During the Scottish referendum campaign, there were some very positive signs of political engagement that have never been seen before. People who weren't interested in politics at all became involved and that was a huge positive for Scotland.
On the other hand, lies were told and scare stories were spread to scare the public into voting one way or the other. The Better Together campaign were accused of this far more than the YES Scotland camp were which seems unfair given the pro-indy leaflets that said our NHS was under threat if we voted No!
All political campaigns have scare stories. In the 2010 UK election the Tories warned of more debt and a higher budget deficit while Labour warned off cutting vital public services. It's just how politics works.
I do not think for one minute that the YES Scotland or pro-independence campaign were anti-English but I did speak to one gentleman who was approached in Edinburgh by a YES Scotland supporter, asking him if he intended to vote for independence. When the respondent said no (apparently) he was told to "F*** off back to England then".
This was surely an isolated incident but this is what nationalism does to people. There is being proud of your country, of it's history and then there's being so nationalistic that anyone who wasn't born in the same country as you isn't Scottish.
That ugly part of the referendum is thankfully over and we remain part of the United Kingdom. The new threat to the UK comes in the form of Nigel Farage and UKIP, not the SNP.
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