I fully expect that the vast majority of my readers will click off as soon as they see the word “Brexit” on their screens…
In fairness, I don’t blame them.
It hasn’t been much fun looking over the hedge from Donegal into Ukania since 2016.
For me there are two parts to this shambles:
How it will unfold in Britain.
The impact on the island of Ireland.
The Six Counties is the Schleswig-Holstein Question of Brexit and is an unsolvable problem that couldn’t be adumbrated on the side of a big red bus.
The rights of people in Northern Ireland to be Irish or British or both was a key part of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA).
It successfully devolved the identity issue down to the individual.
The European Union was key to the success of the GFA.
Indeed, the entire treaty is hard to imagine as anything other than a post-Maastricht piece of statecraft.
In 1998 the idea that the UK would one day leave the European Union was risible.
Well now, here we are…
Of course, the possibility of border checkpoints coming back makes it our business here in the Republic.
However, the rest of it is for the people of the UK.
If they want to trash their economy in exchange for blue passports then fair enough.
The reason I’m writing this today is that I thought a new chapter was written yesterday.
The performance of Prime Minister Johnson at the Dispatch Box was significant.
I have no doubt that this performance art by the Poundland Churchill played very well with his base.
Like all star turns he needed a warm-up act and the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox didn’t let him down.
The language used by both of them yesterday firmly established a Dolchstoßlegende narrative for Little Britain.
It is self-evident that if there has been an act betrayal then someone has done the betraying.
That was the proposition that the British Prime Minister was setting out yesterday in the chamber.
His use of words like “surrender” has the effect of militarising the terms of the discourse within Westminster.
Many of his political enemies thought that the 11-0 thrashing at the Supreme Court would have punctured his bluster.
However, they clearly haven’t been around that many old Etonians.
Johnson simply stated that he thought that the ruling of the Supreme Court was “wrong” and he left it at that.
It is a historical fact that the British Empire is as dead as Rangers, but the old imperial hubris of the elite is still in fine fettle.
Johnson’s grandstanding yesterday wasn’t intended to change any minds within the Chamber, but rather to re-energise his base.
Prepare them for the Great Brexit Betrayal and make sure that they’re plenty angry.
The worry is that somewhere that confected anger it might be acted upon by a crazy.
Even when the memory of murdered MP Jo Cox was raised it didn’t push Johnson off his stride.
I’m sure that somewhere Steve Bannon would have smiled approvingly.
He would almost certainly view all of this as encouraging signs of polarisation.
Meanwhile we in the EU 27 look on at this shambles and wonder how it will end.
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Meanwhile at Celtic Park Brexit has worked out better than some (most bloggers) anticipated.
The local economy is vibrant
The haul from the nets has been a bumper season so far
The defence budget although small has proved effective
Goalies Denying Penalties (GDP) is on the rise
Immigration levels were on the rise but productivity is up
Climate change isn’t quite as bad as forecast with both Sinclair and Hendry coming in from the cold
Even the Israeli issues have worked out better than expected though we are still trying work out how it is considered part of Europe
Tension in Norther Ireland have abated with Neil Lennon making Hayes while the sun shines and as a result a new bumper crop of youngsters have appeared from the fertile souls of Lennoxtown
.It’s a form of Socialism so it is.
Even the online Steins would have to agree with that.
Frankly Mr Shankly you were spot on 👍🏼
The French strikers have again foiled any attempts to release our grip on future prosperity
The Fench blockade at the back has bolstered the Norwegians trawling deep in the box
Both wings that’s left and right are operating in concert and providing critical support to the centre
Meanwhile factions within the Support continue to push for equal rights and transparency in the work place as those who control and Govern continue to feed from the trough and refuse to bite the red hand that feeds them.
Propaganda is at Level 5 as Opposition Forces continue to run amok in the streets of Europe chanting and grunting like an abstract image from Orwell’s Animal Farm
Meanwhile in the Supreme Courts the Big Top has been erected as the Circus comes to town
Bring on the 🤡🤡🤡
I see Feyenoord have slumped to 10th place in the Dutch league table after getting slaughtered at home by AZ Alkmaar.
