Yet in the 19th century, the heyday of the British Empire, the two countries remained in many respects culturally distinct, even if neither could, as Mr Carmichael says, be correctly described as homogeneous. They are less distinct now. Scotland, for instance, is no longer a Presbyterian country; like England, it is more secular with each passing decade. The Scottish Sabbath is a thing of the past. In Scotland, as in England, Sunday is a day for sport and shopping rather than services and sermons. If it may be argued that there is a political distinction between a social-democratic north and a free-market capitalist south, the line must be drawn a long way down from the Anglo-Scottish border. In any case, the argument is questionable. Edinburgh is the UK’s second city for financial services, and it would be foolish to suggest that the values of Scottish investment bankers differ markedly from those of the City of London.