It's not the time for generational vote on independence

SNP minister Mairi McAllan saysa “generation has now passed” since the referendum of 2014 as she makes the case for another vote on breaking up Britain before the end of this decade.

- Ben Borland

It is the same argument made by her boss, John Swinney, as he aims for a majority in the Holyrood elections, although presumably new mum Mairi has been put forward because she is the youngest member of the Nat Cabinet.

Born in 1993, the Housing Secretary is a Millennial - along with departing Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes (born 1990), Health Secretary Neil Gray (born 1986), Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon (born 1985) and Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth (born 1984).

Swinney himself was born in 1964 and so he's a Baby Boomer (according to some statisticians, anyway), along with Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop, while the rest of the Cabinet belong firmly to Generation X.

The seven generations currently alive in the UK are defined as follows:

Generation Alpha: born after 2013;

Generation Z: 1997-2012;

Millennials: 1981-1996;

Generation X: 1965-1980;

Baby Boomers: 1946-1964;

Silent Generation:1928-1945;

Greatest Generation: Pre-1928.