9/1 For Scottish Independence By 2020
William Hill are offering 9/1 that Scotland will secure independence by 2020, following news that Alex Salmond is set to hold his Independence Referendum in 2014.

"If the referendum produces a vote in favour of independence, the 9/1 will shorten rapidly," said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

Hills are also offering 1/25 that independence does NOT happen by 2020.

WITH THE SUBJECT of Scottish Independence once again on the political agenda, William Hill have cut the odds about the country becoming independent and now offer 150/1 from 200/1 that it will happen by the end of May 2012; 50/1 from 66/1 to take place before the end of May 2017 and 14/1 from 20/1 that it happens within fifty years.

That bet may now be worth punting a tenner. But no more than that.

Ladbrokes latest betting.
]Scotland to vote yes for independence by 2015 – 5/2
Scotland to vote yes for independence by end of July 2013 – 5/1
Scotland to join the Euro by 2020 – 10/1

Dave Brown, the Independent

To fair I don't understand Scottish 'independence' any more than I understand British (or at least English) independence from the EU.

I can see how the argument is emotionally driven. However logically? No, unless you accept that the best method of governing is by small independent states.

Well, for instance...
Scotland is inherently a left-wing country
We end up with a Tory leader at least some of the time, and our last labour government was a bit right-wing too.

Our vote is too small to really cause a shift in the main party in most races, so this way we get the government we want.

Since his arrival in the Twittersphere, Rupert Murdoch has praised three politicians: Republican candidate Rick Santorum, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond. Of the latter, Murdoch tweeted:

Great to see alexsalmond Briton of the year. Fellow antiestablishmentarian's Econmist piece equal very good and bs!

Murdoch's praise for the Scottish National Party leader may come as a surprise to some but, in fact, the two have a long-standing friendship. As the Salmond-Murdoch letters released last year demonstrated, the SNP head assiduously wooed the News Corp boss after becoming First Minister in 2007.

Following a meeting with Murdoch in New York in October 2007, he wrote:

I enjoyed our conversation and, as ever, found your views both insightful and stimulating.

On another occasion, after the opening of News International's Eurocentral printing plant in Motherwell, Salmond fawned:

Thank you so much for the invitation to open the splendid new plant at Eurocentral. I hope that News International goes from strength to strength and that your "big bet" in newspapers will pay off.

The charm offensive continued. Murdoch was offered tickets to a Ryder Cup golf tournament in Kentucky and was twice invited to be Salmond's "special guest" at the 2009 Homecoming Festival.

The First Minister was eventually rewarded for his sycophancy when the Scottish Sun backed the SNP at the last Holyrood election and when the paper's executives treated him to a curry dinnner after his party's remarkable victory.

Murdoch, who is proud of his Scottish ancestry, clearly has a soft spot for Salmond, as he did for Gordon Brown (unlike his son, James, he anguished over the decision to back the Conservatives). But in the post phone-hacking world is this one friend the SNP leader can do without?