Now the media will be doing everything they can to trip Yousaf up on GRR.
Yousaf is going to be a shoo-in at this rate, unless someone new throws their name into the hat pronto.
Your second sentence is true whoever wins. The MSM is rabidly BritNat and that is not going to change pre-independence.
Scotland is really really fecked if that useless twat gets anywhere near being FM. I would vote Tory rather than for a party led by such a useless git.
Bookmarked for future reference...
In alls seriousness, given his appalling track record I can't see how Yousaf would be anything other than a disaster for both Scotland and the SNP. He makes Liz Truss look competent.
What’s he done? I don’t follow this stuff closely enough.
The three most obvious ones that spring to mind are interfering in a trial while Justice Minister, tweeting his support for Sturgeon's car crash 'I don't recall' performance and accusing her critics of lying to parliament, and accusing a nursery that couldn't find a place for his infant of racism, because they would have let him in if he was white, and suing them for years before dropping the case on the grounds that he'd been talking bullshit.
Plus I don't think anyone will look back on his time as Health Minister with especial fondness given the state of the Scottish NHS. He claimed that Covid cases were soaring among children, when they were not, for example.
He's untrustworthy, arrogant and not very bright. He's also totally incompetent.
This doesn't disbar him from high office, of course - look at Johnson and Cummings - but it would make it to put it mildly difficult for him to be successful in it.
About the only thing he's got going for him is he's not as useless as Swinney.
Impressive record. And impressive knowledge for someone living under a completely different devolved administration.
Good article on an interesting subject, a century on from partition. Reunification presents problems of course, but so does the status quo, with the current situation not tenable either. Apart from the NI protocol issues, it is impossible long term to have a statelet where the elected representatives refuse to participate in government.
The Good Friday agreement was essential in its time but has rather fossilised structures and parties in attitudes that need to change over time to bring real peace.
On flags, I do rather like the Irish tricolour, symbolising the white of peace between the orange of Unionism and green of Nationalism.
HMG should start by not paying the NI politicians their salaries since they dont sit. It would help focus minds.
Better still, don't pay the DUP reps, as the others were keen enough.
SF collaped the assembly in 2017 and werent keen until they got the FM job at the most recent election. Pay none of them.
My experience of Northern Irish parties is limited - I know more about their Westminster branches. But from what I have seen, my guess is that if you refused to pay the MLAs or indeed MPs who refuse to take their seats or participate in power sharing there would be a functioning Stormont and a queue to take the Oath quicker than you can say 'No Surrender.'
Given most NI voters find their representatives as tedious as mainlanders do, it would also be quite popular.
Well they need to vote for people less tedious!
Yes, if you stop money flowing to politicians who don’t take their seats, they’ll eventually need to go back to work - if only to keep themselves and their staff paying their mortgages!
What clown decided to pay them when they don't turn up for work, anybody else would just get sacked.
"They show that public borrowing in the financial year to date is £30.6bn less than predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the government's official forecaster. "
Yet it was a total outrage that Liz Truss didn’t allow time for the OBR to royally screw up comment on her fiscal statement?
Interesting and persuasive header, Alan - thanks. Are there interim solutions that could be considered short of union - some sort of confederation with NI largely self-governing but with support from both UK and Eire? Do DUP voters prefer government from Westminster to self-government?
You’re assuming that the current situation is problematic.
The NI government is fixing the roads (sort of) running hospitals and schools etc.
The presence or absence of some politicians has made very little difference to the practical life of the province.
This is the system that was voted for - The Peace Process. By everyone on the island of. Ireland. All “communities” voted in favour in the North….
Quite a number of people seem to be for TPP when it produces the results they like. But want to tear it up when it doesn’t
Now the media will be doing everything they can to trip Yousaf up on GRR.
Yousaf is going to be a shoo-in at this rate, unless someone new throws their name into the hat pronto.
Your second sentence is true whoever wins. The MSM is rabidly BritNat and that is not going to change pre-independence.
Scotland is really really fecked if that useless twat gets anywhere near being FM. I would vote Tory rather than for a party led by such a useless git.
Bit surprised that Borussia Dortmund are now tied on points with Bayern Munich. I think I backed them (Dortmund) pre-season, but my records got scattered.
Also wondering if Manchester United for the EPL title might be worth a look, around 11 on Ladbrokes.
Currently, backed Arsenal, Napoli (Serie A, currently a 15 point lead), and Dortmund. Oh, and Lens/Marseille but I think Lens is gone forever, and Marseille *might* be still in with a shot.
Man U have some tough games coming up. But then I thought they might struggle against the erstwhile resurgent Leicester City, but what do I know?
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Because as long as she accepted the result, whatever her views, that's democracy.
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
But it's an exemplar of how she might act on similar issues coming up in the future.
She is one person , what F**king dummy thinks she can get something bad through just on her own, people on here are even more stupid , thick and bigoted than I thought, which amazes me. ESpecially given the arseholes, crooks, deviants and halfwits they elect in England.
Eecellent and eye opening article, @Alanbrooke . Made me realise how ignorant I am of Irish opinion; I'd no idea how ungenerous the attitude of the South is in respect of reunification. Do those in the north seeking reunification share Stuart's blithe assumptions about how those attitudes might change ?
The attitudes in the South are also to do with how much emotional energy is put into the issue. For most people you meet in the South, a United Ireland is an ideal. That may or may not happen one day. But few are busting a gut or even modifying their voting to achieve it.
Mr. Pointer, given how Everton performed against... Arsenal, I think, and Leeds could've won away at Manchester United, resurgent lower teams is a credible possibility. Not to mention Nottingham Forest (I think) getting a shock draw against Manchester City.
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Because as long as she accepted the result, whatever her views, that's democracy.
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
She’s a heretic - she has denounced Articles Of The Faith in public.
The real worry would be if there wasn’t a surplus in January, given how many high-earning people pay their annual tax bill that month.
Won’t help the Chancellor with his party though, who want to see coming tax rises deferred.
"I can defer tax rises until after the next election as a result of an unexpected surplus due to an increase in self assessment receipts in January and a decline in fuel prices". See, that was easy.
Now the media will be doing everything they can to trip Yousaf up on GRR.
I'm waiting for some part of a journalist to ask if men should be allowed to wear skirts, and get the retort, 'well Highlanders have been doing so since the early eighteenth century.'
Surprisingly good article from Alan. Below-the-line he’s a typical mediocre PB know-it-all and contrarian, but this is one of the best above-the-line PB posts in months (the general standard is staggeringly poor).
