All great, logical points. But that's not how governments usually operate when it comes to nationalist movements. Spain is fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent

All great, logical points. But that's not how governments usually operate when it comes to nationalist movements. Spain is fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent Catalan independence. Catalan independence has much greater support than Scottish independence, but the Spanish government is determined to stop it. It looks like the Spanish government will even try to punish them if they leave (doing their best to deny them EU membership and the like and probably not recognizing them as a country even if they have independence). By contrast (and despite some early posturing), the UK will want a Scotland that is well-integrated and will obviously recognize it. But even the UK hasn't cared about popular sentiment for independence in the past. Look at the United States, Ireland, and India. But I think the UK has changed a lot and recognizes that it can get much of the same benefits without needing to rule over places. Frankly, it's a mature attitude to notice that you can succeed without force. And it's that maturity that's going to make this a mostly good experience regardless of the result. If Scotland becomes independent, the UK will try to make it as easy as possible so that Scottish and other British people will barely notice a change. It's best for the UK if an independent Scotland has no barriers for their people and firms. Similarly, if Scotland remains in the UK, politicians seem to recognize the desire for even more devolved powers to the Scottish Government. Normally, countries don't recognize a piece of their land becoming independent easily. Popular sentiment and even riots often don't deter countries from asserting dominance. Heck, sometimes countries even want to take over pieces of land that are currently independent where popular sentiment is 95%+ against being taken over. Yes, the UK government is doing the pragmatic thing where "it doesn't have any other choice". But loads of other countries are faced with the same issue and they're not facing it with that sort of logical pragmatism.