EDINBURGH, Scotland — Scotland’s swithering “middle million” has Britain’s future in its hands.

“Swithering” means wavering, and it’s a word you hear a lot in Scotland right now. Six months from Tuesday, Scottish voters must decide whether their country should become independent, breaking up Great Britain as it has existed for 300 years.

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A man wears a multitude of ‘yes’ campaign badges during a march in Scotland. The Associated Press

Faced with the historic choice many find their hearts say “aye” but their heads say “why risk it?” Polls suggest as many as a quarter of Scotland’s 4 million voters remain undecided, and their choices will determine the outcome. Many long to cut the tie binding them to England, but fear the risks – and the financial fallout.

“I’m swithering a bit,” said Sarah Kenchington, an artist from Balfron in central Scotland.

“It’s getting really right-wing down in England and it would be quite a good thing to separate from that. But then, politics can be quite a temporary thing – and this is a very permanent split.”

Overcoming such doubts is the challenge faced by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and the “Yes Scotland” independence campaign backed by his Scottish National Party. Salmond has appealed to Scots’ patriotic hearts, painting the referendum as a choice between starkly different economic and social models: English austerity and Scottish social democracy.

Salmond is critical of Britain’s budget-cutting, Conservative-led government, and says an independent Scotland will follow a different path, using its resourcefulness and North Sea oil revenues to create a dynamic economy and a strong social safety net.

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