If Yes wins on Thursday it will be the first example of a successful independence movement in which nationalism is not overwhelmingly the predominant force.
It will be, above all, the rediscovery of the politics of vision and hope as opposed to expediency and fear.
All political parties will be challenged to adapt to this new reality, not just in Scotland but in the UK. The UK parties will have played a key part in creating this situation, first by removing the third option from the referendum, and secondly by ruling out a currency union while at the same time insisting that no contingency plans were being made for the consequences of a Yes vote: both positions cannot be credible.
If they, as well as the SNP, manage to capture the new politics by turning their backs on such gamesmanship, it will be Britain, and not just Scotland, that will have won on Thursday.
Dauvit Broun,
Professor of Scottish History, University of Glasgow,
University Avenue,
Glasgow.
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