Leaving aside the dodgy linguistic map and conclusion, his basic points are sound. The Republic must compromise, embrace and forgive. (Ditto the Unionists, but the focus is rightly on the adults here, not the bairns.)
Ditch the tricolour and adopt a genuinely Irish symbol (I dislike nearly all tricolours - and there are lots of them - except the French one).
Most nations’ anthems are absolute shite, and Amhrán na bhFiann is typically dreadful. Irish music is tremendously full of vitality. It ought to be easy to find something attractive and jaunty.
On “rejoining” the Commonwealth, hard to see how a country can “rejoin” an organisation it has never been a member of. When Ireland de jure left in 1936 it was still the British Empire. De facto it had left over a decade prior to that. The British Empire was many (repulsive) things, but it was never a body which had “members”. However, the basic point is sound: there is no harm whatsoever in the reunited Ireland being a member of the modern Commonwealth. (There is bugger all use in it either, but throw the antediluvian bairns a bone and let them enjoy their chew.)
The above points are all symbolic, and thus essentially trivial and childish. But such things are the bread and butter of Unionist “thinking” (ahem). As far as the more substantive points are concerned:
1. Of course parties elected to the reunified legislature by northern voters must be allowed to fully participate in the work of the house, including in coalition governments. See Finland for a good example of this in practice, where it is hard to conceive of a Finnish government which does not include the Swedish People's Party of Finland (Svenska folkpartiet i Finland).
2. Reunification is going to need a budget. It should be viewed as a wise, long-term investment, not a cost.
Conservatism has served the Irish very poorly. All of the Irish. The nation is far more attractive and successful when she shows her more liberal attributes. The gist of Alan’s article is correct: both sides need to ditch entrenched attitudes and embrace change and with it progress. The effort is worth it.
The Commonwealth was founded in 1931 to accommodate those dominions given full independence under the Statute of Westminster within the economic structures of the continuing empire, especially the Sterling area. Ireland remained a member of it until 1949.
As for the negative comments you make about PB, if you hate it that much, why are you still here? After all, your comments are almost all (like that one) complete nonsense based on prejudice and have never added anything to our debates except some unintentional humour.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
But it's an exemplar of how she might act on similar issues coming up in the future.
She is one person , what F**king dummy thinks she can get something bad through just on her own, people on here are even more stupid , thick and bigoted than I thought, which amazes me. ESpecially given the arseholes, crooks, deviants and halfwits they elect in England.
Ledarna har inflytande i Skottland. GRR till exempel
Now the media will be doing everything they can to trip Yousaf up on GRR.
Yousaf is going to be a shoo-in at this rate, unless someone new throws their name into the hat pronto.
Your second sentence is true whoever wins. The MSM is rabidly BritNat and that is not going to change pre-independence.
Scotland is really really fecked if that useless twat gets anywhere near being FM. I would vote Tory rather than for a party led by such a useless git.
I would wager quite a few of us suspect in the privacy of the polling booth, that is exactly what you do.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Because as long as she accepted the result, whatever her views, that's democracy.
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
She isn't being vetoed. Someone has said they don't want her as leader of the SNP because she is against equal rights, seems fair enough. Or does she have a God-given right to be SNP leader?
I suspect that there are members of the EU commission who are Catholic, so doubt that you can be vetoed for being a Catholic though I'm not familiar with the case.
They can now play somebody who might score some actual runs...
I’m having a brain fade this morning.
Can you suggest a messy WWI Western Front battle that isn’t The Battle of Somme.
Passchendaele.
Oops, I mean that isn’t Marne, Ypres, Verdun, Somme, or Passchendaele.
Loos?
Too much toilet humour.
I’m trying to write a work report with a WWI reference for a bloody battle that isn’t one of the bleeding obvious.
Vimy Ridge might be your best bet.
Or just Arras more generally.
Would this fit the bill ? http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/9/30/unknown-world-war-i-the-battle-that-history-is-forgetting#.Y_SCFeSnwWM ...The ‘Battle of Lake Naroch’, the ‘Russian Spring Offensive of 1916’, occurred following the Russian ‘Great Retreat’ when the Eastern Front had settled down into positional trench warfare. It was an ill conceived, poorly planned, and disastrously executed Russian offensive across a front of nearly 100km over a series of frozen lakes and swamplands...
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Bigots liek you want people to not have their own opinions , needs to be your narrow bigoted view or they are evil, GIRUY.
Interesting and persuasive header, Alan - thanks. Are there interim solutions that could be considered short of union - some sort of confederation with NI largely self-governing but with support from both UK and Eire? Do DUP voters prefer government from Westminster to self-government?
The Good Friday Agreement included provision for greater North-South and East-West cooperation. This has largely failed to happen, but the talking shops that currently exist might provide a basis for a bit of useful blurring of boundaries.
However, with Britain out of the EU, Ireland not in NATO, etc, there's not much for them to work on. Transport (dull), migration (due to the Common Travel Area), um, electricity grid development...?
Mr. Pointer, given how Everton performed against... Arsenal, I think, and Leeds could've won away at Manchester United, resurgent lower teams is a credible possibility. Not to mention Nottingham Forest (I think) getting a shock draw against Manchester City.
Indeed. Has there ever been a weekend before when the bottom three all won?
They can now play somebody who might score some actual runs...
I’m having a brain fade this morning.
Can you suggest a messy WWI Western Front battle that isn’t The Battle of Somme.
Passchendaele.
Oops, I mean that isn’t Marne, Ypres, Verdun, Somme, or Passchendaele.
Loos?
Too much toilet humour.
I’m trying to write a work report with a WWI reference for a bloody battle that isn’t one of the bleeding obvious.
Vimy Ridge might be your best bet.
Or just Arras more generally.
Would this fit the bill ? http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/9/30/unknown-world-war-i-the-battle-that-history-is-forgetting#.Y_SCFeSnwWM ...The ‘Battle of Lake Naroch’, the ‘Russian Spring Offensive of 1916’, occurred following the Russian ‘Great Retreat’ when the Eastern Front had settled down into positional trench warfare. It was an ill conceived, poorly planned, and disastrously executed Russian offensive across a front of nearly 100km over a series of frozen lakes and swamplands...
Interesting and persuasive header, Alan - thanks. Are there interim solutions that could be considered short of union - some sort of confederation with NI largely self-governing but with support from both UK and Eire? Do DUP voters prefer government from Westminster to self-government?
