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Brexit: The Story So Far

Posted on February 05, 2018 by

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  1. 05 02 18 15:56

    Brexit: The Story So Far | speymouth
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88 to “Brexit: The Story So Far”

  1. Robert J. Sutherland
    Ignored
    says:

    Another telling one from the Phantoms.

    Ongoing Tory/Labour catastroexit or complete freedom from their never-ending bungling.

    What a hard choice, eh…?

  2. Proud Cybernat
    Ignored
    says:

    Hardhitting and to the point. It doesn’t get any more stark than that, Scotland.

    So – yae gonnae just accept it or grow a pair and do what you SHOULD have done in 2014?

  3. Lanarkist
    Ignored
    says:

    If the Highway to Hell had signposts…

  4. One_Scot
    Ignored
    says:

    Apparently this is to be shown just after Reporting Scotland tonight. Obviously in a parallel universe of course.

  5. starlaw
    Ignored
    says:

    don’t know how this will end up … but it wont be good.

  6. Tombee
    Ignored
    says:

    The choice is clear now. It cannot be any clearer. It’s for Scotland to become and independent country. #Referendum 2018.

  7. Dr Jim
    Ignored
    says:

    And if the people of Scotland don’t wake up and get a grip of themselves guess who they’ll blame when it all goes Baad

    The very person who told them from day one exactly what was going to happen if they didn’t do something, like VOTE SNP Vote for Independence

    Nicola Sturgeon

    They’ll all moan she didn’t do enough even though they didn’t give her the power to do it

  8. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    One cock up after another.

    Next? Well, if the Tories show as much competence, diplomatic skill, and forward planning as they have up till now …. the inevitable disaster could be the back breaking straw for their Union camel.

    We need to make sure Brexit’s silver lining is Scotland’s independence.

    (Too many mixed metaphors?)

  9. Dan Huil
    Ignored
    says:

    The only reason these Britnat bastards are getting away with such arrogant, ignorant incompetence is the support they get from the Britnat media.

    It’s getting clearer by the day: Scotland must end this debilitating union with England.

  10. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    Just how often can Scots be bought and sold. There is a servile attitude amongst many in our population that is utterly repugnant

    I could understand it if they were served any better by the Westminster government than Holyrood, but that is clearly not the case.

    How can you demand to be treated as badly as the rest of the UK, rather than demand the Westminster government treat everyone as fairly as Holyrood?

    I am glad to be on the side of the argument that demands better.

  11. Grant
    Ignored
    says:

    Given it’s a binary choice, independence is the only way to go for Scotland and everyone who loves and values our country.

    These reports now outline accurately what a disaster for Scotland and the country’s income Brexit will be.

    By complete contrast, Independence will give Scotland and everyone who lives here a much affluent and secure country to reside in than is the case even at the moment. There are numerous world class, independent and renowned economists who have made comments and statement to the same. The FT recently published this – https://www.ft.com/content/fff67a62-88fa-11e3-bb5f-00144feab7de
    Bear in mind that Scotland “generously” receives £30B back from Westminster.

  12. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    Short and very much to the point.

  13. msean
    Ignored
    says:

    Can’t believe this act of self harm is still going ahead.

  14. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Oh What a future Scotland!

    A massive 62% voted to stay in the EU, but England don’t give a damn about your vote, your opinion, or your wishes.

    You can now look to be dragged out fully by Bungling Boris, who has made it clear that he hates Scots- “A £Pound Spent in Croydon is better than a £Pound spent in Scotland, when it comes to jobs”,
    Grovelling Uriah Heep himself, Michael Gove, who first came up with the fantasy £350 Million per week for the NHS, and of course we would have Lord Snooty as Chancellor, Mr Rees-Smugg.

    He will have a very good grasp on how ordinary families struggle to get by, as he will have 6 children at Eaton at the same time.

    At £32,000 plus per term for each child, he could well end up at Food Banks, unless his in-laws Lord Summerset de Chair, and Lady Juliet Tadgell help out by pawning the odd Tiara or Hobein.

    Wouldn’t it be spiffing for Scots to be lorded over by these
    Hooray Hendry’s.

    Tug your forelock, give us your oil and your money, and that man there, hands out of pockets.
    Nothing should be in your pockets Jock.

  15. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    The SNP SG should use this in another PPB and maybees hive a wee collage of davie and davie wae matchin fairisles

  16. Arbroath1320
    Ignored
    says:

    So Porky loses the E.U. referendum then walks off into the sunset to earn £100,000’s “speaking” at dinner events probably telling those present how great a P.M. he was.

    Feartie takes over and … erm … it’s one disaster after another interspersed with lie after lie. WE now are in the situation where Feartie, along with her bestest mate Corbyn are taking corrupt and broken Britain out of not only the E.U. but a Customs Union as well.

    Meanwhile over in medialand all we get is Tory infighting after Tory infighting reported.

    I may be wrong here but now that Feartie has confirmed, at least for this week, that there will be no Britain in the E.U. Customs Union then that surely means all exports from this corrupt country will be dealt with by W.T.O. rules. Not only that but I read somewhere on Twitter earlier today that every NON E.U. truck spends around 7 minutes at customs which according the tweet would mean the M2/M20 being blocked solid by trucks trying to get over into Europe and a similar situation would exist on the N.I. border.

