Among\nall the cantrips in the weeks up to Halloween Operation Yellowhammer\nhas emerged yet again; to remind readers, this is the panic created\nby the Government and its toadies to get a deal of any sorts through\nthe House of Commons or be faced with a No Deal scenario. This will\nbe forced on it by a greedy dictatorial EU \u2013 well that is their\ninterpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mrs\nTheresa May was the one who decided to move Section 50, think that is\nthe section, and then had to go bonnet (ladies do not wear caps!) in\nhand to the EU to agree the terms of leaving. She kept getting\nknocked back by MPs, who did not like the terms she agreed \u2013\nremember the UK did not get thrown out of the EU, but \u201cdecided\u201d\nto leave and wanted to set the terms, ie we are going but we will\ndecide the club rules! Typical arrogant Tories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nshould be remembered that Mrs May\u2019s deal was rejected three times\nby the Westminster Parliament, one of them in the biggest defeat for\nany Government in history. The deal this week is worse than them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mrs\nMay whose response to any request for a second Scottish Independence\nReferendum was \u201cNow is not the time\u201d, not a very imaginative\nsaying, but Scotland deserved another Referendum. We accepted the\nresult of the last one but with the qualification \u201cunless there is\na material change in the way Scotland is governed\u201d – I paraphrase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\none of the threats in the 2014 Referendum was that Scotland would\nthen be thrown out of the European Union, quite naturally we were\naggrieved. None of the things we were promised materialised, and the\nsolemn Vow turned out to be a creation of the Daily Record with\nUnionists\u2019 pictures attached. The then Editor of the Record has\nnow retired, I think, and come out as a Yes voter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nweek the game goes on; Bullying Boris is responding to the\nstipulation that he asks Brussels for an extension by sending a\nphotocopy of the request, unsigned, believing that this will be\nacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So,\nhe sends an unsigned cheque and will bleat if it is not accepted? If\nanyone sent me an unsigned cheque I would immediately return it – \nthe Court of Session has not yet ruled if he has broken the Law so at\npresent he is not in the pokey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ngeneral public, like myself, are getting fed up with the situation,\nand wanting it settled, which gives the bully hope, but any deal is\ngoing to lead to massive disruption \u2013 so Leave has not had any\neffects as yet. In the North East of England there is a heavy demand\nfor Leave, and Labour MPs are getting pressured to agree the deal. \nWhat their reaction will be when the car factories are transferred to\nvarious countries in Europe and they are left unemployed and broke? \nThis will happen, I think Nissan has already been in touch, their\nSunderland car factory is the largest in the UK. Due to costs and\ntariffs they may transfer it to Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\nhas been a lot of speculation on the effects which is why Westminster\ncame up with Operation Yellowhammer; we all remember the Tories\nforking out \u00a330 million of our cash to pay for non existent\nferries, and to upgrade ports that could not handle cargo ships. \nRumours of shortages of food, fuel, medicines are also being\nforecast. Thankfully we will still have energy since they cannot\nsell the wind, or the waves for that matter. I wonder if they got\nany of our money back \u2013 gone a bit quiet, or maybe I just haven\u2019t\nnoticed. They have not got any money back from the DUP, who now\naccuse Mr Johnson of bad faith anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nGood Friday Agreement is getting short shrift from the Tories; Mr\nJohnson has agreed to a Border between Mainland Britain and Ireland\ndown the middle of the Irish Sea, something which he swore would\nnever happen. I was initially puzzled as to why the Irish Taoiseach\nagreed, but the hysteria of the DUP told its own story. There will\nbe no land border between Britain and Ireland with walls and Customs\nPosts, this will be transferred to, we think, Cairnryan and various\nports in England and Wales. (Oil companies are leaving cut down rigs\nin the North Sea, but they are in the wrong place.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr\nJohston\u2019s plan seems sensible, but it also weakens the notional\nBorder between Northern Ireland and Ireland proper, which will likely\nwither away. Northern Ireland was kept as a part of Britain after the\nwar started by the Easter Rising in 1916; this resulted in Britain\nkeeping the North. I always found it puzzling as to why in the\nBritish Isles Catholics were denied votes, jobs and housing. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nwas manifestly wrong and absurd and we in our younger days knew very\nlittle about it. My paternal grandparents came from Ireland, County\nCavan, which was in Ireland proper. My father was born in Dundee and\nmy mother in West Calder, West Lothian, her parents originally from\nIreland, but I never bothered to find out about my antecedents. When\nthe UK partitioned Ireland in 1926 there was a civil war when\nWestminster split the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also\nduring the Second World War there was no conscription and this\ncontinued on to National Service. I never knew this at the time I\ndid my National Service, because the Enniskillen Fusiliers were\nserving in Kenya at the same time as I was – 1953-55. We called them\nthe Penicillin Fusiliers due to their predeliction to venereal\ndisease. I think they must all have been Regulars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nfirst visited Ireland in 1982 with a caravan; I was apprehensive as\ncars and other vehicles were being searched by police before we\nembarked. While in the queue to board I asked a policeman if he\nwanted me to open the car boot. He said \u201cNo, you\u2019ve got an\nhonest face\u201d, perhaps with a car and caravan bearing SNP symbols it\nwas OK?