Tag Archives: Scotland

Borders, NoB orders and Brexit

Hard borders, soft borders, no borders, we’ve heard it all. There has been much debate about which type of border would exist between a post Brexit Scotland and England in the event of Scotland being able to avoid sinking, along with the rest of the UK, into an insular little xenophobic fug with post-imperialistic tendencies. There are various permutations of the argument but we know that the British parties and their “Scottish” stooges will always plum for the most extreme variation in order to scare people into complying with their way of thinking. So lets take a look at that extreme option.

Scotland voted to remain in the EU by a hefty margin, of course the democratic will of the Scottish people matters naught to the British Fundamentalist so they insist that Scotland retains its chains to the sinking ship Britannia and we’ll all sing Jerusalem as we descend to the bottom of the North Sea amid glorious waves of red, white and blue. But let’s assume that Scotland somehow manages to retain her full EU membership (or something very close to it). This option could probably only be achieved with full independence since there is no political will on the part of the British Fundamentalists to do otherwise. They know best you see, just get back into your tartan shortbread tin Scotland.

The British Fundamentalists tell us that a hard border would exist between Scotland and England so we would should really understand what a hard border looks like. First up is the Irish border as it used to look during the euphemistically named “troubles”.

A watchtower on the Irish border

The border itself was very porous with no actual fence or wall dividing Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland. There were roadblocks and checkpoints, watchtowers positioned at strategic points and armed soldiers manning them all. This was a hard border. It existed between two EU member states. It blocked the movement of goods, people and services and damaged both countries economies.

The next border is another hard border, more extreme than the last one. It is the former Inner German Border which used to exist back in the days of the Cold War. I used to patrol it and it was scary, it looked like this:

Inner German border

There were walls, anti-vehicle ditches, mine fields (the ploughed strip above), fences, war dogs on running leashes, watch towers, armed troops and all manner of listening and observation devices. The main difference between this border and the former Irish border was that this one was designed to keep people in, not out. I like to think that this would be the type of border that would exist between England and Scotland, one which is designed to keep the poor little Englanders in since they all aspire to get into the prosperous Scotland which stayed in the EU, well maybe not.

The fact is that all borders are artificial constructs, animals and birds do not respect borders. They are by human beings, for human beings. Designed to keep human beings on one side or the other. They exist only by the will of man.

So would this type of border exist between a post Brexit England and an European Scotland? If it did it would be an extension of the English southern border. It would be an English construct since Scotland neither needs nor wants one. The only people who would want one are the UKIPpers and their Daily Express reading followers who have been fed a constant diet of the dangerous migrants and glorious Britain with its smashing Empire. It would be the border between what remains of the UK and the EU/EEA. If rUK made it difficult at one point the EU would make it difficult at all points. If rUK made it difficult to cross from Scotland within the EU/EEA into rUK then the EU would make it difficult to cross from all EU ports into rUK. For this reason sanity dictates that it would never happen (assuming some sanity still exists in this world).

Now our Tory Brexiteers insist that there would not be a hard border between a post Brexit Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. No real border exists there now and that’s the way that most people on the emerald isle want it to stay. So how can that be? How can Northern Ireland remain within the UK and have no borders with the Republic of Ireland? Well here’s how:

Hard border mainland UK

The border would exist around mainland UK! Taking us back to dark days of WWII. If you want to travel around the UK you will have to show your papers. Fancy jumping on a ferry to Larne? You’re going to need your passport. Live in Belfast and want to sell those goods to mainland UK? You’re going to have to pay customs duties and fill in lots of paperwork. This is the reality which awaits Northern Ireland and its soft border with the Republic of Ireland, the hard border will exist but it will be on the mainland.

