title, with stories from Tunisia and Gaza as well as a profile of Hassan Rouhani, but it falls down on sport with limited analysis from the weekend's fixtures. Although it's raison d'etre is to represent the yes movement, there's an over-reliance of well ken't pro-independence faces like Elaine C Smith, Carolyn Leckie, Martin Compston and Cat Boyd. Given the promise in its editorial to "give a voice to the 1.6 million who voted yes," it could do with expanding its pool beyond the usual suspects. There are a couple of nice, if low-hanging, exclusives: one by Jamie Maxwell, which challenges Scottish government claims about rising wages, and another from Peter Geoghegan about Celtic and Rangers snubbing the new-ish anti-sectarian task force. Which is just as well since, judging by the bylines, this pair seem to be writing the entire paper, along with another freelancer, Sarah Cooper. The skeleton production staff is apparently made up of Sunday Herald regulars who, one can only assume, will be speaking to their union shortly about days off in lieu.