Midland MP Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has admitted he dares to dream.

He’s not dreaming about the Conservatives winning the next election or becoming Prime Minister (although perhaps he dreams of those things, too).

The MP for Bromsgrove was talking about England’s chances of winning the World Cup, which kicks off on June 12.

He said: “I think England will do really well. I think the whole country is behind them, the whole nation.

“I even heard Alex Salmond on the radio saying he’s rooting for England. The whole United Kingdom is behind England. I think they are going to do very well.”

I’m sure he means it too, although the Culture Secretary, who was speaking to magazine Total Politics, could hardly have admitted he expects England to make it to the quarter-finals before being knocked out on penalties.

But it was interesting that a question about England led him to talk about Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole.

Because uncertainty about the future of the United Kingdom casts a shadow over every debate at Westminster at the moment.

Polls suggest that a majority of Scots oppose independence.

An Ipsos MORI poll published on Monday found that, of Scots who say they are certain to vote, 54 per cent say they will vote to remain in the United Kingdom and 36 per cent say they will vote for independence.

But the independence vote is gaining ground and support for independence is up four points since February.

And Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, the face of the independence campaign, is a clever operator.

It was his decision to hold the referendum in 2014, and the date may have been influenced by the fact this is a World Cup year.

Scotland hasn’t made it to Brazil. But the sight of jingoistic Englishmen can only encourage those Scots who think they might do better on their own.

The independence campaign may also be helped by uncertainty about the outcome of the next general election.

Labour, based on opinion polls, is still the favourite to win – whether with an outright majority or as the largest party in a hung Parliament.

But they’re hardly steaming ahead. Faced with a choice between putting Ed Miliband in Number 10 or sticking with Mr Cameron, voters might yet stick with the devil they know. And this is a problem for the unionist campaign in Scotland, where the Tories have just one MP out of 59.

Independence campaigners argue that Scotland is currently governed by a party which Scots did not vote for and which holds values which are antithetical to Scottish values.

In the last, Labour supporters of the union were able to counter this by pointing out that the UK would have a new government before long.

But it now looks less certain that prediction will come true.

The success of UKIP is also a boost to independence campaigners.

UKIP came first across the UK as a whole in the European elections.

But they came fourth in Scotland (although this was still enough to get them an MEP).

One of the arguments against independence is that Scotland would need to re-apply for EU membership (something Alex Salmond denies, but which has been confirmed by the European Commission).

Countries like Spain may be reluctant to approve an application, on the grounds that it would encourage nationalists in their own countries, such as Catalan separatists, to think they can go it alone.

The trouble for the unionist campaign, however, is that there’s also increasing uncertainty about whether the UK will remain a member of the European Union.

And even though nobody seriously expects UKIP to form a government, their electoral success makes it easier to imagine the UK voting to leave in a referendum after the next election.

It’s possible to argue after last month’s poll that the best way to ensure Scotland remains a member of the European Union is actually to back independence.

The September 18 referendum is looming ever closer, and with it the possibility that the United Kingdom as we know it today might cease to exist. This could lead to an early election, if David Cameron is forced to resign. He would, after all, be the British Prime Minister who presided over the destruction of Great Britain – a name which, in political terms, refers specifically to the union between England and Wales, on one hand, and Scotland on the other.

But things will also change if Scotland votes “no” to independence, because every major party has promised a massive devolution of power to Scotland if it stays on board, with Conservatives even pledging to let Scotland raise its own income tax.

This is likely to lead to demands from Wales (where there is no real appetite for independence) for more devolution.

And it will also raise the question of why an English region like the West Midlands (population 5.6 million), should have less say over its own affairs than Scotland, population 5.3 million.

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