Jack McConnell says that in the seven years since devolution, his country's attitude has changed quickly and a culture of dependency is being replaced by one of entrepreneurship.

He told a gathering at Princeton University, New Jersey, which had assembled to celebrate 'Tartan Day', that population growth was having a major effect:

"There is a flowering of culture and enterprise with an increase in confidence. The biggest benefit is that a mix of people and the diversity that results creates a dynamism of its own. Immigrants are creative, motivated and entrepreneurial. That rubs off on everyone else too."