Brexit mega thread part 10 : what's the (s)tory? Incompetence, tax evasion, dodgy loans and economic free fall...nothing to see here...check out those sunlit uploands!

[Chevyimpala67]

Part 10 of our long running thread.
I'm still putting my money on a spring GE.
The tory slash and burn of the UK is right on track.
Bon chance my friends!

Hannibal I bet that 700K ‘insight-driven consultancy’ receipt that hasn’t been explained, just as one example, is about paying people to shill for the Tories on social media.
Just like the sort of posting we had on here relentlessly over Leave and Brexit. I wonder if MNHQ have ever looked in to that? Would be a good story if Justine is seeking to go into politics. I’m expecting to see a massive ramp up of it in the run up to the 2024 general election..

As long as the bills are paid, I can't see MNHQ getting too interested. (We haven't seen Dame Justine yet .....)

Hmmm I don't know if it's a misrepresentation. I never contribute here as I am not welcome, but read regularly and I am interested in prettybird's answer.

It's a completely accurate representation of what Prettybird has been posting on here for years. I've been active on this thread and in particular on the previous Westministenders since before the referendum (different user names). I've read many many posts by Prettybird about her admiration for Nicola Sturgeon and how the Scottish independence movement is a different and better type of nationalism. Anything said against that is dismissed out of hand. Seemingly because Prettybird is seen as a good mate. Why not look at Scotsnet on here and see what people who live in Scotland think?

Sturgeon as a politician was far more impressive than any English ones - that was the opinion of many people, including those who disagreed with her, before her downfall. She and her party had a huge mandate to govern. Whether they did that well or otherwise is a matter for the Scottish electorate.
I don’t recall Prettybird being a massive fan, she was largely supportive but also critical. Her main focus was the iniquity of Brexit, and of course Westminstenders regulars were offered the prospect of a non-Brexit asylum in her garden in the event of Scotland becoming independent, which was a nice thought. A “good mate”? Not an expression I use.

I recently decided not to bother with this thread anymore, because if I (someone who lives in Scotland) said anything that disagreed with Prettybird it was immediately shut down. See above, where I've basically been accused of being in the pay of the conservative party just because I said something truthful that was critical of Prettybird's pro-SNP stance. I realised that if people on the thread would rather shut someone down than listen to a different opinion, you're not the critical thinkers that you think you are. If you'd gone to school with Boris Johnson you'd probably have voted for him and shut down those against Brexit.

As I've said on one of the previous threads, Sturgeon was a good communicator. That doesn't excuse refusing to consider and engage with any criticism of her and the SNP and nationalism in Scotland and the reality of the independence movement. The Scottish Government has been given a free ride on these threads for years.

A free ride because the Scottish government was anti Brexit and this is a series of anti Brexit threads. Seems entirely logical that it should be this way.

the SNP government and Scottish nationalism are somehow different and superior to the England-based Brexit disaster.

Well, Sturgeon and the SNP were opposed to Brexit and asked to have a light left on for them in Brussels. As Jason points out, that sentiment was echoed on these threads, which are also opposed to Brexit. From that perspective, the SNP was better than the English Tory concocted disaster of Brexit as we witness almost daily.

It is possible for Sturgeon to be / have been an effective politician in some? many? ways but also like many politicians to also become corrupted (as in the egotistical sense) by power and her own sense of importance until felled by either allowing the double rapist into the female prison estate and/or sensing the impending party finance crisis. I wouldn’t want Scotland to leave the uk but certainly understand why many Scottish people do. In that sense it’s a shame that she, her husband, the SNP have wasted and seemingly have lost their political capital.

Anyhow, as Claridges points out, the nuances of Scottish politics are discussed on the Scotsnet, which makes sense. Not sure why the angry tone though?

These threads have been about far far more than Brexit, as you well know.

@Claridges12 you are both right and wrong. These threads have ranged widely, but ultimately everything that is said on them is about Brexit, its impact on the UK and its people, and the government that is responsible for landing us in our current jacuzzi of shit. Let's be brutally honest, everything that is happening politically and economically in the UK is impacted - negatively - by Brexit.

