The New Fat Scotland 'Thanks for all the Fish' Thread.

Thrugelmir

ash28 wrote: »

You have to hope that our politicians will be able to negotiate a deal within 2 years of Article 50 being invoked.

The world isn't going to grind to a halt if they don't. The EU is slow to agree anything. Be more like 20 rather than 2.

Mistermeaner

Talk regards random trade deals is just daft - businesses trade with businesses for specific products.

Noone has yet explained to me which products and which countries we're targeting.... Or are we just sending civil servants off to agree trade deals and then the businesses will spring up to match them?

Most trade deals were as a result of businesses lobbying with an economic case for said deals - surely there was a plan???.... Stan???

.string.

We now have Dr Liam Fox as the Minister for International Trade (Ministry for Funny Talks?)

But joking aside, I would assume that he is developing a plan.

Objectives
Plan
Work needed
Resources needed
Team & Industgrial Partners identified and engaged
Implementation
etc

... all standard stuff

Actually I don't think i's exactly rocket science.

While I agree that the current status quo is about businesses dealing with each other, that need not be a static situation and a bit of dynamism can be added by Government.

The starting point is clear.

What are the countries with which we already do we do business? They go on the list for trade deals and if we do a good trade with them, and there is more potential, they go up in the pecking order. Maybe higher if we sell more than we buy from that country.

What are the countries where there is a potential for more trade?
There we have to assess what goods we make could sell there and also, of course, which goods we could buy from them in a more advantageous way, possibly supplanting current suppliers of goods to us.

The results of such analysie are a necessary precursor for a plan based on solid ground and would clarify understanding where effort in increasing trade would be fruitful and worth pursuing.

There would be some that think that industry will do this by themselves. Well they would, given time, but we have to do it PDQ, with financial support if necessary but certainly with information support.

It would be wrong to sit back and wait for industry to do the work alone, this is an area where the Government, with its network of embassies, can do a bit of expediting, supply local knowledge and generally pave the way for UK companies who want to sell abroad or (for this is not just one-way) want to get a bargain in some product.

Results would be patchy, but worth aiming for.

Shakethedisease

.string. wrote: »

We now have Dr Liam Fox as the Minister for International Trade

* adds 2% support for independence.

Why was it he was forced to resign again ? His honesty ? He hardly instills confidence and is as right wing as it's possible to be in the Conservative party, and it shows already.

Theresa May is under growing pressure from Liam Fox, the trade secretary, to pull out of the EU customs union, a move required to facilitate post-Brexit bilateral trade deals but which would impose costs on exporters and could strain Anglo-Irish relations...

...The Treasury warned before the EU referendum that leaving the customs union, which covers all EU member states plus Turkey, would add “significant” administrative costs to trade, laborious form-filling and delays at border posts.It also warned that goods crossing the Northern Ireland border into the Republic could face “various forms of customs control and their liability to duty determined according to complex rules or origin”.

https://next.ft.com/content/e87614da-533a-11e6-befd-2fc0c26b3c60

I have no other points to make on Dr Fox other than that he shouldn't have been brought back into cabinet, since he broke ministerial code the last time he was there. He'll be pushing for a hard Brexit.

robin61

The Uk Government needs to stand up to the SNP.
Scotland had their vote 2 years ago. They voted to remain within the UK. They did not vote for independence and they didn't vote to remain in the UK but only if the UK stays in the EU or if the UK does something else the SNP don' t agree with all bets are off again.
The devolved assembly in Scotland can vote all they want for another referendum. To be legal it needs to be sanctioned by Westminster. So just don't t sanction it. If the SNP hold one anyway make it clear that it is illegal and the result will be ignored. Just like Spain did recently with their separatists.
We can't t put up with a neverendum. It is destabilising for the UK and Scotland.
The UK will upset half of Scotland by having a referendum and half by not having one. So don' t do it.

zagubov

robin61 wrote: »

The Uk Government needs to stand up to the SNP.
Scotland had their vote 2 years ago. They voted to remain within the UK. They did not vote for independence and they didn't vote to remain in the UK but only if the UK stays in the EU or if the UK does something else the SNP don' t agree with all bets are off again.
The devolved assembly in Scotland can vote all they want for another referendum. To be legal it needs to be sanctioned by Westminster. So just don't t sanction it. If the SNP hold one anyway make it clear that it is illegal and the result will be ignored. Just like Spain did recently with their separatists.
We can't t put up with a neverendum. It is destabilising for the UK and Scotland.
The UK will upset half of Scotland by having a referendum and half by not having one. So don' t do it.

Your sunny optimism and rose-tinted spectacles for the future of the UK seems to sharply contrast with your profound pessimism about Scotland.

In your opinion, how frequently should there be Westminster elections? Do you think there should just be one and then that party stay in power for a generation? After all, you don't seem to think people can't change their minds (or if they do, that's tough for them).

TrickyTree83

To play devils advocate, what if you got your independence, then sentiment changes after the economic disaster and the prevailing feeling is that you want to re-join the UK, will you hold yet another referendum to secede your independence?

After all, people can change their minds.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

TrickyTree83 wrote: »

To play devils advocate, what if you got your independence, then sentiment changes after the economic disaster and the prevailing feeling is that you want to re-join the UK, will you hold yet another referendum to secede your independence?

After all, people can change their minds.

You could say the same thing about the EU referendum for the UK.:)

TrickyTree83

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

You could say the same thing about the EU referendum for the UK.:)

In a Scottish nationalist world, sure you could.

It doesn't answer the question I asked.

robin61

zagubov wrote: »

Your sunny optimism and rose-tinted spectacles for the future of the UK seems to sharply contrast with your profound pessimism about Scotland.

In your opinion, how frequently should there be Westminster elections? Do you think there should just be one and then that party stay in power for a generation? After all, you don't seem to think people can't change their minds (or if they do, that's tough for them).

I am saying that after only two or three years we should not be having yet another referendum driven by a part of the UK which represents less than 10% of the population and of that 10% probably less than half support this. Yet the consequences have a destabilising impact on the whole of the UK and therefore should be a once in a generation occurrence and only then if there are very compelling reasons for it.

Having a General Election every 5 years where the whole of the UK gets a vote is not comparing like with like. There is a legal requirement to have an election every 5 years. There is not any legal requirement to let the SNP hold referendums whenever they want to. Why should the rest of the UK have to put up with this ? It has an impact on us all not just Scotland.