    I can see it now …. all the Trucking companies in the U.K. jumping up for joy at the prospect of spending hours if not days on the M2/M20 trying to get over to Europe to deliver their goods.

    This Brexit stramash is really working out well isn’t it!

    Apparently Michel Barnier is in London for “talks” with Feartie and Davis. I’m betting he is gonna just love telling them that NO Custom Union is gonna cost U.K. producers a fortune not to mention the time lost waiting in queues by transport companies.

  17. Luigi
    Ignored
    says:

    I love how the tories go into hiding – behind the BBC.

    Very appropriate. 🙂

  18. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    @Arbroath 1320

    Just breaking Arb and as if on cue. EU chief negotiator warns PM that trade barriers are unavoidable if UK leaves customs union.

    Phase two going well then.

  19. colin alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    An excellent video.

    I agree with the FM: if there’s another choice, it’s NOT 2014 again.

    It’s not the UK status quo v indy. There is no status quo.

    EU membership is ripped from us.

    The Scotland Act devolution settlement has been shredded.

    One thing’s for sure: “I wish people would just leave things the way they are” is no longer an option for anyone.

    I hope the people choose independence.

  20. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Brexit is the articulation of latent sectarianism and racism in English culture. It’s aim is to produce a minimal state in an uber-deregulate UKOK economy, which is already one of the most deregulated economies in the OECD. So how can this be expected to impact on the North-South divide?

    Will Brexit deepen the UK’s ‘North-South’ divide?

    Brexit’s differential impact on the UK’s internal ‘core’ and ‘periphery’

    Commentators often speak of the British economy as if it is a singular, homogenous entity. But the UK’s ‘national business model’ is composed of highly distinctive regional economies which vary markedly according to their economic structure, sectoral composition and trade performance (Gardiner et al., 2013). The starkest spatial division in this regard is the UK’s longstanding ‘North-South’ divide, exemplified by a dynamic and internationalised economic ‘core’ concentrated in London and the South East and a relatively depressed ‘periphery’ concentrated in the ‘North’ (Martin, 1988).12 Whatever the outcome of the Article 50 negotiations, Brexit is likely to impact differentially on these distinct regional economies. In this paper, I argue that Brexit is likely to disproportionately impose costs on Northern peripheral regions which will further widen spatial divergence within the UK.

    Vast regional inequalities have been a structural feature of the UK’s economic development since the early 1980s. Under the Thatcher governments, uneven development between the ‘North’ and ‘South’ intensified at a rapid pace (Martin, 1988). The withdrawal of state subsidies for nationalised industries combined with rapid interest rate hikes quickly drove up unemployment in the UK’s northern industrial regions. At the same time, the liberalisation of financial markets exemplified by the abolition of exchange controls in 1979 and the ‘Big Bang’ of 1986 differentially privileged London and the South East insofar as these regions enjoyed a strong comparative advantage in financial and business services (Peck and Tickell, 1992). New Labour’s thirteen years in office did little to reverse deepening inequality between the UK’s southern ‘core’ and internal Northern periphery (Martin, 2010: 44)….

    The UK’s Northern ‘periphery’ and Brexit

    Regions across the North are potentially far more vulnerable to fall-out from the Brexit vote than the City and the UK’s southern ‘core’. This can be seen across three areas: through the North’s loss of EU structural funds, exposure to the trade effects of Brexit and vulnerability to future public expenditure cuts. EU structural funds have in the past played an important role in sustaining economic growth within laggard regions. For example, in Wales, projects funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) generated 44,331 jobs and 17,474 new businesses in the 2007 – 2013 funding round. Across the North of England, the corresponding job creation figures were 20,149 (Yorkshire and Humber), 20,602 (North East) and 29,795 (North West) (Hunt et al., 2016). EU structural funding was therefore underpinned by a distinct regional geography in the UK. Of the ten local economic partnerships (LEPS) which received the highest structural funding, seven were located in the North. Of the ten LEPS which received the lowest level of structural funding, all were located in the South of England (Hunt et al., 2016). Structural funds therefore provided a source of reliable and long-term investment which disproportionately benefited laggard regions located in the UK’s peripheral regions outside of London and the South East. With Brexit, there is now a big question mark over whether this source of funding will be replaced by an equivalent scheme under the UK government….

    http://speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SPERI-Paper-41-The-Political-Economy-of-Brexit-and-the-UK-s-National-Business-Model.pdf

    It would appear the poor were gamed by a bunch of over-privileged fascists who were given invaluable assistance in their enterprise by the BBC. Now there’s a surprise.

  21. Arbroath1320
    Ignored
    says:

    Macart says:
    5 February, 2018 at 4:09 pm
    @Arbroath 1320

    warns PM that trade barriers are unavoidable if UK leaves customs union.

    Phase two going well then.

    DAMN!

    I always knew I was good …

    but hells bells I never realised I was THAT good Macart! 😀

    From what I’ve been reading over on Twitter the very fact that Feartie is going down the NO E.U. Customs Union route, with the full support of Corbyn, then she is reneging on what she agreed to during phase 1 … apparently! This can only lead to one place … Michel Barnier and the rest of the E.U. negotiators NEVER believing a word Feartie, Davis or whoever from the corrupt British government says about anything to do with a future agreement with the E.U.

