TWO weeks today and it will be all over. No, we’re not talking about The X Factor auditions. On September 18, four million people living in Scotland will be voting in the independence referendum.

Should they vote ‘yes’, it will spark the biggest upheaval in these isles for centuries. Until this summer, the notion of an independent Scotland has been far-fetched. Historically, polls have showed two-thirds of Scots favour devolution over independence.

But that is not the case now.

With 13 days to go, the polls are narrowing – the latest putting the ‘ayes’ on 47 per cent and the ‘naes’ on 53.

That’s quite a shift and signifies the size of the swell building behind the yes campaign.

At the outset, I read about people betting their homes on a ‘no’ outcome, so sure were they that the Scots would reject independence. From where we are standing today, only a fool would be so daring.

Four weeks ago, in this very column, I wrote that Alex Salmond, Scottish First Minister and figurehead of the Yes Scotland campaign, was running out of time to turn the tide.

The Better Together side, led by former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling, was enjoying a comfortable lead, confident in their message that the economic risks of independence were too great and that Scots wouldn’t be prepared to play fast and loose with their future. In the televised debates, Darling banged on about uncertainties over the pound and future oil revenues.

This seemed to win him the first TV debate, but come the second, Salmond was armed with answers. A snap poll afterwards gave the SNP leader a resounding win on the night: 71 per cent to 29.

In an ingenious twist, Salmond and his team also began to talk about risks – not the risks of leaving the union, but of staying in it.

This way, they cleverly introduced the notion that voting for the status quo was perhaps the scariest of all prospects, threatening, as it did, endless Tory governments who will run down the NHS and take us out of Europe.

For many Scots, the prospect of Boris Johnson in No 10, the privatisation of our health service and breaking away from Europe to appease the rise of UKIP, are reasons aplenty to put a big fat cross in the ‘yes’ box on ballot day.

They say the bookies are rarely wrong, and they still have the no side romping home as winners. But this could be one of those occasions when the horse truly upsets the apple cart.

If a week is a long time in politics, then two is an age. Team Salmond can sniff victory. They’ve defied the polls before – in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP trailed Labour by as much as 20 points, but went on to win by 14 and secure an overall majority.

Cannily, Salmond and co, aware that many yes or potential yes voters aren’t necessarily nationalists or SNP supporters, have encouraged a grass roots approach to building the campaign, welcoming a range of groups, from businesses to artists, to push the cause.

Finally, they trust the people of Scotland to make the “right choice”.

What country, they say, when offered independence says “No Thanks”. In the final days, Yes Scotland is asking volunteers to target six or seven undecided voters in their social circle and persuade them to come off the fence.

That might just be enough to take them over the finishing post.

Of course, the no side have just as long to bolster their sliding support (down 14 points since mid-August). However, this may prove difficult. Their campaign has been lacklustre and unfocused.

They have struggled to put a positive spin on why the Scots should stay in the union and relied solely on negative arguments.

Told that they can’t have the pound, can’t be in the EU, and can’t manage without oil, you can see why millions of Scots might just think better of themselves rather than “Better Together”.