I have no qualms about those from Edinburgh relentlessly aspiring to be in the England’s Home Counties, but I just wonder if those in the rest of Scotland feel the same way.
I have no qualms about those from Edinburgh relentlessly aspiring to be in the England’s Home Counties, but I just wonder if those in the rest of Scotland feel the same way.
As you’re in Edinburgh, you and many in the city’s society aspire to be English - therefore it’s perfectly natural for you to want to remain in the union with 59 million English.
You make a valid point Euan… but can I propose that you can’t see it precisely because you’re in Edinburgh… Every Scot I know from Edinburgh is desperately trying to be English. Even the city’s accent sounds like a Scot desperately trying to speak like someone from Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire…
The youngest are also the most pro European - and fell for the shit peddled to Scots in 2014 that they had to vote no to stay in the EU.
I simply can’t see younger generations of Scots putting up with ever-decreasing opportunities in an ever-declining UK… simply because older Scots are more comfortable with the failing status quo…
Younger Scots want the standard of living and quality of life that Danes have 300 miles east of Scotland… or the £1.7 Trillion wealth fund from oil that older Norwegians left Norways younger generations 100 miles north of Scotland… or Irelands per capita GDP three times the UK just 50 west of Scots…
Older folks prefer to continue the failing status quo because that’s what they’re comfortable with, and they don’t give a shit about the hopes and aspirations of younger Scots who want an infinitely better society than the UK has left for them in 21st century…
I get that anyone over 50, hates change. They’d rather simply continue with a clearly detrimental situation than try for anything better. But that’s just selfish….
I get it. We all grew up in a United Kingdom. It’s what’s we’re used to - and everyone is scared of change. But no one argues that a wife who is constantly ignored and regularly abused by her husband should stay in a union with him - even though the wife is often afraid to leave him…
It’s uncanny that the same protagonists who told Scots in 2014 they’d be permanently exiled from the EU unless they voted to stay in the UK - are the very same protagonists who now claim Scots must stay in the UK or face a future of never-ending poverty…
If Scots financial services are as powerful and successful as you say, they will relish the opportunity to expand their client base throughout the EU and will thrive within Europes vast single market.
Scotland’s Independence and rejoining EU will be managed process…. Scots financial services will have ample time to plan, diversify and expand their client base from just 69 million Brits to a much larger 500 million consumers across EU.
Farage’s policies and worldview are the polar opposite of a vast majority of Scots - yet those 5 million Scots should just suck it up and be ruled by a fascist in London because the majority of 59 million in England find him appealing???…
Farage has also called for the NHS to be abolished, and all renewable energy generation to be decommissioned. Scots welcome migrants to Scotland, they’re hugely proud of their own governance and free-to-all health service. Renewables are a massive - and rapidly growing - sector of Scot’s economy…
Beyond wanting to implement mass deportations of most Brits with brown skin, Farage considers Scotland simply to be a northern English territory and has already repeatedly called for the Scots Parliament should be dissolved.
So you’re saying 5 million Scots should remain in a union with 59 million English who will overwhelmingly elect a rampant English Nationalist as UKs next PM with his policies clearly drawn from fascism???…
With such a positive story, good comms would have advised PM to delay reshuffle announcement to allow childcare story to stay on top of news today As it is, the great Labour childcare story has been almost instantly drowned out by the Labour reshuffle.
I’m certainly not denying that…. It’s a great positive story impacting millions of British families. It should be front and centre of every news site in UK all day. Effective comms work can ensure that…
A good comms team would have the skills and experience to warn them beforehand that the “why are you talking about this when…” question may arise - and be able to manipulate the interview’s narrative beforehand to control the situation and ensure the question didn’t come up…
It’s then the comms team’s job to build knowledge of - and relationships with - journos and editors at BBC and Sky - then target and schedule each story appropriately to ensure optimum coverage….
If it was “knocked off the top” so recently, the story would then drop to become the second or third item on the page…. I don’t think the story would simply disappear from from the entire news feed within seconds…
A good comms team would have the skills and relationships with editors and journalists be able to ensure Sky News and BBC News placed this childcare story at the top of theirs news sites for the day. That’s what good comms people are paid to do - not just issue some news and hope it gets covered.