The Good Friday Agreement included provision for greater North-South and East-West cooperation. This has largely failed to happen, but the talking shops that currently exist might provide a basis for a bit of useful blurring of boundaries.
However, with Britain out of the EU, Ireland not in NATO, etc, there's not much for them to work on. Transport (dull), migration (due to the Common Travel Area), um, electricity grid development...?
Isn't NI already dependent on the south for its leccy? Not much scope there then?
Surprisingly good article from Alan. Below-the-line he’s a typical mediocre PB know-it-all and contrarian, but this is one of the best above-the-line PB posts in months (the general standard is staggeringly poor).
Leaving aside the dodgy linguistic map and conclusion, his basic points are sound. The Republic must compromise, embrace and forgive. (Ditto the Unionists, but the focus is rightly on the adults here, not the bairns.)
Ditch the tricolour and adopt a genuinely Irish symbol (I dislike nearly all tricolours - and there are lots of them - except the French one).
Most nations’ anthems are absolute shite, and Amhrán na bhFiann is typically dreadful. Irish music is tremendously full of vitality. It ought to be easy to find something attractive and jaunty.
On “rejoining” the Commonwealth, hard to see how a country can “rejoin” an organisation it has never been a member of. When Ireland de jure left in 1936 it was still the British Empire. De facto it had left over a decade prior to that. The British Empire was many (repulsive) things, but it was never a body which had “members”. However, the basic point is sound: there is no harm whatsoever in the reunited Ireland being a member of the modern Commonwealth. (There is bugger all use in it either, but throw the antediluvian bairns a bone and let them enjoy their chew.)
The above points are all symbolic, and thus essentially trivial and childish. But such things are the bread and butter of Unionist “thinking” (ahem). As far as the more substantive points are concerned:
1. Of course parties elected to the reunified legislature by northern voters must be allowed to fully participate in the work of the house, including in coalition governments. See Finland for a good example of this in practice, where it is hard to conceive of a Finnish government which does not include the Swedish People's Party of Finland (Svenska folkpartiet i Finland).
2. Reunification is going to need a budget. It should be viewed as a wise, long-term investment, not a cost.
Conservatism has served the Irish very poorly. All of the Irish. The nation is far more attractive and successful when she shows her more liberal attributes. The gist of Alan’s article is correct: both sides need to ditch entrenched attitudes and embrace change and with it progress. The effort is worth it.
The Commonwealth was founded in 1931 to accommodate those dominions given full independence under the Statute of Westminster within the economic structures of the continuing empire, especially the Sterling area. Ireland remained a member of it until 1949.
As for the negative comments you make about PB, if you hate it that much, why are you still here? After all, your comments are almost all (like that one) complete nonsense based on prejudice and have never added anything to our debates except some unintentional humour.
Pot and kettle there
I’m deeply hurt that you could possibly think my humour is unintentional.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
But it's an exemplar of how she might act on similar issues coming up in the future.
She is one person , what F**king dummy thinks she can get something bad through just on her own, people on here are even more stupid , thick and bigoted than I thought, which amazes me. ESpecially given the arseholes, crooks, deviants and halfwits they elect in England.
Ledarna har inflytande i Skottland. GRR till exempel
It was not only the leader who put the bill through , it was all politicians , SNP , Greens , Labour , Lib DEms , only exceptions were Tories. At least you put it in Swedish so most don't see what a clown you are.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Because as long as she accepted the result, whatever her views, that's democracy.
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
She’s a heretic - she has denounced Articles Of The Faith in public.
You are being silly. She has said she would vote against equal rights, others have said they will vote against her as SNP leader. Is it unacceptable to attack homophobia now?
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
But it's an exemplar of how she might act on similar issues coming up in the future.
She is one person , what F**king dummy thinks she can get something bad through just on her own, people on here are even more stupid , thick and bigoted than I thought, which amazes me. ESpecially given the arseholes, crooks, deviants and halfwits they elect in England.
Ledarna har inflytande i Skottland. GRR till exempel
It was not only the leader who put the bill through , it was all politicians , SNP , Greens , Labour , Lib DEms , only exceptions were Tories. At least you put it in Swedish so most don't see what a clown you are.
Bit surprised that Borussia Dortmund are now tied on points with Bayern Munich. I think I backed them (Dortmund) pre-season, but my records got scattered.
Also wondering if Manchester United for the EPL title might be worth a look, around 11 on Ladbrokes.
Currently, backed Arsenal, Napoli (Serie A, currently a 15 point lead), and Dortmund. Oh, and Lens/Marseille but I think Lens is gone forever, and Marseille *might* be still in with a shot.
Mr Dancer, Bayern and Dortmund on equal points at the top of the table is not really surprising. What is really surprising is, halfway through the season Union Berlin are also on equal points with Bayern and Dortmund at the top of the table.
Only a few years ago they were alaways a mid-table in the 2nd Liga team and pretty much unheard of outside of Germany.
Surprisingly good article from Alan. Below-the-line he’s a typical mediocre PB know-it-all and contrarian, but this is one of the best above-the-line PB posts in months (the general standard is staggeringly poor).
Leaving aside the dodgy linguistic map and conclusion, his basic points are sound. The Republic must compromise, embrace and forgive. (Ditto the Unionists, but the focus is rightly on the adults here, not the bairns.)
Ditch the tricolour and adopt a genuinely Irish symbol (I dislike nearly all tricolours - and there are lots of them - except the French one).
Most nations’ anthems are absolute shite, and Amhrán na bhFiann is typically dreadful. Irish music is tremendously full of vitality. It ought to be easy to find something attractive and jaunty.
On “rejoining” the Commonwealth, hard to see how a country can “rejoin” an organisation it has never been a member of. When Ireland de jure left in 1936 it was still the British Empire. De facto it had left over a decade prior to that. The British Empire was many (repulsive) things, but it was never a body which had “members”. However, the basic point is sound: there is no harm whatsoever in the reunited Ireland being a member of the modern Commonwealth. (There is bugger all use in it either, but throw the antediluvian bairns a bone and let them enjoy their chew.)
The above points are all symbolic, and thus essentially trivial and childish. But such things are the bread and butter of Unionist “thinking” (ahem). As far as the more substantive points are concerned:
1. Of course parties elected to the reunified legislature by northern voters must be allowed to fully participate in the work of the house, including in coalition governments. See Finland for a good example of this in practice, where it is hard to conceive of a Finnish government which does not include the Swedish People's Party of Finland (Svenska folkpartiet i Finland).
