| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government 07:47 - Mar 19 with 1280 views | Steve_M |
"The other, closely related, problem is the English nationalism that is at once such a powerful force in Brexit and so poorly articulated."
A nationalism defined purely by what it is against - the EU, immigration, 'metropolitan elites' - is not one prepared to make the pragmatic choices of Government. Which is why May's efforts to placate those forces, those which aren't inherent to her, has left us where we are.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-are-the-english-ready-for-self
Another observation from this is that Scottish nationalists should be grateful they lost in 2014 really. They had slightly more thought in advance but still predicated economic stability on an oil price of $113 a barrel. [Post edited 19 Mar 2019 8:40]
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| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 08:01 - Mar 19 with 1243 views | chicoazul |
I too am keen to see what the Irish Times think of the English. I wonder what it will be!
EDIT; Oooohhh I see it opens with a GBS quote. I wonder where this article is going! [Post edited 19 Mar 2019 8:02]
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| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 08:03 - Mar 19 with 1231 views | Herbivore |
I think the answer to the thread title is very obviously no. I wonder how we're going to cope without the relative competence of the EU backing us up on the global stage. I wouldn't trust our politicians to run a local fete. |  |
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| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 08:22 - Mar 19 with 1201 views | WeWereZombies |
If only I could read Portuguese I could give you Publico's take on Brexit but it did get the first two pages of the issue I saw a couple of days ago, everybody is talking about us but probably not in an admiring way.
Bit of a broadbrush article from Fintan O'Toole there, beautifully ignoring Irish nationalism, is that a dead horse now? And Thatcherism playing out? I think it was rejected over twenty five years ago but bits still fester, funnily enough I would say from my last trip to the Republic that the turnkey nature of commercial transactions there had me thinking that Ireland was more like Thatcher's time than Britain is now.
Interestingly an anti-Brexit demo in Madrid is being held at Plaza Margaret Thatcher:
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/03/18/inenglish/1552909725_239550.html
[edit] btw, Scotland is more than oil, production of which fell 1.7% in 2017/18 and was worth £20 billion, estimated GDP for Scotland is over £150 billion. [Post edited 19 Mar 2019 8:27]
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| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 09:56 - Mar 19 with 1092 views | No9 |
The problems the tories are facign are encapsulated in their inability to come to terms with governing in minority. Under that circumstance competent politicians understand the need for skill and prgmatism, the current PM lacks every singl talent to lead and was put in the position on PM because of that & as has as we have witnessed been manipulated by a faction of her party who have effectively created a party, within a party with it's own leader , whips etc. For that to happen shows just how serious he lack of leadership really is & the country as a whole is suffering. The laws brought in to help sustain minority governments is exacerbating the difficulties.
The Oil & gas revenues are nil, since the tax changes brough in by Cameron & Osborn the treasury has been paying offshore operators (now nearly all Non UK) more than it has been receiving. It is quite clear the Scots should they achieve independence would revert to the same /similar tax rules that Norway employs and were abandoned in the 80's. That change would almost certainly mean a return to offshore exploration & development |  | | |
| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 12:03 - Mar 19 with 1038 views | WeWereZombies |
| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 09:56 - Mar 19 by No9 |
The problems the tories are facign are encapsulated in their inability to come to terms with governing in minority. Under that circumstance competent politicians understand the need for skill and prgmatism, the current PM lacks every singl talent to lead and was put in the position on PM because of that & as has as we have witnessed been manipulated by a faction of her party who have effectively created a party, within a party with it's own leader , whips etc. For that to happen shows just how serious he lack of leadership really is & the country as a whole is suffering. The laws brought in to help sustain minority governments is exacerbating the difficulties.
The Oil & gas revenues are nil, since the tax changes brough in by Cameron & Osborn the treasury has been paying offshore operators (now nearly all Non UK) more than it has been receiving. It is quite clear the Scots should they achieve independence would revert to the same /similar tax rules that Norway employs and were abandoned in the 80's. That change would almost certainly mean a return to offshore exploration & development |
Not sure about Scotland trying to emulate Norway if independence happens, a lot of people including many within the SNP seem to think it is too late in the day for any other nation to build up a sovereign wealth fund. The other issues include a nation with a small population (but a major heritage) having to make a new beginning in an increasingly unstable world, the apparent success in outlawing fracking (OK, the INEOS plant at Grangemouth undermines that ecologically but...) and what would no doubt be a prolonged argy-bargy over how much England owes Scotland or vice versa. | |
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| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 12:13 - Mar 19 with 1025 views | Steve_M |
| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 08:22 - Mar 19 by WeWereZombies |
If only I could read Portuguese I could give you Publico's take on Brexit but it did get the first two pages of the issue I saw a couple of days ago, everybody is talking about us but probably not in an admiring way.
Bit of a broadbrush article from Fintan O'Toole there, beautifully ignoring Irish nationalism, is that a dead horse now? And Thatcherism playing out? I think it was rejected over twenty five years ago but bits still fester, funnily enough I would say from my last trip to the Republic that the turnkey nature of commercial transactions there had me thinking that Ireland was more like Thatcher's time than Britain is now.
Interestingly an anti-Brexit demo in Madrid is being held at Plaza Margaret Thatcher:
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/03/18/inenglish/1552909725_239550.html
[edit] btw, Scotland is more than oil, production of which fell 1.7% in 2017/18 and was worth £20 billion, estimated GDP for Scotland is over £150 billion. [Post edited 19 Mar 2019 8:27]
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Although he did state that this was something that Ireland had gone through, painfully, with the Civil War. It's more clear-eyed than much of the UK analysis in any case. | |
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| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 14:10 - Mar 19 with 994 views | Darth_Koont |
| This is good: Are the English ready for self-government on 12:03 - Mar 19 by WeWereZombies |
Not sure about Scotland trying to emulate Norway if independence happens, a lot of people including many within the SNP seem to think it is too late in the day for any other nation to build up a sovereign wealth fund. The other issues include a nation with a small population (but a major heritage) having to make a new beginning in an increasingly unstable world, the apparent success in outlawing fracking (OK, the INEOS plant at Grangemouth undermines that ecologically but...) and what would no doubt be a prolonged argy-bargy over how much England owes Scotland or vice versa. |
Think it would be somewhere between Norway and Denmark. Depending on how you look at it, we've oil and natural resources to make the gap up to Denmark or the infrastructure and technological and industrial capacity to bridge the gap to Norway. Throw in the advantages that Ireland has as an English-speaking gateway to the EU and it's even better.
There are no real reasons why Scotland can't be a successful country with a more secure future for its people as part of the EU. We should of course be a successful region with a more secure future for its people as part of the UK and EU but that's almost entirely down to the sh!tshow of UK politics. |  |
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