Friday, March 22, 2019

The B Word.



As you will know if you have read the news, here in the UK we go from one political disaster to another.

And there is yet another around the corner if we are not careful.

The whole Brexit scenario is summed up by something that somebody witty posted on Facebook.
                                 



Three guys are in a nightclub. One decides he doesn’t like it and suggests another club to go to as it is better ( non specifically, just better). It’s one a.m., they set off and it starts pouring with rain. The new club is closed. They head back to the first one,  it doesn’t let them in. It starts to rain really heavily, they get soaking wet, and the three of  them are now standing outside a chip shop, arguing whose fault it is.

They decide to  get some chips, they have left their wallets in the pockets of their jackets. Inside the night club.

They start arguing about that as well.



As a Scot I would add that there’s a taxi nearby, engine running, warm air blowing. They have no money but the taxi driver says, don’t worry, we can sort out that at the other end and let’s face it, anywhere is better than here.

The driver takes the three men up to the middle of nowhere,  where the taxi breaks down. There is no mobile phone signal. They run out of petrol and hope. The driver says it doesn’t matter that they are isolated   on a moor in the middle of the night with hypothermia creeping in, none of that matters, because he owns his own taxi.

                                         

The SNP are trying to make the best of the chaos in Westminster or Westmonster as it is now known. They have also found a report than London will run out of water in 25 years and want us pipe ours down- this has provoked outrage.

The SNP have to be careful though.  Overall Scotland did vote to stay in the EU. (60/40 %)

Did everyone who voted to stay in, also vote SNP? What if the SNP supporters voted to leave, i.e. no Brussels, no Westminster only Edinburgh. There is a common theme of Scotland  turning into a pseudo Scandi country, and those that support that idea will be non EU supporters.

Is anybody seeing the chaos when countries that have been together for 50 years try to separate? Imagine the chaos of separating after 350 years? Oh yes, we have our own legal system, church and educational system they say. Indeed we do so why separate.

Then the SNP said we would have our own currency if we part. That also scared a lot of people as all mortgages would remain in sterling, all bank loans in sterling etc. The Royal Bank of Scotland, after THAT fiasco is owned by the taxpayers of the UK ( I’ve kept that simple!). Now the SNP have said that we would join the euro…. And nobody wants that idea either.

And the SNP seem very sure that an independent Scotland could waltz back into the EU with no questions asked. ( The main argument for this is that we are lovable.) The EU, being wary of the economic troubles the admission of less wealthy countries have brought, are  bringing in more stringent  joining rules And Scotland might not  be wealthy enough to join.



It’d all incredibly depressing.





As somebody said, if some party wants breakfast and the other wants dessert, nobody is going to be happy with bacon flavoured custard. It’s the issue with the yes/no response on a vote form.

And it’s going to happen again, we could vote for an independent Scotland and then the EU issue will raise its head immediately, and then a slow dawn of realisation may happen. There is no going back.



Not only is it depressing it's also very stressful.



Today, as I type this, there is yet another online petition going round to revoke article 50.  (I.e. we are saying we want to withdraw the statement we made about leaving) or something... At 6 am it was 350 000, at 7am it was 500 000. At 10.30 the amount of activity has crashed the website.
                                                



 So I have taken up swimming . It’s very quiet under the water- they can't get me there.

Caro Ramsay




3 comments:

  1. You're just trying to make us U.S. citizens feel better, aren't you?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The stress upon the people is real and obvious, but I can't help but sense that the politicians see it all as a "game," without true consequences that should have them pushing every panic button within reach. The classic dance in labor negotiations is for management and labor to reach agreement early on, but continue throwing brickbats at each other up until the last minute so that their respective constituencies don't feel as if their reps left something on the table. I'm certain some involved in Brexit would like to think that's what's underway here, but I don't see it. Being underwater is not a bad idea, Caro, but I fear a lot of folk are about to join you involuntarily.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Safe under the water? Have you heard of torpedoes?

    ReplyDelete