2. Reunification is going to need a budget. It should be viewed as a wise, long-term investment, not a cost.
Conservatism has served the Irish very poorly. All of the Irish. The nation is far more attractive and successful when she shows her more liberal attributes. The gist of Alan’s article is correct: both sides need to ditch entrenched attitudes and embrace change and with it progress. The effort is worth it.
The Commonwealth was founded in 1931 to accommodate those dominions given full independence under the Statute of Westminster within the economic structures of the continuing empire, especially the Sterling area. Ireland remained a member of it until 1949.
As for the negative comments you make about PB, if you hate it that much, why are you still here? After all, your comments are almost all (like that one) complete nonsense based on prejudice and have never added anything to our debates except some unintentional humour.
Pot and kettle there
I’m deeply hurt that you could possibly think my humour is unintentional.
I am sure Stuart has tongue in cheek at times also
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
Wow. I know you are considered one of the PB Brains Trust elite, but on scant evidence you have made an HYUFD level prediction. 0.9%????
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Because as long as she accepted the result, whatever her views, that's democracy.
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
She isn't being vetoed. Someone has said they don't want her as leader of the SNP because she is against equal rights, seems fair enough. Or does she have a God-given right to be SNP leader?
I suspect that there are members of the EU commission who are Catholic, so doubt that you can be vetoed for being a Catholic though I'm not familiar with the case.
He was asked for his views on homosexuality. His answer was ‘As a Catholic I believe it is a sin, but as I do not treat it as a crime, it would not affect me in this role.’
Which although I am no Catholic seemed fair enough to me.
It caused a media storm and got him rejected though.
And it looks like we’re about to see the same thing here. Remember, it’s only her views, not whether she would apply them, that’s causing the problem.
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
We should also start seeing quite significant falls in energy costs in the next few months?
Overall 2023 isn't shaping up too badly at all (as long as there's no escalation with Russia's in-going invasion of Ukraine)
What business is it of the Republic what Northern Ireland does. As the polling in the article says, 65% of people in Northern Ireland want to stay in the UK and not join the Republic and their decision is final
They can now play somebody who might score some actual runs...
I’m having a brain fade this morning.
Can you suggest a messy WWI Western Front battle that isn’t The Battle of Somme.
Passchendaele.
Oops, I mean that isn’t Marne, Ypres, Verdun, Somme, or Passchendaele.
Loos?
Too much toilet humour.
I’m trying to write a work report with a WWI reference for a bloody battle that isn’t one of the bleeding obvious.
Vimy Ridge might be your best bet.
Or just Arras more generally.
Would this fit the bill ? http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/9/30/unknown-world-war-i-the-battle-that-history-is-forgetting#.Y_SCFeSnwWM ...The ‘Battle of Lake Naroch’, the ‘Russian Spring Offensive of 1916’, occurred following the Russian ‘Great Retreat’ when the Eastern Front had settled down into positional trench warfare. It was an ill conceived, poorly planned, and disastrously executed Russian offensive across a front of nearly 100km over a series of frozen lakes and swamplands...
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Bigots liek you want people to not have their own opinions , needs to be your narrow bigoted view or they are evil, GIRUY.
With all due respect, that's rot malcolm. She's perfectly entitled to the opinion - which she chose publicly to express in the context of her leadership aspirations - just as (to take a random example) she'd be entitled to believe that Scotland should remain part of the UK.
Others are equally entitled to their own opinions as to how that might affect their attitude towards the prospect of her being leader.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
But it's an exemplar of how she might act on similar issues coming up in the future.
She is one person , what F**king dummy thinks she can get something bad through just on her own, people on here are even more stupid , thick and bigoted than I thought, which amazes me. ESpecially given the arseholes, crooks, deviants and halfwits they elect in England.
Ledarna har inflytande i Skottland. GRR till exempel
It was not only the leader who put the bill through , it was all politicians , SNP , Greens , Labour , Lib DEms , only exceptions were Tories. At least you put it in Swedish so most don't see what a clown you are.
Om du hade en annan hjärncell skulle det bli ensamt
Now the media will be doing everything they can to trip Yousaf up on GRR.
Yousaf is going to be a shoo-in at this rate, unless someone new throws their name into the hat pronto.
Your second sentence is true whoever wins. The MSM is rabidly BritNat and that is not going to change pre-independence.
Scotland is really really fecked if that useless twat gets anywhere near being FM. I would vote Tory rather than for a party led by such a useless git.
I knew we'd convert you to #PBtories in the end Malc!
What business is it of the Republic what Northern Ireland does. As the polling in the article says, 65% of people in Northern Ireland want to stay in the UK and not join the Republic and their decision is final
They can now play somebody who might score some actual runs...
I’m having a brain fade this morning.
Can you suggest a messy WWI Western Front battle that isn’t The Battle of Somme.
Passchendaele.
Oops, I mean that isn’t Marne, Ypres, Verdun, Somme, or Passchendaele.
Loos?
Too much toilet humour.
I’m trying to write a work report with a WWI reference for a bloody battle that isn’t one of the bleeding obvious.
Vimy Ridge might be your best bet.
Or just Arras more generally.
Would this fit the bill ? http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/9/30/unknown-world-war-i-the-battle-that-history-is-forgetting#.Y_SCFeSnwWM ...The ‘Battle of Lake Naroch’, the ‘Russian Spring Offensive of 1916’, occurred following the Russian ‘Great Retreat’ when the Eastern Front had settled down into positional trench warfare. It was an ill conceived, poorly planned, and disastrously executed Russian offensive across a front of nearly 100km over a series of frozen lakes and swamplands...
I have an Irish American friend who is convinced that when the moment arrives America will cover the cost of reunification.
LOL
Im on for the US roundly fking Ireland. Biden will be the last of the US Irish caucus presidents.
The US will be a minority white nation in about 20 years and that will change the nature of politics. Parties will chase the growing categories of latinos and asian swing voters and the Irish vote just wont have the same importance. Add in that Ireland is a parasite on US tax income and I can see a bust up at some point. My biggest surprise on Trump was that he didnt force the Tech Cos to pay their taxes at home. It will probably be some cash strapped Democrat who does the deed thus wiping out about 25% of Irish GDP.
White graduates in the US are more likely to be swing voters than Hispanics who lean Democrat and no less than US Asians. Plenty of Irish American graduates.
