Boris
#35
Re: Boris
One argument goes 'North sea oil is cheap and will be for the next ten years after which it will be down to scouring and bringing up a lot of water. Best to cut the Jocks loose now and close the boarder. Let them enjoy the honeymoon, after which the Germans can finance them.' It's attitudes like that the Scots hate, and is why the English were barred from taking part in the referendum. I think the English have a moral obligation to look out for the Scots that were not slaughtered in the creation of the union in the first place. As for the european union at least its a more peaceful way of the Germans controlling Europe than the last two attempts. Part of me says that if the Scots want to be part of the sixth reich good luck to them but it does create a bit of a security concern having an exposed northern boarder
#37
Re: Boris
One argument goes 'North sea oil is cheap and will be for the next ten years after which it will be down to scouring and bringing up a lot of water. Best to cut the Jocks loose now and close the boarder. Let them enjoy the honeymoon, after which the Germans can finance them.' It's attitudes like that the Scots hate, and is why the English were barred from taking part in the referendum. I think the English have a moral obligation to look out for the Scots that were not slaughtered in the creation of the union in the first place. As for the european union at least its a more peaceful way of the Germans controlling Europe than the last two attempts. Part of me says that if the Scots want to be part of the sixth reich good luck to them but it does create a bit of a security concern having an exposed northern boarder
As far as crude goes, the current policies of UK government are reducing the use so much over the next 10-20 years, the country won't need very much at all. Gas is certainly dramatically cheaper to get from the continent and I suspect that'll be the majority of UK's carbon energy usage.
#38
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: Boris
We will leave you with Johnson and Rees-Mogg looking after you. I mean if you can't trust an Etonian ..............
#39
Re: Boris
I see the US congress has basically told the UK to forget about a US-UK trade deal if the Irish border issue is not resolved and the GFA isn't respected. And it's not just because the Dems control congress. The Irish grouping apparently has 54 members from both sides, and has a joint Republican chair who made it clear that Republicans and Dems would vote anything down that breaches the GFA. The Irish lobby is very strong in the US, there are a lot of yanks who identify as Irish (even though they aren't). And a lot of white folks that voted Trump too.
The only way to solve that problem is to reunify Ireland, so the GFA is basically no longer required. Given the fact Tory members aren't really fussed about the union now, and put Brexit first, that could happen very soon.
But even then, trade deals take years, and the UK has a big trade surplus with the US (remember, the argument with the EU was that the country with the deficit has all the power), and will undoubtedly be desperate. So Farage is going to have to get on his hands and knees and suck Trump c0ck like he's never sucked before to get anything other than a totally one-sided "bend over and wince" deal from Mr America First.
It's very hard to see what the end game is for the brexitters. It was clear during the campaign that nobody seriously suggested no-deal was anything other than a catastrophe that simply would not and could not happen because the UK had a strong negotiating position. Turns out the UK didn't and the chinless wonders wildly overestimated the strength of their hand. And still are!
I'm actually quite excited to see how this turns out. We're going back to the 1970s, imperial measurements, the car industry in decline and the IRA blowing stuff up. I grew up during "the troubles" and say what you like about the IRA, but they were pretty good at reducing conservative majorities in parliament.
The only way to solve that problem is to reunify Ireland, so the GFA is basically no longer required. Given the fact Tory members aren't really fussed about the union now, and put Brexit first, that could happen very soon.
But even then, trade deals take years, and the UK has a big trade surplus with the US (remember, the argument with the EU was that the country with the deficit has all the power), and will undoubtedly be desperate. So Farage is going to have to get on his hands and knees and suck Trump c0ck like he's never sucked before to get anything other than a totally one-sided "bend over and wince" deal from Mr America First.
It's very hard to see what the end game is for the brexitters. It was clear during the campaign that nobody seriously suggested no-deal was anything other than a catastrophe that simply would not and could not happen because the UK had a strong negotiating position. Turns out the UK didn't and the chinless wonders wildly overestimated the strength of their hand. And still are!
I'm actually quite excited to see how this turns out. We're going back to the 1970s, imperial measurements, the car industry in decline and the IRA blowing stuff up. I grew up during "the troubles" and say what you like about the IRA, but they were pretty good at reducing conservative majorities in parliament.
#40
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: Boris
I welcome the prospect of a 32-county Ireland, uniting the island. And the prospect of a Scotland left to our own devices.
"Oorsels Alaine !"
"Oorsels Alaine !"
#41
Re: Boris
Wow, just wow.
#43
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,900
Re: Boris
Given all of this talk in this thread of re-unifying Ireland, I wonder how many of you are thinking to ask the Northern Irish about that?
What if they have a different view?
If so, what are the ramifications? Is there any history in Northern Ireland of people taking up arms due to political disputes?
Not as easy as just telling people what's good for them and that they better just shut up and listen, I'm afraid.
What if they have a different view?
If so, what are the ramifications? Is there any history in Northern Ireland of people taking up arms due to political disputes?
Not as easy as just telling people what's good for them and that they better just shut up and listen, I'm afraid.
#45
Re: Boris
Given all of this talk in this thread of re-unifying Ireland, I wonder how many of you are thinking to ask the Northern Irish about that?
What if they have a different view?
If so, what are the ramifications? Is there any history in Northern Ireland of people taking up arms due to political disputes?
Not as easy as just telling people what's good for them and that they better just shut up and listen, I'm afraid.
What if they have a different view?
If so, what are the ramifications? Is there any history in Northern Ireland of people taking up arms due to political disputes?
Not as easy as just telling people what's good for them and that they better just shut up and listen, I'm afraid.
In the last couple of elections in NI, political unionism has lost its majority for the first time in the history of the statelet. Given the shock of Brexit, especially the disaster of no deal, it is quite conceivable that there would now be a majority for joining the Republic and thus staying in the EU. While that is definitely not a given, it is more plausible than ever before.
What is assumed in all this talk is that the people of the Republic would consent. Given the growing disparity in wealth, crumbling NI infrastructure and dysfunctional political institutions, not to mention the challenge of successfully accommodating close to a million bolshy presbyterians used to having things their own way, in an outward-looking relatively newly secular liberal country of 5 million, that may not be such a certainty. In the end I guess romantic nationalism would prevail over hard-headed calculations, but the analogy of West Germany absorbing East Germany is difficult to resist.