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<p>This coming Thursday the Scots will vote on whether to make Scotland an independent nation. And I hope they do because it will be a disaster.</p> <p>I don’t say this as a prejudiced Irishman. Even though the thistle-arse sheep-shagger Scots swiped Ulster and sent a herd of Presbyterian proddy dogs and porridge wogs to squat on our land and won the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 by using unfair—indeed, unheard of —- organization, discipline, and tactics on an Irish battlefield. We Micks only hold a grudge about such things for 300 years or so.</p>

THIRTEEN experts have written a joint letter to the Daily Record explaining exactly why they fear Scotland will not be richer or fairer after a vote for independence. 'A BAKER’S dozen of top economists have listed 13 reasons why the people of Scotland will be worse off if there is a Yes vote. Academics from universities across the country joined forces to spell out why they believe independence would be a “big mistake”. The 13 experts include the heads of economics at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities. They warn a Yes vote would require more austerity and harsher cuts than those...

"If you don't like me – I won't be here forever. If you don't like this government – it won't last forever. But if you leave the UK – that will be forever."

New Fearmongering TacticsIn the waning moments UK prime Minister David Cameron warns Scots "Leave and You Go Forever". Actually, the warning probably should be "Stay and you stay forever" because the UK will never allow such a vote again. Regardless, no country should want to be under the thumb of another.

How could we ever have a referendum on Scottish independence without including one of the most famous Scots of all time?

It is one of the tragedies of recent cultural history that, thanks to Mel Gibson's preposterous movie "Braveheart," the world knows more about William Wallace's short-lived Scottish rebellion of 1296-97 than about Robert the Bruce. For it was Bruce who, after 18 years of plotting and war making, finally threw off the yoke of the English king and consolidated a sense of Scottish identity. "Never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English," said the Declaration of Arbroath, a diplomatic letter commissioned by Bruce in 1320. "It is in truth not for glory, nor riches,...

No matter how the vote turns out on Thursday in Scotland, either for independence or continued union with Britain, the disintegration of the Old Continent appears almost inevitable. Already the British government has conceded that, even if the Scots vote for union, Edinburgh will receive greater powers to rule itself. Cheering for the breakup of the U.K. are Catalans and Basques, Bretons and Corsicans, Tyroleans, Venetians, Flemish, all dreaming of nations of their own carved out of Spain, France, Italy and Belgium. Europe's secessionists have waxed ever stronger since the last decade of the 20th century when the Soviet Union...

"Should Scotland be an independent country?" reads the referendum on which Scotland will vote Thursday. Voters have two choices -- yes or no. Queen Elizabeth II went so far as to tell Scots on Sunday, "I hope people will think very carefully about the future." The queen was savvy to urge Scots to look ahead, not behind. The Scottish Parliament building opened in 2004 after the Scotland Act 1978 allowed for local control. It is a marvel of modern architecture located off Edinburgh's Royal Mile. Its open architecture and use of glass, oak and sycamore display a determination to root...

Having been on this journey to independence for more than 50 years, it seems to me that the arguments have been kicked about like a bladder on a beach. But as the 18 September approaches and, one by one, the scare stories are burst, a new sense of opportunity and hope for the future is now in sight. Scotland has an opportunity to make a step change. More than anything else, culture defines a country. It provides international visibility and stimulates global interest more than a nation’s politics, business or economy ever can. So, with our colourful history, strong identity,...

... “When a relationship breaks, when one part of your country is trying to get a divorce, it doesn’t work to just say, ‘You’re never going to be able to survive on your own. You’re going to be too poor. You’re going to come running back,’ ” said Rory Stewart, a Parliament member who represents the English side of the border. He helped to lay the first stone in July and has overseen the cairn’s construction ever since. “You have to say, ‘I love you.’ ”

Former President Bill Clinton has issued a statement urging Scots to reject the upcoming independence referendum. In a statement released through the pro-unity Better Together campaign, the 42nd president said Scots could send “a powerful message of both identity and inclusion” by voting to stay within the United Kingdom.

On Thursday, Scotland will decide whether it intends to remain part of the United Kingdom or go its own way as a separate nation. Inspired, Catalonia has renewed its campaign for independence from Spain. Earlier this week, it became clear that San Francisco venture capitalist Tim Draper’s “Six Californias” initiative — which would have seen the state subdivided into six new polities, in effect allowing affluent Silicon Valley to secede from the state’s poor interior and the vulgarians down south — would not proceed to the ballot, having failed to secure sufficient signatures in the petition stage. Secession talk, indulged...

Sir Sean Connery, the SNP’s most famous supporter, is not planning to make a last-minute appearance for the Yes campaign because of his tax exile status, according to his brother. There has been speculation that the 84-year-old actor, who lives in the Bahamas, could make a morale-boosting intervention for the Yes camp at the 11th hour. But his younger brother Neil, 76, speaking in Edinburgh, said: “There's only a certain amount of days Sean can be in the country for tax reasons, so I know that he intends to use them wisely."

Scotland’s drive to independence has been interpreted by many as a throwback to ancient identity politics – but many of the trends on display in the Scottish referendum have more to do with the politics of the future than those of the past. The polls show that this week’s vote is too close to call. There is still a chance that the “No” campaign will ultimately prevail – something that I dearly hope will happen both for the sake of the Scots and the rest of the Britain. But whatever the result of the vote, I think we must recognize...

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After a few days of relatively small changes, most bookies have changed their odds on a Scottish Yes vote.Of 23 bookies, only one (Betway) thought it more likely than yesterday that Scotland would vote Yes, while all but two showed odds shortening on a No vote.By doing some simple maths it is possible to work out the implied percentages, and betting companies have their money firmly on a No vote. The median probability across 23 bookies is that there is an 83.3 per cent chance the UK will stay together and a 22.2 per cent chance of a split.This...

Dear Scotland, You probably don’t know this, but you made us. The first European to cross the continent and reach our Pacific coast was Alexander Mackenzie – a Scot. Our first prime minister and chief Father of Confederation, Sir John A. Macdonald? Scottish. So too our second PM. Our country’s national dream, a railroad from sea to sea, was realized in 1885 when Sir Donald Smith, head of the Canadian Pacific Railway, drove The Last Spike at Craigellachie – a place named after a village in his homeland. The man who did the most to create Canada’s system of universal...

In a curious coincidence, 2014 Scotland and 1994 Quebec have nearly the same population: about 5–6 million. About the same as Denmark or Norway, and half-a-million more than Ireland. Even on physical area Scotland’s no slouch: about the size of Holland or Ireland, and three times the size of Jamaica. The fact that Ireland, Norway, and Jamaica are all considered sustainably-sized countries argues for the separatists here. So small is possible. But is it a good idea? The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is resoundingly “Yes!” Statistically speaking, at least. Why? Because according to numbers from the World Bank Development Indicators, among...

Nigel Farage speech 19:28

EDINBURGH—If Scottish nationalists win independence from Britain in this week’s referendum, they will owe at least some thanks to an unlikely ally: the late, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The current Scottish referendum on independence, coming down to a too-close-to-call finish on Thursday, has reignited the fire under Scotland’s long-standing resistance to Conservatism in Britain, especially the Thatcher brand of the 1970s and 1980s. “I came over to independence as a result of Thatcher,” says Douglas Campbell, a 65-year-old Yes campaigner who showed up at a canvassing push near Scotland’s Parliament in Edinburgh on the last Sunday of the...