It is sometimes easy to forget that Scotland represents only 8 or 9% of the people of the UK (although I often think there are more Scots outside Scotland than inside). Yesterday was such a time, with the media full of the results of the local elections.
It was an astonishing win for the Scottish National Party, and its leader Alex Salmond who have gone in the space of a few years from localised cranks to the governing party.
There was not much talk during the campaign about Scottish independence, although that is what the SNP are about. Speculation is now about when – not whether – they will introduce a referendum on the subject.
Fraser Nelson, the former political editor of the Scotsman, writing in Coffee House speculates that it will be next year, when the Westminster Government is at its most unpopular. I think that most Scots are nervous about taking this plunge and that is why Mr Salmond played it down during the campaign.
2016 is my guess, giving him five years to show how Scotland can live independently of the UK.
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