The argument against separatism has always been largely economic. The apparent generosity of the Barnett Formula has meant, to most Scots, that it is better to remain under the protective UK umbrella. But that might all be about to change, writes Carlos Alba

There are some examples of unplanned theatre that capture a moment, setting political orthodoxy for years to come, particularly when they are caught on camera.

Margaret Thatcher emerging from the British Embassy in Paris to address waiting press, after she failed to secure an outright victory in the first round of the 1990 Tory leadership contest, looked hurried and desperate. Within a few days, she was gone.

The beginning of the end of former Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray’s political career was arguably when he was filmed hiding from protestors in a sandwich shop.

The economic case for Scottish independence was fatally holed by an excruciating episode during the the first Scottish Parliament election campaign in 1999.

At a press conference held to unveil the SNP’s alternative budget, the party’s finance big hitters – Alex Salmond, John Swinney and Andrew Wilson – sat huddled over the back of an envelope trying to work out whether an independent Scotland would have a budget deficit.

With just three days to go before voters went to the polls, the main pretenders to government north of the Border had no answer to one........

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