Cont: Brexit: Now What? 9 Below Zero

[jimbob]

Surprisingly, Vixen has posted something relevant.

Scotland was subjected to severe depopulation in the late 18th and 19th centuries, for a number of reasons. In comparative terms, at the time of the union in 1707 Scotland contained (from memory) about 28% of the population of the brand new UK, that is with 33% of the land mass. Now that 33% of the land mass contains only something like 8.6% of the population. Scotland's population remained almost static at about 5 million throughout the 20th century and has only recently (in fact since the establishment of the Scottish parliament) begun to grow a bit. If it had grown as projected we'd have about 8 million people by now.

People have written about the so-called remote areas of Scotland, comparing them to geographically similar places in for example Norway. While Norway has thriving communities, Scotland has ankle-high stone foundations of ruined dwellings, hidden among the grass and heather.

We need and want more people. The problem is of course that people need infrastructure and that doesn't spring fully-created overnight. But it would be a nice problem to have, rather than the Westminster government deporting people with young families who have chosen to make their lives running a small business in a struggling small community because they only employed one person rather than two.

And of course the Home office have deported some people who were contributing to Island communities because they were immigrants who weren't earning enough - even though they were paying into the exchequer and also contributing to the local economy and services.

Almost as though that's a really stupid - and nasty - policy.

 

[Rolfe]

And of course the Home office have deported some people who were contributing to Island communities because they were immigrants who weren't earning enough - even though they were paying into the exchequer and also contributing to the local economy and services.

Almost as though that's a really stupid - and nasty - policy.

Yes, I mentioned that earlier. Not just island communities but mainland communities in the Highlands. People who wanted to be there, were providing services that made the community a more attractive place to live, and were contributing to the economy. Deported to Australia and Canada, among other places.

The rules seem set so that you have to be a high-flying entrepreneur in order to stay. Someone running a tea shop or a gift shop, employing maybe one other person, everyone washing their faces and paying their rates and taxes, isn't good enough. Away with you! So the shop premises lie empty, the employee loses her job, the village loses an amenity, the state loses the rates and taxes, and the people lose their investment. But that's what the Home Office wants.

There was also the Canadian woman who was the only applicant for a teaching post somewhere on the islands which required Gaelic. (Gaelic is spoken in some parts of Canada.) She was refused a visa, even though the local authority tried to make a case that she was well qualified for the job and they couldn't fill the post otherwise. Nonsense, said the Home Office. We want no Canadians here.

Why is anyone surprised that half the Scottish population wants shot of Westminster?

 

[ponderingturtle]

Hopefully not derailing, but this is a very narrow view of Scottish cuisine.

Scotland has some of the finest raw ingredients in the UK, arguably the world in certain niche areas, and the quality of Scottish food is actually incredibly good, if you go looking for it.

Yeah, there are dodgy fish & chip shops, chicken outlets and lacklustre pub fare just like everywhere else, but there are also incredible restaurants and cafes based around local ingredients as well a diverse range of global food trends.

I can understand why people might not want to live in Scotland, each to their own, but criticising the food is, I think, to fall back on cliche.

Why it is the home of chicken tikka masal.

 

[Information Analyst]

And of course the Home office have deported some people who were contributing to Island communities because they were immigrants who weren't earning enough - even though they were paying into the exchequer and also contributing to the local economy and services.

Almost as though that's a really stupid - and nasty - policy.

I think the sad reality is that it's ultimately the result of laziness - going for the low-hanging fruit. It's notable that in the London Review of Books article I cited in the Grenfell thread, it says that Home Office staff on the ground were ignoring orders May's amnesty for anyone affected.

 

[The Don]

Yet another Brexit "benefit", a run on a major property fund.

"Investors in the UK's biggest commercial property fund - worth £2.5bn - have been temporarily prevented from taking out their money.

Investment firm M&G said withdrawals from its Property Portfolio fund had been suspended after investors consistently withdrew their savings.

The firm blamed "Brexit-related political uncertainty" and difficulties in the retail sector for the situation."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50658437

 

[quadraginta]

Yet another Brexit "benefit", a run on a major property fund.

"Investors in the UK's biggest commercial property fund - worth £2.5bn - have been temporarily prevented from taking out their money.

Investment firm M&G said withdrawals from its Property Portfolio fund had been suspended after investors consistently withdrew their savings.

The firm blamed "Brexit-related political uncertainty" and difficulties in the retail sector for the situation."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50658437

How long can the fund put off letting people have their money if they want it?

