There are less than 48 hours to go before Scotland decides whether or not to go it alone. It’s a monumental decision with a myriad of direct and indirect consequences for all concerned. Emotions run high on both sides of the border. Queen Elizabeth is said to be seriously upset at the thought of her beloved Scotland becoming a foreign land but won’t influence the will of her subjects.

For agreeing to a referendum on the Union’s future, Prime Minister David Cameron risks losing his job. Who gave him the right to play Russian roulette? He’s duty bound to protect the nation’s sovereignty. The Spanish government never caved in to the demands of Basque separatists. Germany hasn’t given independence to Bavaria; Italy didn’t allow the birth of the Socialist Republic of Sardinia and Ukraine is fighting tooth and nail to retain its largely Russian-speaking east. It’s ironic that Number 10 is willing to sully the UK’s relationship with Spain to hang on to the Rock, but will happily sever the heart of the historic homeland.

London’s slightly eccentric mayor Boris Johnson characterises a potential split as “an utter catastrophe”. He predicts “we could all be walking around like zombies,” adding, “I don’t just mean that we will be in a state of shock, though that will obviously be true: most people (especially the Scots) have yet to think through the horrific financial and constitutional implications of an English-Scottish divorce. I mean that we will be zombies, walking dead, because a fundamental part of our identity will have been killed… We are on the verge of trashing our global name and brand in an act of self-mutilation that will leave our international rivals stunned, gleeful and discreetly scornful.”

His over-the-top summing-up is grounded in truth. For us Brits, it does indeed impinge upon our sense of self. An English friend, John Heelis, told me yesterday, that he feels devastated by an impending sense of loss and hurt that so many Scots are keen to turn their back on the English, Welsh and Irish. “This feels like a break-up of a family,” he told me. Family or not, between 48 and 51 per cent of Scottish voters above the age of 16 are eager to leave the nest. Polls suggest the result is still too close to call. Everyone in the UK is on tenterhooks. Is this former Empire destined to be reduced to an inconsequential little island, even more attached to Uncle Sam’s coat strings for influence than ever before?

Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, leading the ‘Yes’ campaign, is a slick operator who knows how to play on fabled patriotic sentiments of his compatriots. And he’s skilled in evading hard questions. For instance, can Scotland continue using the British pound? Salmond says, “Yes”; however, both the Conservative and Labour Parties insist that’s not going to happen. “No ifs, no buts, we will not share the pound if Scotland separates from the UK,” says Britain’s Treasury Chief George Osborne. Salmond threatens that if Scotland is shut out of the sterling currency union, its share of UK debts will fall to Westminster. But that would have ramifications for Edinburgh as a state that begins life by reneging on its debts would send investors heading away from its hills.

Moreover, Salmond is being less than frank on Scotland’s potential for EU membership. Spain, in particular, could seek to block it to dissuade its own separatists from launching new independence thrusts. Scottish membership would be no “cut and paste job” says the UK Foreign Office. True, according to the new European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who’s indicated the EU has no plan to accept new members for at least five years. In any case, Salmond’s eagerness to embrace the pound along with the EU is contradictory because EU newcomers are obliged to join the single currency.

Salmond also claims that while optional Scottish passports will be issued to all citizens living north of the border as well as Scots abroad, the government has yet to pronounce whether or not it will permit dual citizenship plus there is some indication that Scots wishing to enter what’s left of the UK will be subject to border controls and passport checks.

His enthusiastic claims of a vibrant economic future for Scotland are also overblown. Major banking giants, such as Lloyds, TSB, Clydesdale, Tesco Bank and AEGON, plan their exodus in the event of a win by the yes camp on September 18. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) says it would be necessary to re-domicile its holding company to England. Retailers, including John Lewis, Waitrose and Next, warn they’ll be forced to hike prices in their Scottish branches.

And if the Scots believe their offshore oil and gas fields will ensure their economic health in perpetuity, they’re mistaken. Those reserves have long been experiencing a decline. The chief executives of BP and Shell believe that North Sea oil will be depleted by 2050. Hopefully, the Scots will be ruled by their heads, not their hearts, on Thursday, and keep uppermost in mind before they lodge their vote ‘We are never ever getting back together’.

Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be contacted at lheard@gulfnews.com