Grand alliance?

G2 ran a fascinating set of pieces today on the state of the union between Scotland and England. May 1 this year will mark the 300th anniversary of the act of union. Yet, notes Ian Black (another Scot who moved south) there will be no celebration on either side of the border - despite this being a very successful, and long-lived, union. I’d recommend his thoughtful piece on what’s going on to anyone interested in the dynamics of this sometimes fraught relationship.

My favourite line, however, comes in Jenny Colgan’s piece on cross-border humour. She quotes a classic piece of Barrowlands humour (although it’s almost certainly unfunny to anyone unfamiliar with 80s pop):

Without a doubt the free-ranging Glaswegian Barrowlands native wit is alive and well - at a recent concert by the Blue Nile, the famously beautiful and gloomy Glaswegian bedsit band, the heckle went up, “Could youse no’ play something a bit mair wistful?”

I laughed, and laughed.

Finally, the piece of economic analysis I’ve been waiting for: something that explains how Scotland’s finances would fare if the country was independent.

Do read it all, but the answer in a nutshell: not good, not good at all, not even with the oil at full flow.