Wardog calling me a “buffoon”, a “fool”, a “coward” and even a “sad barsteward” means absolutely nothing. And that he should think of me as “insane” and a sufferer of “paranoid delusions” means very little.

But honest, rational and intelligent debate is impossible with someone who sees me as a “colonialist”, “imperialist”, “quisling” and “traitor”.

My lack of support for what Wardog sees as Scotland’s Party makes me “spiteful”, “bigoted”, “anti-democratic”, “anti-Scottish”, “racist”, a “disgrace”, “unsavoury”, “dishonourable” and “odious” and in his eyes.

My criticism of SNP candidate Osama Saeed has resulted in unfounded accusations of “islamaphobia” and of being “against Islam”.

Wardog has also tried to brand me as “loyalist” and “extremist”. He has even attempted to link me with what he sees as “the uneasy violent atmosphere of uncompromising unionism”.

Enough is enough! I am no longer prepared to countenance such smear and insinuation.

I have always sought a civil, constructive tone for this blog. Wardog won’t be posting here again.

Presumably because of the accusation of anti-Englishness levelled against a younger, more naive Andy Murray, some of the cybernats assume him to be a nationalist. Recent comments include:

“if andy wins wimbledon i would just love it ,just after being given the trophy hes asked for his comment and roars out "FREEDOM"”

“Murray will become a Scottish icon and will help show the way, what is possible for Scots, acting independently.”

“He is at least aware that the union jack is irrelevant up here, and never celebrated, so I doubt very much if he will use that, even when he is handed one, as might be expected.”

“I would expect him to at least have a Saltire in his bag (or in his brothers safe keeping) so he can wrap himself in it or wave it.”

Sorry to disappoint. Murray is indeed a proud Scot, but is in no way a poster boy for nationalism:

Notwithstanding my light blogging, the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Scottish Parliament warrants acknowledgement, and these remarks strike me as particularly insightful and apposite:

HM The Queen, addressing MSPs: “Over this last decade members of the Scottish Parliament past and present have worked hard to address the issues of real importance to the Scottish people and have firmly embedded it as an institution at the heart of Scottish life and culture. Your challenge over the coming years is to take the Scottish Parliament forward on the next stage of this journey. To build upon those firm foundations to ensure it continues to reflect the priorities and aspirations of all of Scotland’s people and to retain the public’s confidence and trust.”

Gordon Brown: “Devolution is not, and must never be, a staging post to separation but a reasonable rebalancing of powers and responsibilities - to serve the people of Scotland better and secure its position in a stronger, more prosperous and fairer United Kingdom.”

Annabel Goldie: “Ten years after the opening of the Scottish Parliament, the hearts and minds of Scotland are firmly rooted in devolution and solidly behind Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom.”

Jim Murphy: “We can maintain Scottishness in Britain and Britain gives us the opportunity to be more Scottish. Scots want identity not isolation. Being in Britain allows us to be Scottish. Frankly, we have the best of both worlds. The advantages of devolved government but the invaluable insurance policy of being part of a larger social and economic union - the United Kingdom.”

Alan Cochrane: “Mr Murphy’s speech yesterday - one of the best this observer has heard on the subject - sought to up the ante, bring us back to basics and remind us what the argument is about. It is about who we are. We are Scots AND Brits; Brits AND Scots. That is by far the preferred option of the majority of the population and being patriotic about Scotland does not preclude support for the maintenance of Scotland within the UK.”

Ross Finnie: “In 1999 the Scottish Parliament opened with a high level of public interest and anticipation. There were, of course, the cynics who predicted the parliament would not be up to the job because they alleged it had very limited powers. They were wrong. Any objective assessment of the first 10 years will reveal that mistakes were made but, over the piece, the Scottish Parliament has made a real difference to people’s lives...”

Magnus Linklater: “The idea that devolution would lead to separatism and the break-up of Britain has been put on hold. What Tam Dalyell, the anti-devolution former Labour MP, once called “a motorway without exits to independence” has turned out to be a route liberally supplied with slip roads to all sorts of other constitutional options.”

Iain Gray: “The task given to the Scots of the beginning of the eighteenth century was to make the loss of a Parliament the springboard for a century of progress which shaped their world. Our task at the start of the twenty first is to make our new parliament the springboard for a century of progress which shapes our world for the better. To accept any lesser ambition for our devolved parliament is to let down those whose voices and values echo through it. To use it as an excuse to look in upon ourselves and to hell with our neighbours is to ignore the example they gave us of how to look outwards to the world and its challenges.”

From today’s Scotland on Sunday:

“The battle for independence has moved into the fruit and veg aisles. A Nationalist politician has written to supermarkets demanding that they translate the English names of fresh produce into their Scots equivalents, such as "tatties", "neeps" and "brambles".”

