Referendum Trumps No.5: Li Keqiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China

Referendum Trumps No.4: Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

Referendum Trumps No.3: Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia

Referendum Trumps No.2: Carl Bildt, Swedish Foreign Minister

Referendum Trumps No.1: Barack Obama

Introducing the first card of the Referendum Trumps pack. Collect the set!

A separatist disinfographic dissected.

This little (dis)infographic seems to have been doing the rounds lately. 

Hardly a shining example of separatist propaganda though. Let's have a look at those bullet points...

1) Erm... London isn't 600 miles away from Edinburgh, and of course, since 1999, we have been represented by parliaments in both those cities.

2) I may or may not get the government I vote for. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. That's democracy. Countries don't vote, people do.

3) And you'll get more than your fair share back thanks to the Barnett formula.

4) If the fact that Faslane is 30 miles from Glasgow ever became a serious problem, then it wouldn't really make much difference if it was 30 or 300 miles.

5) Health and education are devolved and have always been devolved.

6) Many other countries got "dragged into" Iraq and Afghanistan. Even Ireland.

7) Austerity is a temporary measure. Many other countries, even the "arc of prosperity", have had to do the same, if not worse, since 2008.

8) If RBS had been based in an independent Scotland in 2008, the economy would have been brought well past the point of collapse.

9) Ah, you seem to be confusing England with the 2010-2015 UK government here. Believe it or not, David Cameron hasn't always been PM, and he won't always be PM either.

Really, nats... must try harder!

George Orwell was bang on the money.

George Orwell, perfectly (and prophetically) describing 21st century Scottish nationalists back in 1945:

"A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige. He may be a positive or a negative nationalist – that is, he may use his mental energy either in boosting or in denigrating – but at any rate his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations ... But finally, it is important not to confuse nationalism with mere worship of success. The nationalist does not go on the principle of simply ganging up with the strongest side. On the contrary, having picked his side, he persuades himself that it is the strongest, and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him. Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also – since he is conscious of serving something bigger than himself – unshakeably certain of being in the right."