IN BRITAIN’S general election on May 7th the Scottish National Party (SNP), a party that wants Scotland to become independent, will only be contesting 59 seats out of a total of 650 in the House of Commons. If it is lucky, it may manage to get 1m votes—out of a United Kingdom electorate of 37m. Yet the prospect of the SNP doing so well is sending a chill down the necks of some Britons. The Sun, a tabloid newspaper, depicted Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader and first minister of Scotland, in a tartan bikini on a wrecking ball, destroying the Union. David Cameron, Britain’s Conservative prime minister, has declared the party to be “the chain to Labour’s wrecking ball” for the economy. Such strong language would unlikely to be used if the Scottish National Party did not matter at the election. So why does it?
