Now that indyref2 – sorry “ScotRef” – has been declared, what kind of campaign is it likely to be?  Unionist commentators, predictably  forecast a more divisive and bitterly fought campaign than last time, and they may be right.  But that’s only because, as the Scottish Police Federation made clear, the 2014 referendum was almost entirely peaceful, democratic and law-abiding.

The only real disturbance in 2014 was from anger junkies on the internet – Britnats and cybernats hurling abuse at each other and JK Rowling accusing the Yes Campaign, unfairly,  of fostering anti-English racism.   Yet, not a single bullet was fired, nor a single punch thrown. The only projectile was a solitary egg hurled at the then Scottish Labour leader, Jim Murphy, while he was touring urban centres armed only with a soap box.

Compared with independence movements in places like Ireland or Eastern Europe, Scotland’s Yes campaign was a…