Just white working class Americans tend to be solid Republican as black Americans tend to be solid Democrat
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Because as long as she accepted the result, whatever her views, that's democracy.
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
She’s a heretic - she has denounced Articles Of The Faith in public.
You are being silly. She has said she would vote against equal rights, others have said they will vote against her as SNP leader. Is it unacceptable to attack homophobia now?
You halfwit , she is entitled to her opinion whether you like it or not. The other bigots have option to vote for her or not based on their own bigoted views. Why are you not attacking the muslimcandidate where they stone people are homophobic and almost every other phobia you can think of. You misogynistic nutter.
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
We should also start seeing quite significant falls in energy costs in the next few months?
Overall 2023 isn't shaping up too badly at all (as long as there's no escalation with Russia's in-going invasion of Ukraine)
Optimistic GIN , the crooks will continue to rip us off big time.
Mr. Doof, (and your interesting comment proves your name wrong ), I was thinking more of the gap that, if memory serves (and it might not) I thought Bayern Munich had, and the gap closing up. I did back Dortmund pre-season, forget the odds.
Never even considered Union Berlin, so that's a very astute comment. Bet the odds would've been tasty.
What business is it of the Republic what Northern Ireland does. As the polling in the article says, 65% of people in Northern Ireland want to stay in the UK and not join the Republic and their decision is final
All Irishmen and Women in all 32 Counties owe their allegiance to the Irish Republic declared in 1916 and ratified by the All-Ireland electorate in 1918. Those collaborating with the occupation authorities in the North are treasonous fools.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Because as long as she accepted the result, whatever her views, that's democracy.
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
She’s a heretic - she has denounced Articles Of The Faith in public.
You are being silly. She has said she would vote against equal rights, others have said they will vote against her as SNP leader. Is it unacceptable to attack homophobia now?
No. Just that I find the transference of religion methodology interesting.
Eecellent and eye opening article, @Alanbrooke . Made me realise how ignorant I am of Irish opinion; I'd no idea how ungenerous the attitude of the South is in respect of reunification. Do those in the north seeking reunification share Stuart's blithe assumptions about how those attitudes might change ?
The attitudes in the South are also to do with how much emotional energy is put into the issue. For most people you meet in the South, a United Ireland is an ideal. That may or may not happen one day. But few are busting a gut or even modifying their voting to achieve it.
It would be surprising if, should a united Ireland become a genuine prospect, that those in the Republic did not become more willing to support the north. At the moment the idea is to far away for people to consider it worth paying more tax to sibsidise Ulster or accepting a coalition with a Unionist party.
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
We should also start seeing quite significant falls in energy costs in the next few months?
Overall 2023 isn't shaping up too badly at all (as long as there's no escalation with Russia's in-going invasion of Ukraine)
Optimistic GIN , the crooks will continue to rip us off big time.
If they don't pass on the reductions in the wholesale price they should be pounded with the biggest windfall tax known to man...
Interesting header but I can't read the key to the map for some reason. Can someone list what the four shades indicate?
OK. I'll go for 3, simply by squinting harder:
Green - Ulster Scots Lilac - Mid Ulster English Purple - South Ulster English Pink - ??? English, the variant defeats me
Hiberno-English, I think. Seems to be a linguistic map of Ireland.
Not much hope of a Free Antrim there without the usual gerrymandering.
Is there a similar map for Scotland - with a little purple blob for Malcolm labelled Burst-vessel Scots?
Oh, yes. In one or two places the boundary between Gaelic and Scots was, if not quite on the different sides of the street level, certainly on the different sides ofd the loch level. Bur that was ca 200 yrs ago. Not familiar with current work alas, and not sure what to bring up. But this has turned up the Irish map too.
Very interesting piece, @Alanbrooke. Welcome back!
I suspect the Union won't end in a vote but will come to be seen as an increasing irrelevance. The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success and as part of the EU Single Market and increasingly Irish and EU passport holders, people will be looking South more than East. Which would be a relatively benign result, if it happens.
From the sounds of it, the main issue which Yousaf might face (along with his general ability level) is the upcoming conference on the tactic for the GE. Treat it as a 'defacto' referendum or not.
sounds like he's against that idea, so the issue would be what is his plan to push the independence movement further along.
Interesting header but I can't read the key to the map for some reason. Can someone list what the four shades indicate?
OK. I'll go for 3, simply by squinting harder:
Green - Ulster Scots Lilac - Mid Ulster English Purple - South Ulster English Pink - ??? English, the variant defeats me
Hiberno-English, I think. Seems to be a linguistic map of Ireland.
Not much hope of a Free Antrim there without the usual gerrymandering.
Is there a similar map for Scotland - with a little purple blob for Malcolm labelled Burst-vessel Scots?
Oh, yes. In one or two places the boundary between Gaelic and Scots was, if not quite on the different sides of the street level, certainly on the different sides ofd the loch level. Bur that was ca 200 yrs ago. Not familiar with current work alas, and not sure what to bring up. But this has turned up the Irish map too.
Now the media will be doing everything they can to trip Yousaf up on GRR.
Yousaf is going to be a shoo-in at this rate, unless someone new throws their name into the hat pronto.
Your second sentence is true whoever wins. The MSM is rabidly BritNat and that is not going to change pre-independence.
Scotland is really really fecked if that useless twat gets anywhere near being FM. I would vote Tory rather than for a party led by such a useless git.
Bookmarked for future reference...
In alls seriousness, given his appalling track record I can't see how Yousaf would be anything other than a disaster for both Scotland and the SNP. He makes Liz Truss look competent.
What’s he done? I don’t follow this stuff closely enough.
The three most obvious ones that spring to mind are interfering in a trial while Justice Minister, tweeting his support for Sturgeon's car crash 'I don't recall' performance and accusing her critics of lying to parliament, and accusing a nursery that couldn't find a place for his infant of racism, because they would have let him in if he was white, and suing them for years before dropping the case on the grounds that he'd been talking bullshit.
Plus I don't think anyone will look back on his time as Health Minister with especial fondness given the state of the Scottish NHS. He claimed that Covid cases were soaring among children, when they were not, for example.
He's untrustworthy, arrogant and not very bright. He's also totally incompetent.
This doesn't disbar him from high office, of course - look at Johnson and Cummings - but it would make it to put it mildly difficult for him to be successful in it.
About the only thing he's got going for him is he's not as useless as Swinney.
