Would you bet against Alex Salmond?

Alex Salmond has a soft spot for horse racing, and I’ve just seen some odds that could make the First Minister a very rich man: William Hill is offering 9/1 on Scotland being independent by the end of the decade. The SNP is traditionally bold in its predictions: ‘Free by ’93’ being one of the more memorable. Salmond himself predicted that the Union of 1707 would not live to see its 300th birthday. But if he holds a referendum by 2015 then Hill’s say a ‘no’ result is the 2/5 favourite. And ‘yes’ is 7/4. Money would be refunded if Salmond bottled out of holding a referendum within the next four years.

So how seriously should we take the bookies? David Cameron may take the fight to Salmond, framing the argument in a different way: do you want to stay in the union? Asking Scots to vote ‘yes’ to the union may work better than asking them to vote ‘no’ to independence.