    After Feartie confirming the NO E.U. Customs Union deal I am not sure anyone can see any way for the previously “promised” open border in N.I. to remain. Surely after this “confirmation” by Feartie there will now have to be border controls in N.I. which means that, in my view, N.I. is heading for a referendum on uniting North and South of Ireland as one and it WILL be won!

  22. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    David Davis …

    “We have said in terms we want a comprehensive free trade agreement and we want a customs agreement and to make that as frictionless as possible, to make as much trade as currently exists as free as possible, while still giving ourselves the opportunity to make free trade deals with the rest of the world … It is perfectly clear what we want to do.”

    That still sounds like ‘cherry picking’, ‘all the best bits’, to me!

    It may be clear what Davis wants, but he appears to have given little thought as to what will be achievable and acceptable to the EU.

    Will they play it like phase 1? Prevaricate until the last moment then just accept what the EU wants?

    Oh wait! They haven’t actually signed up in a legally binding version of Phase 1 yet!

  23. Ghillie
    Ignored
    says:

    Thank you again Phantom Power Films 🙂

    That got my attention.

    This would be excellent broadcast on mainstream TV. Could that ever happen?

    Could the stills be printed as a poster or leaflet?

  24. PictAtRandom
    Ignored
    says:

    The way ahead isn’t entirely clear — but I feel that it involves one last spasm of pain.

    Then we win.

    I’m thinking about the 2021 elections as a mandate for independence but I’m not sure. The d’Hondt system was used in order to block an SNP majority, but did ‘they’ even think ahead to this situation? Maybe crediting them with too much.
    I think we need the result to be decisive whenever the contest occurs. I haven’t quite come round to Gordon Wilson’s 60% — but I reckon that something like a 4 : 3 ratio would do. Otherwise, prepare for a storm of mud and sand (to name but two).

  25. Dr Jim
    Ignored
    says:

    Apparently there are a number of people in Scotland who actually WANT another VOW

    Have these people not noticed

  26. Arbroath1320
    Ignored
    says:

    The trouble for David Davis galamcennalath is that there is an insurmountable gap between what HE wants and what the E.U. will agree to let him have. You are absolutely correct when you say HE is “cherry picking” the best bits which of course the E.U. have said on numerous times THEY will not permit to happen. So unless Davis and co. get “with the programme” this corrupt and broken Britain is sailing off down the Swany with NOTHING but shite deals to look forward to.

  27. Ghillie
    Ignored
    says:

    Arbroath 1320 @ 3.50 pm and Macart @ 4.09 pm

    The UK government are out of their depth and drowning.

    WTO rules will be devastating for exports. Well, what’s left of them.

  28. Morgatron
    Ignored
    says:

    In a nutshell.

  29. Giving Goose
    Ignored
    says:

    Re CameronB Brodie

    Re “latent sectarianism and racism in English culture”

    It’s partly that and only in some areas of England.

    In my experience living in England, leading up to the Brexit referendum, the issue was around immigration but perhaps not in the way that you articulate.

    My observation was that immigration had been used by the UK Government to accomplish several outcomes;

    Drive down wages.
    Ensure that demand for housing was kept over inflated and thus artificially expensive, i.e. very high rents and house prices (if buying).
    To fill skills gaps in the labour pool.

    Of course none of this was adequately explained to the general public. How could a Government even begin to explain the reasons why freedom of movement was being exploited. It would mean exploring some very embarrassing and fundamental truths about the UK economy, namely –

    There was a desire in Government to keep wages down – this being driven by vested interests both within and connected to the Government. Business is very, very greedy and the UK economy extremely uncompetitive compared to other countries. Hence the desire to keep wages down. Solution – flood the UK with cheap labour via freedom of movement.

    The economy is structured in such a way that an over inflated housing market is an absolute necessity when public debt and financial services are co-dependent on one another. In simple terms – the economy is so messed up and so weighted towards the financial services industry (debt on personal credit, mortgages etc) that there isn’t another alternative without threatening the actual life blood of the banks, the City of London and the tax revenues to the Exchequer. The massive collective debt of the UK population is keeping the UK from sinking into a hole much deeper that the likes of Greece has been in.

    Skills gaps in the labour pool simply reflect badly on England’s poor education policies, work ethic and the fact that the economy has been oriented towards services industries.

    The people of England simply see lots of immigrants and wonder why.

  30. Arbroath1320
    Ignored
    says:

    Just come across this on Twitter.

    I think I need a lie down in a Darkened room after reading it.

    Just think peeps …. THIS is the level of ignorance, incompetence and outright uselessness that is currently running this corrupt and broken Union!

    https://twitter.com/danbloom1/status/960475273203539968

  31. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    Talking of VOWs.

    I am beginning to wonder if the Tories took the same approach to the EU Phase 1 talks as they did to Scotland in IndyRef1 …. just say whatever it takes to get over the immediate hurdle and move to the next muddle.

    Perhaps the EU should look at WM form on VOWs.

    Many (most?) Scots now know you can’t believe any promises WM makes.

    The EU must feel talking to the UK is like herding cats!

  32. Arbroath1320
    Ignored
    says:

    Ghillie says:
    5 February, 2018 at 4:48 pm
    Arbroath 1320 @ 3.50 pm and Macart @ 4.09 pm

    The UK government are out of their depth and drowning.

    WTO rules will be devastating for exports. Well, what’s left of them.

