WHAT?

irony

a empirea empire1a empire2a empire3

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apwapw1

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aruth1

Ruth Davidson says that the dam has broken. It is time for this to stop. Boys’ locker room talk. Objectifying women!

atory

aruth5

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a fluff
Seriously, ya roaster. We’re going to find out in the end.

 

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alab
Do try to keep up, erm, Dick.

 

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atory2
“We socialists”.

 

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aalc2

aalc

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Or is it just Munguin and me?

43 thoughts on “WHAT?”

  1. Hm. I seem to recall seeing that Fluffy is now denying the existence of any such report.

    Of course, if there isn’t a report on the impact of Brexit on Scotland, that points to gross incompetence on Their part. So colour me not gobsmacked either way.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Yes, I saw that. But I don;t believe him.

      As you say, if there isn’t an impact study then his department is grossly incompetent (or disinterested), and if there is, he’s a liar.

      So colour me the same…

      Liked by 4 people

      1. Apparently,oor wee Scruffy Fluffy is claiming there is not one specific report on how Brexit will affect Scotland but Scotland is covered across the 58 other reports. This may be true 😂… it may not be😏… the bottom line though as Secretary of State FOR Scotland (allegedly🙄) surely it is his responsibility to produce a report specific to Scotland irrespective of what is in the other reports.

        Oops I forgot he is NOT the SoS FOR Scotland he isthe SoS FOR Westminster … DOH😂

        Liked by 5 people

        1. They have done sectoral reports; they have done “regional” reports.

          If perchance they managed to forget Scotland altogether, then I suppose I should not be very surprised.

          They are, after all, the most incredibly inefficient and incompetent bunch to total arses. To be honest, I’d be terrified if these people formed a community council, never mind a national government.

          Liked by 2 people

      2. I’d have imagined that it would be relatively simple to extract the Scottish element out of most sectors. It would, of course, depend on the analysis being broken down to that level. But:

        In order to construct that analysis, they have to obtain UK wide statistics.

        So, Mundell has a question to answer. Will he fund the research to disaggregate the figures, or not? ‘Cause, as it stands he is standing on sand. Of the quick variety.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. The obviously missing point being that UK facts are based on local facts. That is how you construct a UK position. These sort of statistics rely on addition. If, for instance, London and the South East ere shown to grow by a 1000%, it does not allow for the falls into poverty elsewhere. Their final conclusion does not take account of localism. If one were to say Cornwall, is the worst effected area of the UK, then their statistics were included in the overall UK figures. It ought to not be beyond the wit of man to extract the relative Cornish disadvantage and publish it. The rather obvious fact that Cornwall might be angry is no reason whatsoever to deny their electorate, or ours, of the analysis.

          As to where Scotland stands in this mad BREXIT waterfall, we know that there is sufficient data available to tell us how badly we will be effected, more or less, and frankly we need to know.

          I have always thought that an informed electorate is perhaps the whole point of democracy. Mundell. apparently, knows better.

          Liked by 3 people

  2. British cultural imperialism, hypocrisy, lying, self interest and good old fashioned double dealing. It all merges seamlessly into a coherent whole and sadly all too familiar flow. And they are actually proud to be British.

    I often envy people who live in a country that manages its own affairs and the pride I imagine they must have in their achievements. Someone’s always there to piss on our parade when it’s us. That’s of course if they ever get reported in the first place and not buried or ignored by the meeja.

    For some time now they’ve been staging a corporate takeover of Brand Scotland and lots of our fellows will just let them do it regardless of on line campaigns etc..

    Sorry, slipped into depressed mode there. Think pleasant thoughts, think pleasant thoughts. Don’t let the bastards etc, etc….

    Liked by 4 people

    1. I know what you mean.

      I feel nothing but contempt for the Uk, and I’m kinda jealous of people who come from Norway or Iceland or Denmark and can genuinely be proud of good stuff about their countries.

      Brits are usually just proud of how big they are, how they punch above their weight and get to be in all American’s wars.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. greig12,

      A pleasant thought might be that 45% + of folk agree with you. This is a simple push over the wall.

      Well, maybe not that simple.

      The work is not done. But we have leverage.

      Sleep tight, make sure the bugs don’t bite.

      ” Illegitimi non carborundum”

      though I thought it was:

      “Nihil illegetimum carborundum” but that was off of toilet walls and tenement halls….

