Iain Macwhirter and his "scare stories"...

So Mr Mcwhirter attacks Unionist "scare stories" in the Sunday Herald today.

If Ukraine didn't have to pay for the relocation of Russian missiles, it might have been because Russia already had plenty facilities to accomodate them, Russia's cold-war nuclear arsenal being somewhat bigger than the UK's current fleet of four SSBNs, with a single operating base. And no, there's more to operating an SSBN fleet than just finding somewhere to keep the missiles, as surely Mr Mcwhirter knows.

No, the effects of the 2010 SDSR weren't quite the same as picking individual military units and expecting them to operate effectively in, and for, a foreign country while their supporting units, establishments and other resources remain loyal to the mother country. And how much cross-border military co-operation has happened in the "one small island" of Ireland since 1922?

Yes, saying Scotland "couldn't" keep the pound seems a bit silly. But if they did, they'd be using a foreign currency controlled by another country's central bank and treasury, with fiscal policy driven by that country's own interests. What kind of independence is that?

"Scotland would remain a part of the EU because we are already in the EU" - well, as I understand it, EU membership is by country. The UK is already in the EU, but a separate Scotland would be a new country -  all bets will be off. So it would be understandable if the EU insisted it jumped through at least some of the usual hoops that new applicants are obliged to. But some clarity from the EU itself on this matter would be good, sooner rather than later.

Denmark, Holland and Norway are doing pretty well? Maybe that's because Denmark and Norway are outside of the Eurozone, and the Netherlands had a lucky escape when RBS took their toxic assets off their hands when it bought ABN Amro just before everything went pear-shaped.

And does Mr Mcwhirter really not care if a separate Scotland's cost of borrowing goes up, if it means the rest of the UK is similarly worse off? A lose-lose situation is OK as long as the other loser is England?