| Topic: | Re:Re:Tell our enemies they can take our lives... | |
| Posted by: | Paul Corcoran | |
| Date/Time: | 18/03/17 11:52:00 |
| If you are going to quote Yeats in this context surely the words of the Second Coming are more appropriate "The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold... "The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity" The miscalculation that Theresa May is making at this point is that she is seeing the call for indyref2 as opportunistic on behalf of the SNP. However, I don't think it any government of Scotland at the moment could reasonably be expected to be a passive observer of what is going on and the logic of a second vote would become overwhelming. Scotland is much more dependent on manufacturing and agriculture than England and these are the two sectors that would be hammered by a move to WTO rules or any settlement that doesn't come close to a customs union. 28% of Europe's computers are made in Silicon Glen providing a huge number of jobs. The margins on this type of manufacturing are so tight that the factories would shut overnight as soon as tariffs were imposed. Agriculture would also get a hammering particularly diary and livestock. 98% of Scotland's lamb exports go to the EU which would become subject to a 40% tariff outside the single market. Large parts of Scottish agriculture would become uneconomic unless massive subsidies were given of which there is no indication. This would mean an acceleration of the depopulation of parts of the country. Although the importance of financial services is not what it was in Scotland it is still a big earner for them and the end of passporting will be a hammer blow to the industry. If I was Scottish, and even if I believed in the Union, I would see independence as the better of two bad options. As the reality of the situation becomes more apparent more people are likely to vote Leave if a vote is allowed or riot if it is not. 'The blood-dimmed tide is loosed' |