    To be fair Ghillie anyone with even the smallest soupcon of a minute brain cell can see this and agree about W.T.O. being disastrous for U.K. exports.

    After Feartie’s latest “command order” that there will be NO continuing of E.U. Customs union I think every single producer/transport company in U.K. just opened up their office windows and contemplated suicide. Let’s face it between hours(probably days in reality) stuck on M2/M20 waiting for customs clearance AND W.T.O. rules to deal with I think many businesses are gonna go bust … all thanks to Feartie and co.

  33. Ian
    Ignored
    says:

    Christ, the only thing missing from that video was the reassuring Crimewatch end slogan, “Don’t have nightmares, do sleep well.”

  34. Robert Louis
    Ignored
    says:

    Have people in England still not realised what an utter shambles this is. Fraudulent at every single stage, clear demonstrable lies upon lies upon lies. Those responsible should be in jail, not in Government. David Davis, Liar, Boris Johnson, Liar, Theresa May, liar, Ruth Davidson, Liar, the list goes on and on.

    Then we have Labour. Under their current idiotic (and completely unelectable) leader, Jeremy Corbyn, they have meekly followed the Tory plan, as the film point out. Just imagine IF Labour had stood up from day one and said, brexit ok, but we MUST stay in the Customs union and single market. It would have ripped the Tory party apart, within days. Half the Tories want to stay in the EU, and half absolutely despise the EU. It is what caused problems for, and led to the resignation of, John Major.

    But no, Jeremy Corbyn (he’s alright, he’s got a good pension, he isn’t a young person trying to make a career, he’s had the privileges of EU membership, he’ll be ok) just wants to get out of the EU as fast, and on the same terms, as Jacob Rees Mogg. Oh, Jeremy Corbyn indeed. Utter self centred clown, driven by outdated, ill-informed, student politics dogma.

    It makes no sense. Their is a schism as large as the grand freaking canyon within the Tory party, yet Labour have neither the political intelligence or desire to take advantage of it. With a different leader and policy, they could have Theresa May’s Government on its knees.

    The ONLY sensible, and reasoned voices throughout all of this across the entire UK have been the SNP Scottish Government, Plaid Cymru and some green folk.

    Labour have just been a proverbial waste of space. As usual.

  35. Calum McKay
    Ignored
    says:

    Listening to Pritti Patel on the radio this morning, she is of the opinion that the EU migrants, of all classes and professions can be replaced by migrant workers from the Indian sub continent.

    So the Enlgish people who voted to stop EU neighbours of similar culture, will happily accept large numbers of people with radically different cultures?

    The more tory brexiters open their mouths, the more you realise they have not got a clue!

  36. jimnarlene
    Ignored
    says:

    A stark, and dark, reminder of the lack of benefits to this union of “equals”.

  37. Derick fae Yell
    Ignored
    says:

    Look on the bright side.

    Excellent news for Rosyth and Prestwick.

  38. Robert J. Sutherland
    Ignored
    says:

    Calum McKay @ 17:26,

    Immigration from outwith the EU has always been under the full control of UKGov. Not that you would know it from all the Brexit smokescreening.

    You have to wonder what tune the BritNat xenophobe chorus will sing when that particular penny finally drops…

  39. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    Very good.

    I don’t know what’s worse, Ruth Davidson in the middle in the PM position at the end, or two – two – Jeremy Corbyns.

  40. Sinky
    Ignored
    says:

    Meanwhile Scotland in Union bullying Electoral Commission.

    THE country’s leading anti-independence campaign has been accused of trying to “bully” the UK elections watchdog after it revealed the organisation was under investigation.

    Scotland in Union wrongly claimed the Electoral Commission has issued a “misleading” statement and demanded an apology after the Herald raised questions over its donations.

    Chief Executive Pamela Nash also threatened to complain about the Commission’s actions, and wrongly claimed it had been “proactively” briefing the media about her organisation.

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15920822.Unionist_campaign_accused_of_trying_to__intimidate__watchdog/

    Hootsman headlining meaningless Opinion Poll which offers Devo Max as a credible alternative when Westminster is engaged in a power grab rather than giving new powers to Scotland.

    Figures 32% for Indy 36% for Union and 17% Devo Max

  41. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    This is going to be a rubbish sequel even by Hollywood standards.

    http://archive.is/7uESs

  42. Robert Peffers
    Ignored
    says:

    Just read a BBC news item – a statement by The EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier. He says, “The United Kingdom will face, ‘unavoidable’, barriers to trade if it leaves the single market”. Speaking at Downing Street he said, “The time has come,” for the United Kingdom to choose what it wanted after its 2019 Exit.

    BRUKexit Secretary David Davis said the United Kingdom’s position was, “perfectly clear”. The United Kingdom, (he argued), wanted a free trade deal with the European Union but also the freedom to strike deals with other countries, where trade opportunities were growing.

    There is just one teeny weeny wee problem with that wish – It bloody well isn’t going to happen – and every official European Union spokesperson that has made any kind of official statement has made that clear from the get go.

    Where do these Tory idiots get their absolutely idiotic ideas from? It stuck out at least a mile and a half from the start that the European Union cannot agree to anything whatsoever along such lines. For the very good reason that if the European Union were to agree to such an advantageous deal for the United Kingdom that every other European Union member state would want the same privileges to strike their own deals and that means there would be no free trade zone as every member state would strike their own deals.

