Alex Salmond will be a formidable opponent – so David Cameron needs to fight on his own terms
In Aberdeen this week, a new statue of Robert the Bruce was unveiled. Canny, daring and tenacious, he is a king revered for an audacious victory that altered the course of Scottish history and secured his country’s independence from England. It is easy to imagine Alex Salmond plotting where his own statue will be, how tall the plinth. He has the same ambition, to win Scotland’s independence, and his battle plan is not entirely dissimilar. In Bannockburn, a much larger English force was destroyed on the battlefield as a result of its recklessly complacent commanders. Almost 700 years later, the same fate may well befall the unionist parties if they’re not careful.
The devolutionists aimed to kill Scottish nationalism by setting up a parliament in Edinburgh. To put it mildly, this has not gone according to plan.
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