alec salmond has always been very careful not to upset her maj- he wouldn't be the first to go to westminster and have to sit on his principles a bit.( i think he is in favour of the monarchy withering away following the queen's death?) as for the drop in oil prices -it's all good, cheaper petrol and cleaner air. perhaps more effort put into renewables, of which scotland happily has an abundance. anyway, as the unionists have always claimed that scots are dependending on english taxes and subsidies, they don't have to worry about scotland - they will do fine til the prices rise again. it is nice of the unionists to be so worried about the state of the (united) country - but as we are united then a drop in the price of oil is going to be bad for the tax UK receipts as a whole. wouldn't have thought that was much of a reason for crowing or sniping at the scots.