 

[catsmate]

How long can the fund put off letting people have their money if they want it?

Theoretically indefinitely with regulatory (FCA) review each month. In reality until the investors go to the courts of the authority acts to either put in place a liquidity generation plan of wind up the fund.
They won't be the last; at least five other funds are approaching the liquidity trouble zone.

 

[ceptimus]

They're right to blame it on Brexit, of course, because property funds never ran into trouble in the UK before Brexit, and they never ever do so in any other country.

 

[abaddon]

They're right to blame it on Brexit, of course, because property funds never ran into trouble in the UK before Brexit, and they never ever do so in any other country.

Not intentionally, no. The difference now is that the Brexiteers are no longer content to shoot themselves in both feet, they are quite willing to die on that impossible hill.

Remember that promise to reduce inward immigration? What happened to that? Why are the Tories now promising to increase inward immigration? Why has inward immigration continued to increase under the tories? Cheap labour, that's why.

Explain why they got the whole NHS messed up? Why are they actively selling it to the highest bidder?

 

[ceptimus]

Not intentionally, no. <snipped a whole lot of stuff that had nothing to do with with property funds>

Are you suggesting that the property fund managers deliberately caused a run on their fund for some strange reason related to Brexit? Seems to me that it was much more likely due to the usual greed and incompetence of property fund managers.

 

[Archie Gemmill Goal]

Are you suggesting that the property fund managers deliberately caused a run on their fund for some strange reason related to Brexit? Seems to me that it was much more likely due to the usual greed and incompetence of property fund managers.

I think he is suggesting Brexiteers deliberately f'ed the economy because of the greed, incompetence and stupidity of Brexiteers. And he would be right.

 

[Samson]

Alexandra Hall Hall quits peddling the lies

(CNN)A senior British diplomat in the US has quit with a blast at the UK government over Brexit, saying she could no longer "peddle half-truths" on behalf of political leaders she did not "trust."

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/06/uk/top-british-diplomat-quits-brexit-intl/index.html

Listening to BBC this is regarded as a serious blow to mophead

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Alexandra Hall Hall quits peddling the lies

(CNN)A senior British diplomat in the US has quit with a blast at the UK government over Brexit, saying she could no longer "peddle half-truths" on behalf of political leaders she did not "trust."

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/06/uk/top-british-diplomat-quits-brexit-intl/index.html

Listening to BBC this is regarded as a serious blow to mophead

It should be, but I can't see it impacting his supporters, they won't care.

 

[catsmate]

They're right to blame it on Brexit, of course,

Yes they are.

 

[The Don]

Yet more evidence of the Conservatives and Boris Johnson lying about his Brexit deal:

The propaganda:

Over and over again in this election campaign you hear supporters of Boris Johnson confidently asserting that "he did it with the Brexit deal: he got the EU to renegotiate when most people said it'd be impossible.

"So who cares about those who now openly doubt his ability to get a trade deal done with the EU by December next year? The doubters were wrong before. They'll be proved wrong again."

The truth:

Except, it seems to be overlooked that Prime Minister Johnson did not charm or bully or manipulate the EU into reopening the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and changing the infamous backstop for the Irish border.

It was only by breaking a deep red line of his, very late on in the negotiations, that EU leaders wholeheartedly agreed to a "new" Brexit deal (that in reality was almost identical to the one negotiated by Theresa May).

If you remember, Mr Johnson had pledged never to allow a post-Brexit division between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

But in the end that is exactly what he did.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/the-reporters-50712835

IMO Plan A is still a no-deal Brexit, something which will maximise returns for Boris Johnson's backers.

 

[Vixen]

Hugh Grant is so much better looking.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Hugh Grant is so much better looking.

How about Anthony Stewart Head, okay his personal assistant is a bit bitchy but much less creepy than Dominic Cummings?

 

[a_unique_person]

I guess that's the end of this thread, then.

 

[Doghouse Reilly]

I guess that's the end of this thread, then.

It's not over until the fat lady sings.

 

[angrysoba]

I guess that's the end of this thread, then.

Nope! Just the beginning.

Johnson has no one to stop him pushing through his Brexit deal now. But once that is done, the UK has to negotiate trade deals with the EU, clarify borders and customs, negotiate its own trade deals with other countries that it has previously had trade deals with by virtue of being in the EU, and then we can all argue over the consequences of Brexit.