The same on BBC News - page down 4 screens and still nothing on this great Labour news story about childcare…
Here’s the top stories on Sky News - even after paging down 4 screens, still nothing on this great Labour news about childcare…
But that means Labour’s comms must be a relentless drum beat of bullet-proof data targeted & scheduled to optimise positive coverage. Anyone can issue a press release and hope it’s picked-up by the media…. The skill we’d expect from Labour’s comms that targeting to ensure good coverage.
Time after time since entering No 10, Labour’s comms have severely failed Yes, it’s a really, really tough job as most UK media is right-wing and will jump on anything Labour issue that isn’t absolutely watertight…
They’re supposedly experienced comms experts - and being very well-paid to manage UK media to ensure Labour’s messaging cuts through They’re not a bunch of school leavers who have no experience managing UK press If they can’t do their job effectively, they should quit and allow others who can
Starmer must have learned from Youth Mobility… Starmer/Labour previously terrified of Youth Mobility scheme… But after announcing it at Youth Experience scheme, Starmer learned voters quite like FoM with Europe… Surely this tells Starmer that voters also won’t object to the FoM of Single Market.
Starmer could use UK media’s mass hysteria on small boats that’s causing him huge political headaches… and turn it to his advantage as an important reason to join Single Market… (which will also turbocharge UK economy in time for his 2029 GE)
Tories caused the problem with their shitty Brexit… Tories tried to cover-up the problem by massively increasing immigration… Now Tories complaining the massive increase in immigration they implemented is a problem… NEVER trust a Tory.
Rubbish… The reason we have more RoW immigration is Tories’ God-awful Brexit wiped 5% off UK GDP… Tories’ covered-up that huge drop in UK GDP due to their disastrous Brexit… by massively increasing RoW immigration which increased UK GDP by having significantly more workers in UK economy...
Apologies Alex for this question, but you understand politics much better than I do… Beyond presenting the huge economic benefits of joining the SM… Can Starmer use current hysteria on small boats to justify joining SM to Brits - as SM’s required 4 freedoms enable returns to other SM nations?
Starmer will worry that joining Single Market may alienate some Labour voters towards Reform… but those voters have already left and they ain’t coming back unless massive uplift to UK economy by 2029. Joining Single Market gives UK economy that massive uplift by 2029.
I know how hard @pimlicat.bsky.social and @bestforbritain.org work to reconnect UK with EU…. Perhaps they’ve got the ear of those in Starmer’s circle and can point out that joining Single Market solves ALL Starmer’s problems with just a stroke of his pen and at ZERO cost to the Treasury…
Starmer terrified of losing voters to Reform…. but they’ve already left, and ain’t coming back to Labour by 2029 unless Starmer miraculously improves UK economy significantly by 2029…. Joining the Single Market is that miracle Starmer needs.
It would help UK housebuilders desperate for construction workers build Labour’s promised 1.5 million homes by 2029 With that additional £30 billion a year, Labour can invest in desperately needed public services like NHS waiting lists without raising taxes….
It would resolve trading issues between GB and Northern Ireland It would resolve small boats as 4 freedoms enable returns within EU It would help UK employers desperate for staff With economy growing over 3% each year, by 2029 GE, Brits will feel much better off.
I’m blocked so can’t view the reply… but I think Naomi makes key point - Starmer is running out of time - and rejoining Single Market with its required 4 freedoms solves ALL his problems…. It would add approx 3% to UK economy almost overnight - giving HMRC an extra £30 billion revenues annually…
Chinese factories who make all the plastic George cross flags - and USA’s Amazon registered in Luxembourg to avoid UK taxes when selling all the plastic George cross flags to moronic Brits - are now both making a fortune from Brexit Britain’s inherent racism manifesting as toxic patriotism.
69 million Brits are now stuck living in an ever-declining Brexit Britain - while a huge percentage of those who voted for Brexit are now dead and don’t have to live with its disastrous consequences.
Exactly. The average 2016 Brexit voter is now either dead… …or incoherent from dementia and waiting for their full incontinence pants to be changed by a kind nurse from Africa who will also help them find their false teeth.