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\ndisembarked in Belfast and headed South, when passing through Newry\nwe passed over a \u201csleeping policeman\u201d one of the biggest I had\never encountered, and just beside a heavily sandbagged police\nstation. I had to go eventually to a garage in Ireland to get my\ntow bar fixed .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\narrived at the Border Post fairly early in the morning, (I spent as\nlittle time as I could in the North). The Post was pretty deserted,\nand I had to wait until an official appeared. When he did appear he\nasked me for the caravan number; he told me I would find it on the\ntowbar cover. When I went back he produced the form and said \u201cDo\nyou have a pen?\u201d and filled out the form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nwas a bit wary about travelling to Ireland as my car had a British\nregistration number and both car and caravan had SNP stickers but I\nhad no problems in either Northern Ireland or Ireland proper. This\nwas before the Good Friday Agreement when the Troubles were in full\nswing; the only place we felt uncomfortable was Dundalk, a Border\ntown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On\nour return journey we were waved through the Border Post, but came\nacross many soldiers with guns as we passed through Belfast. When we\nvisited Ireland some years later for a friend\u2019s son\u2019s wedding we\ndecided to spend a week in Ireland, there were no Border Posts and we\nonly knew we had crossed the Border when the petrol price changed\nfrom pounds to euros. The wedding was in Armagh and the reception\nin Ballycastle, 50 miles away! It was great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nsomewhat long-winded tale is to illustrate the difference the Good\nFriday Agreement made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At\npresent we do not know where we stand, and as Mr Johnston has made\nhis statement -out by 31st October, no ifs, no buts, no maybes \u2013 my\ninterpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However\nwhen Halloween has come and gone there is still a mass of negotiation\nto be gone through we will be off the cliff and looking in vain for\nthe parachute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nshould be noted that Westminster has steadfastly refused to listen to\nany comment from Scotland. Ruth Davidson conveniently decided to\nspend more time with her family, but I note that she has been in\ntouch with Tony Blair for when a Second Independence Referendum comes\nalong. Wonder who will finance the Scotland in Union campaign?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alyn\nSmyth SNP MEP, has written to Donald Tusk asking him to grant an\nextension to Section 50 and Aileen MacLeod SNP MEP has written to\nMichel Barnier in the same vein; this is because Boris Johnson is \ndetermined to force over 100 pages of amendments through Westminster\nin 3 days . Many a slip between cup and lip, so Mr Johnston may come\na cropper. He slings off a funny remark \u2013 dead or in a ditch- and\nexpects it to be taken as Gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nthe newspapers we keep reading about this \u201cgeneration\u201d claim at\nthe time of the Referendum ;it was not written into any paperwork,\nvarious opponents keep bringing it up, but when challenged they do\nnot reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However\nthis has reared its head again about the 2016 Brexit Referendum,\nwhere Alistair Carmichael, former Secretary of State for Scotland (a\nLibDem) has admitted that Nick Clegg said the 2016 Referendum was a\n\u201conce in a generation\u201d; Mr Carmichael said it was \u201ca\nmisjudgement rather than a lie\u201d. The exchange occurred when\nAlistair Carmichael former Liberal MP was being interviewed on Talk\nRadio by Mike Graham. Mr Graham tried to clarify the matter \u201dYou\u2019re\ntelling me that Liberal Democrat lies are OK, everybody else\u2019s are\nnot?\u201d \u201cGetting pejorative like that doesn\u2019t really help the\ndebate\u201d replied Carmichael.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nlooks as if the \u201cgeneration\u201d game has been mixed up between\nreferendums \u2013 by the LibDem leader Jo Swinson. She is adamant that\n a Scottish Referendum was a \u201conce in a generation\u201d but that a\nPeoples Vote, ie second Brexit Referendum, was legitimate. We also\nremember Mr Carmichael falsely accusing Nicola Sturgeon of telling\nthe French ambassador she wanted a Labour government \u2013 at least I\nthink it was what was alleged, whatever it turned out she was not\nguilty but Mr Carmichael got rapped over the knuckles by either David\nCameron or Nick Clegg \u2013 I don\u2019t remember the exact details but\nCarmichael was caught out and had to retract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Among all the cantrips in the weeks up to Halloween Operation Yellowhammer has emerged yet again; to remind readers, this is the panic created by the Government and its toadies to get a deal of any sorts through the House of Commons or be faced with a No Deal scenario. This will be forced on it by a greedy dictatorial EU \u2013 well that is their interpretation. Mrs Theresa May was the one who decided to move Section 50, think that is the section, and then had to go bonnet (ladies do not wear caps!) in hand to the EU to agree the terms ofRead 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":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630"}],"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=2630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2631,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2630\/revisions\/2631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}