I think an independent Scotland would apply to join the Euro. This fact is one of those that rules out any wildcat referenda as Spain would veto an independent Scotland joining that hasn't gone through the correct hoops with it's ex parent country. But if they had a Westminster allowed referendum they'd get in after a few years
I agree that's where the SNP would want to go, but given how integrated UK trade is that would have a very significant impact across the border.
I think it's more likely they shadowed Sterling for a long period. They'd need to meet a lot of criteria first, and business would need to adjust.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Remember when they did some shitty stuff with Corbyn too ?
It goes back much further than that. Remember the changing of the filmed sequence of events around the miners protests at Orgreave to make it appear as if the police charge on horsenback was in response to attacks by the pickets when in fact the reverse was true? It was claimed it was an accident but staff were ordered to change the sequence by managers.
There is something about the Scottish, that we celebrate victories before they happen, and have a big party, but when it comes down to it we bottle it. I will always vote Yes because starting your own country is the most fun thing, but the UK is crumbling and we still can't sustain a 10% lead over No.
I don't and never did believe in the current structure of the Scottish parliament - unicameral, no scrutinising chamber, and our journalism has become utter dogshit so there's no journalistic scrutiny either. Almost designed to fail. For this reason I never voted in the referendum, just sat chainsmoking Marlboro Red in North East Fife watching people go out to vote. Despite voting Remain I see the attraction of the kick-it-over-and-start-again of Vote Leave.
I remember posting on here in the heady early days of Boris that he might be wacky enough to force the referendum himself. He wasn't, but I think that's Reform's policy now? I don't see the SNP going for it. If Reform do force it it's interesting, they can draft the question to remove acquiescence bias, pick the date, all of that.
I kind of love posts like this.
I could vote Remain, or Leave - bit of something in both. Most referendums are bollocks.
Oh, fuck it, just open a pack of fags and watch everyone else instead and see what happens.
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Remember when they did some shitty stuff with Corbyn too ?
And years ago, wasn't there something about reordering clips of the late Queen?
For those who jumped on the 'doesn't rule it out' Telegraph hype yesterday:
“I don’t think airport-style scanners would be the way to go,” the transport secretary told Sky News. “I understand why you asked the question, and I understand why some of your viewers might be wondering about that.
“We have thousands of railway stations across the UK, and those stations have multiple entrances, multiple platforms. What we can’t do is make life impossible for everyone, but we do need to take sensible and proportionate steps to make the public transport network safe.”
First, and foremost challenge for the SNP - currency.
So let's avoid talking about it. Right.
Doesn't make sense, does it. If London gives another emphatic No to currency sharing...... and why should they ...... then it would seem the SNP should open discussions with Brussels to join the euro immediately upon independence. There'll have to some complicated discussions about switching, though, And yes, I know that would mean an independent Scotland becoming part of the EU.
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
"The BBC had spliced together three separate parts of Mr Trump’s speech into what appeared to be one fluent sentence." Apparently more to come on other high profile contentious topics ...
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
The lack of crossings, is because it's a bit windy. When it's a bit windy, it's really difficult to launch an overloaded RIB through the surf.
This reminds me of Murder Tuesday - after the 47th occurrence, Pesto was still asking people about the spike in deaths, each Tuesday.
For those who jumped on the 'doesn't rule it out' Telegraph hype yesterday:
“I don’t think airport-style scanners would be the way to go,” the transport secretary told Sky News. “I understand why you asked the question, and I understand why some of your viewers might be wondering about that.
“We have thousands of railway stations across the UK, and those stations have multiple entrances, multiple platforms. What we can’t do is make life impossible for everyone, but we do need to take sensible and proportionate steps to make the public transport network safe.”
Anyway, the proposal doesn't go anywhere near far enough to keep us all safe.
What we really need is security guards at every street corner, not just using "airport-style scanners", but conducting thorough body searches in order to detect anything that could possibly be used as a weapon, or indeed anything that they don't like the look of.
The only thing that worries me is how we prevent Muslim terrorists from infiltrating the body of security guards, and perhaps even murdering us while we are being searched.
But I'm giving that minor problem serious thought.
I'm pretty sure Palantir has a nascent pre-cog crime division in development. Who is going to notice one more government contract for them amongst all the others ?
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Oops, although you'd wonder why no-one cared at the time. Maybe it was just seen as reasonable editing.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
No tax cuts to speak of beyond scrapping the family farm tax and a bit of changing income tax thresholds.
This part is a bit dickless to be honest. Yes, we need to show fiscal responsibility, but if a tax cut has been shown to increase receipts of that tax (Corporation Tax, top rate of income tax), why class a cut to it as a cost, let alone an irresponsible one? I appreciate that Reform don't want to be painted into a corner as the revenge of Truss, but they need to be at the forefront of the argument for low taxes rather than allowing themselves to be defined by others' yardsticks.
Other than that, get rid of Net Zero and DEI - good. Welcoming in the rich, good.
Forget the currency I cannot understand how any Scot could watch the shitshow of Brexit (a small part leaving a much bigger economic block, with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) and still think that leaving the UK (with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) would be a good thing...
For the same reason that lots of people who voted for Brexit don't regret doing so - such a vote is not about practicalities for many people.
I'm kinda on the other side of the fence. My experience in Ireland shows me how a small part of the UK can break off, suffer for a while, and then become a success. You can also see that many European countries with a population of 5-10 million seem to do pretty well. Maybe it's a good size for democracy? But I wouldn't want Scotland to become independent because I don't want to see the end of Britain.
Suffer for a while being 70 years and then only making a go of it by becoming a parasitic tax leach?
Re the header. Scotland can run a dual-currency solution. Everyday life is done in GBP. Private company, wages etc are paid in GBP. ScotGov income (taxes, fines etc) are paid in GBP. But ScotGov expenditure (wages, benefits etc) are paid in Punts. ScotGov can issue debt in Punts (NOT GBP!) and pay it back in Punts. Everybody happy.
I assume you are taking the piss, but on the offchance you are not i will ask the inevitable question
If I get paid in punts, how do I buy my groceries in GBP?
There was a time when the Irish Punt and Sterling were kept at parity. In Ireland you could use Sterling and Punts interchangeably, but in England, your Punts would be refused. Then Ireland joined the Euro.
Yeah, that's not what was proposed. The proposal was "Everyday life is done in GBP" so I need pounds to buy groceries, "But ScotGov expenditure (wages, benefits etc) are paid in Punts." so how do I buy my groceries in pounds if I am paid in punts?
At the time, I remember thinking they should replace Pounds and Pence with 'The Eck' and 'The wee Eck'.
Probably for the best that didn't happen, all things considered.
Re the header. Scotland can run a dual-currency solution. Everyday life is done in GBP. Private company, wages etc are paid in GBP. ScotGov income (taxes, fines etc) are paid in GBP. But ScotGov expenditure (wages, benefits etc) are paid in Punts. ScotGov can issue debt in Punts (NOT GBP!) and pay it back in Punts. Everybody happy.