    Not only that but what makes Westminster fondly imagine other world countries would be daft enough to even want to have a trade deal with the United Kingdom and thus lose any chances they ever had to strike trade deals with the other 27 European member States?

    The whole reason the European Union is the largest trading block on the planet is simply because non-European Union states see it is advantageous to strike trade deals with the largest trading block and that is why the European Union has said from the start that the United Kingdom cannot cherry pick only the freedoms it wants,. It will be either accept all the freedoms or get a very hard BRUKEXIT.

  43. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    Sinky says:

    Hootsman headlining meaningless Opinion Poll which offers Devo Max

    Hootsman not keeping up, again.

    Scotland has already voted for DevoMax in 2014 !

  44. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    BBC Rep Scotland leading with false headline as they state that number of students from disadvantaged areas has fallen rather than accurate information that the number applying through UCAS has fallen. They don’y actually have figures for all Scottish students from this report, it even says this in the report but somehow they foget to mention this fact.

    With the number of students in Scotland at around 240,000 and UCAS document that disadvantaged number is 16.7%, then this 0.3% drop is around 120 people by my calculation.

  45. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    @Sinky
    Useful poll for us all the same. and shows the value of the SNP’s position paper of December 2016. In theory a deal could be set up where Scotland stays in the EU or at least Songle market / customs union, where the rest of the UK leaves, but it would require Devo-Max, plus more devolution of foreign affairs, or some sort of federal sytem.

    It probably explains why support for Indy hasn’t risen as much as expected with Brexit, ironically some people trust the SG to manage to keep Scotland in the Union and the EU.

    With 32% for Indy 36% for Union and 17% Devo Max, where are those Devo-Maxers going to go? Shades of Indy Ref 1, but I don’t think a Vow would work this time, hence the importance of the timing of Indy Ref 2 – when the Brexit deal or no-deal is known.

  46. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    A view of world trade.

    For most countries it’s about harmonising standards and regulations so they can trade in the knowledge that products imported are up to their own quality requirements. Sounds good. Those countries demanding the highest standards – the EU, Canada, Korean and soon Japan, Australia – are taking the lead in trade agreements based on strict regulation.. These governments actively ensure their consumers access safe and healthy products.

    Then we have other countries. Their view is that governments should have light regulation and the market place should dictate who buys which product, from where, and at what quality. Consumers are grown adults who can make decisions and don’t need governments to protect them.

    Brexit is about moving the UK from the first group into the second.

    The sad aspect though, is that many UK voters don’t see Brexit that way. They thought they were voting to curb immigration, regain lost power, and divert money to the NHS.

  47. ronnie anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    http://archive.is/NuNKZ lol.

  48. Arbroath1320
    Ignored
    says:

    Robert Peffers says:
    5 February, 2018 at 6:05 pm
    Just read a BBC news item – a statement by The EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier. He says, “The United Kingdom will face, ‘unavoidable’, barriers to trade if it leaves the single market”. Speaking at Downing Street he said, “The time has come,” for the United Kingdom to choose what it wanted after its 2019 Exit.

    BRUKexit Secretary David Davis said the United Kingdom’s position was, “perfectly clear”. The United Kingdom, (he argued), wanted a free trade deal with the European Union but also the freedom to strike deals with other countries, where trade opportunities were growing.

    If anyone was in any doubt about just how clear Davis and co. are about … erm … anything well here’s a peek at how clear their clarity is!

    https://giphy.com/gifs/john-goodman-coen-brothers-raising-arizona-DrAyYW2bBsyVq

  49. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    I agree with Nick Clegg that soft Brexit is probably now dead. Actually, I never thought a soft Brexit a possibility at all.

    The hard right would just keep campaigning until they got their desired UKOK disengaged from the EU.

    http://archive.is/eFbrm

    Inevitable for iEngland, but not iScotland.

  50. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    Is the Bearded Buffoon hinting that Ruth Davidson could be a unifying, ‘stop Boris’ candidate in the Tory Party Brexit Wars?

    http://archive.is/V1K2v

  51. PictAtRandom
    Ignored
    says:

    I think that things are tightening around the neck of Soft Brexit as far as the Westminster parties are concerned, what with recent Tory statements and the increasing strength of Momentum within BritLab.
    But the customs union thing brings us back to “the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone”, so something still has to give.

  52. Dr Jim
    Ignored
    says:

    This is Reporting Scotland

    Something that hasn’t actually happened could happen and it would be the Scottish governments fault if it did, so we asked some opposition politicians who said *Angry* Worrying**Betraying**National scandal* and SNP Baad,a Scottish government spokesperson said *What we’re doing is* so back to you in the studio Jackie

    These aren’t the final figures though because the numbers might all change but we know you’ve lost interest now and we’re satisfied we’ve portrayed the SNP in the correct Baad light and that’s good enough for us here at the BBC and Unionist party headquarters

    So this story is all about numbers so here they are *70 Kids* yes *70 kids* in the whole of Scotland less have applied to Uni from disadvantaged areas so far
    And here’s another wee fact, the application process isn’t finished yet

    That’s where the BBCs coulda woulda shoulda comes in

    Mibbees!

