It’s terrible to frame the debate about what has happened. It’s much more positive to frame the future, and ask the simple question: is Scotland better IN THE FUTURE in union (political union) with London or is it better to develop a future in the EU?
The sad reality of the situation is that Scots do tend to see their own ‘country’ as sharply divided between the South East and the rest. With the history & tradition of a separate country already, Scots have a choice to forge a country of their own identity or be aligned with a Center Right South East that prefers to opt of Europe.
Very few Scots I have talked to on the street see the virtue of a society like the South East of England. I think that they prefer a model where people are taken care of, social structures are stronger, education is a right, not a privilege (even at the University level).
I would perhaps even go so far as to say: since Thatcherism, Scotland has begun to feel that it is the South East that is breaking away from the rest of the UK. By virtue of its historical position, it has the chance to reassert its own direction, unlike other parts of the UK (such as the North East of England).
Perhaps Salmond’s only contribution to the debate has been the recognition that there is this widening gulf between the two sides.