The only people who wanted the UK to reconnect with the Commonwealth were a bunch of geriatric Brexiters desperately trying to reinstate Britain at the centre of empire which died over a century ago… Certainly no one in Australia, Canada, India etc wanted reconnecting with their colonial rulers!!!
Commonwealth Australia, Canada, India had absolutely no interest in “reconnecting with UK”. Brexit Britain offered their economies trivial gains. In fact, Commonwealth countries significantly devalued the importance of UK because it was no longer part of the huge 500-million consumer EU market….
Similarly, India values its trillions $$$ of annual trade with Asia at much greater importance than just a few billion it can ever earn from UK each year. This is clearly illustrated in 2025 by UK heavily sanctioning Russia while India happily buys billions $$$ of Russian oil annually….
Similarly, Canada makes trillions in revenues annually by digging up minerals/fuels and selling it to their neighbour USA…. Why would Canada bother reconnecting with UK just to make a few million selling maple syrup, when they’re making trillions from USA???…
Australia had next to no interest in reconnecting with UK to make just a few million from Brits by shipping Aussie meat to the other side of the world… Why would they bother when Aussies make trillions each year from Asia???…
Any idiot knew Brexit campaigners’ talk about “reconnecting with the Commonwealth” was total bollocks… Australia makes trillions $$$ in revenues annually digging minerals/fuels out of the ground and shipping it to Asia…
There’s nothing anyone can do to stop this irreversible dying off of 2016 Leave voters. We can’t stop 700,000 Brits dying of old age every year (circa 500,000 of whom voted Leave in 2016 and are now dying of old age).
Indeed, even the rampant Brexiter and iconic co-chairman of the 2016 “Vote Leave” campaign is no longer alive to advocate for his beloved Brexit…
This demographic maths clearly explains why Brexit support dropped from 52% in 2016 to just 31% in 2023 - only 7 years later. This dying-off of Leave voters continues in 2025… this irreversible demographic maths dictates that over 5 million 2016 Leave voters are no longer alive…
500K a year is almost 10,000 Leave voters dying every week. This very high mortality rate amongst 2016 Leave voters is only rapidly increasing the further we get from June 2016 as that aging majority of Leave voters grows even older and older….
60%-70% of Brits aged 65+ voted Leave in 2016…. which equates to over 500,000 Leave voters passing away each year since 2016…
Like so many 2016 Leave voters, he’s probably now dead - and left his mess for others to fix…. UK GOV’s published mortality stats list approx 700,000 Brits sadly pass away each year - most from old age…
Now Britain’s got wall-to-wall coverage of thugs with neck tattoos screaming at hotels - and every lamppost in England is festooned with tacky nylon George cross flags that were made in Guangzhou… Brexit… the arsehole that will never stop shitting on Britain!
And it turns out the vast majority of this massive rise in immigration into the UK after Brexit is from Asia and Africa - precisely the regions that many Brexit voters specifically wanted to stop entering the UK by voting for Brexit...
The Brexit they voted for actually quadrupled legal migration from circa 250k per year to over a million each year in 2025. The Brexit they voted for also caused small boat crossings to skyrocket - from practically ZERO in 2015 - to 50,000 a year in 2025…
Many Brexit voters thought Brexit was going to end immigration from Asia and Africa…
The 2016 Brexit vote let this toxic genie out of the bottle…
If Scots insurance companies are willing to spend millions simply to access the EU market, it’s obviously hugely important that all Scots should be able to access EUs 500-million consumers…. that can be done at zero cost by the independent Scotland’s First Minister signing the agreement to join EU.
I certainly see your point on insurance services… but that makes a powerful argument for Scotland becoming independent and joining EU….
I’m just an architect in London office who helps build skyscrapers in New York, Dubai, Singapore, Frankfurt etc. We simply registered a company in Rotterdam - now our London staff design and build projects throughout EU as if Brexit never happened - the client is simply invoiced from NL not UK..
When Scotland leaves UK and joins EU, Scots companies selling services in UK can simply spend £100 and register as a a company in England - allowing all those services produced by Scottish-based staff to be sold in UK at no tariff via those English registered sister companies.
