SCOTLAND (2)

In my earlier post on Scotland, I said that there was a tension between the devolved Government in Edinburgh, led by the independence-minded Scottish National Party, and the United Kingdom Government in London, about the terms of any referendum on independence.

Following last week's deal between Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, that tension has now been resolved, to both parties' satisfaction. The SNP have won, in that the referendum will be held in the autumn of 2014, thereby giving them plenty of time to try and persuade the Scots to go it alone. The franchise will also be widened to include 16- and 17-year olds, who are supposedly less wedded to the idea of a union.

However, the Prime Minister has also won. First, the agreement makes it crystal clear that the Union Government is devolving power (on a one-off basis) to Scotland, so that it has the legal mandate in order to be able to hold a referendum. Secondly, the question to be put to voters will be a simple "in-or-out?". Mr. Salmond had wanted a second question; in the event of a no on full independence, might the Scots get further devolved powers? That idea has now been firmly booted into touch.

And so, in two years' time, the Scots will have the chance to decide if they want to end a 300-year union with their southern neighbour. I have no idea how this will pan out, but at least the result will be clear-cut. Not being Scottish, it will be interesting to watch from the sidelines.

Walter Blotscher