OT. The futures Bright, the Futures Brexit!!!

[swaledale]

Scottish ‘independence’ was ticking along nicely through ever greater devolution and imo Salmond and Sturgeon polarised the nation by pushing for the extreme option (and taking their eyes off other issues). The GR bill has really gone down badly with the plebs (I believe nearly 2 to 1 against) which hasn’t helped and she may have seen it as a final straw

Not sure J K Rowling could be considered a pleb, but yes its has further divided opinion, though in reality, it doesn't change the current situation regarding the transgender situation and access to women's spaces, that's been happening for years. I recall back in 1990's we interviewed a trans person and there was great discussion as to if they were hired which toilets they would use. Society needs to figure out a way to manage this situation sensibly and with sensitivity to all concerned. a GRC does is enable somebody who has transitioned to be married or even buried etc. as a woman, but I'm not going to open that can of worms further!!

Yes the obvious option to pursue after 2014 was devolution max, which I believe was on offer, but the SNP wanted the extreme option, possibly influenced by their electoral success both at Holyrood and Westminster. That way they could easily have been much closer to independence and perhaps the Welsh approach has shown that to have been the better option?

[ramAnag]

Society needs to figure out a way to manage this situation sensibly and with sensitivity to all concerned. a GRC does is enable somebody who has transitioned to be married or even buried etc. as a woman, but I'm not going to open that can of worms further!!

Yes the obvious option to pursue after 2014 was devolution max, which I believe was on offer, but the SNP wanted the extreme option, possibly influenced by their electoral success both at Holyrood and Westminster. That way they could easily have been much closer to independence and perhaps the Welsh approach has shown that to have been the better option?

Well put on the GR issue...it’s complicated but your first sentence is what we all need to remember.

The Welsh comparison is interesting. Back in the late seventies and eighties they were probably the most militant, ‘come home to a log fire...’ or whatever the ‘joke’ was...accompanied by pictures of burning second homes, but now their quest for nationalism seems tame compared with some of the Scots.
Having said that...Wales is a country I am more familiar with and there certainly doesn’t seem to be any loss of identity.

[swaledale]

I fear rA that we shall see more so called "culture wars" being used by the Tories given they have no policies and no accomplishments for their 13 plus years in government apart from the "flagship" Brexit, which is falling apart spectacularly!

[ramAnag]

I fear rA that we shall see more so called "culture wars" being used by the Tories given they have no policies and no accomplishments for their 13 plus years in government apart from the "flagship" Brexit, which is falling apart spectacularly!

Indeed...although as far as the ‘flagship’ is concerned...I wouldn’t be surprised to see a good scuttling.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Good to see this thread settle back down to it's routines of slagging Brexit and the Tories. I can Go back to ignoring it again. Not that I disagree with some of the content but it's repetitive to the point of being boring.

[MadAmster]

Good to see this thread settle back down to it's routines of slagging Brexit and the Tories....

... and that awful chap Farridge.

[triz]

Genuinely impressed to see that this thread is still going.

[SithHappens]

Genuinely impressed to see that this thread is still going.

is impressed the right word ?

[swaledale]

Good to see this thread settle back down to it's routines of slagging Brexit and the Tories. I can Go back to ignoring it again. Not that I disagree with some of the content but it's repetitive to the point of being boring.

Well I suppose there is only so much that can be said about who should replace Cameron!

[MadAmster]

... or the massive amount of replacements there's been since Cameron..

[swaledale]

Interesting to see Johnson and his ERG cronies jump up and start attacking Sunak, just as it seems he may have reached an agreement with the Eu over the NI protocol. Shameless opportunism by Johnson who basically lied to the DUP, but of course the sticking point here isn't that the DUp disagree with the protocol, they knew after all what the Brexit they wanted and supported May to achieve would mean, just that they ahve no intention of forming a government in NI with a Nationalist First minister!

One step closer to a united Ireland as public support drains away from the Prods!!

[Andy_Faber]

Just a slight update on travel restrictions based on a family member (UK passport) and her partner (Syrian passport) over the period since mid December, they've done (all by air) Spain/Morocco/Spain/UK/Spain/UK/Germany/Spain/UK/Portugal and haven't encountered a single holdup due to being non-EU and have been told twice at the Spanish border that they should ignore any residency time restrictions as the local 'town hall' (Spain is very locally governed) has said they don't want to be turning away anyone who contributes to the local economy! (or scarpering crims I guess). Just an anecdote, the other being that border force controls are tightest in UK and Germany, loosest in Morocco (I'd agree)

Not a benefit of Brexit but less of a burden than some soothsayers predicted.

[swaledale]

When something is the same or only slightly more onerous after Brexit it as you rightly say not a benefit of Brexit.

The other side of that story, as confirmed by Eurostar is that they can only run trains at 75% capacity as the requirement to check and stamp passports takes too long. So whereas one was able to hop on Eurostar and go effortlessly to Paris etc. , one now faces higher ticket charges due to the reduced capacity and it takes longer to board due to passport checks.

[Andy_Faber]

When something is the same or only slightly more onerous after Brexit it as you rightly say not a benefit of Brexit.

The other side of that story, as confirmed by Eurostar is that they can only run trains at 75% capacity as the requirement to check and stamp passports takes too long. So whereas one was able to hop on Eurostar and go effortlessly to Paris etc. , one now faces higher ticket charges due to the reduced capacity and it takes longer to board due to passport checks.

Yes there’s two sides to every coin, it seems that air travel is still the way to go.

[ramAnag]

Yes there’s two sides to every coin, it seems that air travel is still the way to go.

Isn’t the point that there didn’t need to be two sides to this particular coin and that there is only any sort of ‘down’ side regarding travel and European ‘residency’ because of Brexit?