So this is the final weekend when both sides will be out trying to persuade voters that they are right and the others are wrong. The pressure will start to build up to unheard of levels with every word uttered by all the politicians being pulled to pieces to try and detect hidden meaning. My God I’m glad I have never had to suffer such scrutiny!

In the end what will be left? What will survive from such bitter infighting north of the border? Well my fear is that the only lasting legacy will be resentment on both sides of the border. Currently we south of the border mostly appear to be bemused onlookers not quite sure what all this means. We probably agree with Alex Salmond that the sight of Westminster politicians heading north is more to do with saving their own jobs as anything else but then we have no real love of the Westminster elite either. What I fear we haven’t really woken up to is the consequences of the referendum and that is when the resentment will start to set in.

Currently the plan, should Scotland vote no, is to try and railroad the biggest constitutional change through the British parliament in the next 6 months. There will be no chance for the rest of the UK to be consulted on what they think should happen and whether what is being proposed is a good idea. No answering of the West Lothian question nor the Barnett formula. No, Gordon has spoken and we must all bow down to his great wisdom. Well we all know how that ended last time.

I really do feel that the Westminster politicians think that they can force this through the nonsensical Gordon Brown proposals and then everyone will go back to the way things were – after all there was more upset and consternation in Westminster when one MP moved to UKIP and caused a by election than the whole of the Scottish referendum combined until it looked like the Yes side might win. Well I don’t think they will be able to for one simple reason – UKIP. Whilst I don’t agree with anything UKIP says I do believe that they are really good at mustering a loud and very noisy protest and they will see the whole political fix up should Scotland vote no as a gift. In short I really don’t think the Houses of Parliament can deliver – certainly much before the next election. If this were the case then I suspect this will be viewed as just another betrayal by many north of the border – things could get ugly after all the Holyrood elite, yes they are just as bad as their Westminster brothers and sisters, have their own election to think about in 2016.

So because of all this I have come to the conclusion that I hope that Scotland votes Yes. I don’t believe that Scotland will be better off because of it but that I think the Union between England and Scotland is so badly damaged as to be irreparable. Until Scotland stands on its own two feet then the default position of ‘… it’s all England’s fault…’ will just stoke more and more rsentment. However, after independence I suspect that will still be the default position as more and more of the Scottish state unravels over the next 10 years. This doesn’t mean that Scotland won’t succeed it just means that they will have make their own way whilst the big beast to the south goes its own way.

Over the past few months my view of the whole Scotland question has changed. At the start I was neutral about the whole question. I couldn’t understand how you can unravel two nations so totally intertwined – certainly not in the ludicrous timescales suggested by the Scottish Nationalist – but if the Scots wanted out then I would wish them good luck on their journey. However, as the vote comes closer I have come to realise then something has been broken apart. I guess it was only in the last week when I started to hear the fantastical notion that we Scots didn’t vote for this Government and all it’s austerity and if we were on our own Scotland would be a beacon of light and hope compared to the dark forces to the south of the border. Such an argument is nonsense but seems to be gaining real traction. That is when I changed my mind. If the Scots are so great and wonderfully enlightened people then please go and prove to the world that you are for this is one former unionist who no longer can see any real value in being together. In my view I think we would be better apart and both sides of the border will have to make the best of what happens after that.

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk