HOW has it come to this? By tomorrow night part of this tight little island, known for millennia as Britain, could have chosen to become a foreign country.

“Bizarre”, “preposterous”, “incomprehensible”, “shocking” – words describing the prospect by leading figures in fields ranging from business to the Armed Forces – all apply.

We are told Scotland’s momentous decision will be “forever”. The cynical among us – probably the majority – might believe that while victory for Yes to independence would be forever, a No vote would be until the next referendum, fairly soon. For the Scottish nationalists, seemingly with around virtually half the population on their side, are unlikely to let a narrow defeat be the end of the matter. Whatever the outcome, a Scotland split along nationalist and unionist lines worryingly close to the divisions behind The Troubles of Northern Ireland looks a poisonous legacy.

The referendum itself has shown an unpleasant face of nationalism. Many No posters have been removed or had Yes stickers plastered on them. At least one was defaced with the word scum. And there have been reports of people fearing to display No posters in their windows.

The SNP leader Alex Salmond has played a blinder. No supporters parrot his constantly- reiterated phrase “the Westminster elite”. They appear unaware that he wants Scotland to exchange the Westminster elite for the Brussels elite, leaving Scotland’s five million citizens to fight their corner among the 500m of the EU, rather than Britain’s 65m. And never mind that one pre-condition of EU membership is to embrace the Euro.

Mr Salmond insists Scotland can keep the pound.

For the rest of us the prospect of Scotland seceding opens up some not unwelcome possibilities.

Postage should be cheaper when the Royal Mail is no longer obliged to maintain next-day delivery to the Highlands and islands. The TV licence fee should be reduced as the BBC abandons regional operations north of the border. But are these gains worth dismembering the United Kingdom for? No. They might be if Scotland’s separate identity had been crushed by the Union. But it has always flourished. The Queen herself does her best with her long summer residence at Balmoral, attendance at the Highland Games and engaging a Scottish piper to play daily wherever she stays in Britain. Scotland has retained different practices in matters as diverse as criminal law and house sales. In recent years it has been granted favours denied to most of the rest of the UK, especially England.

And there’s the point. Even a No vote is going to deliver more privileges to Scotland, more power to run its own affairs. In wishing Scotland to remain within the UK, we English are bound to request similar treatment, starting with the exclusion of Scottish MPs from any role in deciding matters confined to England.

It’s a shame that when David Cameron spoke of sitting in Churchill’s War Room, he didn’t quote from Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches” speech. It includes the words: “We shall defend our island.”

That’s how it is – not England’s, Scotland’s or Wales’, but the home, and inheritance, of all of us. We must cherish it, and each other, all together.