Scotland Wants Independence From London's Entitlement and Neglect

In the recent sci-fi horror flick Under the Skin, Scarlett Johansson plays an alien touring Scotland on the hunt for human prey. Trawling the streets of Glasgow in a truck, Johansson’s chilling portrayal of an extra-terrestrial predator had a particular resonance for audiences in the U.K. While her hapless prey were Scots, Johansson spoke in a cut-glass Southern English accent, a metropolitan interloper who strayed north of the border to claim her pound of flesh.

Viewed in the light of next Thursday’s referendum on Scottish independence (whose Yes and No camps now stand neck and neck), the film's protagonist could be seen as the embodiment of a bogeyperson currently haunting Scotland, a specter hanging over the country. To some, it’s a child-guzzling monster; to others, it’s a huge mothership that has untethered itself from its planet but still looms ominously overhead to block out the sun. The name of this specter? London.