Now that Nicola Sturgeon has been assigned to the Yes campaign, expect to see some fireworks from that quarter. I have watched Nicola mature from a passionate YSI member that I first saw in action at the SNP Conference in Dunoon in 1993 and watched her develop through what some saw as a ‘nippy sweetie’ phase that saw her chosen as Deputy Leader and since which she has matured into a formidable politician with a depth and personable side that does not necessarily come with that accolade.

But taking prisoners is not what Nicola is about; expect some strong arguments and searching questions to soon be discomfiting the unionists’ shaky alliance of strange bedfellows and the pace along the road to 2014 to move up a gear. To do my humble bit, I spent part of this morning on Twitter, posing ten “daft laddie” questions that I believe any unionist worth their salt should be able to answer if the case for remaining as part of the United Kingdom makes as much ‘no-brainer’ sense for Scotland as they claim.

I therefore challenge anyone who has taken the principled stance that Scotland will benefit more from remaining in a union with England than it would resuming its former role as an independent country, to answer the following ten questions honestly. In particular I challenge organisations keen to tout the UK’s advantages to Scotland, such as British Unity or Better Together to answer as many of the ‘reasons’ they give seem to be historic and about ‘preserving’ things. No disrespect to 300 years of glorious joint history, but answers should look forward to Scotland’s future.

Daftladdie Question 1: If UK is world’s 7th richest country, how come it’s >£1tn in debt, with a more unequal society than a decade ago?

Daftladdie Question 2: If Scotland’s manufacture and exports and GDP are all more per head than the UK’s, and with 80% of oil & renewables in Scotland, why wouldn’t it be better off alone than in the current UK?

Daftladdie Question 3: If UK £40bn defence spend allows Scotland to ‘punch above its weight’, how come we now have defenceless oil rigs?

Daftladdie Question 4: If the UK is so ‘great’, how come most EU members dislike its stroppy attitude, the US treats it as a poodle, and yet Scotland has friends around the globe?

Daftladdie Question 5: If an independent Scotland would not be allowed to stay in the EU and this Union is equal partnership, there can be no ‘rest of’ (rUK)—so how could England stay either if Scotland left?

Daftladdie Question 6: If the UK is such a beacon for the future, how come females provide only 144 MPs (28%) and yet 44 MSPs (34%) in Scotland?

Daftladdie Question 7: If the UK is such a sweet deal for all, why is supposedly basket-case Eire not clamouring to enjoy the benefits of being back in the fold?

Daftladdie Question 8:  If England is such a rich, vibrant place we should stay thirled to, why are more English moving here than Scots moving there?

Daftladdie Question 9: If the MoD thinks a Scottish Defence Force is daft why are Norwegian/Danish/etc units in such demand as UN peacekeepers?

Daftladdie Question 10: If big is better, why has the world grown to over 200 countries, the most prosperous & stable of which are all small?

Answers on the back of a signed copy of the Declaration of Arbroath please (need not be an original & the Declaration of Independence will be accepted but at only 1/1.56 value) before October 24th 2014. Those postmarked “Saorsa Alba” will be disqualified for being premature (this contest is not open to members of the Scottish Government, nor to anyone currently employed by that organisation).

For so long as a hundred of us remain on-line, we shall not submit to the domination of the unionists…