Impressive record. And impressive knowledge for someone living under a completely different devolved administration.
A friend once explained how American understanding of the Irish situation is 100% wrong. The common belief is that the North wants to join the South, the South wants to have the North and it’s the British who want to stop them. In reality, the North doesn’t want to join the South, who wouldn’t touch the North with a barge poll and the British would get shot of the North in a heartbeat. Interesting thread header.
I think this + Stuart Dickson's excellent wish list of things which need to happen (but won't) to achieve a solution say it all.
IMHO of the available possibilities the second least worst is the status quo - which is ghastly - and the least worst, almost as bad, would be NI independence from both rUK and RoI with a UN mandate.
From the sounds of it, the main issue which Yousaf might face (along with his general ability level) is the upcoming conference on the tactic for the GE. Treat it as a 'defacto' referendum or not.
sounds like he's against that idea, so the issue would be what is his plan to push the independence movement further along.
He’s a gradualist. He only wants independence once it’s the “settled will” of the Scottish people.
I prefer campaigners with a bit of fire in their belly.
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
The surplus is simply because the gas bill is a lot less than forecast, as I have been pointing out for some time. But anyone who thinks that the figures in the year to date are “good” in any objective way or even sustainable is delusional. There is no money for tax cuts. There may be some money to buy off public sector unions and end some of the strikes.
What business is it of the Republic what Northern Ireland does. As the polling in the article says, 65% of people in Northern Ireland want to stay in the UK and not join the Republic and their decision is final
What business is it of Political Betting posters telling the people of ROI what to think?
Very interesting piece, @Alanbrooke. Welcome back!
I suspect the Union won't end in a vote but will come to be seen as an increasing irrelevance. The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success and as part of the EU Single Market and increasingly Irish and EU passport holders, people will be looking South more than East. Which would be a relatively benign result, if it happens.
“The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success”
Since Irish independence this doddery old Union managed to defeat the Nazis (no thanks to the Irish) and helped to defeat communism. It has been democratic throughout, has yielded the world’s biggest empire with notable peacefulness (cf France, Spain, Portugal), it has delivered rising prosperity to its people and is now, through its culture, language, media, science, universities, one of the great soft powers of the world
What else should this rainy archipelago off north west Europe have done, for it to count as a success in your eyes? Conquer the moon? Invade the sun?
Now the media will be doing everything they can to trip Yousaf up on GRR.
Yousaf is going to be a shoo-in at this rate, unless someone new throws their name into the hat pronto.
Your second sentence is true whoever wins. The MSM is rabidly BritNat and that is not going to change pre-independence.
Scotland is really really fecked if that useless twat gets anywhere near being FM. I would vote Tory rather than for a party led by such a useless git.
Bookmarked for future reference...
In alls seriousness, given his appalling track record I can't see how Yousaf would be anything other than a disaster for both Scotland and the SNP. He makes Liz Truss look competent.
What’s he done? I don’t follow this stuff closely enough.
The three most obvious ones that spring to mind are interfering in a trial while Justice Minister, tweeting his support for Sturgeon's car crash 'I don't recall' performance and accusing her critics of lying to parliament, and accusing a nursery that couldn't find a place for his infant of racism, because they would have let him in if he was white, and suing them for years before dropping the case on the grounds that he'd been talking bullshit.
Plus I don't think anyone will look back on his time as Health Minister with especial fondness given the state of the Scottish NHS. He claimed that Covid cases were soaring among children, when they were not, for example.
He's untrustworthy, arrogant and not very bright. He's also totally incompetent.
This doesn't disbar him from high office, of course - look at Johnson and Cummings - but it would make it to put it mildly difficult for him to be successful in it.
About the only thing he's got going for him is he's not as useless as Swinney.
Impressive record. And impressive knowledge for someone living under a completely different devolved administration.
England has a devolved administration?
It’s definitely not evolved.
Brings to mind the kind of T-shirt that has a fish, amphibian, mammal, Australopithecus, Henry VIII, Walpole, Peel ...
On whether Southern Irish really want to integrate the North given the costs and societal issues entailed, it's worth pointing out West Germans had exactly the same views about Easterners. They also didn't compromise on flag, anthem etc, but did end up with a big bill.
I don't think reunification will happen soon, but if the situation arose, I don't expect the South to block it.
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
Wow. I know you are considered one of the PB Brains Trust elite, but on scant evidence you have made an HYUFD level prediction. 0.9%????
As I said the other day, she’s far too inexperienced politically. She ought to have bided her time. This early run for the top spot might end up being her only one. Poor judgment or poor advice?
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
But remember that January's self-assessed tax payments are based on income earned April 2021 through March 2022, not the current financial year.
Very interesting piece, @Alanbrooke. Welcome back!
I suspect the Union won't end in a vote but will come to be seen as an increasing irrelevance. The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success and as part of the EU Single Market and increasingly Irish and EU passport holders, people will be looking South more than East. Which would be a relatively benign result, if it happens.
“The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success”
Since Irish independence this doddery old Union managed to defeat the Nazis (no thanks to the Irish) and helped to defeat communism. It has been democratic throughout, has yielded the world’s biggest empire with notable peacefulness (cf France, Spain, Portugal), it has delivered rising prosperity to its people and is now, through its culture, language, media, science, universities, one of the great soft powers of the world
What else should this rainy archipelago off north west Europe have done, for it to count as a success in your eyes? Conquer the moon? Invade the sun?
I think once raddled old sybarites start calling the UK a shithole from whatever sunny clime they’re getting drunk in, it’s over. Sorry.
I guess the likes of John Redwood will argue this means tax cuts are affordable.
The UK government recorded a surprise surplus in its finances in January despite "substantial spending" to help households with energy bills and one-off payments to the EU.
The government spent less than it received in tax in the month, resulting in a surplus of £5.4bn.
Economists had forecast borrowing of £7.9bn, but record self-assessed income tax receipts led to the surplus.
The figures come as the government is set to deliver its Budget next month.
It means the economy probably grew a fair bit more than has been currently recorded by the ONS. Expect upwards revisions to 2022 GDP over the next few months.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
The surplus is simply because the gas bill is a lot less than forecast, as I have been pointing out for some time. But anyone who thinks that the figures in the year to date are “good” in any objective way or even sustainable is delusional. There is no money for tax cuts. There may be some money to buy off public sector unions and end some of the strikes.
Even setting the reasons for the surplus aside, changing medium term plans on the basis of a single month's figures would be daft. And it's not as though the government doesn't have the need of a great deal of fiscal elbow room for all kinds of contingencies.
