I have no vote in Thursday’s referendum in which the SNP are urging Scotland to secede; I think I should, but that won’t change in the next forty-eight hours. So I hope those who can vote will look at history. Most people in Ireland, divided in 1920, want a united island. Partitions since 1945, those of Germany, of Vietnam, of Korea, of India, of Yugoslavia all went badly, often ending in war. Germany and Vietnam both achieved reunification, but especially in the latter case, at great cost. I hope those who have a vote will use it wisely. I came across an article in the Gramophone, of all places, on Scottish composers and their ability to take pride in their traditions without following the secessionist road to ruin. Read the words of composer Eddie McGuire, 'I see Scottish traditions as part of a British family of similar traditions; you’ve got Northumbrian bagpipes, you’ve got great part singing in Dorset, you’ve got Welsh choirs. Scottish music, theatre and visual arts are all part of a fabric of British culture… And, to say that we are going to split working people’s ability to resist the onslaught of impoverishment in this capitalist crisis, is, to me, a bit of a betrayal.'