An abridged version of this article was published in the Evening Standard on the 12th September 2014.

"Since the announcement on the 5th September that the Yes campaign was forging ahead of Better Together, probably like many people, I’ve been weighing up the very real possibility that we could find ourselves living in a dis-United Kingdom.  That’s a truly horrendous idea to me, and made more so by the overwhelming sense of helplessness in having no ability to influence the course of events.  Less than a week to go to the vote, it feels akin to watching a slow car crash unfold.  

The Better Together Campaign has been accused of being complacent and disorganised, but to my mind, the rest of the UK, in a classic sense of Britishness, has been far too polite to point out what it thinks, and instead has been content to state that it is for the Scots to decide.  Well, that needs to change.  And the gloves need to come off.  Because if Scotland goes its own way, there are potentially profound political, economic and social implications for England in particular.  We will inevitably have the Scottish backlash, with people demanding that all Scottish Members of Parliament should be banished to the North, which not only would potentially trigger a brain drain of intelligent politicians, make us less inclusive as a Nation, but also increase the pressure on an exit from the European Union, as the right wingers, especially from within the Tory party, would not only increase in prominence, but take heart from the Scottish referendum.  So not only will Scotland find itself more isolated, but potentially the rest of the UK too.  So I really hope that for the final week of the campaign we see an overwhelming show of support from business, media, the arts, sport, and that we do everything we can to encourage those Scots that do have a vote, to vote for the good of all of us, and keep us united as a country.  

I think of myself as English first, and British second, and I think that’s an argument for, and not against, Union.  Working in the property industry, in London, which is so focused on a collective of multi-nationals in such a concentrated area, it’s evident how many people are lamenting the possible loss of part of the Nation that for many is seldom visited.  Very few are born Londoners – they become Londoners, and the Capital is everyone’s capital – and I think that inclusivity makes it difficult for Londoners to understand the desire to divorce and separate, and become more isolated, especially when the Scots travel so well.  Like the economic crises that have gone before, Scottish independence will probably be London’s short-term gain, as business (and a wall of money) lands in London looking for a safe home, and that influx of money, and people, will further exacerbate London’s housing and infrastructure pressures. 

But Londoners and the property industry – are pragmatic, and opportunistic; developers will lap up the investment, and the man down the pub will look on the bright side that their taxes are no longer propping up the Scottish National Health service and universities"