Scottish nationalism is a faith-based initiative, creating its own reality

One of the most notable features of Alex Salmond’s account of the closing stages of last year’s referendum campaign is his hatred of the press and, indeed, the media more generally. Newspapers which run inconvenient stories are ‘anti-Scottish’ and journalists who ask awkward questions are accused of ‘impersonating Alistair Darling’. Salmond cannot quite decide whether the press are an obsolete irrelevance or the primary reason the Yes campaign fell short. His greatest vitriol is reserved for the BBC which is accused of being a fully-owned part of the No campaign. Of course Salmond was so convinced Yes were going to win that it comes as some surprise to discover that Scotland actually voted No. It certainly seems to shock him. Hence, one suspects, the need to find someone to blame for this calamity. As it happens, I think the BBC did scrutinise the Yes campaign’s claims with greater vigour than it did those made by the No campaign.