It\u2019s not long ago that a Leader column in the Scots\nIndependent talked about Theresa May as akin to Harry Houdini. No matter how\nmuch she got tied in knots and chains, she somehow wriggles out. The last few weeks\nare a case in point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as commentators and opponents (both within the\nConservatives and outwith) were predicting she would be out the door of Number\n10 by Christmas, so the departure point was postponed to the first vote on her\nDeal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well that has come and gone. Despite the biggest Commons\ndefeat on any topic by a post-War government, Mrs May has arisen to \u2018unite\u2019 her\nparty in an illusion which might not quite get her membership of the Magic\nCircle. The Tories have come out the worst headlines for an incumbent\ngovernment to rising poll support and the prospect of another General Election\nby the Summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many non-political friends and associates ask wearily, what\nwill happen next? A French friend who has lived in Glasgow for over 20 years is\nnow seriously considering moving home to France (where she can continue her\ntransient business), just to avoid the uncertainty of being out of the European\nUnion. Yet, she had a faint hope that the British people would rise up in\nrevolt against the elite business and political interests taking us out of the\nEU. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alas it was a solemn duty to remind her that Brits, and even\nScots, don\u2019t do revolution. Nae yella simmets for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, the UK is united politically by a Prime Minister,\nwho apparently voted to Remain, determined to deliver a Brexit Deal, and a\nLeader of the Opposition, who apparently voted Remain and is determined to\ndeliver a Brexit Deal. Together their parties represent over three quarters of\npopular opinion delivering for a 52% mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As is the way in politics, it is likely that there will be\nsome sort of Withdrawal Agreement that is officially signed off by Brussels and\nLondon with tacit approval of the Dinosaur Brigade in Belfast. The implications\nof which will take years to transpire. \nNissan decision to halt investment in Sunderland \u2013 the Vote Leave\ncapital of England \u2013 is perhaps the first swallow of our Brexit-facing Spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More manufacturers will work out that access to the EU\nmarket is easier and cheaper if you are located in continental Europe as the\nlikes of Slovakia continue apace as the car manufacturing hub of Europe. A\nsmall price to pay no doubt for a region that was is so reliant on inward\ninvestment for its sustainable economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What about north of the border? Well, the more a Brexit deal\nis struck, the more people recognise that the veil of \u2018Great Britain\u2019 is lifted\nover an England, hurting more than ever from its lost place in the world. The\nfirst Scottish independence referendum woke up many people in the rest of the\nUK to the realisation what we are not all united under one flag. A sizeable\nchunk of North Britain rejected that image for right and proper reasons.\nWhinging Scots makes fertile territory for bruised Englanders. If you have your\nSaltire, we have St George, and so the rise of a nationalism in search of an\nidentity has flourished over the last five years and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the price of Brexit is a disunited Kingdom, polls\nindicate that this is a price worth paying for. How awful this must feel to\nthose Unionists in Scotland who relied on financial and emotional support in\n2014, only to see resentment develop in the intervening period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Ruth pencils in a return to frontline politics, her heart\nmust grow weary at figuring out where she takes the Scottish Tories next. Many\nsaid that the General Election of 2015 was the high watermark for the SNP.\nImagine how Ruth feels knowing the Scottish Elections of 2016 was both her\npersonal and party political high watermark. She may be flung a lifebelt from a\nShire Tory constituency keen to have her cheeky antics for themselves but Bute\nHouse is unlikely to ever know her interior d\u00e9cor requirements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s not long ago that a Leader column in the Scots Independent talked about Theresa May as akin to Harry Houdini. No matter how much she got tied in knots and chains, she somehow wriggles out. The last few weeks are a case in point. Just as commentators and opponents (both within the Conservatives and outwith) were predicting she would be out the door of Number 10 by Christmas, so the departure point was postponed to the first vote on her Deal. Well that has come and gone. Despite the biggest Commons defeat on any topic by a post-War government, Mrs May has arisen toRead More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2387,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2386\/revisions\/2387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}