Now the media will be doing everything they can to trip Yousaf up on GRR.
Yousaf is going to be a shoo-in at this rate, unless someone new throws their name into the hat pronto.
Your second sentence is true whoever wins. The MSM is rabidly BritNat and that is not going to change pre-independence.
Scotland is really really fecked if that useless twat gets anywhere near being FM. I would vote Tory rather than for a party led by such a useless git.
Bookmarked for future reference...
In alls seriousness, given his appalling track record I can't see how Yousaf would be anything other than a disaster for both Scotland and the SNP. He makes Liz Truss look competent.
What’s he done? I don’t follow this stuff closely enough.
The three most obvious ones that spring to mind are interfering in a trial while Justice Minister, tweeting his support for Sturgeon's car crash 'I don't recall' performance and accusing her critics of lying to parliament, and accusing a nursery that couldn't find a place for his infant of racism, because they would have let him in if he was white, and suing them for years before dropping the case on the grounds that he'd been talking bullshit.
Plus I don't think anyone will look back on his time as Health Minister with especial fondness given the state of the Scottish NHS. He claimed that Covid cases were soaring among children, when they were not, for example.
He's untrustworthy, arrogant and not very bright. He's also totally incompetent.
This doesn't disbar him from high office, of course - look at Johnson and Cummings - but it would make it to put it mildly difficult for him to be successful in it.
About the only thing he's got going for him is he's not as useless as Swinney.
Impressive record. And impressive knowledge for someone living under a completely different devolved administration.
England has a devolved administration?
It’s definitely not evolved.
Brings to mind the kind of T-shirt that has a fish, amphibian, mammal, Australopithecus, Henry VIII, Walpole, Peel ...
Very interesting piece, @Alanbrooke. Welcome back!
I suspect the Union won't end in a vote but will come to be seen as an increasing irrelevance. The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success and as part of the EU Single Market and increasingly Irish and EU passport holders, people will be looking South more than East. Which would be a relatively benign result, if it happens.
“The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success”
Since Irish independence this doddery old Union managed to defeat the Nazis (no thanks to the Irish) and helped to defeat communism. It has been democratic throughout, has yielded the world’s biggest empire with notable peacefulness (cf France, Spain, Portugal), it has delivered rising prosperity to its people and is now, through its culture, language, media, science, universities, one of the great soft powers of the world
What else should this rainy archipelago off north west Europe have done, for it to count as a success in your eyes? Conquer the moon? Invade the sun?
This country has had the debatable successes that you indicate despite, not assisted by, the specific aspect of its constitution you reference.
The Soviets did far far more than us to defeat the Nazis, and their Union was hardly considered worth saving. Why should this marginally less benighted example of a Union survive just because it was also on the winning side of that conflict? The other Union on the far side of the Atlantic that did far more than us to defeat the Nazis isn’t looking too healthy either.
Very interesting piece, @Alanbrooke. Welcome back!
I suspect the Union won't end in a vote but will come to be seen as an increasing irrelevance. The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success and as part of the EU Single Market and increasingly Irish and EU passport holders, people will be looking South more than East. Which would be a relatively benign result, if it happens.
“The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success”
Since Irish independence this doddery old Union managed to defeat the Nazis (no thanks to the Irish) and helped to defeat communism. It has been democratic throughout, has yielded the world’s biggest empire with notable peacefulness (cf France, Spain, Portugal), it has delivered rising prosperity to its people and is now, through its culture, language, media, science, universities, one of the great soft powers of the world
What else should this rainy archipelago off north west Europe have done, for it to count as a success in your eyes? Conquer the moon? Invade the sun?
Now talk about the union from the perspective of the "and Northern Ireland" part. Decades of murder, torture and terrorism. Followed by a peace which was fragile enough to be seriously threatened by the next generation of bowler-hatted twats who are using Brexit as their big opportunity to impose a hard border with the south.
The Union in its current form - where NI is an unwanted appendage treated with disdain by Great Britain and as "Our Way or Death" by local nutters of various Christian sects - has hardly been a huge success. Well, maybe for undertakers.
We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one.
This I find difficult to understand. There was a free vote on the subject, which passed and is now enacted. The candidate isn’t saying she will try and repeal this law, she’s merely saying that she would have voted with her conscience.
Private belief isn’t private anymore.
You must be loyal to the faith, to the bone.
Surprised at the attempts here by people twisting themselves into mental pretzels to try and defend homophobia.
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Because as long as she accepted the result, whatever her views, that's democracy.
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
She’s a heretic - she has denounced Articles Of The Faith in public.
You are being silly. She has said she would vote against equal rights, others have said they will vote against her as SNP leader. Is it unacceptable to attack homophobia now?
No. Just that I find the transference of religion methodology interesting.
Not sure what you mean. This is the tweet we are discussing quoted above:
"We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one."
Seems a perfectly reasonable statement that doesn't mention religion, and I don't see any "religion methodology" in it either. What do you find wrong with it?
Mr. Seal, you think the UK is 'marginally less benighted' than the Soviet Union, which had quotas for genocide and incarcerated to slave labour camps 20 million or so people?
As was suggested above, America is very likely to throw in a big pile of cash should unification ever happen. And you can expect a vast number of Irish Americans to want to come and visit their newly reunited homeland.
Hell why not go all the way. Make Ireland the 51st State.
What business is it of the Republic what Northern Ireland does. As the polling in the article says, 65% of people in Northern Ireland want to stay in the UK and not join the Republic and their decision is final
All Irishmen and Women in all 32 Counties owe their allegiance to the Irish Republic declared in 1916 and ratified by the All-Ireland electorate in 1918. Those collaborating with the occupation authorities in the North are treasonous fools.
(having lit the blue touchpaper, Doug steps back)
All British people owe their allegiance to the King and United Kingdom. Those who refuse to support their Unionist brothers in Northern Ireland are treasonous fools.
Of course the Republic was originally the Free State, it only became the Republic in 1948 not 1922
As was suggested above, America is very likely to throw in a big pile of cash should unification ever happen. And you can expect a vast number of Irish Americans to want to come and visit their newly reunited homeland.
Hell why not go all the way. Make Ireland the 51st State.