So to sum up, no hard border will exist between Scotland and England whether or not Scotland retains EU membership or not. If NI remains part of UK it will have a hard border at the UK mainland and no border to speak of with the Republic of Ireland, but if NI remains within the EU it won’t have a border at all. Got it?

shovel-faced lesbian

Leave a Reply

sorry but i’m a jock
it won’t be much of a shock
that i want to break holyrood
and steal power back for good

once i get my orders from may
i execute them without delay
my words and fundamentalism
spread by organs of imperialism

keeping the rich nests feathered
is the reason i am bothered
hopefully an ermine coat
can clothe this unworthy scot

i can lie to order
knowing the media won’t bother
chastising my deceit
i’m just protecting the elite

the will of the people means nothing
when we have migrants needing expelling
human rights will be eviscerated
once we have brexited

i tell you what to do without mandate
while my chums pollute and rape
the country into which i was born
your criticism only brings scorn

you won’t be getting a referendum
the thought makes snackbeard glum
you’d only vote yes, that’s true
then i’d have to wear flat shoes

Respect democracy

Leave a Reply

It’s the phrase of choice for British Nationalists, isn’t it? They’re always telling us that we need to respect the result of our independence referendum. They use this phrase as a shield to deflect any and all criticisms of the UK, the stock phrase being “well you voted for it.” And they’re quite correct.

We voted for the status quo, we voted to remain the junior partner in a UK which was a member of the EU. Indeed we were told that the only way to preserve EU membership was to vote No in our referendum. We were promised other things if we voted to continue to be subservient to our London government, but they were more threats than promises. They were threats about HMRC jobs, threats about Royal Navy ships built on the Clyde, threats about our economy and it’s reliance on oil. But one of the biggest threats was the one about our membership of the EU. The architect of this programme of fear mongering dubbed it Project Fear.

It must be some quirk of fate then which moved the HMRC jobs to England, delayed the building of Type 26 frigates indefinitely and drove the price of oil to sustained lows. It must be a pure coincidence that we now find ourselves heading for the EU’s exit door (the one which confounded Nigel Farage). In fact it must just be a fluke that all of the British Nationalists’ threats have come to pass.

But we have to respect democracy, don’t we? We have to respect the fact that 55% of Scots voted to remain a part of one of the most corrupt states on the planet based upon the threats and promises of the serried ranks of corporations, politicians, media and monarchs. Forget the 45% that voted to jettison a 300 year old union which has extracted so much from Scotland that our economy can’t sustain itself. We don’t count because we didn’t win.

We have more democracy to respect now in the shape of the EU referendum. In reality it was more like a Nuremberg rally than an exercise in democracy. Project Fear took time out from demonising the Scottish independence movement and it focused it’s dull gaze, Theresa May like, on “immigrants”.

Theresa May

If anybody doubts that propaganda works, witness the sharp increase in racist attacks since the result of the EU referendum was announced. I hear that the Brexiteers are to rename England to Xenophobia.

But forget how the campaign was won. After all it’s not the means which counts in a referendum, it’s the result which matters. Slim as it was it was the result was still a majority for leaving the EU. That’s cool, I respect that. I respect the fact that the UK as a whole wishes to turn insular and cut itself off from the rest of the world. I respect the fact that the UK wishes to cancel all of the trade deals which currently exist between the EU and the rest of the world.

However, respect is a two-way street. So now that I have proclaimed my respect for the result, so must the British Nationalists. They must respect the fact that an overwhelming majority of Scots voted to remain within the EU, as did the people of Northern Ireland. I doubt that they will, after all we are the losers again. The British Nationalist will not respect our vote in the EU referendum just like they will not respect our qualified vote in the independence referendum. So why on earth should we respect the result of either referendum?

As far as I am concerned all bets are off. We voted to stay in this toxic union called the UK on condition that we retained our EU membership. Now that we are to be torn out of the EU by the votes of another country why should we stay in the UK?

What is to come is one of the most uncertain periods our country has ever faced. We will face massive upheaval, economic shocks and political mismanagement on an unprecedented scale. Given that we can clearly see our fate, how can we best navigate our way safely through its turbulent waters? To which ship should we pin our colours to? Should it be the slave ship Xenophobia with its crew of 65 million (foreigners not welcome), or should it be the cruise liner Europe with its crew of 742.5 million? My money, and most of the rest of the world’s money, is on the EU.

