Guap
6020
What I got out of this article is that Northern Ireland may vote to leave the UK altogether according to a provision in the Belfast Agreement. That would be quite a feat, given that’s the exact reason for the violence in the first place.
I’d hate to see Forest Whitaker in a new Crying Game.
strategy
6021
Because that’s usually how united kingdoms work (see also Crusader Kings 2 - it’s actually captures this element quite well). When two Kingdoms unite, it is usually with the proviso that none of the laws in either Kingdom will change. Trying to make the laws identical would usually be enough to cause a civil war.
UK crashing out of the EU seems like it would very likely lead to the dissolution of the United Kingdom - first and foremost because Scotland would move quickly to seek independence (the negative consequences would be a boon for the SNP).The North Irish situation is more complex, because you have die-hard unionist factions. It is not impossible to consider that a majority in Ireland would give up the UK and vote to join Ireland, but I wouldn’t consider it a sure thing at all.
CraigM
6022
The article I linked earlier has references to polls showing a strong majority of NI supporting reuinification in the event of no deal, slight preference for staying in UK under the May deal, and ~3:1 majority for staying in UK if UK doesn’t leave eurozone.
Well sure, and if I thought of the British Monarchy as anything but a tourism prop, it wouldn’t feel strange.
But I have the image of the UK as a single country, with a Queen for American tourist money, and several
national football teams for reasons, and no written constitution because fuck it, it’s worked till now, why change, and it’s jarring to be reminded that actually, no, it’s not exactly a single country.
It’s nowhere close to how jarring it was when the UK dislikes the EU went from British joke, that sarcasm thing, you know how it is, to actually, they really don’t like the EU, but still…
But but but how can Scotland and England have different laws when they are both under the boot heel of the tyrannical EU? What happened to taking back control, make GB sovereign again, British laws for British people??? Are you telling me that both the Scots and English are free to make their own laws? Surely this is some kind of mistake, the unelected eurocrats in Brussels would never allow such a thing!
Man, I love that avatar. Keep your loving brother happy.
magnet
6029
The ritual Dissing of Black Rod is awesome.
I think it’s time we start our tradition in the US. Maybe the State of the Union should be be preceded by a Presidential Wedgie.
wavey
6030
I think it’s time to admit: we are basically a deeply, deeply silly country.
All that ceremonial wank is utterly irrelevant. It’s just theatre.
Lurb
6032
I find all those quaint rituals and traditions interesting and endearing, they are kind of a “living treasure”. But sure the actual institutions seem to be crumbling under the current pressures.
It’s a bit like the building itself: The Houses of Parliament might be marvelous to behold… but those old pipes in there are leaking onto some questionable electrical wiring, some day we’ll have an unfortunate if not unforseen accident.
Not constitution. Law.
And the reason is that Scotland has its own legal system.
Yellowhammer released. No Deal will be catastrophic, and lethal for some.
Also: the UK govt continues to use Rise Of The Nazis as a plan and guide.
wavey
6035
EDIT: This article is likely to be technically accurate but misleading in important ways: see @Ginger_Yellow’s post below for explanation.
From the financial data publicly available, Byline Times can reveal that currently £4,563,350,000 ( £4.6 billion ) of aggregate short positions on a ‘no deal’ Brexit have been taken out by hedge funds that directly or indirectly bankrolled Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign.
Most of these firms also donated to Vote Leave and took out short positions on the EU Referendum result. The ones which didn’t typically didn’t exist at that time but are invariably connected via directorships to companies that did.
Another £3,711,000,000 ( £3.7 billion ) of these short positions have been taken out by firms that donated to the Vote Leave campaign, but did not donate directly to the Johnson leadership campaign.
Currently, £8,274,350,000 ( £8.3 billion ) of aggregate short positions has been taken out by hedge funds connected to the Prime Minister and his Vote Leave campaign, run by his advisor Dominic Cummings, on a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
Hedge fund managers are the mosquitos of the human world. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.
CraigM
6037
And we stopped mounting heads on pikes why?
How reliable is that reporting? Because that sounds… well if not illegal, certainly the kind of thing that is unethical.
‘If I bet that they’ll shoot themselves in the nuts, I’ll win $100’ pays $20 to convince Britain to shoot themselves in the nuts
wavey
6038
Honestly it’s the first I’ve heard of that site, but I came to it via Carole Cadwalladr’s twitter feed: she was a finalist for this year’s Pulitzer for reporting on the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and she has been reporting on the dodgy funding for Vote Leave for years.
Imagine gaining £220m and still not springing for a decent wig.
magnet
6039
How is it different than ordinary lobbying? Eg “I bet that fracking is going to grow rapidly, my investment will pay $100 if I’m right” pays $20 to convince Trump to loosen restrictions on fracking