I assume you are taking the piss, but on the offchance you are not i will ask the inevitable question
If I get paid in punts, how do I buy my groceries in GBP?
Currency exchange, like when you go on holiday. Many countries manage to use two currencies simultaneously, eg Cambodia (USD and Riel) and Bosnia (KM and Euro)
Türkiye seems to be moving in that direction as well - anything tourist facing was pricing things in euros this year which wasn't the case last year..
I’m trying to sort out a fratricidal squabble in Turkiye at the moment… the devaluation is … challenging…
Re the header. Scotland can run a dual-currency solution. Everyday life is done in GBP. Private company, wages etc are paid in GBP. ScotGov income (taxes, fines etc) are paid in GBP. But ScotGov expenditure (wages, benefits etc) are paid in Punts. ScotGov can issue debt in Punts (NOT GBP!) and pay it back in Punts. Everybody happy.
I assume you are taking the piss, but on the offchance you are not i will ask the inevitable question
If I get paid in punts, how do I buy my groceries in GBP?
There was a time when the Irish Punt and Sterling were kept at parity. In Ireland you could use Sterling and Punts interchangeably, but in England, your Punts would be refused. Then Ireland joined the Euro.
Yeah, that's not what was proposed. The proposal was "Everyday life is done in GBP" so I need pounds to buy groceries, "But ScotGov expenditure (wages, benefits etc) are paid in Punts." so how do I buy my groceries in pounds if I am paid in punts?
The government fixes the FX rate and settles in GBP but expenses in Scot£
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
It would take some crazy levels of differential turnout. The only possible way is that the "Youth Vote" turns out to be all enthusiastic - up to that point of actually going to a polling place.
It would take some crazy levels of differential turnout. The only possible way is that the "Youth Vote" turns out to be all enthusiastic - up to that point of actually going to a polling place.
Having been promised cheaper rent - I can see the Youth turning up and voting...
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Remember when they did some shitty stuff with Corbyn too ?
It goes back much further than that. Remember the changing of the filmed sequence of events around the miners protests at Orgreave to make it appear as if the police charge on horsenback was in response to attacks by the pickets when in fact the reverse was true? It was claimed it was an accident but staff were ordered to change the sequence by managers.
I look forward to seeing more doors slammed in SNP faces as the campaign gets going. They tried the INDEPENDENCE argument last year and got scunnered. And seemingly the strategy next year is the same. Marvellous stuff.
They only have one strategy, independence as the universal cure for all Scottish ills. Some people will buy that in the short term, but an actual Indyref would inevitably bring forward details of all the ways independence would severely harm Scotland in the short and mid term.
The SNP's core weakness is their inability to honest with people; that going through the chaotic and financially painful separation is gamble that may result in a more fair, democratic and prosperous country for future generations, , but may also crush the Scottish economy flat and leave the country a basket case.
Voters are unlikely to take that gamble if they understand exactly what's at risk, so the SNP keeps trying to pretend independence would be all honey, cream and sunlit uplands.
Utter bollox, what could be worse than being robbed and chained to the bunch of losers f***ing up the UK. Thick Little Englander Opines
Did you get that from NatGPT, Malc?
You should ask it to check my posting history which would reveal I am, in fact, Scottish. I'll take being accused of being thick, everyone has an opinion, but getting called an Englander. Ye can get stuffed with that, ya wee fannybaws.
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
"The BBC had spliced together three separate parts of Mr Trump’s speech into what appeared to be one fluent sentence." Apparently more to come on other high profile contentious topics ...
What reputable media person would do that? And why?
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
"The BBC had spliced together three separate parts of Mr Trump’s speech into what appeared to be one fluent sentence." Apparently more to come on other high profile contentious topics ...
Coincidentally around the time the license fee had been announced to increase to £180
There is something about the Scottish, that we celebrate victories before they happen, and have a big party, but when it comes down to it we bottle it. I will always vote Yes because starting your own country is the most fun thing, but the UK is crumbling and we still can't sustain a 10% lead over No.
I don't and never did believe in the current structure of the Scottish parliament - unicameral, no scrutinising chamber, and our journalism has become utter dogshit so there's no journalistic scrutiny either. Almost designed to fail. For this reason I never voted in the referendum, just sat chainsmoking Marlboro Red in North East Fife watching people go out to vote. Despite voting Remain I see the attraction of the kick-it-over-and-start-again of Vote Leave.
I remember posting on here in the heady early days of Boris that he might be wacky enough to force the referendum himself. He wasn't, but I think that's Reform's policy now? I don't see the SNP going for it. If Reform do force it it's interesting, they can draft the question to remove acquiescence bias, pick the date, all of that.
I kind of love posts like this.
I could vote Remain, or Leave - bit of something in both. Most referendums are bollocks.
Oh, fuck it, just open a pack of fags and watch everyone else instead and see what happens.
Puff.
It was the devolution referendum I was referring to, I voted Remain, but I get Leave a bit. In the devolution referendum. If I'd voted I'd have voted No to the parliament existing but Yes to it having tax varying powers. I didn't vote because I suspected my position was incoherent, rather than a nihilistic sense, but I still think it was right. Though I've never had anyone tell me that was their split, it's the only non standard option I think.
For those who jumped on the 'doesn't rule it out' Telegraph hype yesterday:
“I don’t think airport-style scanners would be the way to go,” the transport secretary told Sky News. “I understand why you asked the question, and I understand why some of your viewers might be wondering about that.
“We have thousands of railway stations across the UK, and those stations have multiple entrances, multiple platforms. What we can’t do is make life impossible for everyone, but we do need to take sensible and proportionate steps to make the public transport network safe.”
I think an independent Scotland would apply to join the Euro. This fact is one of those that rules out any wildcat referenda as Spain would veto an independent Scotland joining that hasn't gone through the correct hoops with it's ex parent country. But if they had a Westminster allowed referendum they'd get in after a few years
It would be rather strange to abandon the UK Single Market in favour of the European one, given the relative integration of trade between Scotland and those two.
Ireland has done a reasonable job separating though...
If you ignore the partition line...
A friend (ex-pat NI) tells me his son found a solution to the Irish Sea border. They flew it in instead.
For those who jumped on the 'doesn't rule it out' Telegraph hype yesterday:
“I don’t think airport-style scanners would be the way to go,” the transport secretary told Sky News. “I understand why you asked the question, and I understand why some of your viewers might be wondering about that.
“We have thousands of railway stations across the UK, and those stations have multiple entrances, multiple platforms. What we can’t do is make life impossible for everyone, but we do need to take sensible and proportionate steps to make the public transport network safe.”
Anyway, the proposal doesn't go anywhere near far enough to keep us all safe.
What we really need is security guards at every street corner, not just using "airport-style scanners", but conducting thorough body searches in order to detect anything that could possibly be used as a weapon, or indeed anything that they don't like the look of.
