Thrive

Why won't Scots simmer down?

Why batter on about independence when folk voted no a decade back?

After all. Scotland is not as populated as Yorkshire, nor as wealthy as London.

But it's also not as Conservative, nor as suspicious of Europeans, as keen on Brexit or as willing to flog off public assets to the ruling party's pals.

Scotland is a former state with its own laws, education, universities, languages, welfare system, history and hang-ups. A progressive North Atlantic nation steered by a Westminster government that's totally preoccupied with regaining lost imperial status.

Put simply – with or without Nicola Sturgeon at the helm – Scotland is another country. A social democracy stuck in a Conservative state.

And that's why 50% of Scots are determined to find a way out.

In this book, Blossom author Lesley Riddoch sets out an impassioned case for independence, weaving academic evidence with the story, and international comparison with anecdote, to explain why Scotland is ready to step forward as the world's newest state and how the British Isles can work better when Scotland is governed by the folk who call it home.

Let's cast aside preconceptions. Whichever way you voted in 2014 – if you were able – the world has changed, Europe has changed and the UK has changed – though not in a good way.

Scots need the freedom to change too.