LET this be clear at the start. I bear no ill will towards the Scots. Crofters in Orkney, fishermen in Peterhead, whisky distillers anywhere, even players of the bagpipes, the only instrument designed, so it seems, to be defiantly discordant – I wish them well in all their endeavours.

But – this also needs saying: the goodwill is ever-harder to maintain against the persistent bleatings of Scottish First Minster Nicola Sturgeon, raising, as a threat, the prospect of a second referendum on Scottish “independence.”

I deploy the inverted commas because there’s a certain oddity, isn’t there, in the fact that while, for the UK, “independence” means leaving the EU, for Ms Sturgeon independence for Scotland means leaving Britain and joining the EU.

Ms Sturgeon’s dogged – not to say dog-in-the-mangerish – pursuit of this objective might show a determination admirable in other circumstances. But what sticks in the throat south of the border, or at least this observer’s throat, is Ms Sturgeon’s apparently visceral dislike of the English. Is it conceivable she would ever speak of “our English friends”?

Never. But she crowned her keynote speech at her party’s conference by declaring: “We need to tell our European friends Scotland is open for business.” Let’s overlook the ludicrous implication that Brexit means the UK is closing itself to European business.

Does Ms Sturgeon really believe that the EU is likely to be a greater friend to Scotland than the UK is? Especially its immediate neighbour, England? Her casting of the EU as “friends” comes despite a cool reception by EU heads shortly after the Brexit referendum and a near cold shoulder by Germany earlier this month. Ms Sturgeon was obliged to hold talks in a restaurant when the junior minister she was meeting was refused permission to host the Scottish leader on government premises.

Where is Scotland’s bread buttered? Around 80 per cent of its exports come to England. Notoriously, the Barnett formula provides financial support far outstripping that to hard-pressed English regions, headed by the North-East. I’m sure I’m not alone in being tempted to say: “Let’s pre-empt Ms Sturgeon’s wish for an ‘independent’ Scotland. Let’s evict it now – withdraw the subsidies, banish Scotland from the weather forecasts and the football results.

But that would play into Ms Sturgeon’s hand. We must keep our heads and remain well disposed towards the Scots. Though Brexit will bring problems, the outcome should be good. But the break up of the United Kingdom would be wholly bad. Can most Scots be deluded enough to believe that, even if it wants the Scots, Brussels will be a kinder overlord than Westminster, for all the latter’s faults?

A correspondent to Hear All Sides urges Durham County Cricket Club to “stand up” to the England and Wales Cricket Board over the Board’s crushing punishment of the club for debt issues. I agree. A telling response would be to ignore the demotion of the Emirates ground from Test status. Applying for a Test as usual would strongly make the point that here is a ground developed with Test cricket in mind.