Just at this precise moment I am not sure that Scotland is where I would like to be.

The TV screen is full of folk complaining bitterly that they are without power, Scottish or otherwise, no gas, not much bread and what a pity they had their old coal fire removed in exchange for this modern heater which is, as my old mother used to say, "all red hat and no drawers", indicating a degree of uselessness unparalleled in human memory.

In fine weather the Scottish countryside is wonderful but their propensity for huddling under a few feet of snow at the drop of a Glengarry bonnet does not win them too may friends at this time of year. But this may be about to change.

It may not be long before there are small groups of people making their way stealthily to the border country with a few belongings wrapped up in a road map. They will go by elderly car, push bike or even a motorised Zimmer. They will not carry passports, not for the moment anyway - the need may come later.

The only documentation they may possibly carry will be a birth certificate to prove that they are among the most senior of our race and are therefore genuine refugees as defined by some obscure but useless directive from the EU. Anyone whose most remote ancestor has ever sported a kilt and sporran will claim squatters' rights and move in on Edinburgh Castle.

But why? I hear you ask, assuming you have managed to stay awake this far. It is all because the Scots, not known for being too free with their bawbees, are proposing better conditions for the old and frail than we are likely to see here in England.

Now they are in charge of their own budget proposals they are thumbing their noses at the Westminster Parliament and making provision for their senior citizens on a scale that can only have Age Concern and Help the Aged biting their nails in sheer frustration.

No selling up the ancestral home to pay for mother's care-home in the Scottish glens and hills. No pawning the family silver to provide a safe roof over her head after a lifetime of caring for her family now that she can no longer cope.

Of course, I must point out, in order not to contravene the sex discrimination act, it also applies to any man who is so injudicious as to outlive his wife.

While the Westminster Parliament discusses the pros and cons of charging for the various elements in the care package, the Scots have got on and done it.

That is why there may well be a small but growing band of septuagenarians slowly making their way north to the border counties to await the moment when, under cover of darkness, they can slip unseen across to the promised land.

Their younger relations, who have yet to see their life's work confiscated before their very eyes, will plot and plan for the next generation of refugees, changing their names to McDuff and Macbeth to fool the border guards - not yet a feature of Scottish life but surely only a matter of time.

As more and more refugees are smuggled in from the Continent, there may well be a sure but steady trickle of economic refugees going north to a safer financial future. Forget "Go West Young Man", "Go North Old Boy!"