No, being a good communicator (as in good at taking people in) only makes you an effective politician in the sense that Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage are effective politicians. What Sturgeon achieved in Scotland was obtaining, preserving and abusing power. MPs and MSPs are required to toe the party line rather than represent their constituents' interests. Consultation of citizens has become as far as possible consulting only those you are sure agree with the decisions the leadership of the party have already made. So the women's groups who were consulted on trans issues are those who are funded by the Scottish Government and whose funding is made subject to full inclusion of transwomen. Other women's groups were excluded. When the public doesn't respond to a consultation as desired the government goes ahead anyway. See the GRR Bill. When the education system was shown up as a failure in the international rankings, the SNP government dealt with the problem by withdrawing Scotland from the rankings, rather than improving the education system. And on and on.
Yes, I am pissed off that Scotland is so unimportant to you all that you take the word of one SNP supporter as gospel on all things Scotland related, and are seemingly completely ignorant of and uninterested in what is actually happening in the north of your own country. To the extent of shutting comment on Scotland down and accusing me of being in the pay of the Tories because you don't want your one Scottish friend to be offended or embarrassed. If your judgement is so poor on Scotland, why would anyone trust it in respect of England? And what do you mean by Nicola Sturgeon "sensing the impending party finance crisis"? Are you saying that the ongoing crisis involving a search of Sturgeon's home and the SNP Headquarters is just one of those unfortunate events that happens to parties sometimes? You're also very gung-ho about Scotland leaving the UK - despite no plan, no money, no agreement from the UK government, no prospect of meeting requirements for entry into the EU, not even agreement between Scots.

You can be wrong about party finances and other details and still right about some other things, some of which are extremely important.

One doesn't rule out the other.

These threads have been about far far more than Brexit, as you well know.

And their tone has been generally cordial rather than personally antagonistic to individuals. It would be nice if that were to carry on.

I mean the cordiality, if anyone were in doubt.

Maths is going to save the economy. Lack of numeracy is what’s causing it to suffer. (Apparently it is suffering this week. Presumably we return to it’s doing well and has had the fastest growth in the G7 next week).

Not that we have a plan, but there’s going to be a plan to have a plan. I don’t think you have to be particularly numerate to see the problem with the number of maths teachers we currently have (or don’t have).

Well Claridges, I suspect most of us have a hard enough time keeping track of the blatant corruption going on in Westminster to keep a handle on what is going on in Scotland as well. We would welcome knowledgeable input from people who live there and see what is going on, so you could let us know what you actually think.

However, coming on with a new handle and immediately and aggressively picking on a regular poster doesn't make you come across as balanced and interested in debate. And we have had many attack shills on these threads, as you would know if, as you claim, you've been following them for some time, so maybe don't act like them?

MATHS:

If a few people who aren't in power promise £350 million a week, to 52% of a population over 7 years ago, how many crimes have been committed ?

The problem with making Maths our saviour is you are gonna need some decent maths teachers. It's a slightly circular problem.

MATHS:

If you want to recruit and retain more maths teachers, what % pay rise do you need to offer teachers given you’ve been giving them below inflation payrises for 13 years and inflation is currently 10% and food inflation at 18%?

If you vote to leave your nearest trading block with an estimated loss to GDP of 4% and join CPTPP with an estimated gain of 0.08% GDP why is it everybody else’s maths that’s screwing the economy?

🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿

@Chevyimpala67 we so rarely get new 🐿any more, it's a bit of an event these days!

@RafaistheKingofClay I like your maths questions. Rishi should definitely read them.

Am loving the maths questions. How about one on how to spend £150b on a new railway with a 50% overspend on 40% less of the original distance assuming 100% of bonuses will be paid to the over paid project managers?

All these questions definitely should be put to the financial city boy wonder PM who’s apparently brilliant at maths. Or maybe it’s the wrong kind of maths?

Awkward

Rishi Sunak can't get anyone to ask him a question about his maths announcement or an anything else.

https://twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status/1647890854156070913?s=20

That was meant for the Sunak thread, sorry for the derailment