      Liked by 3 people

  3. yes, good stuff, highlighting the self serving hypocrites who enjoyed payment from the public purse. Too many royals and Tory MPs in the world.

    Liked by 4 people

  4. Tris, I think there are definitely products that would look good in that British Union flag-wrapped packaging. Tripe, offal and mince immediately spring to mind but I also think there has to be a market for Union Flag suppositories, sold with the slogan, “You know where to stick it!”

    Liked by 5 people

    1. LOL

      I can’t swear to it but I have the impression that they didn’t put flags all over stuff when I was a kid.

      I be happy with no flags…after all I can read “Made in Finland” or Made in Scotland” or even “Fabriqué en France”. I don;t need a picture.

      The funniest item I’ve seen was a door mat in union flag design.

      Liked by 2 people

  5. I wonder about those 58 reports. Weren’t they compiled by DeXEU? They have about 300 staff and they obviously didn’t spend a great deal of time on them. They have not been widely circulated for corrections or additions and don’t seem to be a driving factor of government policy. I would guess not more than a few worker-weeks per report. DeXEU is not a department with a good track record (or any track record at all) of understanding the detail or publishing anything that isn’t met with scorn. I would guess these reports will tell us nothing of any value except that the government is badly prepared.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Perhaps that is why the disaggregation isn’t happening. For certain sectors, for instance spirits, not only does Scotland produce all of the Scotch, it also produces most of the gin. So that industries figures, to a fair degree of accuracy could be obtained from the overall UK wide statistics without too much trouble. Oh! And Oil too. ( Though, slightly tongue in cheek I might just start a political party called “Ex-Regio’s for Independence”)

      Given that all farming is subsidised, it can’t be terribly hard to estimate what levels of production occur North and South of the border. Equally the fishing industry, including fish farming, should be open to easy rough and ready estimates. Energy can’t be too hard either. Some of our Imperial Masters favoured sectors such as investment banking and their love affair with the Defence Industry may well break in t’other direction. It would be swings and roundabouts.

      Keeping it secret though is, imho, indefensible.

      As you rightly say they are ‘badly prepared’. I would go a tad further, they are very well prepared for the short term. The Cabinet is an exclusive club of millionaires, who have advisors about their personal wealth, and in the coming downturn they will be able to pick up assets that will cushion them from any effects.

      However, it reminds me of Marcos and Ceausescu. They thought that they had a job for life and look how that turned out. My, very small, bet on Donald Trump becoming an ex-President in 2018 is looking to crash and burn, not on the basis that it will be later, but rather sooner. I did not see that coming.

      Really admire the quality of your comments here and back on the ranch.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. From a rather geeky perspective I’m probably less interested in the direct, first-order numbers than in the solutions to technical problems. I would expect there to be estimates about the direct cost to trade of different Brexit outcomes. That might include things like the cost of tariffs, paperwork, delays, market share loss etc. As you said, the government should be able to work that out. The technical problems, however, will limit the ability to trade at all. That might include things like mutual recognition of qualifications for service industry personnel, ability to hire staff, costs and bureaucracy of having products certified for sale in the EU, the logistical nightmare of supply chains, the cost of regulatory divergence, legal protections of money transfers or the movement of chemicals across a border etc. I don’t have high hopes that DeXEU managed to work all that out for 58 sectors with a tiny staff in not much time and a heavy workload in a brand new department led by David Davis. I should just have answered this with the words “David Davis”.

        That’s enough geek chat for a Saturday!

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Goodness! There are a lot of secondary issues that no-one, except your good self, appear to be addressing. I kind of wonder why?

          You are however right, it is a beautiful new day!

          Liked by 1 person

          1. I’m most definitely not the only person discussing this but it might be described as a niche activity. It’s also a bit boring so it’s not the sort of thing that politicians or newspapers want to engage with.

            Liked by 1 person

      2. Well, they are going to be obliged, buy order of the Queen (due to some cunning of Kieth Starmer QC, who knows about laws) to release the details of the assessments.

        So presumably at that point we shall find out if Fluffy has been lying.

        As for Trump, I see he’s off on a trip. He likes trips. People treat him nicely and he is kept busy. I think they must take his smart phone away, or he doesn’t know how to make it work abroad because he doesn’t no much tweeting.

