The Brexit disaster

[Megaterio Llamas]

The two European countries most likely to swing for sovereignty in the near future are Scotland and Northern Ireland.
And then they’ll apply for EU membership.

As jubilant Brexit supporters gather to celebrate the U.K.’s departure from the European Union, Scotland is digging in to its position as the last bastion of political resistance.

The EU’s royal blue flag with yellow stars will continue flying at the entrance of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The legislature, dominated by the pro-independence Scottish National Party, voted again this week to try and force another referendum on breaking away from the rest of the U.K. and ultimately rejoining the continent’s single market.

“Brexit and everything that will flow from it is happening despite the will of the majority of the Scottish people,” Sturgeon told the parliament in Edinburgh earlier this week. “It is beyond doubt now that the only realistic way for Scotland to return to Europe is to become an independent country.”

https://time.com/5775128/scotland-eu-flag-brexit/

isn't Catalonia trying to leave Spain these days?

[Per]

isn't Catalonia trying to leave Spain these days?

Sort of.

In 2017 the Catalonian government arranged a referendum on independence, but Madrid declared it unconstitutional and used the Guardia Civil, a sort of cross between military and police, to shut down all polling places and arrest a bunch of people. They were also beating up people attempting to vote, including elderly ones... didn’t look good on camera.



Imho the Spanish government was completely tone deaf. First of all, polling had support for independence at less than 40%.
If Madrid had allowed it to happen, but stated that they would only respect a bid to leave if it was supported by a majority of eligible voters, there is no way the independence side could win.

Secondly, the images of Guardia Civil beating up civilians peacefully attempting to cast a balott.... PR nightmare.
Anyone born in the 60’s or earlier remember how they brutally enforced Fransisco Franco’s fascist rule up till his death in 1975.
This was a throwback to that era, and I am sure there must be at least a few Catalans that opposed independence that suddenly had a change of heart when they saw this.

Thirdly, the Spanish courts overreacted too. About a dozen Catalan leaders have been sentenced to between 5 and 13 years of prison. I mean they didn’t kill anyone. They were a local government that organized a referendum. Sure, they were in violation of certain election laws, but Jeb Bush did not end up in prison for using the so-called butterfly ballot, that violated Florida’s election laws, in the 2000 presidential election that put his brother in the White House.


(Buchanan did extremely well in Palm Beach)

This latter thing has caused some friction between the EU and Spain, as two of in prison had been elected to the European Parliament, after their arrest but before the trial, and as EMPs they have immunity. A third Catalonian EMP, the former head of government in Catalonia, had fled to Brussels, and has been able to take hisseat in parliament. The Spanish have asked for his extradiction, but the EU has pointed out that he has immunity, and have instead demanded that Spain immediately releases the other two so they can take their seats in parliament. Acvording to the EU, their verdict is null and void as they were elected before the trial, and this never should have been tried in the first place.

It’s complicated.

I don’t think Catalonian independence will happen in the near future though.
I mean, then Barcelona would have to leave La Liga, and their would be no more classico against Real Madrid....

Oh, and to make things even more interesting, the recently elected socialist governmment in Spain is dependent on the votes of two minor Catalonian parties to maintain a majority... These parties have been suggesting a pardon for all Catalonian politicians in prison, and if the government refuses they could end up losing power.

[Per]

So, nothing much will happen this year, but come January first 2021 and the British may be in for a rude awakening.

Boris says he wants a Canada style deal. That took 7 years to negotiate, and Canada agreed to meet EU laws and standards on a variety of goods.

Boris has less than ten months to negotiate his deal, and insists Britain should not be bound by EU laws and regulations.
Good luck with that.

[Per]

A Brexiteer has provoked a massive response after he took to Twitter to fume that longer passport queues were 'not the Brexit' that he voted for.
In a tweet he wrote complaining about the "disgusting service" at an airport in Amsterdam.

Posting a photograph of an immigration queue, he complained he had been forced to wait 55 minutes at Schiphol airport.

Officials have warned previously that those travelling from the UK after Brexit could expect longer delays in Amsterdam.

But, without an ounce of irony, he concluded his message by saying: "This isn't the Brexit I voted for."

His tweet attracted more than 8,000 replies in less than 24 hours, and caused the name Colin to trend.

"Um actually, yes, this is exactly what you voted for," said Ian Howes.

"You voted to lose Freedom of Movement. Did you think it didn't mean you?" responded Caroline Page.

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-st ... -1-6514898

”Passports are red,
Passports are blue.
You've fucked this up Colin,
Get used to the queue.”

[Per]

Right, so positioning for trade deal negotiations continue to surprise.

Not only has Spain demanded that Gibraltar be excluded from free trade, but now Greece also want the Elgin Marbles returned (see 32a):

[Topper]

Appears Canada and the UK have a tentative trade deal.

That wasn't too difficult.

[Cousin Strawberry]

Lets hope they included yorkshire gold tea and their McVities chocolate covered bisquits in the agreement. Those fucking cookies cost like 4 bucks a roll and the tea is rediculously overpriced.

Dont punish us smokers any longer who enjoy an english afternoon tea party when coming down please

[Mickey107]

[Topper]

Canada's
United kingdom
New
Trade
System

[Per]

The time glass is running out of sand and the Britons should start bracing themselves for Impact.

What do you think, ten years from now, at the end of 2030, will the UK have lost more or less than 10% in GDP/capita relative to the EU average?

[Per]

It is rather hilarious to read about brexiteers being upset about the changes they voted for.

Like now, apparently the hundreds of thousands of Brits having vacation homes in Spain (and other EU countries) are just realizing they can not spend more than 90 days there. The Daily Mail is referring to this as ”new EU rules” which is bullshit. The rule was always there, it just does not apply to EU citizens. As long as the UK was a member state, UK citizens could stay as long as they wanted.

But the people in Britain voted to no longer be EU citizens and thus they no longer will be treated as such. Thus the same rules will apply to Englishmen as to the Chinese, African, Australian or Canadian visitors, ie they can stay for three months, but no longer, unless they qualify for a work visa, student visa or any other such thing. Non EU tourists - 90 days. That’s it.

And they should have known this. It’s not like it was some huge secret hidden away.

Weirdly, it seems when they voted to end freedom of movement, they thought it only applied to others, not themselves.



On a sad note, I have an Australian friend living in London. He was thrilled when he got his UK passport so that he could use the fast lane at immigration in European airports, but then the Brits voted to put him back in the slow lane with all the Asians and Africans again. Through no fault of his own he got royally screwed.

[Per]

Still no trade deal in place, but hey, the new rules (which they still haven’t agreed on) won’t be implemented till January 1st, so still plenty of time to get everything sorted and in order. Must be exciting for all companies involved in import and export, or using imported goods, to have no freaking idea what things will cost or if they’ll even be available three weeks from now.

More Jonathan Pie:

[Topper]

Deal