The only thing that worries me is how we prevent Muslim terrorists from infiltrating the body of security guards, and perhaps even murdering us while we are being searched.
But I'm giving that minor problem serious thought.
I'm pretty sure Palantir has a nascent pre-cog crime division in development. Who is going to notice one more government contract for them amongst all the others ?
Only the guilty
Remember- All suspects are guilty. Period. Otherwise they wouldn't be suspect.
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Remember when they did some shitty stuff with Corbyn too ?
It goes back much further than that. Remember the changing of the filmed sequence of events around the miners protests at Orgreave to make it appear as if the police charge on horsenback was in response to attacks by the pickets when in fact the reverse was true? It was claimed it was an accident but staff were ordered to change the sequence by managers.
No, I don’t remember that. That’s really poor.
The recent one that annoyed me was the two lads on the e-bike in Cardiff. The BBC footage made it seem that the police were in hot pursuit, when they weren’t. Tension was already high at the time and this made it worse.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Oops, although you'd wonder why no-one cared at the time. Maybe it was just seen as reasonable editing.
Forget the currency I cannot understand how any Scot could watch the shitshow of Brexit (a small part leaving a much bigger economic block, with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) and still think that leaving the UK (with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) would be a good thing...
For the same reason that lots of people who voted for Brexit don't regret doing so - such a vote is not about practicalities for many people.
I'm kinda on the other side of the fence. My experience in Ireland shows me how a small part of the UK can break off, suffer for a while, and then become a success. You can also see that many European countries with a population of 5-10 million seem to do pretty well. Maybe it's a good size for democracy? But I wouldn't want Scotland to become independent because I don't want to see the end of Britain.
Suffer for a while being 70 years and then only making a go of it by becoming a parasitic tax leach?
This. People who cite Ireland forget just how bad it got for them after independence. Their biggest problem for many decades was the tide of young people fleeing to Britain or US because there were no jobs and no hope for them in Ireland.
Scotland is more robust than Ireland was economically, but it's also much more intertwined with the UK. Repairing the damage of independence would be the work of generations.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
There is something about the Scottish, that we celebrate victories before they happen, and have a big party, but when it comes down to it we bottle it. I will always vote Yes because starting your own country is the most fun thing, but the UK is crumbling and we still can't sustain a 10% lead over No.
I don't and never did believe in the current structure of the Scottish parliament - unicameral, no scrutinising chamber, and our journalism has become utter dogshit so there's no journalistic scrutiny either. Almost designed to fail. For this reason I never voted in the referendum, just sat chainsmoking Marlboro Red in North East Fife watching people go out to vote. Despite voting Remain I see the attraction of the kick-it-over-and-start-again of Vote Leave.
I remember posting on here in the heady early days of Boris that he might be wacky enough to force the referendum himself. He wasn't, but I think that's Reform's policy now? I don't see the SNP going for it. If Reform do force it it's interesting, they can draft the question to remove acquiescence bias, pick the date, all of that.
I kind of love posts like this.
I could vote Remain, or Leave - bit of something in both. Most referendums are bollocks.
Oh, fuck it, just open a pack of fags and watch everyone else instead and see what happens.
Puff.
It was the devolution referendum I was referring to, I voted Remain, but I get Leave a bit. In the devolution referendum. If I'd voted I'd have voted No to the parliament existing but Yes to it having tax varying powers. I didn't vote because I suspected my position was incoherent, rather than a nihilistic sense, but I still think it was right. Though I've never had anyone tell me that was their split, it's the only non standard option I think.
I get it. You think the parliament is sort of pointless and a bad idea but, if we've got to have one, it's got to have teeth.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
There is something about the Scottish, that we celebrate victories before they happen, and have a big party, but when it comes down to it we bottle it. I will always vote Yes because starting your own country is the most fun thing, but the UK is crumbling and we still can't sustain a 10% lead over No.
I don't and never did believe in the current structure of the Scottish parliament - unicameral, no scrutinising chamber, and our journalism has become utter dogshit so there's no journalistic scrutiny either. Almost designed to fail. For this reason I never voted in the referendum, just sat chainsmoking Marlboro Red in North East Fife watching people go out to vote. Despite voting Remain I see the attraction of the kick-it-over-and-start-again of Vote Leave.
I remember posting on here in the heady early days of Boris that he might be wacky enough to force the referendum himself. He wasn't, but I think that's Reform's policy now? I don't see the SNP going for it. If Reform do force it it's interesting, they can draft the question to remove acquiescence bias, pick the date, all of that.
I kind of love posts like this.
I could vote Remain, or Leave - bit of something in both. Most referendums are bollocks.
Oh, fuck it, just open a pack of fags and watch everyone else instead and see what happens.
Puff.
It was the devolution referendum I was referring to, I voted Remain, but I get Leave a bit. In the devolution referendum. If I'd voted I'd have voted No to the parliament existing but Yes to it having tax varying powers. I didn't vote because I suspected my position was incoherent, rather than a nihilistic sense, but I still think it was right. Though I've never had anyone tell me that was their split, it's the only non standard option I think.
I get it. You think the parliament is sort of pointless and a bad idea but, if we've got to have one, it's got to have teeth.
Yes, it needs massive restructuring too, there needs to be scrutiny. Unicameral was key to me not being able to support it. I've since then developed real issues with the structures of certain things in day to day life - the NHS being allowed to investigate its own deaths for example, that I don't think would have survived a scrutinizing chamber.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
Might that not impact shipping? Also, how wide would it need to be, because there's the risk one only has to go a little bit up the coast (and have a marginally longer journey) to get round it? (In which case you've spent a lot of money and inconvenienced a lot of people for marginal benefit.)
Re the header. Scotland can run a dual-currency solution. Everyday life is done in GBP. Private company, wages etc are paid in GBP. ScotGov income (taxes, fines etc) are paid in GBP. But ScotGov expenditure (wages, benefits etc) are paid in Punts. ScotGov can issue debt in Punts (NOT GBP!) and pay it back in Punts. Everybody happy.
I assume you are taking the piss, but on the offchance you are not i will ask the inevitable question
If I get paid in punts, how do I buy my groceries in GBP?
The Scottish Government (or a private exchange) will buy your punts and exchange them for GBP. Or it can be done before the money hits your account.
Incidentally, this is similar to the plan that Yanis Varoufakis had for Greece.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
Might that not impact shipping? Also, how wide would it need to be, because there's the risk one only has to go a little bit up the coast (and have a marginally longer journey) to get round it? (In which case you've spent a lot of money and inconvenienced a lot of people for marginal benefit.)
Like I said: 100 miles. P&O Ferries might not be too pleased but Eurotunnel would be happy.
Forget the currency I cannot understand how any Scot could watch the shitshow of Brexit (a small part leaving a much bigger economic block, with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) and still think that leaving the UK (with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) would be a good thing...
For the same reason that lots of people who voted for Brexit don't regret doing so - such a vote is not about practicalities for many people.
I'm kinda on the other side of the fence. My experience in Ireland shows me how a small part of the UK can break off, suffer for a while, and then become a success. You can also see that many European countries with a population of 5-10 million seem to do pretty well. Maybe it's a good size for democracy? But I wouldn't want Scotland to become independent because I don't want to see the end of Britain.
Suffer for a while being 70 years and then only making a go of it by becoming a parasitic tax leach?
This. People who cite Ireland forget just how bad it got for them after independence. Their biggest problem for many decades was the tide of young people fleeing to Britain or US because there were no jobs and no hope for them in Ireland.
Scotland is more robust than Ireland was economically, but it's also much more intertwined with the UK. Repairing the damage of independence would be the work of generations.
The point I made about Ireland stemmed from the realignment of trade routes with EU to Ireland traffic now bypassing the UK where previously the trade route was Calais, Dover lorry drives to Holyhead then ferry to Dublin...
Currency wise - we commented often at the time how implausible it was that Scotland's Independent Government could spend the way it currently does..
Re the header. Scotland can run a dual-currency solution. Everyday life is done in GBP. Private company, wages etc are paid in GBP. ScotGov income (taxes, fines etc) are paid in GBP. But ScotGov expenditure (wages, benefits etc) are paid in Punts. ScotGov can issue debt in Punts (NOT GBP!) and pay it back in Punts. Everybody happy.
I assume you are taking the piss, but on the offchance you are not i will ask the inevitable question
If I get paid in punts, how do I buy my groceries in GBP?
There was a time when the Irish Punt and Sterling were kept at parity. In Ireland you could use Sterling and Punts interchangeably, but in England, your Punts would be refused. Then Ireland joined the Euro.
Yeah, that's not what was proposed. The proposal was "Everyday life is done in GBP" so I need pounds to buy groceries, "But ScotGov expenditure (wages, benefits etc) are paid in Punts." so how do I buy my groceries in pounds if I am paid in punts?
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Oops, although you'd wonder why no-one cared at the time. Maybe it was just seen as reasonable editing.
No, it completely distorts the speech, and implied that Trump had encouraged them to go and participate in an actual physical fight, by stitching bits together, and entirely missing out the plea to march peacefully.
If done today that would be multiple breaches on the OSA.
The Trump administration says it will provide partial food stamp benefits for Nov by tapping into the program’s contingency fund
A USDA official said in a sworn statement that the agency will use $4.65 billion from the fund for SNAP benefits, which will “be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments.”
In unrelated news, Trump's approval rating has fallen to a second term low of -12.9% in Nate Silver's aggregator (previous low was ~-10%).
1 in 8 US residents receive food stamps. And I suspect they really notice a month's absence, or even a 50% reduction.
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
They weren't damaged when the Beeb switched Boris footage to make him look competent. Sadly, nobody cares about the BBC these days.
Come to think about it... the Telegraph is complaining about accuracy?
Good evening everyone. If you don’t want Scottish independence, don’t vote for a Farage UK government in 2029. There’s nothing more likely to encourage us to vote for an Independent Scotland than a Reform UK government, which, incidentally, would crash sterling and make a Scottish currency comparatively strong.
Yes, a Scottish currency would be weak. On the other hand if Scotland was allowed an independence vote, Westminster and the UK government implemented it and then Edinburgh decided to join the EU and Euro then that wouldn't be really a vote for full independence anyway
You Brits should wonder why so many Scots in your glorious union trust Europe to support our economy than the UK does. It’s also why I support an independent Scottish currency linked to the Euro.
Yes, a Scottish currency would be weak. On the other hand if Scotland was allowed an independence vote, Westminster and the UK government implemented it and then Edinburgh decided to join the EU and Euro then that wouldn't be really a vote for full independence anyway
The original Union was all about access to markets - the English colonies in America. 'Independence' is better viewed as access to other markets by another form of Union. The decision will be whether the EU is a better long term bet than rUK. Probably not clear enough for the Independent curious.
No it was because Scotland needed a bailout after the Darien Scheme failed
Just seen Farage on sky talking about putting champions in schools...
Will they wear armbands and shorts and roam the corridors at break with dogs?
Where are they going to find enough people rescued by the residents of Shangri-La, an advanced civilisation living secretly in the mountains of Tibet, who have saved their lives and granted them enhanced abilities, including extrasensory powers to communicate with one another over distances (telepathy) and to foresee events (precognition), enhanced versions of the ordinary five senses, and intellectual and physical abilities reaching the fullest extent of human capabilities?
Scottish independence will happen in my lifetime. Idea of Scotland as separate has been enabled by too manly for too long. Shares a lot in common with Brexit imo. Nationalism is gaining popularity worldwide.
Would be very painful at first but they will do fine in long run. Independence fans massively downplay that and remain voters overstate long term benefits.
Forget the currency I cannot understand how any Scot could watch the shitshow of Brexit (a small part leaving a much bigger economic block, with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) and still think that leaving the UK (with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) would be a good thing...
For the same reason that lots of people who voted for Brexit don't regret doing so - such a vote is not about practicalities for many people.
I'm kinda on the other side of the fence. My experience in Ireland shows me how a small part of the UK can break off, suffer for a while, and then become a success. You can also see that many European countries with a population of 5-10 million seem to do pretty well. Maybe it's a good size for democracy? But I wouldn't want Scotland to become independent because I don't want to see the end of Britain.
Suffer for a while being 70 years and then only making a go of it by becoming a parasitic tax leach?
This. People who cite Ireland forget just how bad it got for them after independence. Their biggest problem for many decades was the tide of young people fleeing to Britain or US because there were no jobs and no hope for them in Ireland.
Scotland is more robust than Ireland was economically, but it's also much more intertwined with the UK. Repairing the damage of independence would be the work of generations.
The point I made about Ireland stemmed from the realignment of trade routes with EU to Ireland traffic now bypassing the UK where previously the trade route was Calais, Dover lorry drives to Holyhead then ferry to Dublin...
Currency wise - we commented often at the time how implausible it was that Scotland's Independent Government could spend the way it currently does..
The basic problem is that the political strategy by the SNP, and which is needed to win, (free everything; "progressive" to a fault; all paid for by oil, um, wind; etc) is diametrically opposed to what would actually happen in the event of Indy (slashed public spending; tax competition with rUK; attempt to become a Celtic Tiger; convince the bond markets; etc).
I suspect that is really why Kate Forbes - a social and economic conservative - is giving up. The promise and the actualite in the event are impossible to reconcile.
They can just follow the Brexit model. Vote for the principle then work out the practicalities afterwards. It's the only realistic way. Nobody is going to spend lots of time and effort negotiating exit arrangements until it's known there will be an exit. Of course in a perfect world it would happen the other way. Deal then vote on the deal. But that can't work in the real world. The politics wouldn't allow it. The incentives are not aligned with that.
Ooh, do they then get a campaign for a ‘people’s vote’ to overturn the wrong decision ?
Oh yes. Compulsory. Holyrood impasse, campaign for Ref2, threat of chaotic crash out, SNP call snap election on a Get Sindy Done ticket, win a landslide, Scotland leaves the UK with a barebones deal. Much recrimination and gnashing of teeth.
But I am sick of multi-millionaires with the personal morals of a rapist junkie winning elections thru money and lies, whilst everybody goes "woo he's not a leftie, eh" and settle for the same shit they had last time. And it doesn't matter if they are Democrats or Republicans, they are still bad.
Scottish independence will happen in my lifetime. Idea of Scotland as separate has been enabled by too manly for too long. Shares a lot in common with Brexit imo. Nationalism is gaining popularity worldwide.
Would be very painful at first but they will do fine in long run. Independence fans massively downplay that and remain voters overstate long term benefits.
If we gain independence, we will be poorer in the short term. Scots need to be told that. We need to be reminded that Ireland was poorer than the UK until they stopped their currency being linked to sterling and joined the Euro. The also need to be told that an independent Scotland would not necessarily be tied to the SNP, but new parties would form. Which is why the SNP only pretend to want independence.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
Might that not impact shipping? Also, how wide would it need to be, because there's the risk one only has to go a little bit up the coast (and have a marginally longer journey) to get round it? (In which case you've spent a lot of money and inconvenienced a lot of people for marginal benefit.)
I would just deposit them back over the international line with a friendly message that some of your residents appear to have got lost and adrift at sea, we have safely returned them to you and haven’t each charged you. And if necessary do the same thing every night.
Yes, a Scottish currency would be weak. On the other hand if Scotland was allowed an independence vote, Westminster and the UK government implemented it and then Edinburgh decided to join the EU and Euro then that wouldn't be really a vote for full independence anyway
The original Union was all about access to markets - the English colonies in America. 'Independence' is better viewed as access to other markets by another form of Union. The decision will be whether the EU is a better long term bet than rUK. Probably not clear enough for the Independent curious.
No it was because Scotland needed a bailout after the Darien Scheme failed
After being undermined by the English.
"Undermined"? It was a crap scheme and the investors got shafted.
England responded to a weak competitor and the Spanish rattled their cannons. QED
Tough business, trade and empire building.
To be fair, the Scots fairly cracked it under the aegis of the British Empire.
For those who jumped on the 'doesn't rule it out' Telegraph hype yesterday:
“I don’t think airport-style scanners would be the way to go,” the transport secretary told Sky News. “I understand why you asked the question, and I understand why some of your viewers might be wondering about that.
“We have thousands of railway stations across the UK, and those stations have multiple entrances, multiple platforms. What we can’t do is make life impossible for everyone, but we do need to take sensible and proportionate steps to make the public transport network safe.”
Anyway, the proposal doesn't go anywhere near far enough to keep us all safe.
What we really need is security guards at every street corner, not just using "airport-style scanners", but conducting thorough body searches in order to detect anything that could possibly be used as a weapon, or indeed anything that they don't like the look of.
The only thing that worries me is how we prevent Muslim terrorists from infiltrating the body of security guards, and perhaps even murdering us while we are being searched.
But I'm giving that minor problem serious thought.
I'm pretty sure Palantir has a nascent pre-cog crime division in development. Who is going to notice one more government contract for them amongst all the others ?
Only the guilty
Remember- All suspects are guilty. Period. Otherwise they wouldn't be suspect.
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Oops, although you'd wonder why no-one cared at the time. Maybe it was just seen as reasonable editing.
Get BBC Verify on the case.
You would want to know the context. It is not as if there would have been no Trump or even anti-BBC partisans watching, so did they complain at the time or was this seen as a reasonable summary given the time constraints?
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
Might that not impact shipping? Also, how wide would it need to be, because there's the risk one only has to go a little bit up the coast (and have a marginally longer journey) to get round it? (In which case you've spent a lot of money and inconvenienced a lot of people for marginal benefit.)
I would just deposit them back over the international line with a friendly message that some of your residents appear to have got lost and adrift at sea, we have safely returned them to you and haven’t each charged you. And if necessary do the same thing every night.
The problem with the English Channel is that there is no international water - to get to international waters I think you need to head 100 miles south..
Shouldn't ≠ won't. Cuomo is clearly unfit as a man, but that's not sufficent to rule him out.
The more relevant question is whether Mamdani is New York's Corbyn (ouch) or Livingstone (talks left, governs realistically, more effective than even centre-rightists like me like to admit.)
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
Might that not impact shipping? Also, how wide would it need to be, because there's the risk one only has to go a little bit up the coast (and have a marginally longer journey) to get round it? (In which case you've spent a lot of money and inconvenienced a lot of people for marginal benefit.)
I would just deposit them back over the international line with a friendly message that some of your residents appear to have got lost and adrift at sea, we have safely returned them to you and haven’t each charged you. And if necessary do the same thing every night.
The problem with the English Channel is that there is no international water - to get to international waters I think you need to head 100 miles south..
Sorry I meant the international boundary not international waters. France is our ally, entente cordiale. For an emergency with French residents accidentally adrift at sea, I’m sure they’d be thankful if we towed them back to their waters. And just keep doing the same thing, every single night.
The SNP stopped the teaching of economics in State schools the best part of a decade ago now. This was uncharacteristically foresighted of them. If Scotland is ever to vote for independence the fewer people who have any grasp at all of economics the better.
The problems with Independence are legion. The currency is certainly one of them. So is that membership of the UK single market is vastly more important to the Scottish economy, such as it is, than the EU Single Market. So is the fact that membership of the EU is not in our gift. So is the fact that we run an even larger fiscal deficit than the UK as a whole (which is horrendous enough). So is the fact that our economy is dominated by the public sector to a completely unhealthy extent meaning that future growth is more difficult. So is the fact that we are already even more heavily taxed than the rest of the UK making investment here unattractive.
A country that was serious about independence would be running policies almost the exact opposite of what we currently have. They would be making Scotland a more competitive place to invest, build businesses and trade by reducing our taxes. They would be serious about trying to improve Scottish education instead of letting it fall ever further into decrepitude. They would drive investment in infrastructure and our road network. I think Kate Forbes knows a lot of this. Which is why she has quit.
The BBC edited a Donald Trump speech by making him appear to encourage the Capitol Hill riot, according to an internal whistleblowing memo seen by The Telegraph
Remember when they did some shitty stuff with Corbyn too ?
It goes back much further than that. Remember the changing of the filmed sequence of events around the miners protests at Orgreave to make it appear as if the police charge on horsenback was in response to attacks by the pickets when in fact the reverse was true? It was claimed it was an accident but staff were ordered to change the sequence by managers.
No, I don’t remember that. That’s really poor.
At the time I thought it was just a bit if anti-Thatcher propaganda but it didn't take too long before it became clear that the BBC had indeed done the dirty on the Orgreave pickets. It was more than just reversing the sequence of events. They also made a point of highlighting picket violence but not showing any violence done by the police.
And I say all this as someone who opposed Scargill and the strikes. It very much changed my view of the state media and the BBC as a supposed beacon of truth.
Scottish independence will happen in my lifetime. Idea of Scotland as separate has been enabled by too manly for too long. Shares a lot in common with Brexit imo. Nationalism is gaining popularity worldwide.
Would be very painful at first but they will do fine in long run. Independence fans massively downplay that and remain voters overstate long term benefits.
I remember in the 1950s as a youngster growing up in Berwick on Tweed Wendy Wood painting a white line across the border bridge declaring Berwick in Scotland
70 years later it still remains in England, and with my lifetime connections with Scotland and my Northern Scot wife of 61 years I can say with every confidence it will not
You mean they are going to appoint a cabinet from the Lords and various non elected business leaders
They are an utter shambles
What it might be is their aphelion; the point where an eccentric body (like a comet) begins its long, slow return towards the Sun. Or reality.
There is still a lot about Reform's vision and ambition that is utterly bonkers and unrealistic. There aren't realistic savings from DEI. You can't Just Send Them Back. By 2029, a lot of the expensive bits of Net Zero will have been spent and will have been connected to the grid- are Reform really going to disconnect any panels or wind farms that have been built?
But the first bit of the fantasy- that there are enough savings to fund meaninful tax cuts- has been switched off. That should bother all of us, because it says something about how confident Farage is. But realism is always to be prefered to fantasy.
Question is- will is shift the polls? Suspect it won't.
Scottish independence will happen in my lifetime. Idea of Scotland as separate has been enabled by too manly for too long. Shares a lot in common with Brexit imo. Nationalism is gaining popularity worldwide.
Would be very painful at first but they will do fine in long run. Independence fans massively downplay that and remain voters overstate long term benefits.
If we gain independence, we will be poorer in the short term. Scots need to be told that. We need to be reminded that Ireland was poorer than the UK until they stopped their currency being linked to sterling and joined the Euro. The also need to be told that an independent Scotland would not necessarily be tied to the SNP, but new parties would form. Which is why the SNP only pretend to want independence.
Ireland grew as it slashed taxes and controlled spending and pursued Thatcherism under FG and FF since 2000, not as it joined the Euro. Corporation tax in particular is very low in Ireland
You mean they are going to appoint a cabinet from the Lords and various non elected business leaders
They are an utter shambles
What it might be is their aphelion; the point where an eccentric body (like a comet) begins its long, slow return towards the Sun. Or reality.
There is still a lot about Reform's vision and ambition that is utterly bonkers and unrealistic. There aren't realistic savings from DEI. You can't Just Send Them Back. By 2029, a lot of the expensive bits of Net Zero will have been spent and will have been connected to the grid- are Reform really going to disconnect any panels or wind farms that have been built?
But the first bit of the fantasy- that there are enough savings to fund meaninful tax cuts- has been switched off. That should bother all of us, because it says something about how confident Farage is. But realism is always to be prefered to fantasy.
Question is- will is shift the polls? Suspect it won't.
Why would no tax cuts shift the polls - the only difference from yesterday is now no party is offering tax cuts - so it's not like there is suddenly a reason to vote Tory...
No tax cuts to speak of beyond scrapping the family farm tax and a bit of changing income tax thresholds.
This part is a bit dickless to be honest. Yes, we need to show fiscal responsibility, but if a tax cut has been shown to increase receipts of that tax (Corporation Tax, top rate of income tax), why class a cut to it as a cost, let alone an irresponsible one? I appreciate that Reform don't want to be painted into a corner as the revenge of Truss, but they need to be at the forefront of the argument for low taxes rather than allowing themselves to be defined by others' yardsticks.
Other than that, get rid of Net Zero and DEI - good. Welcoming in the rich, good.
Overall, meh.
No stamp duty cut unlike Kemi who is promising most of the above anyway
Scottish independence will happen in my lifetime. Idea of Scotland as separate has been enabled by too manly for too long. Shares a lot in common with Brexit imo. Nationalism is gaining popularity worldwide.
Would be very painful at first but they will do fine in long run. Independence fans massively downplay that and remain voters overstate long term benefits.
I remember in the 1950s as a youngster growing up in Berwick on Tweed Wendy Wood painting a white line across the border bridge declaring Berwick in Scotland
70 years later it still remains in England, and with my lifetime connections with Scotland and my Northern Scot wife of 61 years I can say with every confidence it will not
Simple solution, have every constituent part of the UK changed to a Crown Dependency, each part can set their own taxes, residency etc etc, all make proportional contributions to defence and foreign representation, a representative body over the top of everything where each constituent sends representatives and an invitation for other entities, Gibraltar, Falklands, Commonwealth nations to join a Greater Britain.
Not entirely serious but there is the basis for a wider/bigger Union somewhere in there.
You mean they are going to appoint a cabinet from the Lords and various non elected business leaders
They are an utter shambles
What it might be is their aphelion; the point where an eccentric body (like a comet) begins its long, slow return towards the Sun. Or reality.
There is still a lot about Reform's vision and ambition that is utterly bonkers and unrealistic. There aren't realistic savings from DEI. You can't Just Send Them Back. By 2029, a lot of the expensive bits of Net Zero will have been spent and will have been connected to the grid- are Reform really going to disconnect any panels or wind farms that have been built?
But the first bit of the fantasy- that there are enough savings to fund meaninful tax cuts- has been switched off. That should bother all of us, because it says something about how confident Farage is. But realism is always to be prefered to fantasy.
Question is- will is shift the polls? Suspect it won't.
Why would no tax cuts shift the polls - the only difference from yesterday is now no party is offering tax cuts - so it's not like there is suddenly a reason to vote Tory...
There is something about the Scottish, that we celebrate victories before they happen, and have a big party, but when it comes down to it we bottle it. I will always vote Yes because starting your own country is the most fun thing, but the UK is crumbling and we still can't sustain a 10% lead over No.
I don't and never did believe in the current structure of the Scottish parliament - unicameral, no scrutinising chamber, and our journalism has become utter dogshit so there's no journalistic scrutiny either. Almost designed to fail. For this reason I never voted in the referendum, just sat chainsmoking Marlboro Red in North East Fife watching people go out to vote. Despite voting Remain I see the attraction of the kick-it-over-and-start-again of Vote Leave.
I remember posting on here in the heady early days of Boris that he might be wacky enough to force the referendum himself. He wasn't, but I think that's Reform's policy now? I don't see the SNP going for it. If Reform do force it it's interesting, they can draft the question to remove acquiescence bias, pick the date, all of that.
You mean they are going to appoint a cabinet from the Lords and various non elected business leaders
They are an utter shambles
What it might be is their aphelion; the point where an eccentric body (like a comet) begins its long, slow return towards the Sun. Or reality.
There is still a lot about Reform's vision and ambition that is utterly bonkers and unrealistic. There aren't realistic savings from DEI. You can't Just Send Them Back. By 2029, a lot of the expensive bits of Net Zero will have been spent and will have been connected to the grid- are Reform really going to disconnect any panels or wind farms that have been built?
But the first bit of the fantasy- that there are enough savings to fund meaninful tax cuts- has been switched off. That should bother all of us, because it says something about how confident Farage is. But realism is always to be prefered to fantasy.
Question is- will is shift the polls? Suspect it won't.
The net zero costs are open ended and will only increase. Itis not just about the infrastructure but more about the costs to the rest of the economy. And if you really want to see a bit of political and economic fantasy then take a look at CCS.
No migrants have been recorded crossing the English Channel for 11 days, the longest gap so far this year, PA Media reports. PA says:
The most recent date on which people arrived in the UK after making the journey by boat was 22 October, according to the latest Home Office data.
Bad weather is likely to have played a role in stopping migrants from attempting to reach the English coast. Storm Benjamin brought heavy rain and strong winds to northern France and the Channel on 23 October, with further wet and blustery weather on subsequent days.
The 11-day gap in arrivals from 23 October to 2 November beats this year’s previous longest gap, which was the 10 days from 27 August to 5 September.
Channel crossings in 2025 are no longer running at record levels.
The cumulative number of arrivals this year, 36,954, is 7% below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).
Some 45,774 migrants arrived in 2022 – the highest number in any calendar year since data on Channel crossings was first collected in 2018.
This year’s total of 36,954 has already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
I'd say we need a giant wave machine in the Channel but I suspect it'd then be closed down on human rights grounds.
Not sure I'm joking.
I still don't understand why we don't simply put them back on the French beaches. Small boats or any illegal route - asylum ruled out forever. Trying to enter the UK via an illegal route deemed a criminal act.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
It would cause an international incident i think, cause the French to cease all cooperation and maybe try and do the same to us too.
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
Yes, I'm sure you're right that there are very good reasons. And these are people after all, scum of the earth though some of them may be, it'd not be right to simply herd them around.
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
100mile long floating fence down the middle of the Strait of Dover?
A physical barrier has been suggested by Peter Hitchens. Sounds a tad far fetched, but he knows more about it than I do.
Might that not impact shipping? Also, how wide would it need to be, because there's the risk one only has to go a little bit up the coast (and have a marginally longer journey) to get round it? (In which case you've spent a lot of money and inconvenienced a lot of people for marginal benefit.)
I would just deposit them back over the international line with a friendly message that some of your residents appear to have got lost and adrift at sea, we have safely returned them to you and haven’t each charged you. And if necessary do the same thing every night.
The problem with the English Channel is that there is no international water - to get to international waters I think you need to head 100 miles south..
Sorry I meant the international boundary not international waters. France is our ally, entente cordiale. For an emergency with French residents accidentally adrift at sea, I’m sure they’d be thankful if we towed them back to their waters. And just keep doing the same thing, every single night.
A physical barrier is a stupid idea.
Casaba-Howitzer would work, and be much simpler. Kinda push the refugees back to France.
Reform are certainly moving towards a more Centrist Dad approach, but that's curious in a couple of ways: Reform's supporters crave excitement and danger and they won't get that from a Centrist Dad party in an already crowded field; the Right have been saying for ages that Centrist Dadism is obsolete in these populist times, so it's puzzling why Nigel feels the need to revive the credo. Maybe Nigel has his finger on the pulse, but if things go wrong he might soon be branded a sell-out and deposed.
Forget the currency I cannot understand how any Scot could watch the shitshow of Brexit (a small part leaving a much bigger economic block, with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) and still think that leaving the UK (with all the issues around trade, borders, legacy of debt etc) would be a good thing...
The Zoomers saw the bigots, xenophobes and closet racists win a vote for hating Brown people
Now they want to win their own vote for hating English people
Ending free movement and having the same immigration controls for immigrants from all nations was hardly 'hating Brown people.'
It wasn't, which is why lots of Leave voters are now pissed off and voting Reform, but it's what they thought they were voting on.
They got the end of free movement, which they wanted. They now vote Reform to reverse the Boriswave from non EU nations, though ironically tighter restrictions brought in by Sunak and Cleverly started to do that anyway
The restrictions brought in by Sunak has not reversed anything.
This is like debt and deficit all over again.
Reversing the Boriswave would require massive net emigration at close to a million a year.
Lower net migration going forward is adding to the Boriswave, at a lower rate, not reversing anything.
Just as cutting the deficit != cutting debt.
Hopefully anyone proposing that gets nowhere power.
It is reducing the rate of net immigration, interesting you join Farage and Tommy Robinson and the BNP in backing mass deportations though
I think it's funny that somehow the Scottish independence debate is expected, indeed required, to reach levels of political discourse far in excess of anything else that consists the political reality of the UK now since the Brexit campaign. Everything else has merely been cheap slogans and shouting that the other side are wrong/incompetent/shit and that your dream, your vision, is the one true path to salvation, even if you can hardly articulate what that vision is.
I mean it'd be absolutely bloody marvellous if the pro-independence side had brilliant detailed answers to the main questions (or indeed even made some effort to move their answers on from where they were in 2014), but if we've learnt anything from the last decade it's that actually you don't need any of that at all.
You mean they are going to appoint a cabinet from the Lords and various non elected business leaders
They are an utter shambles
What it might be is their aphelion; the point where an eccentric body (like a comet) begins its long, slow return towards the Sun. Or reality.
There is still a lot about Reform's vision and ambition that is utterly bonkers and unrealistic. There aren't realistic savings from DEI. You can't Just Send Them Back. By 2029, a lot of the expensive bits of Net Zero will have been spent and will have been connected to the grid- are Reform really going to disconnect any panels or wind farms that have been built?
But the first bit of the fantasy- that there are enough savings to fund meaninful tax cuts- has been switched off. That should bother all of us, because it says something about how confident Farage is. But realism is always to be prefered to fantasy.
Question is- will is shift the polls? Suspect it won't.
Why would no tax cuts shift the polls - the only difference from yesterday is now no party is offering tax cuts - so it's not like there is suddenly a reason to vote Tory...
Kemi has promised stamp duty cuts.
Some interesting detail from Reform, may threaten the current minimum wage and 2 child benefit only scrapped for UK nationals working.
'At a press conference last week, Reform said it could save £9bn a year by tightening eligibility for personal independence payments, or Pip. Asked about another benefit-related policy – the party’s pledge to scrap the two-child limit on payments of some benefits such as universal credit – Farage said this would happen for UK nationals only where both parents worked, which notably limits its generosity.
As part of his wider reluctance to spell out specific policies, Farage declined to commit to the so-called triple lock on guaranteeing significant annual increases to pensions – but was willing to say that the minimum wage was possibly “too high for younger workers”. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/03/nigel-farage-reform-uk-economic-policy
Comments
I think it's more likely they shadowed Sterling for a long period. They'd need to meet a lot of criteria first, and business would need to adjust.
I'm sure the Royal Marines would be entertained by finding French beaches by moonlight and delivering the criminals back.
I could vote Remain, or Leave - bit of something in both. Most referendums are bollocks.
Oh, fuck it, just open a pack of fags and watch everyone else instead and see what happens.
Puff.
Apparently more to come on other high profile contentious topics ...
This reminds me of Murder Tuesday - after the 47th occurrence, Pesto was still asking people about the spike in deaths, each Tuesday.
Will they wear armbands and shorts and roam the corridors at break with dogs?
Still, I can't deny I fantasise about the same thing.
Ideally, we should have a deal to tow them straight back to Calais with a slap on the wrist, and in turn we help France secure its borders.
The Guardian seems to have a pretty good summary - ignore the half-hearted bitching.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/03/nigel-farage-reform-uk-economic-policy
No tax cuts to speak of beyond scrapping the family farm tax and a bit of changing income tax thresholds.
This part is a bit dickless to be honest. Yes, we need to show fiscal responsibility, but if a tax cut has been shown to increase receipts of that tax (Corporation Tax, top rate of income tax), why class a cut to it as a cost, let alone an irresponsible one? I appreciate that Reform don't want to be painted into a corner as the revenge of Truss, but they need to be at the forefront of the argument for low taxes rather than allowing themselves to be defined by others' yardsticks.
Other than that, get rid of Net Zero and DEI - good. Welcoming in the rich, good.
Overall, meh.
Probably for the best that didn't happen, all things considered.
I will be very surprised if Cuomo pulls it off..
But we should keep knocking on the door of such solutions.
See this excellent documentary about the work of ICE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HO70-Rk3jE
Scotland is more robust than Ireland was economically, but it's also much more intertwined with the UK. Repairing the damage of independence would be the work of generations.
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/PHiy9eGhKd8?cbrd=1
Incidentally, this is similar to the plan that Yanis Varoufakis had for Greece.
Currency wise - we commented often at the time how implausible it was that Scotland's Independent Government could spend the way it currently does..
If done today that would be multiple breaches on the OSA.
1 in 8 US residents receive food stamps. And I suspect they really notice a month's absence, or even a 50% reduction.
Come to think about it... the Telegraph is complaining about accuracy?
Would be very painful at first but they will do fine in long run. Independence fans massively downplay that and remain voters overstate long term benefits.
I suspect that is really why Kate Forbes - a social and economic conservative - is giving up. The promise and the actualite in the event are impossible to reconcile.
But I am sick of multi-millionaires with the personal morals of a rapist junkie winning elections thru money and lies, whilst everybody goes "woo he's not a leftie, eh" and settle for the same shit they had last time. And it doesn't matter if they are Democrats or Republicans, they are still bad.
England responded to a weak competitor and the Spanish rattled their cannons. QED
Tough business, trade and empire building.
To be fair, the Scots fairly cracked it under the aegis of the British Empire.
https://www.thesocialpost.it/2025/11/02/furto-al-louvre-password-del-server-ridicola-clamoroso-imbarazzo-dopo-il-colpo-da-88-milioni/
the password to the louvre surveillance server was "louvre"
The more relevant question is whether Mamdani is New York's Corbyn (ouch) or Livingstone (talks left, governs realistically, more effective than even centre-rightists like me like to admit.)
The problems with Independence are legion. The currency is certainly one of them. So is that membership of the UK single market is vastly more important to the Scottish economy, such as it is, than the EU Single Market. So is the fact that membership of the EU is not in our gift. So is the fact that we run an even larger fiscal deficit than the UK as a whole (which is horrendous enough). So is the fact that our economy is dominated by the public sector to a completely unhealthy extent meaning that future growth is more difficult. So is the fact that we are already even more heavily taxed than the rest of the UK making investment here unattractive.
A country that was serious about independence would be running policies almost the exact opposite of what we currently have. They would be making Scotland a more competitive place to invest, build businesses and trade by reducing our taxes. They would be serious about trying to improve Scottish education instead of letting it fall ever further into decrepitude. They would drive investment in infrastructure and our road network. I think Kate Forbes knows a lot of this. Which is why she has quit.
And I say all this as someone who opposed Scargill and the strikes. It very much changed my view of the state media and the BBC as a supposed beacon of truth.
I stuck a single £ on as I wanted to able to join in with TSE gloating.
70 years later it still remains in England, and with my lifetime connections with Scotland and my Northern Scot wife of 61 years I can say with every confidence it will not
They are an utter shambles
There is still a lot about Reform's vision and ambition that is utterly bonkers and unrealistic. There aren't realistic savings from DEI. You can't Just Send Them Back. By 2029, a lot of the expensive bits of Net Zero will have been spent and will have been connected to the grid- are Reform really going to disconnect any panels or wind farms that have been built?
But the first bit of the fantasy- that there are enough savings to fund meaninful tax cuts- has been switched off. That should bother all of us, because it says something about how confident Farage is. But realism is always to be prefered to fantasy.
Question is- will is shift the polls? Suspect it won't.
Not entirely serious but there is the basis for a wider/bigger Union somewhere in there.
https://www.gbnews.com/politics/indyref2-brexit-scotland-nigel-farage-politicshttps://www.gbnews.com/politics/indyref2-brexit-scotland-nigel-farage-politics
Casaba-Howitzer would work, and be much simpler. Kinda push the refugees back to France.
I never gloat.
https://blog.ons.gov.uk/2025/05/22/taking-a-look-at-what-is-driving-the-fall-in-net-migration/
(*Other 'lively' locations are available).
https://augustafreepress.com/news/uva-reports-active-attacker-with-gun-on-grounds-run-hide-fight/
I mean it'd be absolutely bloody marvellous if the pro-independence side had brilliant detailed answers to the main questions (or indeed even made some effort to move their answers on from where they were in 2014), but if we've learnt anything from the last decade it's that actually you don't need any of that at all.
Some interesting detail from Reform, may threaten the current minimum wage and 2 child benefit only scrapped for UK nationals working.
'At a press conference last week, Reform said it could save £9bn a year by tightening eligibility for personal independence payments, or Pip. Asked about another benefit-related policy – the party’s pledge to scrap the two-child limit on payments of some benefits such as universal credit – Farage said this would happen for UK nationals only where both parents worked, which notably limits its generosity.
As part of his wider reluctance to spell out specific policies, Farage declined to commit to the so-called triple lock on guaranteeing significant annual increases to pensions – but was willing to say that the minimum wage was possibly “too high for younger workers”.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/03/nigel-farage-reform-uk-economic-policy