  53. Hamish100
    Ignored
    says:

    Devo max is a sop for the wee timid cowering labour supporters. There is no devo max – independence or subservience to Gove Johnstone mogul Davidson and co. The choice is so stark

  54. Robert Graham
    Ignored
    says:

    Dr Jim – I also noticed the catastrophic end of days assessment of this national disaster , I believe the BBC have run out of Armageddon like exclamations , I guess that they might have to invent others just to make sure they don’t repeat themselves , oh sorry that’s exactly what they do , education- Police – Transport- education- Police oops there’s me doing the job for them .

    I Give Up honestly it’s getting like Colin’s posts on here very repetitive .

  55. Dan Huil
    Ignored
    says:

    The Scotsman opinion poll which includes a devo-max option speaks volumes. That option proves the britnat Scotsman thinks devo-max [and the vow] was not delivered as promised in 2014.

    More Britnat lies upon more Britnat lies! FFS!

  56. Hamish100
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry, Mogul should have read Mogg. Don’t ask me ask prescriptive text!

    I’m sure Mogg wouldn’t allow such hordes from outwith the EU entering little England without a visa. How did Boris get in though?

  57. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    Scary movie indeed.

    Almost as scary as the Scottish unionist voters and media foisting upon us that great statesman and Slaberrer James Kelly.

    At least they talk nice.

  58. stewartb
    Ignored
    says:

    jfngw @ 6:14 pm on the UCAS university applications data and its coverage by BBC Scotland.

    Thanks for making these points – the BBC’s coverage, including a fairly lengthy piece by its own education ‘expert’, was actually pretty thin and partial.

    In addition to your points, I’d like to make some others drawn from the UCAS report (https://www.ucas.com/file/147891/download?token=sjxwG1wA )

    On applications from 18 year olds from disadvantaged areas, the Scottish Government defines the latter areas using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). It is not possible to compare Scotland’s SIMD-based data with those from other parts of the UK. These other parts of the UK define areas of disadvantage using what is called POLAR. Interestingly, UCAS uses POLAR to analyse applications across all four countries of the UK and gives data back to 2006.

    These comparable historic data are especially interesting.

    In 2006 and 2007 (i.e. towards the end of a period of c.10 years of a Labour government in Westminster and a Lab/Lib Dem government in Holyrood, both governing during a prolonged period of ‘no austerity’), the application rate for the most disadvantaged parts of Scotland was 9.6% in 2006 falling to 9.0% in 2007 (POLAR3 data).

    In England, NI and Wales in 2007 the comparable rates were much higher, 13%, 17.5% and 12.5% respectively. So the legacy of 10 years of Labour government for Scotland in times of relative plenty was a very much lower demand for a university education from our most disadvantaged areas than similarly disadvantaged areas across the rest of the UK.

    Using this POLAR3 pan-UK indexing scheme, between 2007 and 2018, the application rates from the most disadvantaged parts of Scotland have changed from 9.0% to 17.8% – a rise of 8.8%. Or looked at another way, in Scotland there has been almost a doubling of the demand since Labour left office, as seen in applications via UCAS.

    Based on the POLAR4 data, UCAS (page 34) reports that: “In England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, the application rates from disadvantaged areas are at record levels”. In Scotland the figure is now 16%, up from a low in 2007 (i.e. the Labour legacy) of 8.6%.

    Taking the UCAS data based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (the preferred Index of the Scottish Government), UCAS reports the following:

    (Page 29) “Application rates for Scottish 18 year olds have increased over the period for all five quintiles. The application rate for Scottish 18 year olds from the most disadvantaged areas increased from 10.0 per cent in 2006 to 16.7 per cent in 2018. This means that Scottish 18 year olds from the most disadvantaged areas are 67 per cent more likely to apply in 2018 than 12 years ago. This greatly contrasts with the much smaller change in the application rate from the most advantaged areas over time, which increased from 48.3 per cent in 2006 to 50.5 per cent in 2018, a proportional increase of 4.5 per cent.”

    Finally, UCAS data on overall application rates are also provided for age groups above 19 year olds. Its Figure 29 shows that there is a downward trend over recent years for all older age groups in England. By contrast, Figure 31 shows a marked increase in demand from all post-19 aged groups in Scotland, especially notable since 2009.

  59. Hamish100
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry mogul should have read Mogg- prescriptive text has mind of its own.

  60. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    Robert Graham says:

    very repetitive

    A six sided die. They take turns about throwing it. Sides are – health, education, police, transport, tax, waste.

    Monday to Saturday. They are Sabbath adherents, so no Scottish news then.

  61. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    @Dan Huil
    Very true, never thought of that.

  62. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    Just to be clear on the thatessenpee badness which oor meeja and assorted politicos peddle on a daily basis?

    A quick review of three significant events which have some bearing on the futures of every living soul within Scotland’s borders.

    The Conservative government’s pursuit of complete, unchallenged, legislative control of all repatriated powers which amount to no less than naked theft and a betrayal of their own devolution bill.

    The leaked government impact report and conclusions, which practically mirrors the Scottish government’s own.

    Finally the statements made by Mr Barnier today on the consequences of leaving the customs union.

    The Scottish government provides the ONLY means available for Scotland’s electorate to avoid what is without doubt, the catastrophic economic consequences of following through on Brexit.

    Just so you know? Continued undermining of the Scottish electorate’s mandated choice of government, our services and institutions is directly putting people in harms way. It’s not theoretical and it’s not up for debate. The economic consequences of Brexit and UK gov’s handling of negotiations (FFS!) aren’t exactly up for debate either at this point. Neither for that matter has been their handling and selling the message of one nation unity and the offering of olive branches in the past three years. Pretty much non existent tbh.

