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Post by jdredd on Jul 22, 2020 13:48:42 GMT -5
I believe Scottish elections are coming up soon, and Scottish independence (Scotxit?) could be on the table again. Not that the world needs one more border.
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Post by jdredd on Aug 8, 2020 0:11:01 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/world/europe/boris-johnson-scotland-ireland-independence.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage"LONDON — Barely six months after Britain broke away from the European Union, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is increasingly consumed with trying to stop the breakaway of restive parts of the United Kingdom. On Friday, Mr. Johnson sent his popular Treasury chief, Rishi Sunak, to Scotland, to tamp down nationalist sentiment that has surged there in recent months. Another top minister, Michael Gove, went to Northern Ireland with nearly $500 million in aid to help frustrated companies deal with new checks on shipped goods. Experts have long predicted that Brexit would strengthen centrifugal forces that were pulling apart the union. But in Scotland, in particular, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated those forces, forcing Mr. Johnson to mount an elaborate — some say belated — charm offensive with the Scottish public. The situation is less acute in Northern Ireland, where reunification with the Republic of Ireland still seems a distant prospect. Yet business people there, including those loyal to London, worry they will be hurt by a costly, bureaucratic trading system between Northern Ireland and the rest of the union." I doubt Scots have the stones to quit the UK, but it makes me laugh thinking about it. And it may be another 50 years before Ireland is finally reunified.
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Post by jdredd on Sept 11, 2020 0:39:27 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/briefing/brexit-russian-hacking-coronavirus.htm"Brussels has demanded the speedy withdrawal of proposed Brexit legislation that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has admitted would breach international law. Mr. Johnson and his government have swiftly rejected this ultimatum. It is the most serious crisis yet to hit negotiations on a trade agreement for when Britain leaves the European Union’s trade zone. The talks have failed to make any significant progress yet have somehow remained alive. The proposed legislation would override aspects of a landmark withdrawal agreement about the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain, and Ireland, a member of the European Un ion.
In a toughly worded statement that underscored the growing tension, the European Commission — the bloc’s executive arm — suggested it was ready to take legal action against the British government, accusing it of threatening Northern Ireland’s fragile peace agreement."
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Post by jdredd on Oct 3, 2020 11:59:49 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/10/03/world/europe/brexit-deal-talks.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=World%20News "Mr. Johnson recently introduced a bill that would override parts of the withdrawal agreement relating to Northern Ireland. His own aides acknowledged that it would be a violation of international law, and the European Union bought legal action against Britain this past week. “We’ve suffered a certain setback with the breaching of the agreement we reached on Northern Ireland,” Ms. Merkel said on Friday in language that, for her, was more frank than usual. “I have to say simply: That’s bitter.” With time running out, the British have been pressing for an opportunity to take their case higher up the political food chain. Last year, Mr. Johnson successfully brokered an agreement on Britain’s withdrawal in talks with Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister at the time, and seems confident that he can do so again." It's lame duck Merkel vs big oaf Boris on the path with Ireland.
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Post by jdredd on Nov 9, 2020 2:41:09 GMT -5
I wonder how that other Trump bro Boris is taking Trump's defeat?
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Post by jdredd on Dec 7, 2020 0:52:21 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/12/06/world/brexit-boris-johnson-european-union.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage "The Johnson government recently introduced legislation giving it the power to renege on parts of its withdrawal agreement with the European Union that deal with Northern Ireland. That antagonized the Europeans, but it also ruffled Mr. Biden, because such moves could lead to the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland. Mr. Biden warned Mr. Johnson not to do anything in his Brexit negotiations that would threaten the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. If London and Brussels strike a trade deal, Mr. Johnson would almost certainly remove the offending language from the legislation. In the meantime, however, his ministers insist they will go ahead with the Northern Ireland bill, which is scheduled to return to the House of Commons on Monday. That could inject another combustible element into the talks. With time running out, analysts are nervous that any miscalculation could lead to a breakdown in talks with the European Union." Ha-ha! The Evangelical's darling Trump has been replaced by Catholic Biden!
