Those unconvinced by independence are unprepared for what awaits

In fact, you have always been in this cage. You were born in it and you have lived your whole life in it. Most times, you did not notice its confines. This is because your jailers then were bound by a code that required them to behave tolerably, lest they find themselves in the cage, too.

Your cage even has a name. It is called the UK. And your jailers are the British Government. Maybe you did not fully perceive the cage you are in. If so, it is because great efforts were made to assure you the bars did not exist. If some did notice the constraints, they were told these were for their safety and security.

The truth is that you were always a prisoner, but up until now, it suited your warders to behave as if it were otherwise. This assured them, in turn, of a quiet life.

However, as of the general election, your jailers are free to treat you pretty much as they wish.

Now, many of you reading this column will not be entirely surprised by this turn of events. That said, even you may be shocked by the full-blooded nature of the alarms that lie ahead.

Gentler caged souls including those as yet uncommitted to independence, and Unionists in general, are wholly unprepared for what awaits them.

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For them, the cage was about reassurance. Their fellow inmates may have tried to warn them, but they could point to the past behaviour of the jailers. They could deny there was a problem. In short, they were fully invested with Stockholm Syndrome.

They might have agreed in principle with the siren calls that all was not well in the UK but believed that the “good chaps” in government would act responsibly. As much as others would warn of the absurdities of living in a state with no written constitution, where governments could behave as they like, they would simply shrug.

They, and we, are about to learn how an absurd constitution can be turned into a loathsome one; a constitution that enshrines prejudice and abolishes democracy. Where the broadcasters are co-opted to bolster the state and bear down on all those who oppose it. Where the civil service, once the envy of the world, is run by appointees. Where civil servants who wish to behave ethically are dismissed or cowed into submission.

Where the courts too, are creatures of the government. We may soon find that judges are appointed on political grounds and legal expertise is derided. Remember how quickly our present rulers were at pains during Brexit to dismiss expert opinion?

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In this impending totalitarian nightmare, dolts and dunderheads will be appointed to major state positions. Some will rule from the House of Lords, while others unelected will be installed in powerful places, in all cases largely beyond public scrutiny.

In these roles, they will be tempted to raid the exchequer – if history is a guide. They may well dispense public monies to those approved by the government, and socialise losses made by friends. And they will do all of this with impunity.

MPs will be reduced to the role of mere bystanders.

WORSE, as Brexit falls apart and the economy nosedives and the awful truth cannot be disguised, despite the best efforts of the mainstream media, what happens then?

Again, if history is a guide, we can predict that scapegoats and victims will be found.

The authorised line will be thus: the government has tried its very best but third columnists and disloyal elements have combined to thwart its best intentions. Further, these dissidents need to be dealt with severely; otherwise their perfidy will spread to others.

So, in the government’s eyes, who might be these nonconformists? Well, the answer is fairly clear. In the front line will be those who opposed Brexit. Amongst others, this means the Scots.

And not just those Scots who voted to remain and for independence. All will likely be targeted. This will come as a terrible shock to Unionists. They will plead that they always loved their jailers and did their bidding. They will be ignored. There will be plenty of sanctions to go around.

The warning that Lord Acton issued back in 1887 is even more relevant today.

Now I fervently hope that none of the above actually comes to pass. But the role of the column is to alert you to what might lie ahead. History teaches us that we are in a highly vulnerable place, bereft of all the constitutional safeguards that exist elsewhere, and utterly dependent on the goodwill of Boris Johnson and his pals.

This column welcomes questions from readers