And as if that’s insufficiently cringe-inducing, the Nationalist in question, MSP Bill Wilson, claims:

“Nobody uses the word 'blackberry' in Scotland; they're always referred to as brambles.”

Nobody, Mr Wilson? In your imaginary world, does nobody in Scotland speak standard English?

This piece, by the author of the Labour-supporting Forward blog, is the first in a series of guest posts. Each will have a unionist theme, and may or may not be overtly party political.

SCOTLAND’S place in the Union is now a more open question than at almost any point in the last 300 years.

We have an SNP government in Edinburgh committed to introducing legislation for an independence referendum.

Unfortunately, the rise of Nationalism has had a fundamentally unhealthy impact on Scottish politics, dividing progressive politicians in a ‘war of brothers’.

Jim Sillars, for example, was once a rising star in the Labour Party. His abilities could have earned him a seat at the Cabinet table.

Instead, he broke with the party over devolution. It cost him his career and he failed to leave a meaningful political legacy.

The Scottish left does not have so many talented politicians that we can afford to waste them. So, the constitutional question poses a more complex challenge than simply saving the Union.

For those of us who believe that Scotland is better off as part of the UK we have to set out a positive argument that it makes us a more secure, prosperous and fairer society.

However, we also have to find a way of reaching out to people who, in any other part of the UK, would gravitate towards Labour.

Nationalism’s greatest sin is that it pushes people apart. It creates divisions within nations as well as between them.

The Telegraph and Guardian are reporting that Alex Salmond’s abandoned attempt to impeach Tony Blair for imagined “high crimes and misdemeanours” resulted in a £14,100 legal bill.

Labour MSP Lord Foulkes has asked the Commons Standards Commissioner to investigate related SNP/Plaid Cymru expense claims, calling their action “nothing more than a party political stunt”.

Issued under the previous Scottish Executive, GERS 2004/05 estimated a non-oil fiscal deficit for Scotland of £11.2bn. Broadly accepted by most economists, the report was branded a “dodgy financial dossier” by the SNP, who insisted that Scotland was in perennial “chronic surplus”.

Oxford Economic Forecasting published a very similar estimate, for the same year, of a non-oil fiscal deficit of £10.8bn. It too was derided by the nationalists, who claimed that such studies were “offensive” as they were suggesting that “Scots are too stupid to run their own economy”.

But yesterday, the Nationalist Executive released GERS 2007/08, which estimated a non-oil fiscal deficit for Scotland of £11.1bn, barely changed since 2004/05. Even after including an estimated geographical share of North Sea revenues, Scotland’s fiscal deficit was £3.8 billion, representing 2.7% of Scottish GDP compared with a UK fiscal deficit of only 2.4% of GDP.

But spinning the deficit as a surplus by citing only current budget figures (ignoring capital expenditure) John Swinney described the report as a “serious study” and claimed that it showed that political separation could result in “a flourishing and economically successful Scotland”.

Scottish Labour’s spokesman nailed the issue: “You cannot just strip out one form of spending and pretend it did not happen, just to suit your argument. The SNP are playing fantasy economics.”

The Press Association is reporting that the SNP may have “airbrushed” portrait images of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh from a photograph of nationalist politicians in a town hall chamber which was used in an SNP leaflet distributed in the Falkirk area. The BBC has said that the royal portraits were digitally replaced with images of Robert Burns and William Wallace.

Labour: “Calman does not need a referendum. It is an extension of the devolution process.”

Conservatives: “Our position remains unchanged - we will not support Salmond’s Referendum Bill.”

Liberal Democrats: “As no political party opposes Calman, putting it to a referendum would be a pointless waste of taxpayers' time and money.”

CyberNat ‘Caora Dubh’, in a thread on today’s Scotsman, evidently thinks that Scots are morally superior to English, being “naturally egalitarian”, whereas the ‘English’ Tories “robbed us blind”.

“The Tories are English through-and-through - they are the True Blue Party of the Establishment and aristocracy, of public schools, privatised services etc. The Tories have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the heart and soul of Scotland. Scots are a naturally egalitarian people, maybe a wee bit rough-edged now and then, but we are used to getting into the boat together and pulling on the oars together. In short we are natural social democrats. The Tories represent England. And they robbed us blind - stole the natural resources that rightfully belonged to us, while running our economy down. Their voters in Scotland are all incomers, wealthy, aged, or all three of these. THE TORIES ARE FOREIGN.”

Ever wondered why the SNP no longer issues overtly anti-English statements? Or why they don’t call the rest of us traitors any more? Where has all the extremism gone? Alex Salmond explains:

“That was a conscious decision - to project the cause of independence in that inclusive way, as a civic, democratic, liberating movement that everybody can buy into.”