Dear Scots, or Scotch, Scotlanders, People of Scotland.. let's not get bogged down in minutiae, eh?
Here comes the vote! Crikey, I'm nearly as excited as you all seem to be. I do love Scotland, and its people (well, nearly all of them). Then there's the countryside: grand, sweeping glens with mountains rearing in the background and salmon leaping from the glimmering loch into your net.. okay, I got carried away a bit there.
I'll cut to the chase: I really hope you vote YES on Thursday. The main reason for that is that I've always regarded Scotland as an independent country anyway. On our many visits (certainly not enough of those, but still a good number - including our honeymoon), the whole experience has been as far from England as you could hope to be without suffering culture shock. Friendly, engaging locals. Good beer (and I hear you're catching up now). And, back to the vistas: those lochs, mountains, valleys - all clad in green and red and gold. Or the drive North from Ullapool, in the rain, with granite glinting everywhere. Or trekking on Harris, seeing nobody for days as you just wander the vast spaces, pausing in awe as another fantastic view presents itself over a ridge.
It doesn't sound like England.
Okay, a lot of 'Yes' votes will be from those disaffected with the current Government in Westminster. And people will say, "You shouldn't make such a major decision on the basis of hating the current Government". But that's silly, because the previous Governments have been just as unlikeable, and have treated anyone outside the Home Counties with utter contempt anyway. Admittedly, even the Home Counties are out of the loop now, but still - being governed arrogantly from hundreds of miles away is never going to be an edifying experience, is it?
Another good reason to vote 'Yes' is the general ineptitude of the 'No' - sorry, 'Better Together', keep it positive - campaign. From wheeling out ex-Scottish celebrities to shoving David Cameron himself in your faces, they can't seem to find an angle that isn't instantly dismissable. When Tony Blair at last threw his hat into the ring - presumably after the Treasury agreed his fee - and exhorted you to not vote for independence, the deal was sealed: nobody's going to do what Tony asks, are they? These people must be on another planet.
The campaigns themselves have been interesting, because nobody has a bloody clue what will actually happen if you vote for independence on Thursday. So the 'No' camp have been able to threaten anything they can think up: economic paralysis, stagnation of the jobs market, and (just recently) an increased risk of terrorism. Um, isn't that statement itself terrorism, technically? By contrast, the 'Yes' camp have to keep their promises realistic to avoid ridicule. But I think that many voters have seen through this, and now every new doom-laden prophecy (delivered in a strictly-neutral way by the BBC, *cough*) just puts another nail in the 'No' camp's coffin.
Finally, the 'No' campaign have such a negative message. They may have hastily rebranded to 'Better Together', but most of the posters I've seen for the movement have had 'NO' in big letters. It's not exactly a rallying cry that people can write songs around, is it?
So, best of luck on Thursday. Many of us England-types are rooting for you. And I'm only slightly nervous: because for decades, I've said that if Scotland ever gained independence, I'd move there. And my Mum won't be happy about that..
