Re: God Save the Governor!
Reply #10 –
So Howie is a "leftist" now too? Your list of "leftists" seem to encompass practically the entire population of the planet, living or dead.
Anyway, while I guess Howie is thrilled by the last UK election, there is one aspect of it that should make him unhappy and you happy: While the election results makes not-totally-stupid-Brexit a more likely outcome than the alternatives, it also has some other side-effects regarding the unity of the United Kingdom.
An independent Scotland is less, not more, likely in the short run. As you remember there was a referendum about that too, and the Scottish nationalists lost. Now the Scottish desire to leave is likely to rise, possibly again rising to a majority, but it won't happen. First because there is no incentive for Whitehall to offer another referendum, unless the Tories were to become systematic weak, and unable to win elections in England again unless they jettisoned Scotland. Second because while the desire would be higher, the implementation would be much harder.
An independent Scotland back in the old days of 2014, would be just another EU nation, just like Rump-UK and Ireland. The opposition, particularly from Spain, would be hard (because of Catalonia and Euskadi), but faced with a fait accompli, Scotland would join the EU. Post-Brexit newly independent Scotland would have a choice: Stay out of EU too and have a loose connection with England&Wales, or join the EU. The first is not what they want and it would not be clever. Alone Scotland would be very vulnerable. There is a reason Norway, a country of the same size, is in the EEA (basically EU light). And if Scotland was in the EU, there would be an EU border between Scotland and England. That would cost England a bit, and Scotland a lot.
HOWEVER, it will make a reunited Ireland much more likely. Unlike Scotland, the drivers all move in the same direction. Religion, both Protestant and Catholic, is losing its spell over Ireland too. So "Protestant" and "Catholic" is becoming more like ethnic indicators than actual religion. That notwithstanding, Protestants are still Unionists, and Catholics are still Republicans.
It was assumed that demographic changes (cue Monty Python's Meaning of Life) would ultimately lead to a reunited Ireland, but that is a very slow process (Catholics don't have children either). But Brexit might change it all. With it EU Ireland would be more attractive to NI and England less attractive, even for Protestants.
Tories might even be fine with that, even given the "Unionist" part of their name. It is a common attitude in those circles that NI isn't worth the cost. Now that DUP doesn't have control of the Parliament anymore, unionist have little say. Some will stick up for a union with NI, others might make a show of sticking up for it, while already having let it go. (Much like Corbyn made a show of being remainer, while the EU was in the way of his dream of a Socialist Republic of Great Britain.)
Topic: God Save the Governor! (Read 527 times)
