Living On Temporary Tenterhooks

"The No campaign has been an unmitigated disaster."
"It's been a scare story a day -- 18 months of telling Scots they are worthless, dependent and incapable of any semblance of self-determination The psychology of that is that people have rebelled."
"They have exhausted their bullets. The No side misjudged the modern moment."
Andrew Wilson, former Scottish National Party member, Scottish parliament

"It was always going to tighten in the last stages when emotions run high. But I don't think people are telling pollsters the truth. At the end of the day, people will measure the arguments carefully and then there's only one conclusion that you can come to -- to keep the U.K. together."
George Robertson, former Labour defence minister/NATO secretary general

"Why does support for change generally fail? The main reason is that uncertain voters typically end up sticking with the devil they know. If you are unsure quite what effect a change will have, it is safer to hold on to the familiarity of the status quo."
Alan Renwick, British academic

Meanwhile, BBC economics editor Robert Peston said he had been told the Treasury briefed journalists about Royal Bank of Scotland's plans to move to London in the event of a Yes vote before the RBS board had formally approved the move
Eight out of ten eligible voters in Scotland is expected to visit the polls to express their opinion about unjoining the 307-year-old union, toward nationhood on September 18. Even sixteen-year-olds can vote in this referendum. One teen-aged Glasgow schoolgirl claims unlike cohorts of her age elsewhere in the world, her peers are split between Yes and No, but they are educated on the issues. "It shows young people taking a pride in making our country the best it can be."

"My heart says Yes, but my head says No", says one young man who lives in Scotland but works across the border in Berwick. Like many of his working colleagues who live in Scotland and work in Britain, "There's just too many unanswered questions". Such as what happens with currency, pensions, NATO, EU membership, the North Sea's oilfields, that no one really discusses.

Better Together, an alliance of Conservatives, Labourites and Liberal Democrats has been criticized for its relentless negativity, in warning that an independent Scotland would not be using the pound, or joining the European Union. The costs of independence are certain, claims the No side, while the gains to be realized are anything but. The Yes side, on the other hand, represents a giddy love affair with sovereignty. No need to discuss hard issues.

One poll has concluded that by two to one Scots feel the Yes campaign to have been the more effective of the two; upbeat, not the scurvy sad affair of the scolding, warning No campaign. People like carnivals, not funerals. In the few short days before the vote a poll for The Sunday Times newspaper broached the reality that the Yes side was now in the lead, galvanizing fearful British politicians into proaction.

That news propelled the Westminsster politicans to get deeply involved. "Ten Days to Save the Union" blared out of tabloid headlines. The Prime Minister and Labour leader Ed Milliband went north to win over undecided voters. Suddenly, the No side has become positive and appeals to the emotions. An Edinburgh audience was informed by Mr. Cameron that "this family of Nations" would break his heart if it broke up. Surely it would, for such a calamity to take place on his watch.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown, a Scot, promised more jobs, higher pensions and enhanced social justice with a Yes vote. "Unity is our strength", he emphasized. Influential financial houses and insurance groups have threatened to pull out of Scotland. Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer has issued dire warnings of the outcome of separation.

Britain lives now with bated breath, now and again taking one great big gulp of hopeful air, then expelling it in trepidation.