This enables UK companies with UK staff to produce services that are sold within EU at no tariff - and those services are sold by the UK companies’ EU registered offices. That’s why so many UK architects, IT companies etc suddenly registered offices in the EU in 2020 when UK left EU…
Services will be unaffected if Scotland joins EU… Just a UK services selling into EU were unaffected by Brexit when UK left EU… UK companies simply spent €700 to register a company in an EU nation, then sold their services produced by UK-based staff within EU market via their EU-registered company…
The percentage of an independent Scotland’s global exports to UK will similarly drop to near irrelevance when it joins the EU’s market of 500-million consumers - which is vast compared to UKs tiny 68-million market.
When Ireland joined EU in 1972, the percentage of its global exports that Ireland relied on UK market was about 60% - Ireland now only relies on UK for less than 10% of its global export sales in 2020….
How can goods like whisky, shellfish, gaming software, oil & gas products etc that are produced in Scotland and sent to markets like EU & US & China - and considered by UK Treasury as a “UK export” - be “exported” to the UK?
Not niche at all! It’s my understanding that seeds of the Trump/MAGA takeover of US were sewn 20 years ago when it began establishing an entire media infrastructure of publishing, broadcasting, think-tanks etc. to promote their politics - which now dominates US political media coverage
My apologies for such a long thread… it’s something that I’ve just never understood.
Admittedly I’m a Londoner who has no understanding of this, but it baffles me why all Scots don’t support independence to change things for their kids, grandkids, great-grandkids…. Inside UK, Scot’s kids have less opportunity and prosperity than kids in neighbouring Denmark, Norway and Ireland…
As well as Scotland’s natural resources, Scots’ have globally respected universities, well-educated workforce, and centuries as a major exporter and financial centre. (UKs largest export - by far - over past 50 years is Scots oil / oil products - with Scots Whisky also major UK export)….
If Scots leave the UK, they take with them 65% of UKs renewable energy generating capacity, 90% of UKs fresh water, 90% of UKs oil & gas reserves, 70% of UKs fishing waters, 40% of UKs landmass... These are VAST resources for just 5 million people…
The primary thing separating the 5 million in each of these 3 hugely successful independent European nations from the 5 million in Scotland is that the Danes, Norwegians, and Irish are not stuck in the United Kingdom…
And just 50 miles west of 5 million Scots are 5 million Irish in an independent Ireland who have now become one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers and IT hubs - with Ireland’s per capita GDP now almost three times the per capita GDP of UK…
Those 5 million Norwegians built a US$1.7 TRILLION wealth fund from their oil revenues to protect future generations - while 5 million Scots have nothing - as it was all spent on tax cuts for bankers in their London, Surrey & Thames Valley mansions…
And just a hundred miles northeast of 5 million Scots are 5 million Norwegians who have extracted near-identical levels of the same North Sea oil as Scotland over past 50 years….
Just a few hundred miles east of 5 million Scots are 5 million Danes in an independent Denmark who consistently rank as having one of the world’s highest standards of living and quality of life…
It baffles me (as someone living in London with little understanding of the issue) why support for independence in Scotland remains stubbornly stuck at 40-50ish% for years - when the evidence shows Scots will thrive as an independent nation inside EU…
Thank you for your reply. May I ask if you think perhaps many Scots who support independence lent their vote to Labour in 2024 simply to ensure Labour kicked Tories from power in ‘24? Now Tories removed from No 10, these Scots will return to supporting SNP?…
I don’t live in Scotland - so I wonder what % of Scots voted Labour in 2024 but now totally disheartened by Labour in past 12 months? After disastrous 14 years of Tories, now Labour govt proving huge disappointment, do Scots now understand their only hope of a better future is independence?
Farage’s 2016 anti-immigration Brexit was a major body blow to UK economy - that UK has not yet recovered from. Now in 2025 with Reform’s anti-immigration policies, Farage clearly hopes to finally kill the UK economy completely.
