Connect to share and comment  Europe is changing. Here's how. A
reported blog.  Break up of United Kingdom a real possibility
Britain's top civil servant acknowledges Scotland may well leave
the union Gus odEnlarge Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell who
has said the break-up the United Kingdom is a possibility (WPA
Pool/AFP/Getty Images)  In an article for the Daily Telegraph,
Sir Gus O'Donnell, the departing cabinet secretary, Britain's
top civil servant, said "Over the next few years, there will be
enormous challenges, such as whether to keep our kingdom
united."  Implicit in that statement is whether the drive for
Scottish independence will bear fruit when a referendum on
independence is held in Scotland, probably in 2014.  Scotland's
first minister, Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party
praised O'Donnell, "Sir Gus is right to recognize the importance
of the constitutional issue, and the SNP Government are up for
the challenge."  The odds of Scotland breaking away from the UK
are very strong at the