As I write, George Osborne is re-enforcing, in what sounds like very plain language, what the governor of the Bank of England said in very neutral language two weeks ago to the Scots on the subject of their proposed independence. In effect, he is saying, if you go, then go with our blessing but remember, you are well and truly on your own! Do not cherish any beliefs carefully nurtured in your nationalist hearts by that glib chancer, Alex Salmond, that somehow England will be your bank of last resort. It will not! If you are not viable enough to stand on your own two feet than you will have to cast yourself on the tender mercies of the Berlin-Brussels axis and if you think they will treat you more gently than London, then you deserve everything you will get.
The referendum will be a fascinating exercise in the never-ending battle between Scottish hearts and Scottish minds. I understand, being half-Scottish myself, the emotional appeal of 'going it alone' but I sincerely hope that Scottish canniness overcomes Scottish sentimentality. Not, of course, that it is entirely sentimental, one must not ignore the visceral dislike many Jocks have for the English - and I don't blame them! - but that is not sufficient to leap off a cliff hand-in-hand with thelike sof Alex Salmond!
Oh! ye'll take the high road and I'll take the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
But me and my true love
Will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
