You’ll have heard by now that the referendum on Scottish independence has resulted in a defeat for the YES campaign, with NO getting 55% of the vote to YES's 45%. You might also have picked up the message – piped in with the soothing background music – that everything is now back to normal.
But, two things: the campaign for Scottish independence has not been defeated and all is definitely not back to normal. Yes, the battle fought at the ballot boxes on the 18th of September resulted in an apparent decision in favour of NO and the status quo, but this was a Pyrrhic victory. The NO campaign may be straddling the winner’s podium, like a victorious redcoat after the battle of Culloden, but its guts are hanging round its ankles in the manner of an Anglo-Norman knight after the battle of Bannockburn.