As the Republic of Ireland is firmly in the EU, including the Eurozone
Comments
From 🇭🇷 Croatian to 🇳🇱 Dutch,
whatever your language is, happy Mother Language Day!
https://twitter.com/eu_commission/status/1627933641690193923?s=46&t=9D4mHb9L4NRv8V_AXmUCYg
- “… three types of bilingual brains and shows how knowing more than one language keeps your brain healthy, complex and actively engaged.“
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-speaking-multiple-languages-benefits-the-brain-mia-nacamulli#review
The NI government is fixing the roads (sort of) running hospitals and schools etc.
The presence or absence of some politicians has made very little difference to the practical life of the province.
This is the system that was voted for - The Peace Process. By everyone on the island of. Ireland. All “communities” voted in favour in the North….
Quite a number of people seem to be for TPP when it produces the results they like. But want to tear it up when it doesn’t
She literally said she would vote against equal rights for people based on their sexual orientation. How is that a matter of "private belief" that should be beyond criticism?
Just as I was uncomfortable with Rocco Butiglione being vetoed from an EU commission post because of his Catholicism.
They would have been much stronger ground to have vetoed him on the grounds he was an out and out crook.
The chance of a recession now seems remote and 2023 should have reasonable growth as we see inflation recede and incomes catch up. I think we can now start pencilling in somewhere between 0.7-0.9% growth for the whole year with more upside than downside risk due to faster falling inflation than is projected.
I suspect that there are members of the EU commission who are Catholic, so doubt that you can be vetoed for being a Catholic though I'm not familiar with the case.
http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/9/30/unknown-world-war-i-the-battle-that-history-is-forgetting#.Y_SCFeSnwWM
...The ‘Battle of Lake Naroch’, the ‘Russian Spring Offensive of 1916’, occurred following the Russian ‘Great Retreat’ when the Eastern Front had settled down into positional trench warfare. It was an ill conceived, poorly planned, and disastrously executed Russian offensive across a front of nearly 100km over a series of frozen lakes and swamplands...
However, with Britain out of the EU, Ireland not in NATO, etc, there's not much for them to work on. Transport (dull), migration (due to the Common Travel Area), um, electricity grid development...?
At least you put it in Swedish so most don't see what a clown you are.
Bayern and Dortmund on equal points at the top of the table is not really surprising. What is really surprising is, halfway through the season Union Berlin are also on equal points with Bayern and Dortmund at the top of the table.
Only a few years ago they were alaways a mid-table in the 2nd Liga team and pretty much unheard of outside of Germany.
Which although I am no Catholic seemed fair enough to me.
It caused a media storm and got him rejected though.
And it looks like we’re about to see the same thing here. Remember, it’s only her views, not whether she would apply them, that’s causing the problem.
Green - Ulster Scots
Lilac - Mid Ulster English
Purple - South Ulster English
Pink - ??? English, the variant defeats me
I’ve bought some new sober footwear for the occasion.
Overall 2023 isn't shaping up too badly at all (as long as there's no escalation with Russia's in-going invasion of Ukraine)
I haven’t bought any new footwear, but I have bought some new red coolant for the radiator as the levels are a bit low.
Does that count?
Not much hope of a Free Antrim there without the usual gerrymandering.
Thank you.
She's perfectly entitled to the opinion - which she chose publicly to express in the context of her leadership aspirations - just as (to take a random example) she'd be entitled to believe that Scotland should remain part of the UK.
Others are equally entitled to their own opinions as to how that might affect their attitude towards the prospect of her being leader.
Just white working class Americans tend to be solid Republican as black Americans tend to be solid Democrat
Never even considered Union Berlin, so that's a very astute comment. Bet the odds would've been tasty.
(having lit the blue touchpaper, Doug steps back)
1. Regan
2. Forbes
3. Yousaf
The ladies might switch places, but Yousaf likely to remain third.
It is a long time ago, but the last time we voted for a leader, in 2003, I’m pretty certain I voted for Roseanna Cunningham.
Ask Lord JohnO he's ever had the "death stare" from Raab?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Linguistic_maps_of_the_Scots_language#/media/File:English_dialects_in_Ulster_contrast_including_Drum.png
I suspect the Union won't end in a vote but will come to be seen as an increasing irrelevance. The Union in its current form has hardly been a huge success and as part of the EU Single Market and increasingly Irish and EU passport holders, people will be looking South more than East. Which would be a relatively benign result, if it happens.
sounds like he's against that idea, so the issue would be what is his plan to push the independence movement further along.
Currently digging an ever deeper hole on live radio
IMHO of the available possibilities the second least worst is the status quo - which is ghastly - and the least worst, almost as bad, would be NI independence from both rUK and RoI with a UN mandate.
I don’t know why but red shoes seem appropriate.
Perhaps it is all the years of staring at Asics belonging to my daughters.
I prefer campaigners with a bit of fire in their belly.
Since Irish independence this doddery old Union managed to defeat the Nazis (no thanks to the Irish) and helped to defeat communism. It has been democratic throughout, has yielded the world’s biggest empire with notable peacefulness (cf France, Spain, Portugal), it has delivered rising prosperity to its people and is now, through its culture, language, media, science, universities, one of the great soft powers of the world
What else should this rainy archipelago off north west Europe have done, for it to count as a success in your eyes? Conquer the moon? Invade the sun?
I don't think reunification will happen soon, but if the situation arose, I don't expect the South to block it.
And it's not as though the government doesn't have the need of a great deal of fiscal elbow room for all kinds of contingencies.
We do not have a dress code.
https://www.thewolseley.com/frequently-asked-questions/
The Soviets did far far more than us to defeat the Nazis, and their Union was hardly considered worth saving. Why should this marginally less benighted example of a Union survive just because it was also on the winning side of that conflict? The other Union on the far side of the Atlantic that did far more than us to defeat the Nazis isn’t looking too healthy either.
The Union in its current form - where NI is an unwanted appendage treated with disdain by Great Britain and as "Our Way or Death" by local nutters of various Christian sects - has hardly been a huge success. Well, maybe for undertakers.
"We must be full throated in our support of equal marriage. No if or buts. I won’t be supporting Kate’s campaign on that basis. I wish her well- she’s extremely talented. But I have red lines. And this is one."
Seems a perfectly reasonable statement that doesn't mention religion, and I don't see any "religion methodology" in it either. What do you find wrong with it?
Methinks thou art a sausage most silly.
Hell why not go all the way. Make Ireland the 51st State.
https://twitter.com/Faytuks/status/1627957933349777408?s=20
Of course the Republic was originally the Free State, it only became the Republic in 1948 not 1922