Tax and mend

摘要

Since May, when the Scots gave more of their votes to a party bent on independence than to any other, all ears have been waiting for the sound of the United Kingdom being torn apart. Many Britons now think they have heard it. Alex Salmond, the leader of the winning Scottish National Party and therefore first minister in the devolved Scottish government, is threatening warfare with Westminster over public spending and vowing to hold a referendum on independence before the end of his term.