        Hopefully he’ll soon be gone… but that means President Pence. I’m not sure that that will be any nicer a prospect.

        Like

    1. Perhaps it all started with the railways.

      There was a ‘named train’, the naming meant they had more kudos for some reason, that ran into Queens Street (Y’know, in Glasgow) [btw, I stand corrected, I was pretty sure it ran into St Enoch’s, which doesn’t exist anymore], where the train terminated on it’s journey North from Leeds.

      Anyway, that named train was called “The North Britain”.

      Wee fat Unionists probably saw it as Araldite. Binding us all together.

      I have no idea what the Thurso to Edinburgh service may be called.

      The ‘South Iceland Express”?

      —————

      Interpolating “British” into “Scottish” has been a meme of Unionists since time immemorial. It has only recently become obvious to many of us that language matters. I take, very badly, to having been taught imperial history as though it were a ‘good thing’. It is possibly true that exporting people, much as you would export goods and services these days, to America killed the native population. Whether there is genocidal blame relies more on ignorance, and the occasional blanket that was introduced, by we, I mean Landowners and, ahem, their practical servants:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_disease_and_epidemics#Colonist_accounts_of_smallpox_effects_on_the_native_peoples

      There was little difference between the slave trade between Africa and the New World and the transportation of folk from Scotland (the lucky ones) to the New World. The results were identical. Natives died.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. LOL. Yes, they do seem to do that. I wonder why they don;t see that those of us who don;t care aren’t impressed and those of us who do are just sickened.

        Like you I always found that history of the Empire to be appalling. Even as a little boy I was aware of the horror of the Brits moving into other people’s sparely populated countries and simply taking them, killing anyone who objected.

        Then the Brits bragged that they built them railways. (Because the native population really needed to go shopping or on holiday inland where the copper or gold mines were, I expect.)

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Douglas, the train was actually called “The North Briton” and you were right about it running into Glasgow Queen Street (from Leeds City 1952-68 and again 1972-75). You may be interested to know that the head board “The North Briton” is still in use from time to time. It’s used on some journeys made by the recently built A1 steam loco “Tornado”. If you’re really keen, you could take a trip on “The North Briton” on 24th February next year but it’ll only be running as far north as Carlisle 🙂
        Of course that North British tag was widespread in the past. One of the famous examples was when three Glasgow locomotive building companies amalgamated and became the North British Locomotive Company in Springburn. It was the biggest loco manufacturing company in Europe and also, of course, in…The British Empire.
        Somehow I don’t think, much as the Tories would love to, that we’ll be returning to those days of North Britain and the Empire anytime soon. No, make that just anytime. That train, so to speak, has departed.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. andimac,

          Thanks for the clarification. I recall a pretty large locomotive and tender being loaded onto a ship on the Clyde, round and about where our last heavy crane still exists, and perhaps separately, it or it’s cousin being transported from Springburn to the Clyde. I think, but could not prove, that the loco was destined for India, so rather than giving them the capability of building their own loco’s we sold them to them. And we called it a Commonwealth.

          You, sir, are right. We are indulging in nostalgia, and that is unhealthy. That train has definitely left the platform.

          But I have enjoyed talking to you.

          If you have a source of General Arrangement plans for dock locomotives I would be delighted to hear from you, My e-mail address is clark184@btinternet.com.

          Best wishes.

          Liked by 1 person

    2. What I can’t understand is why they can’t see that these things get up people’s noses.

      I mean Scotland still has a good name, a respected name. And so NOT calling your product Scottish when it very clearly is, is potentially damaging. But by getting up people’s noses with it you put people off.

      Social media is a wash with people telling Tescos that they can whistle and that they are moving their weekly shop to Aldi and Lidl.

      I understand that the pressure is telling on M&S. Maybe Tesco will see the error of their ways.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. trispw,

    Pat Kane had this to say about Tesco. I hope it is accurate:

    “Tesco deleted a blithe tweet informing consumers that “British flags” would from now on replace “Scottish Saltires” on their food packaging – and have now committed themselves to using the Saltire flag “regularly … and whenever possible”.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I kind of hope neither Pat Kane, who is a wordsmith I completely admire nor I, who is a mere gumshoe, is being sold a lemon. We should await some other facts before reaching a conclusion.

        Says the gumshoe.

        Liked by 1 person

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