    So what’s it to be? What kind of country do you want to live in?

  63. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T
    Just watched stv news , the female reporter was in George Square and was HIGHLIGHTING the fact this is the hundredth anniversary of suffragettes yet there are no statues of females there to celebrate this , there are plenty of statues of men honouring them though . I think my tinfoil balaclava is too tight , because I somehow felt that the female was insinuating that as usual this was the fault of that Nicla wummin and her Scotty essenpee government .

    I maybe missed the part where the female highlighted that this is a ridiculous situation , as the super duper socialist defenders of the working classes Labour were in power in Scotland for most of this time , and not only that they commanded Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Corporation for all that time apart from the last couple of years .

    It surely couldnae huv been them that furgoat to erect a female statue , maybe they wur too busy daen the day job , aye that’s whit it probably wis

    Just like PFI fraud , Hollyrood overspend ,Edinburgh Tram fiasco a big boy dunnit and buggered aff

  64. Jockanese Wind Talker
    Ignored
    says:

    Aye but just imagine @Calum McKay says at 5:26 pm

    “Listening to Pritti Patel on the radio this morning, she is of the opinion that the EU migrants, of all classes and professions can be replaced by migrant workers from the Indian sub continent.”

    Imagine what the Knuckle draggers will say when the solution is mair broon faces when they were promised UKOK was”taking back control of it’s borders”

    (Which they always had but didnae use)

    https://brexit853.wordpress.com/2016/09/27/powers-that-the-uk-has-failed-to-use-to-control-eu-freedom-of-movement-directive/

  65. Proud Cybernat
    Ignored
    says:

    Palindromes can be such fun !!

    https://imgur.com/a/9hiyM

  66. Jockanese Wind Talker
    Ignored
    says:

    And another Brexit Story:

    “British farmers have been forced to leave thousands of pounds worth of vegetables to rot in their fields, because of a drop in the number of farm workers from the European Union…”

    “…Mr Orr’s farm supplies more than 1,000 tones of the vegetable and he estimated that he lost between £30,000 and £50,000.”

    http://archive.is/eImPH

    Wonder if he was one o’ they farmers that voted Tory in Scotland and is now reaping what he sowed?

  67. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    dnaltocs?

  68. louis.b.argyll
    Ignored
    says:

    Yes. THE VOW was DevoMax.
    By the UK’s own standards,
    they delivered Devomax.

    A third way wasn’t offered at the time of the Union so cannot be considered as a solution to our polarised ‘independence or subjugation’ debate.

  69. colin alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Robert Graham

    Excuse me Robert, today, I’ve said POSITIVE THINGS today.

    No a single moan.

    (Honest, it’s really me, no an impostor.)

  70. louis.b.argyll
    Ignored
    says:

    Since they pulled the Henry VIII stuff,
    it becomes subjugation.

    It (UK) has never been a union of equals.

    And now the joke is over.

  71. louis.b.argyll
    Ignored
    says:

    Markets almost crashed today, Trump triggered it by being inept.

    Dow plunges 4.6%.
    7% is officially a crash.

    Good work Donnie Trump

  72. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    I was sick of the word BREXIT the first time I heard it. Can’t bear the thought of having to hear about this for decades to come.

    Saw a Scotsman poll spinning that 36%, ” most people”, want the status quo. But 32% want full independence and 19% want Devo Max. So most people actually want dramatic change.

    Those dreamers hoping for Devo Max need to waken up.

  73. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    The Survation poll illustrates why you don’t want a three way indy question. Split the vote of the ‘yes’ or ‘more power’ contingent then declare the status quo the most popular choice.

  74. Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    Dr Jim,

    “Apparently there are a number of people in Scotland who actually WANT another VOW

    Have these people not noticed”

    The most stupid people on earth are in Scotland.

  75. Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    Rock (26th June 2016 – “Notes from the madhouse”):

    “It would be utter madness for the Scottish Parliament to block Brexit and let Westminster off the hook.

    This is Scotland’s golden opportunity to get out of the rotten to the core UK.

    If we miss it, we will not get another one for another 300 years.”

  76. Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    If Nicola had struck while the iron was hot and not spectacularly squandered a once in a 1000 years golden opportunity by wasting more than a year flogging a dead horse – a separate deal for Scotland which was never going to happen – Scotland would have been on the verge of independence now.

  77. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    The trouble with DevoMax is that it is even less defined than Brexit. But what you just need to know is large swathes of Scotland’s spending will still be decided by a majority of MP’s not representing Scotland and WM will want to dilute the input of Scots even more.

  78. K1
    Ignored
    says:

    Just wait there for coco, he’ll be out to play with you in a minute Craig. Mind and be back by 11pm…mum’ll have some biscuits and tea ready for you when you come home. Don’t do anything silly boys…and Craig? Stop telling all the other kids that they’re stupid. That’s unkind, now be a good boy and play nicely with the other children.

  79. Robert J. Sutherland
    Ignored
    says:

    jfngw @ 21:25,

    Absolutely. Multiple options just befuddle the issue, leaving no clear way forward. Which suits some, of course.

