Scotland 'to get its own internet domain suffix'

The Scottish National Party not only wants to break up the Union, it has emerged that it is also seeking virtual independence in cyberspace.

Alex Salmond is to lodge a formal request with the organisation responsible for all internet domain names seeking a ".sco" suffix to replace the distinctly Unionist ".co.uk".

If the First Minister of Scotland's request to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is successful, the Scottish Executive's website would immediately change from www.scotland.gov.uk to the more independent www.scotland.gov.sco.

A spokesman for the internet-based DotSco campaign said the change would benefit the Scottish tourist industry, but added that using the suffix would be entirely voluntary.