Scotland as seen from parts of Europe ...

... with varying degrees of desire for independence. A BBC Scotland reporter has been travelling around various parts of Europe, reorting for BBC Radio Scotland's 'Good Morning Scotland' programme, about the differing views on regional autonomy or independence in various countries of Europe. David Miller, the reporter who made the trip, has written a blog to record his impressions during his week-long travels to the Galicia region of Spain, to Rome and finally to Slovakia's capital, Bratislava. I'd say his reports are pretty balanced and attempt to look at the issues from both the 'unionist' and the 'independence' sides of the Scottish political debate. Anyone who has read my blog before will know which side of the debate I am on - I favour Scotland remaining in political partnership with England and with the other countries of the United Kingdom. Read the whole of Miller's blog for yourself - there are things to please all strands of Scottish opinion, although the final comment from his visit to Bratislava is perhaps the most telling:

In Slovakia, independence has been a success and has made a real difference to people's lives. Slovakians are wealthier than they've ever been. But can that success be attributed to independence or free-market economics? Could those advances have been achieved within a united Czechoslovakia? Even the most senior politicians here in Bratislava can't decide on the answer to that question.

I think BBC Scotland's research may allow a more balanced perspective than seems to have been on the agenda at the recent European Free Alliance ministerial 'summit' in Edinburgh which I wrote about a few days ago.

NB/ I rarely lissten to BBC Radio Scotland myself as I normally listen to Radio 4 for my 'voice radio', so I have not heard David Miller's radio reports on his trip, excerpts of which have been on 'Good Morning Scotland' this week it seems, but I'll listen shortly to this morning's show through the BBC's listen again facility to get a flavour - you can too by clicking here, presumably available until replaced by the next programme tomorrow morning.