Where did it all go wrong?

The common darter has been a constant by the pond all summer long so this one was happy to pose for one of those shots where I dashed out, snapped, then dashed back in again to get on with stuff. What a shame when the weather's so sunny, but I suppose it's worse for those who must commute to their offices. I'm not complaining.

I don't know why I should feel so unsettled by the Scottish independence vote, but I am. I don't understand the yes campaign. A lot of the sentiment I'm hearing is anti-Tory. But it's not as if the Conservatives are always in power. This is a 300-year-old union and, as far as I can see, it's been pretty successful.

Maybe I'd see things differently looking at the union through saltire-tinted sunglasses. I go to Scotland a lot and don't see a country that looks in any way deprived or second class; quite the opposite. I don't understand anti-Englishness either. It's so one-way. There simply isn't any anti-Scottishness in England (well , apart from a few football yobs). It must feel like this in a marriage when you think you've been happy together for years then you wake up one morning to hear your partner saying they've had enough, they've packed their suitcase, and they're off. And you sit down and ask yourself: where did it all go wrong? It shouldn't just boil down to economics. Surely the union is more than that.