Been accused of being an apologist for Scottish independence. As a form of response I will try to do the UK government’s job for them in what I will call: save the union in one step.
One of the great problems the U.K. government has it that they’ve been so obsessed with a particular form of English, Brexit based identity that they have missed that much of Scotland has a strong European identity
To be frank much of Scotland is instinctively siding with the EU against the U.K. government in these negotiations. That is a profoundly unhealthy situation for the U.K.
The solution, maybe the only one that could save the U.K. is to make a virtue of Johnson‘a capitulation to the EU over Northern Ireland—which the Govt is stupidly trying to illegally undue
Instead Scotland should be placed with NI and remain in the EU customs area. Instead of the light touch customs relationship being in the Irish Sea, which the Govt claims will be practically nonexistent, they would be between Scotland/NI and England.
Scotland could also retain freedom of movement with Europe through a NI/Ireland type relationship. Scotland and NI would be hybrid U.K./EU states. Scotland’s European identity wouldn’t be so brutally ruptured.
The U.K. would be preserved in a way that would accommodate its different identities.
Would this work?
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Last tweet on this issue but @LeaskyHT has hit on a great question. Why has support for independence exploded. I can take a guess as someone who has lived in Scotland for 24 years, though was not born a Scot.
Its probably the same identity politics that have worked for Brexit, but in reverse. Scots had, perhaps more than they expected, come to see themselves as European as much if not more than British. This is the case in particular for the younger generation (people Ive taught)
The reaction to Brexit was therefore far more emotionally powerful than expected, and lead many to question the whole point of the UK state. This has been exacerbated by the terrible peformance of the conservative governments, which have been antagonistic towards Europe
Got some messages asking for all my Sicily pictures in one tweet thread so starting this. Here are some of Palermo Duomo at night. I can’t imagine a more beautiful exterior
Two more Palermo Duomo pictures, because just two isn’t enough
1. A thread on what the Republican Party is now and where it might be going. Would really appreciate feedback from people with an interest in US politics as these ideas are just forming.
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2. To understand what the GOP is today--these are the most important charts to examine.
Sourced from: news.gallup.com/poll/248525/no…
3. The GOP is now overwhelmingly the choice of non-College Educated Whites--and correspondingly is being abandoned by those with college degrees. This is not a shock to those who have been following the Trump phenomenon.
This might be the most remarkable campaign in US presidential history for one reason--the lack of any significant change since it was clear Biden would be the nominee.
Other than Trump getting a small bounce at the beginning of the COVID shutdowns, the race has remained remarkably static. Has there ever been a presidential race with so little change like this?
Makes it seem very unlikely that this will change between now and election date. If so, the only hope for Trump is that the polls are undercounting his support
The USA could have a crisis if Trump loses the election and then tried to overturn the results using the courts with his appointees. That is certainly not impossible considering his own rhetoric and the supine positing of the GOP
However, would bet that is still very unlikely. It’s looking more and more like Trump has galvanised the opposition and the Dems will take the White House handily and have control of both houses of Congress.
A short thread on what is considered dignified behavior in politics, just because its become interesting to me. Will start in 1946. In June of that year, President Truman hears that Senator Tobey of New Hampshire has publicly released a copy of a letter that Truman had sent him
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Truman, irate, sends Tovey a letter of his own, which the president then releases publicly. In coruscating rhetoric for the time, Truman tells Covey he needs to "cool off"
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This action by the president appals his own chief of staff, William Leahy, who believed it was "undignified" of Truman as president to get involved in such a spat. You can see the entry from Leahy's diary below
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