A Good New Year to everyone. And yes, with a certain referendum coming up, it has felt a bit different from usual. This morning’s reading on the subject included this view from England, and this more predictable one from closer to home. So, with apologies to those who are expecting some enlightenment on recent developments with our Hume & Purcell recordings, or our plans for live shows in summer 2015 (all of these are keeping me busy), here’s an outline of why I’m now pretty damn sure how I’m going to vote. Skip to the next post if you couldn’t care less.

I’m surprised at how many folk here still don’t realise that the referendum isn’t about voting for a government. Many are suspicious of Alex Salmond, largely because he is such a smooth political operator, but they don’t realise that a Yes vote isn’t for him. In theory Scotland could vote for independence, the SNP would suddenly have no reason to exist, and then he’d be a busted flush. Of course, he’s too smart to let this happen, but the message still hasn’t got through that the voting for an actual Scottish government wouldn’t happen for another year and more. This is a vote about structure, not about policies.

Let’s look at the last chance for any meaningful constitutional change, when the Westminster coalition took power in 2010, and the LibDems negotiated votes on House of Lords reform, and a measure of proportional representation. Both of these were roundly defeated when those with vested interests that things stay as they are, used their power and influence in parliament or with the electorate. Result: no change whatsoever, and now no prospect of change for the foreseeable future. So Henry Porter’s call for a Charter party in today’s Guardian is unlikely to gain any traction: ‘No matter who you vote for, the Government always gets in’ used to be a joke, but not any more.

You’ve probably guessed by now that I’m going to vote Yes to Scottish independence. It’s not out of a sense of nationalism, or a belief that some utopia will rise from the ashes of the United Kingdom. Quite the reverse: I’m sure, like Iceland or Ireland, or for that matter the Western Isles Council, if we gain independence we’ll probably commit some hideous economic foul-up, and have to get ourselves out of it by our own ingenuity and hard work. But would that be worse than the current state of the UK, which besides being skint, is becoming rapidly more insular, much more unequal, and more suspicious of the outside world?

I’m voting Yes because I think it’s the only real chance of political reform and modernisation: Westminster isn’t going to achieve it. Even to be free of the House of Lords and all that it stands for would be more than worth it. The UK Government’s concerns bear almost no relation to mine; by contrast, I regularly meet two of my MSPs in person, and the Education Secretary has even been known to respond directly to me on Twitter. That might sound trivial, but it’s a demonstration that the Scottish government and I have at least something in common.

So … when Scotland almost inevitably bottles it and votes No in September, I’ll be one of the smug ones with a ‘Don’t blame me, I voted Yes’ badge on, a few years down the line when things really go tits up for everybody, and we're still stuck with the same old options, none of which work.