I’m wondering what the EU – specifically Von Der Leyen and the Commission are thinking – if indeed they are. It’s increasingly clear that VDL cannot do big picture strategy and doesn’t have anybody who can. Precisely when they needed to resolve the vaccine situation they have made it worse by politicising it to try to shift blame from themselves so the Astra Zeneca vaccine that seems to be at least as effective as any other sits in refrigerators in millions of doses because Macron, Merkel & co are playing silly buggers and so now the most vulnerable cohort is unwilling to receive it. Meanwhile France has a growing case and fatality count and Germany is also in trouble. Meanwhile the ‘Let’s Punish the UK’ program is in full swing. A bit of thought would show that a lot of these tactics rely on areas where the UK had unilaterally agreed a six month grace period so a few months from now the measures may be applied in the reverse direction. They also seem to suffer from the delusion that the UK is a captive market that has to consume their output. A hypothetical scenario: Spain produces much of the fruit and salad for the UK summer market. I wonder if Kenya (already sells flowers to the UK) or Peru (asparagus – both countries may sell other things but those are two I know of) might be interested in picking up some of that business? I imagine air freight rates are fairly reasonable at the moment and there are pre-existing supply lines so probably not that difficult and they’ve got enough time to get the crops in and growing. Who do the Spanish sell to then? Repeat across other sectors and it becomes a sizeable issue I would think. We see that the EU tactics are already driving reactions in the Financial Services arena where Switzerland and the UK are teaming up. Ultimately the EU is in danger of forcing the UK to become the ‘Singapore- On-Thames’ that they are worried about. Do you see what I mean about big picture strategy?
Troubling times for the People’s Republic of Sturgeonia. The SNP has now been in power for some 14 years and it’s looking like they are running out of road. It may take a year or two but it’s coming without a doubt. Frankly, I’ll be surprised if it’s not sooner than that as Sturgeon is running short of levers to pull to keep the SNP train on the rails. The record on Education, Health etc. is pretty appalling, if unsurprising, given their total focus on independence. Not only that but Sturgeon seems to have started a war with the only person who could overthrow her in Alec Salmond. Like many, I have little or no time for the man, but Wee Nicola might do well to remember that he is a very good communicator and possibly a better politician than she is. He also has a base of support within the SNP which may be the deciding factor as the solid internal SNP discipline has been one of the factors in maintaining their rule. Salmonds committee evidence was pretty damning as well. A couple of years ago I think Sturgeon would have skated through this but now I think the end is in sight.
A few days ago I searched Twitter using the hashtag #FBPE and I was pretty gobsmacked at what emerged. People were referring to themselves as ‘The Resistance’, saying they would put their nationality as ‘European’ on census or similar forms and busy organising to ‘demand the immediate return to the EU by the UK’. You may think QAnon are batshit crazy but this is another level of self delusional Flat Eartherism entirely. Who the fuck do these people think they are? Original Refererendum result, 2017 General Election and the 2019 General Election. All three particularly 2019 explicitly endorsed Brexit. The Conservatives – pro Brexit – 365 seats. The Liberal Democrats – anti Brexit – 11 seats. I think that the settled will of the UK electorate is pretty clear. So a Resistance to what? Democracy? It’s not even remotely like there is 48% of the electorate wishing to reverse Brexit – that was the original vote to Remain and many of those accepted the result and saw that there was a clear democratic mandate to Leave. The Lib Dems with their puerile ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ slogan failed to get any traction in 2019 which was the closest thing to a single issue election I can recall. There was clear demarcation between the offers and Lib Dems candidates stood in most if not all constituencies so ample opportunity for the electorate to stop Brexit. They chose not to do so. So why would you be so self absorbed as to honestly believe that the views of a few thousand people should override that of millions of voters? If the UK electorate is so obnoxious in holding divergent views to you why wouldn’t you emigrate to another country more in line with your views and values? One could suggest somewhere in Europe even. By the way, plotting to subvert the Government isn’t ‘Resistance’ it’s Treason…