Perhaps the recent Ibrox triumph over them was not so much to do with the technical genius of Stevie G and his use of the multiple ball system but more to do with the former Dutch giants just being crap?
The EU want a single state, with laws , police, army etc all under their control. However those in charge of the EU are -elected and have ultimate power, with no means to curb their excesses. The EU parliament is a farce with no power to control those above them, and if you don’t like what ” Boris ” is doing, then how can you accept the EU?
There are FOUR en-elected presidents in the EU and there are 10,000, YES ten thousand people are paid more than the UK prime minister.
Cut your hedge Phil😉
Thatcherism was Neoliberalism.
The EU is a Neoliberal construct.
There is no other alternative to Neoliberal Politics within it.
You don’t get another choice.
Those who wish to remain within it are now backing Thatcherism above all else.
I find that quite worrying as a Socialist who grew up under Thatcher.
Crazy times we live in right enough.
Wake up and smell the EU coffee folks.
There’s a mountain of it behind the regulations…
So people voted for Brexit without a plan. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to vote for Independence without a plan? Would they?
I think we oft forget that in a democratic society the majority rule, it’s the way our country has been run for years. We Scots have been the survivors of Tory rule even though we see ourselves (some of us) as not part of that whole. We are and until independence we shall be. This is democracy.
Brexit should happen, I didn’t vote for it but I respect the country wide majority.
So, I am going to reflect on something similar to how fucked up this whole thing is and how we need to change and have a constitutional overhaul and reform.
I watched a video by a loyalist orange grand master who was saying that the SNP council in Glasgow were using the ban on parades as a way of undermining their right to march and somehow that was an attack on the freedoms our laws provide in the same way they were fighting for independence against the wishes of the majority vote.
Same way I didn’t vote for Brexit but respect the vote, this guy says in so many words “The incumbent council were democratically elected to represent the needs and wishes of the majority yet when those needs and wishes conflict with my own then I want something different (my own way)”
After writing that I realise what a fucked up country we live in and in or out we need major changes.
You say ” in a democratic society the majority rule, it’s the way our country has been run for years”.
Well, that’s not true. We are self defined as a Parliamentary Democracy. We elect MP’s to determine things on our behalf and to enact legislation, all occurring within a “first past the post system,” the emerging winners seldom command a majority but they achieve hegemony. The Referendum was presented as a consultative process and was not described as being binding. Thus following a campaign in which lies and deceit were very evident, we have this strange fabricated view that on the basis of the outcome we must head over a cliff edge without further consideration or negotiation.
In a democracy the right to change your mind is respected and incorporated into future elections. Leaving the EU is not a decision that can be reversed by the people of the UK on their own if the reality transpires to be dystopian. For that reason a confirmatory referendum prior to the final decision to withdraw should be required.
I’m very tired of those who suggest that “we voted to leave….end of” (no pun intended). Voting takes about one minute online or ten minutes to vote in person. Its not a lot to expect of citizens especially in the face of news reported elsewhere that the NHS is not ready for a “no-deal” exit. “How many deaths will it take ’til we learn that too many people have died” to paraphrase Bob Dylan
Anyone who thinks that the people of the UK will not be worse off after a Tory Brexit are kidding themselves on . If they don’t recognise a hard right agenda is coming after we leave the EU then I’m afraid they are in for a shock when it comes about . Johnston,Rees Mogg,Duncan-Smith,Farage, etc definitely do not have the interest’s of the vast majority of the people of the UK at heart .As far as Scotland is concerned, staying within the EU after Independence puts it in the same position as other small to medium size countries such as ROI, Denmark, Belgium,Finland,etc and I don’t see many of these countries wanting to leave the EU.
The strategy is now obvious. Make a big enough pain in the arse of the UK in the EU institutions over the next few weeks. Don’t attempt to get a deal. Then, when Johnson is forced to write his letter, the EU says “sorry, you’re more trouble than you’re worth”. UK now out on its ear with no deal and Boris and his chums can get on with the disaster capitalism project in “peace” – to hell with the non-millionaires.
Fully agree, when the 31st October do or die date passes, and Johnson hamstrung with being unable to leave without a deal, which has always been his aim, the EU will be so pissed off that no further extension will be forthcoming.
Every economic forecast for leaving without a deal screams disaster for the UK but Johnson and his acolytes are prepared to jump off the cliff face no matter the cost.
THEY won’t face any cost. WE WILL.
They’re talking now about the Privy Council (Government Ministers) being able to pass a law of some sort without the need for parliament’s or the monarch’s approval, to override the Benn Act and therefore leave on 31st Oct as Boris keeps saying. Or even going ahead with leaving on Oct 31st using the logic that Article 50 is a part of European Law and the Benn Act is a part of UK Law, and EU Law has supremacy over UK Law and therefore trumps it.
It’s a trivial matter … but the ‘blue passports’ thing always seems to be a reference back to the days of pre euro-burgundy uniformity.
I’ll need to excavate it from some alluvial layer in my spare room to check … but I’m pretty certain my last ‘pre EU UK’ passport was and is BLACK.
It was probably an echo of its colonial origins but it did have a ‘Don’t F£&k With Me’ attitude with its hardcover and peakaboo window….. although some of that perception may be the result of travelling with a parent who had a diplomatic passport.
That was back at a time when words like Brexit thankfully didn’t exist and if you’d asked me about Shengen I’d have thought you were talking about a city in Southern China.
Whatever the colour of a post EU UK passport …. I doubt it will have quite the same ‘attitude’ and respect that the old one had.
Ideally … I’d like a Scottish Passport.
I wouldn’t mind if that was blue ! (Dark Blue)
You are 100% correct that the pre-EU passport was black. I recently came across my 1st passport issued in 1987. It was a 96-page one, which was used extensively in the 10 years of its validity. I also had a 48-page back-up passport because, at that time, if you had an Israeli stamp in your passport then you could not enter an Arab League member state, and vice-versa. When I renewed in 1997, the renewal was burgundy, and has been since then. I no longer need a backup passport, because the Middle East are a bit more “grown-up” (loosely speaking) in that wee bit of ink on a page bearing an Israeli stamp. I think Saudi Arabia became a bit more accepting of that stamp, when Saddam annexed the “19th province” (Kuwait) in the early 90’s, because they feared invasion by the Iraqi forces. I know that the Saudis turned a blind eye to alcohol being brought in for the troops stationed in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Al Khobar. They were grateful for the presence of the allied forces, as their own air force was in its relative infancy. It was only a short time later that they signed a deal with BAe to supply them with fighter jets.
My perception is that the harder-line Middle Eastern states haven’t loosened up… more the case that Israel doesn’t bother stamping passports any more. Much like Cuba not stamping pasports of US citizens who’d sneaked in his Canada or Caribbean.
A recent ‘transit’ of Dubai recently on way to China had a passport official scouting every page of my current passport…. I don’t think it was a vague curiosity about where I’ve visited, I’ve not been in Saudi Arabia for a number of years but there was no way at the time that an Israeli stamp was tolerated… in fact I think they’d have checked at visa issue stage anyway.
I wasn’t connected to military (oil engineering) but the guys I worked with made their own booze.
Anyone coming in from the uk was obliged to bring in a shipment of brewers yeast. Remarkably the customs at Damam never raised an eyebrow.
You are not allowed entry into Lebanon if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.
I’ve suffered the trauma of having live Parliamentary debate going on over my shoulder most days for the last three years. My office manager insists upon background noise, for some reason this tends to be it. The behaviour of our parliamentarians on all sides has been disgraceful, though to be fair, this has been the trend for some time now and precedes 2016 by several years. Its noticeable with some more than others, especially in their tv debates and social media comments. This is cross party phenomenon but some of the worst examples are Labour members. I say this as someone who has never and never will vote Tory. My own feeling when watching this embarrassing squabble was that the memory of Jo Cox was being used by Paula Sheriff as part of some lamentable ‘faux-outrage game’, a tactic that far too many people (not just polticians) are not above using these days. Pathetic. Sheriff’s behaviour, as well as Jess Phillips was particularly bad yesterday, standard fare for Phillips, to be fair. If a quieter member had stood up and brought Jo Cox into the debate as sobering interjection, based on a genuine concern, it would have been welcome. However it wasn’t it was brought up by a boorish nonentity pretending to be upset. I’ve seen better acting on Home and Away.
Boris Johnson didn’t mention jo cox!, the feminist corbynista’s did!.
Shame on them.
And jess philips is the woman who laughed during a commons debate on suicides amongst young men!.
A evil woman.
An evil women!! Jesus,this just typifies the ignorance and lack of education that these Brexit sheep are guilty of.
Jess Phillips a feminist “corbynista” (sic)? Really, how very wrong you are. Jess Phillips is by no stretch of the imagination a “Corbynista”. Still you had an insult concocted and you were bursting to fire it out. Are you John Brown?
Why does BoJo merit, correctly, capital letters at the start of his names and yet the 2 women you mentioned didn’t?
That, Sir, speaks volumes about your attitude. HH
Once ( IF ) the UK leaves the EU, many more will follow. As one of the highest payees, the UK may take an initial hit, but will be in a far better position as the EU flounders. France is very close to wanting out and Germany can’t cope on it’s own, all the countries taking more than they give will feel a bigger hit.The RoI would do well to prepare, instead of mouthing rhetoric, and should be keeping their power dry as they may well need the good old UK in the very near future.
Personally would prefer an Independent Scotland ( outwith the EU ) but we need out before the next Indy ref.
A bit of a slip to call us (the UK) payees.
Beyond that, explain why you feel disposed towards such a detrimental regard to the EU. France wants out….well by what standards do you draw that conclusion? It strikes me you are in the on the wrong social media platform with your Union flag flaunting vacuous braggadocio.
You have it all wrong, I hate the butchers apron. At the last election held in France the out campaign nearly won. The common people can see the money being wasted.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=610353615808233
They claim to want to halt climate change but move stuff around by truck every month, but that is the least of the wastage.
True independence for any country can only be achieved out with the EU – the SNP won’t get my support until they embrace this.
Why would the SNP embrace that idea Bob?
It’s as attached to the Neoliberal Euro teat as the Tories.
Vote Labour and get the lot of them out the picture then and only then will there be a modicum of chance for change in this Country.
Failure to do so will mean more of the same in or out of Europe.
Bollocks
SNP says independent Scotland in Europe would be good , just like independent sfa in uefa….
Oops no that’s not working is it?
Cyan, let’s have a short history of The Great British Labour party in relation to Ireland and Scotland.
1. The first MP’s to clap and celebrate the execution of James Connolly in 1916 were members of the LABOUR party.
2. The LABOUR party stayed silent as lambs for 50 years over the conduct of the Stormont Govt.
3. The LABOUR party sent the Brits into the North in ’69 to prop up the Stormont Govt.
4. The LABOUR party removed political status from Rebublican POW’s in 1976, and while in power over-saw a regime of torture and brutality in the H-blocks.
5. The LABOUR party sold out the miners during the 1985-1986 strike, as they had done previously during the 1926 General Strike.
6. The LABOUR party were quite happy to play 2nd fiddle to that bastard Thatcher for over a decade whilst encouraging their sheep in Scotland to continue voting LABOUR.
7. The so-called SCOTTISH LABOUR party sold out the people of Scotland during the 2014 Indyref and stood shoulder to shoulder with THE most right-wing elements of society to please their imperial masters in ING-ER-LAND…BETTER TOGETHER and all that jazz…and were destroyed at the polls for this shameless betrayal. A parcel of rogues indeed.
8. and most importantly…The LABOUR party actively support AND celebrate the pre-meditated murder of THE most vulnerable members of the human race i.e. Unborn Children
…and you can still encourage people to vote for these LOYALIST bastards. Well, not I, Mo Chara. Hail Hail.
Well said mo I totally agree fuck Labour and the torys and Westminster and the Crown that lot are scum
You vote Labour all you will get is poverty the Labour Party and the torus are scum why would Nicola sturgeon do a deal with Labour two put corby into power is beyond belief
the first 3 posts seem to blame Labour for the mayhem in parliament yesterday? they obviously support Boris and his stormtroopers, they cant even see what is happening to Britain, a bit like the German people many years ago
There’s a line in an old Kris Kristofferson song, “Mister you’ve been reading my mail.” Well to paraphrase it, “Mister you’ve been reading my mind.”
In less than a decade we will be grovelling to get back in. And that will mean the acceptance of the Euro, a full commitment to the European social programme, and a commitment to no referendums for at least 20 years. The damage in the meantime to the last high paying jobs in this country will be immense. Clowns.
That’s exactly what happens if we stay in the bureaucratic dictatorship. Cameron asked for changes and was told to piss off. That’s why the referendum went the way it did. Starting to wonder how the rest of the world copes with not being in the E.U. !!!
It copes by being members of huge trading blocs – the Americas, the Asian-Pacific or Europe. The alternative is to rely on oil and pay money for protection, live on subsistence wages while making stuff for those three blocs, or hide money for the elites of those blocs. Those are the choices.
The rest of the world is mostly NOT IN Europe. The rest of the world, including the US, are mostly financial basket cases, and with very few exceptions are NOT coping. The rest of Europe not in the EU have some kind of “deal” with them. A friend of mine said Brexiteers had 1950’s mindsets. He was very wrong. It’s nineteenth century! They still sing songs about Britannia ruling the waves. Nothing wrong with that in itself. The problem is the stupid bastards actually believe it. Britannia rules the waves, with what? Its one operational Aircraft Carrier, which doesn’t have any aircraft.
Cant think of any country who has gained freedom from England, sorry Britain, who wants back in! Clown
I personally could not give a flying f**k what goes on in the so-called mother of parliaments…Labour, The Tories, SNP, etc…Public Schoolboys and Feminist Fascists with their own selfish agendas and f**k the rest of us.
The only man to ever enter Westminster with honourable intentions was the bold Guy Fawkes. Hail Hail.
“Feminist Fascists”
Oh dear.
BTW if you’re going all right-wing nutjob the appropriate term is “Feminazi”. 😉
Did not know that wan Cha…you’re obviously much younger that me and politically more on the ball. Gie an old guy a break, FFS. Hail Hail
Yes Phil,it truly is an event best viewed remotely,the remote,the better.
Best left to people that believe in the system,I’m not a believer,nowhere near.
G’luck🍀 to All,coz with the tories and ‘the boris’ at the helm of old blighty,we’ll need it…
Is it just me who thinks that we will be leaving on the 31st of October with May’s deal.
(1)Parliament have put a law in place that prevents a no deal Brexit.
(2)The EU are happy with May’s deal.
(3)Boris has said he will not ask for an extension.
So the only logical outcome of the process if they 3 points are true is May’s deal, which parliament have voted down.
Politics is so funny just now. Bojo lying to the Queen and Trump might be getting impeached
I don’t see much fun in the tories and ‘the boris’ tearing up the rule book and moving away,indeed,closing Parliament,and shutting down the democratic process to serve their own greedy interests.
From what I can gather this brexit to be about is that they want a free hand to dictate(rule) as they see fit,(no EU checks)and to hell with what anyone,including the 11 supreme court judges,has to say about that.
System isn’t working,I can see another term for these butcher tory bastards and that is rather frightening,to say the least.🍀
What part of the democratic process is being followed by those opposing Brexit? Labour SNP and Lie Dems ( no misspelling ) all trying to subvert the will of the people. No matter how you voted the result was leave and politicians work for the people not big business or themselves. They are paid to do what the people want, that’s democracy
Whilst studiously avoiding the ‘B’ word…
One could infer some football related similarities between Parliament and the SFA.
A lot of people regard both as incompetent, corrupt, self-serving, disconnected from the average person in the street, etc.
And neither institution seems to listen to what its customers want.
And whilst the shambles they create continues ad nauseam, voters and football fans alike become increasingly frustrated – to the point of disengagement.
EU customs checkpoints on the border. Goods and livestock must comply with EU standards/regulations
Unless there is regulatory alignment between the UK and the EU.
Which would sound like some form of a deal. Goods coming from ports on the humber, felixstowe, dover etc. coming into the EU. Same applies to them