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Post by jdredd on Feb 13, 2021 14:28:16 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/world/europe/brexit-britain-trade.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"In the early days of the post-Brexit era, Britain is struggling to adapt to its new position in the global economy — its fortunes still tethered to the European Union; its companies on the outside. The trade deal Britain struck late last year with the European Union stopped tariffs from being imposed on goods exchanged across the English Channel, but did not prevent the revival of customs procedures, health and safety checks, value-added taxes on imports, and other time-consuming, commerce-limiting hindrances. Businesses across Britain are now contending with paralyzing confusion and unfamiliar bureaucratic hurdles. Paperwork snafus, customs horrors and other expensive disruptions are intensifying the strains on an economy that was already reeling from the pandemic." Yeah, big deal. Self-imposed trade BS is slowing the Brit economy. Not exactly the Luftwaffe bombing London. Wake me if the United Kingdom starts losing parts.
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Post by jdredd on May 7, 2021 16:32:21 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/opinion/scotland-independence-snp.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage"GLASGOW — For Scots of my generation — millennial and younger — the belief that Scotland would be better off running its own affairs, free from the strictures of Westminster, is almost axiomatic. From the Iraq war to Brexit, the financial crash to austerity, Britain feels trapped in a spiral of crisis and decline. According to a September analysis of recent polls, more than 70 percent of Scots under the age of 35 think Scotland should abandon the United Kingdom. And the abrasive right-wing premiership of Boris Johnson, increasingly mired in accusations of cronyism and sleaze, has only strengthened that view. At the other end of the spectrum, Scotland’s older, asset-owning classes remain staunchly opposed to a political breakup and the economic instability it might entail. An election this week should show which side has the wind at its back." I've always thought Scottish independence was a great idea, if just to stick it to the rotten English. But since Trump, I'm not so enamored with Nationalism, even in Ireland. Plus, my long-term dream for the world is one that is completely borderless. I suppose that might have to take our robot overlords taking over.
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Post by jdredd on Jun 30, 2021 12:23:45 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/opinion/northern-ireland-centenary.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage"What’s more, Sinn Fein is surging ahead in polls in the Irish Republic and may enter government after the next elections in 2025. While around 50 percent of Northern Irish voters back remaining in the United Kingdom, support for Irish unity is growing. Though by no means imminent, that goal has never seemed closer. Against this backdrop, some unionists have sunk into resentment. Men in balaclavas, Union Jacks in their fists, have taken to the streets to express their grievances. But it’s clear that most Protestants, like the rest of Northern Ireland’s populace, deplore talk of a return to violence. They want normal politics instead. And if unionism cannot deliver it, a growing number of them are tentatively contemplating what for previous generations was unthinkable: that a unified Ireland might not actually be the end of the world." Looks like Boris is throwing Unionists under the bus to get his beloved Brexit. Well, whatever it takes to undo the unhappy partition of Ireland. One less border.
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Post by jdredd on Sept 19, 2021 22:43:45 GMT -5
So the corks are probably popping in post-Brexit England. With the Great AUXUS deal, they gave the finger to the EU. Who needs Europe when they can team up with the USA?
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Post by jdredd on Oct 11, 2021 1:50:56 GMT -5
Ha-ha! I guess things are starting to get ugly in post-Brexit England on the energy front.
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Post by jdredd on May 13, 2022 12:40:15 GMT -5
At least Ireland has not jumped on the NATO bandwagon. Yet.
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Post by jdredd on Jun 14, 2022 15:45:06 GMT -5
I see old Boris is trying to unilaterally slink out of the agreement he made with the EU about trade between Ireland and the UK. Boris speaking with forked tongue? Big surprise. But then England has never given a rat’s ass about the well being of Ireland.
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Post by jdredd on Jul 8, 2022 15:14:51 GMT -5
Byline from NYT: “For Ukraine, Boris Johnson’s Resignation Means Loss of a Personal Ally”. Aww, too bad. I’m sure the UK can come up with another bloodthirsty PM. But what does this mean for Ireland now that Brexit Boy is leaving? I sure wish we had their Parliamentary system so we could give Biden a vote of no confidence.
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Post by jdredd on Nov 24, 2023 16:48:23 GMT -5
Article from the NYT the other day about how much the reunification of Ireland is coming closer because of the effects of Brexit. Talk about your unintended consequences.
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