The only way that this can be achieved is for Scotland to become an independent nation once more. For that to happen we will need to hold and win a second independence referendum, we don’t have much time but the broad Yes movement is still with us. Let’s get going. The British Nationalists have already begun, but now their arguments ring hollow and we are no longer afraid. Saor Alba

Tata Scottish steel

Leave a Reply

As expected, Tata Steel announced that it would be mothballing the 2 remaining steel plate mills in Scotland with the sad loss of 270 jobs. Let’s not forget the even bigger blow to Scunthorpe which is set to lose 900 jobs. These job losses bring the total in the UK to around 4500, or 15%, this year and it looks likely that more will go too. This announcement brings the Scottish steel industry to an end.

The reasons cited by Tata Steel for the closures are the strength of the Pound, the cost of energy and the depressed cost of steel caused by China dumping their subsidised steel onto the global market. Let’s take a look at each one of these factors individually.

Strength of the Pound Sterling

The Pound has been appreciating in strength for some time now and it seems to be set to continue. But the pound is not appreciating against the USD, it is mainly appreciating against Asian currencies. The main reason for this increase in the strength of the Pound is:

“UK economic data continues to improve, particularly with respect to consumption, wage growth and core inflation, while foreign inflows remains supportive,” say Standard Chartered. Against this backdrop, it is believed that the BoE is likely to hike interest rates early next year, ahead of what markets currently expect.”

So the UK economy is growing. That’s a good thing, right?

UK GDP growth

GINI Inequality index UK

Well it would be if the benefits of this growth were shared equally, but as the second chart shows that is not the case. For in the UK it is the rich who benefit the most from growth, the rest of us don’t get a look in.

Income growth at the top http://topincomes.g-mond.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/#Database

Of course a strong Pound decreases the costs of imports, which makes us consume more, and gives our wonderful Chancellor of the Exchequer a chance to crow about his achievements. But the reality is that our current account deficit is the worst it’s ever been.

UK current account deficit

So that means that inflation is bound to rise. All that free money sloshing around the world due to quantitative easing has to find a home somewhere, and the scent of higher interest rates here in the UK is sucking it in. In short, the prevailing conditions are not going to change any time soon so we can expect more of our manufacturing base to suffer.

Cost of energy

As we already know, Scotland pays the highest prices for electricity in the UK. In fact the further you are away from London and the SE England, the more you will pay. This is because of the transmission rates which are set by the monopoly of National Grid. So it’s no surprise that the steel mills in the North of England and Scotland pay through the nose for electricity. Something which OFGEM has deemed acceptable for years.

Cheap steel from China

Weak demand and over production has left China with a glut of steel. Although the Chinese government has ordered various steel mills to close they continue to operate, often at a loss. But this keeps the jobs in China, for once a steel mill closes it is very difficult to restart it. Which means that the worlds biggest steel producer keeps pumping the stuff out. Ukraine and Russia are also dumping steel onto the market for the same reasons. So three of the top 4 steel producing nations are preserving their production capacity and destroying the rest of the world’s capacity. But that’s OK isn’t it? We can buy steel cheap and so keep costs down?

Steel is a commodity which is strategic by its very nature because it is required if you want to make things like tanks, guns and ships. If a country can lay its hands on the stuff easily it can therefore defend itself easily. But what if the UK has a bit of a tiff with the major steel producing nations, say a small spat over something like Syria? Then they could just say, “No steel for you.” Then where would we be?

Other countries within the EU manage to preserve their steel industries, but here in the UK they are to be sacrificed on the neoliberal altar of the market. Without any strategic vision on the part of our government.

As we would expect our politicians, elected and wannabe, are making hay from these job losses and steel plant closures:

Labour’s Kezia Dugdale steel tweet

Lib Dem’s Justine steel tweets

Unusually, there has been no response from the Conservative and Unionist Party. I wonder why? But it just goes to show that the Unionist parties will use anything as a cosh to try to bash the SNP. Even when the fault lies squarely at the door of No.11 Downing Street.

But I thought that we were Better Together?

More job opportunities – Better Together

The jobs are in China and the powers are in Westminster.

Phoenix45

From the ashes a phoenix rises

Tag Archives: Scotland

Borders, NoB orders and Brexit

Like this:

shovel-faced lesbian

Like this:

Respect democracy

Like this:

Tata Scottish steel

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: