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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Topping, who served with the British Army in Northern Ireland during the troubles, on Ulster and Brexit
Kenneth Allen / Bloody Sunday mural, Bogside
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A border between north and south is a non-starter.
That leaves the only option a border between UK/Ireland on the one side, and the rest of the EU on the other. Without the History, it would be a no-brainer.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-45082053
It's a straw man masquerading as a home nation.
That's the rub, Mr. Topping. Nobody wants a hard border, but the choice seems to be between that and letting the EU annex part of the UK, which is unacceptable.
A shame Varadkar became Taoiseach. His predecessor seemed to have a more co-operative approach.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I mean that's just rude.
1) He believes the chaos of no deal will accelerate the timetable of Irish reunification
2) He's pissed off with May and thinks she's a bit of a twat
I reckon it's 60:40.
Just look at the PM. Or Leader of the Opposition. Or Boris. Or Trump.
We're not exactly in the Golden Age of Imperial Rome as far as leaders go.
The solution to the NI/Republic border is for the UK to stay in the SM/CU - which is what is going to happen.
The man responsible for arranging Britain's exit from the European Union seems to be under the impression that Ireland is part of the UK, if his recent comments are anything to go by.
According to the New Statesman, Brexit Minister David Davis appeared on the Sky News' Murnaghan programme to discuss the possibility of Scotland remaining in the EU while the rest of Britain leaves.
In the programme he stated: "One of our really challenging issues . . . will be the internal border we have with southern Ireland."
We have a question for Mr Davis; what exactly does he mean by "internal border we have with southern Ireland?"
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.joe.ie/amp/news/uks-brexit-minister-david-davis-seems-to-think-ireland-is-part-of-the-uk-553507
This didn’t help either.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/04/how-dare-david-davis-blame-sinn-fein-for-the-irish-border-mess/amp/
I have to confess when I was considering how to vote in the EU Referendum, I never gave a moment's thought to Northern Ireland. I don't give it much thought now.
Would I throw it and its people under a bus to get a good deal for the rest of the United Kingdom? I have to confess I probably would.
I suspect my provincial non-unionist attitude isn't unique and as I read Topping's excellent debut thread (for which, many thanks and well worth the wait and perhaps a spur to some other frequent contributors to put up your own threads) I can see the conundrum.
I suppose there was a time when the rural backwardness of Eire contrasted sharply with the prosperity of the United Kingdom - perhaps that's not so marked now. I was in Ireland in June and there looked to be plenty of prosperity in places like Killarney, Galway and Waterford.
I wonder if the Protestant Unionist attitude is more about not wanting to be part of Ireland rather than wanting to be part of the UK.
The one person she really, REALLY needed onside. And May pissed him off. Because of course she did.
Popcorn time.
NI has a population of c. 1.8m, Newcastle 300k.
I agree with (what I think is) an implication that NI and the Troubles seem a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing, or if we did we've forgotten it. It's an irony that NI Unionists value their Britishness so highly while a large majority on the mainland are largely indifferent to it, and I think that contrast in attitudes is as much a problem as the incompatibility of Brexit, borders, custom unions and the GFA.
Let's see what "technology" can do for us.
Perhaps "and environs"!
Call somebody from Sunderland a Geordie and see how long you live.
Since the government welched on the backstop, everyone is waiting for the government's alternative proposal.
Which will, of course, have to be remaining in the SM+CU because there is no better alternative likely to be forthcoming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom
The corollary of that is while the Protestants may wish to be in the UK it isn't wholly clear the UK feels that enthused and indeed the UK the Protestants may wish to belong to has gone. Are the Unionists simply wanting to belong to a country which is governed by people they like in a way they like ? That may work for them but may not work for everyone else.
Identity comes from power.
A brave government would say that there is no backstop. The present status quo is that the border comes into effect in six months. Either the EU agrees a transition which kicks the border issue down the road until end of 2020 or it doesn't. We will address the border issue through our final trade deal and if that doesn't resolve the issue then we will with great sadness reluctantly need to put customs checks in place
It's quite relevant, because your views on the NI border are shaped by your worldview
Just a bullshit expression really.
Hmmmm.......
In this case, it's pretty clear that Sunderland is not part of Newcastle.
Excellent article, thanks.
https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-mocks-women-in-burkas-who-look-like-bank-robbers-11463209
"Brandon [Lewis] is trying to build a power base at Matthew Parker Street – don’t laugh, but he genuinely considers himself a leadership contender"
No, not our present nation state of course - it’s the one that lasted from 1707 to 1801 that’s the one worth trashing the economy for.
However, you don't address the issue raised by someone on here fairly recently about the wider picture.
Will it be wise for politicians to send out the loud & clear message that the way to get what you want is to threaten and carry out violence on the populations of the various countries involved?
We all know there are some deeply unpleasant people who are ardently keen on Brexit. There's been a vote on the issue which resulted in a vote to leave the EU. If the politicians decide we cannot leave the EU because of the threat of violence from one quarter, can we be so certain that the reality of violence will not arise from another quarter?
People who are shown that the ballot box doesn't work will sometimes turn to other methods.
Good afternoon, everyone.