More simply put… Japan’s economy was almost 3 times size of UK economy in 2000. Just 25 years later, due to the strict near-zero immigration policies of its successive govts, Japan’s economy has crashed to only being same size as UK economy….
Japan’s population is 124 million… yet its economy has crashed so much due to its near-zero immigration, the Japanese economy that powered the world just 30 ago - has plummeted to now just approx same size as the UK economy despite Japan having nearly twice the population of UK.
You make the KEY point Alex! Look at Japan… Since 2000, Japan’s many right-wing govts charted an insular, near-zero immigration policy not addressing Japan’s aging population. Subsequently, Japan’s economy has crashed from about half of USA’s in 2000, to just over 10% of US economy in 2025…
In just 5 simple charts, pro-rejoin parties can totally discredit Farage by clearly demonstrating the huge rises in immigration, cost-of-living, and NHS waiting lists which Farage claims to oppose… …are entirely due to Farage’s catastrophic 2016 Brexit.
In 2015 - before Farage’s Brexit - NHS waiting lists were less than 3 million - now in 2025 NHS lists more than doubled to almost 8 million Brits waiting for NHS treatments…
In 2015 - before Farage’s Brexit - £1 worth over US$1.6 - but since 2016 Brexit, GBP lost about 20% of its value - making all imported foods & goods 20% more expensive causing the massive rises in Brits’ cost of living since 2016…
In 2015 - before Farage’s 2016 Brexit - UK GDP growth was highest in G7 at about 2.5% a year - now in 2025 UK is economy on life support flatlining at just over zero growth each year...
In 2015 - before Farage’s 2016 Brexit - annual small boat crossings were effectively ZERO - now in 2025 almost 50,000 a year cross in small boats….
Naomi, may I ask if you feel current toxic climate could offer pro-rejoin parties a key opportunity with robust data that will appeal to voters? In 2015 - before Farage’s 2016 Brexit - net UK immigration hovered at just 250,000 - now in 2025 it’s ballooned to over a million each year.…
Of course! How silly of me to forget Truss and Littlewood… I’m sure there’s a PhD in researching how a party with a reputation for centrist-dad policies end up producing so many far right sociopaths desperate for attention.
Of course, I wholeheartedly exclude @pimlicat.bsky.social from this list of former LibDems who’ve turned out to be toxic!
What is it with LibDems??? Does the party sends its members on secret retreats, brainwashing them into become toxic? So many LibDems mutate into something quite horrific… Nick Clegg, Suella Braverman, Darren Grimes… Whoever next? Ed Davey opens the Kingston-upon-Thames branch of the KKK?…
With UK no longer in EU to block every proposal, the 500 million people within the world’s richest bloc of nations can finally create an integrated military force to defend itself and its values of liberal democracy. I loathe Brexit, but will admit this is a very valuable Brexit benefit.
Although I despise Brexit, but I think we’re watching in real-time the most important Brexit benefit of all. For decades as a prominent EU member, UK’s strong opposition to creating a singular, integrated military force killed-off all proposals from other members to create an “EU army”…
In UK alone, that led to Brexit, and the idiot Johnson (with Russian money) becoming PM, and now, Farage is favourite to become next PM…. That moment Obama let Putin cross his red lines (I think Obama actually called them his “lines in the sand”) in Syria is still playing out in UK and Europe today
Putin took it as carte blanche to decimate the Syrian population - who desperately fled to Europe… This massive influx of refugees from Syria caused turmoil in European politics… empowering far-right parties throughout Europe…
This - absolutely this!!! Ive always thought this to be a critical moment of modern history Putin crossing Obama’s “red lines” in Syria - and Obama doing nothing as he lost UK support when Cameron’s vote defeated in Parliament This moment “opened the floodgates” to so many events ever since…
I loathe Brexit - but if UK leaving EU from Brexit has enabled the worlds largest and richest bloc of nations to finally create a large single effective military force to protect and defend EUs 450 million people, then maybe Brexit hasn’t been all bad…
For decades up to 2020 when UK officially left EU, it was the UK who effectively killed all proposals by EU to create a singular military force to defend itself… Now UK has left EU, the Europeans have no strong opponent in EU stopping the creation of an EU military force to defend itself…