Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe

Independence would cap great year for first minister but despite his charm for all seasons, is the promise a grand illusion?

Alex Salmond is undoubtedly the most successful politician practising in these islands today. He has led Scots first to an SNP majority at Holyrood, now to the brink of a historic break with the rest of the UK ("rUK"?).

He has done so by telling them they can keep all the bits of Britain they like the BBC and the pound while discarding the nasty Tory or New Labour bits, like austerity and war. As Martin Kettle shouts, it's the only game that matters now. In the face of enfeebled, self-harming opposition on both sides of the border (and a miserable economic recession on both sides too) he has performed brilliantly.

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