Scotland in 2017 - independent and flush with oil, says Salmond

Alex Salmond has predicted that Scotland will win independence from the UK within the next decade, gaining the freedom to set its own taxes and laying claim to most of the oil reserves in the North Sea.

The nationalist leader's surprise assertion yesterday overshadowed a last-minute crisis over his minority government's first budget, which is due to be unveiled today, as the SNP tried to brush off bruising opposition attacks on his administration's failure to deliver fully on pre-election promises.