It used to be Scotland's nationalism that was seen as the threat to British state. Now it is England's.

That, at least, is the take of Rafael Ramos, the London correspondent of Barcelona's La Vanguardia. And he is not alone.

Yet the veteran Catalan journalism used some language this week that really stood out.

The United Kingdom, Mr Ramos wrote this week, is facing the "biggest risk of disintegration since Irish independence a century ago".

And it was the fault both of Brexit and of "the vulgarisation and radicalisation of English nationalism".

The word nationalism is never easy - and it comes in lots of different flavours, from civic and banal to nasty and ethnic. But "vulgarised"?

Ramos was writing before Brexit Party MEPs turned their backs on some kids playing Beethoven's Ode to Joy in the European Parliament.

But he was using the "v" word to express an almost visceral distate, fairly widely shared in mainland Europe, for what is often seen as a boorish and unsubtle brand of nationalist populism behind Brexit.

"Scottish independence and Irish re-unification are not necessarily just around the corner but they are closer than ever before," Mr Ramos wrote after picking up on polls suggesting nearly two out of three Tories would sacrifice the British union to get out of the European one.

"Brexit started off as a religion and has turned in to a cult," he said. "Some 63 per cent of Tory members - who will elect the next prime minister - are ready to accept Scottish sovereignty as the price off leaving the EU."

Polls, he said, showed Scots would vote for independence if Boris Johnson became the next PM.

READ MORE: Letters: English nationalism demeans our politics

Mr Ramos stressed that Scots had a lower opinion of Mr Johnson than any other politician, including the "far-right" Nigel Farage. But he also reminded his readers the SNP had its problems and had been worn down, he said, by a decade in power and "rivalry" between its current leader Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor, Alex Salmond.

He nevertheless predicts that the SNP would win back many of the Westminister seats it lost in the post-Brexit vote general election of 2017.

READ MORE: Scottish independence now 'probable' says anti-separatist Mario Vargas Llosa

Mr Ramos is Catalan and is writing for a Catalan newspaper. Catalonia like Scotland, is split about independence. Unlike Scotland, it has never had an agreed referendum to decide the issue. Our big 2014 vote made Tory leaders like David Cameron unlikely "separatist" heroes in Iberia. Will the next Tory leader do the same?

"The next PM, whether it is Johnson or Hunt, is unlikely to be as respectful of democracy and the right to self-determinbation as David Cameron," wrote Mr Ramos. "Both say the matter has been settled for a generation."

"But," he added, "if the break with Europe proves a disaster, the economy suffers and the situation becomes chaotic, it would be very difficult politically for London to refuse a vote."

Is the UK sleep-walking to dissolution? Is there a danger of "contagion"? Other Europeans are watching. And worrying.

"Scotland could go. Ireland could once again become one. England could remain alone with Wales and an unpredictable domino effect in a tumultuous Europe," Mr Ramos concluded. "The UK has never been closer to breaking up and the followers of the Brexit cult coild not care less."