    DevoMax anyway is a total bust. According to El Gordo, we have it already! Nearest thing to superfederalequalsharing, he thundered. Then bu**ered off.

    Sheesh!

  80. chasanderson200
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T news
    Wingers Night Out, 7th April, Otters Head, Woodside, Glenrothes.

    Info giving details has now been posted on Off Topic.
    Regular updates will also be posted between now and then but a lot of info has been included in this initial post.

    I hope lots of you can make it as I am sure there will be lots to discuss.

  81. Brian Doonthetoon
    Ignored
    says:

    Hi peeps.

    The direct link to the info about the Wings get-together in April, in Glenrothes.

    https://wingsoverscotland.com/off-topic/comment-page-64/#comment-2337347

    See y’all there!

  82. Wullie B
    Ignored
    says:

    Rock says:
    5 February, 2018 at 9:41 pm

    If Nicola had struck while the iron was hot and not spectacularly squandered a once in a 1000 years golden opportunity by wasting more than a year flogging a dead horse – a separate deal for Scotland which was never going to happen – Scotland would have been on the verge of independence now.

    Rock, which part of Nicola has to be seen doing things for Scotland don’t you understand, ye peddle the same pish as your mate Coco at times, and feck knows the size of your hard drives to save the pishyou post that starts with Rock (Insert Da herete Insert Headline here), but the only person that pays any attention to you is yourself, If you smell what the Rock is cookin’

  83. stewartb
    Ignored
    says:

    louis.b.argyll @ 8:41 pm

    Your write: “Yes. THE VOW was DevoMax. By the UK’s own standards, they delivered Devomax.”

    And to add to this, as Gordon Brown has not yet denied it, presumably we now have the nearest thing to federalism that’s possible, as he promised we would. Almost forgot to add, we also have the most powerful devolved government in the world.

    So any further attempts by British Nationalists to conjure up new ways to seduce the Scottish electorate to accept some EVEN MORE autonomous constitutional settlement short of full independence becomes laughable – except I’m not yet confident that those who bought the Vow in 2014 will see through a next, even better(!) offer.

    Looking for an analogy, I see all this as the attempted ‘asymptotic’ fix for our constitutional future tied to the Union.

    In analytic geometry, an asymptote of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero but, even at infinity, the distance between the curve and the line never actually gets to zero.

    So in successive referenda and/or elections we may be offered even greater autonomy – a superduperdevomax ‘asymptotic’ fix designed for the more faint hearted. Except that experience now shows that the actual distance from the needed autonomy will always turn out to be bigger in reality once Westminster is involved than the campaign promises implied.

    Are we now to be seduced with offers of even greater constitutional autonomy squeezed into what (at least by the British Nationalists’ own claims on promises delivered!) must now be a very narrow space between what the British state has already given to Scotland and what we really need, just independence? Hopefully, a large majority in Scotland will not be duped by such an attempted fix’ again.

  84. colin alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    https://consult.gov.scot/freedom-of-information/foi-social-landlords-2/

    Following previous consultation on extending coverage of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) the Scottish Government is now consulting on the terms of a draft order.

  85. Bill Hume
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m a great fan of Spike Milligan’s war memoirs…..and this brings to mind the conversation he had with a fellow bombardier, who only a few weeks before had been evacuated fron Dunkirk….

    “What was it like? I asked him”.
    “Like son? It was a fuck up, a highly successful fuck up”

    Brexit in a nutshell.

  86. colin alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Clarification:

    In a previous post, I explained the Devolution changes proposed by WM, that the great devolution power grab of devolved powers are a major constitutional change, so must not go ahead without an election or referendum.

    It’s not Devo-Max, it’s Devo-theft.

    To make it clear, such a situation would only occur if there were no indyref and no election with independence on offer.

    We wouldn’t need to ratify or reject devolution changes as part of the Union, IF we had something far superior: Independence.

    As, at this stage, we do not know for a certainty if the SNP will offer a vote on independence either by indyref or election manifesto.

  87. heedtracker
    Ignored
    says:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/french-message-to-japan-inc-u-k-presence-in-eu-is-finished

    Nissan must have been paid a shed load of mullah to keep them Leave zoomer zone Sunderland. Oddly enough, Graun’s chief hammer of the vile seps Sev Carrell’s stomping ground.

    Its awful to think that everyone in Leave Sunderland, Severin of The Graun especially, has infinitely more power to decide our country’s destiny than any Scot.

    Thanks again, proud Scotbuts.

  88. louis.b.argyll
    Ignored
    says:

    I’d like to a see cross party review of the electoral commission’s ‘mandate’..
    This below from ‘conservativehome.com…

    ‘Ailsa Irvine, Director of Electoral Administration and Guidance at the Electoral Commission, said:

    “It is important that voters are confident that the police and prosecuting authorities take allegations of electoral fraud seriously.”

    Sadly, there is an increasing perception that neither the police or the prosecuting authorities are taking these allegations seriously. This report provides examples as to how the police and the CPS in England respond to electoral fraud.

    The situation in Scotland is far more robust. There, if there is personation and it is chargeable, then the person committing the offence is likely to end up in Court and on conviction be penalised and lose the right to stand in elections.

    Instead, offenders are merely ‘spoken to’
    apparently.

    What an absolute joke, the UK Establishment / Electoral Commission is.

    These ‘commissioners’ are on eg £95k/pa to do nothing of any consequences.



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