It's all going so well, isn't it?

[Corky Smeek]

Three articles from the BBC over the last couple of days illustrating just how badly the Brexit Deal is going with respect to N. Ireland.

1. Brexit: NI Protocol 'obstructs free movement of military'

2. Brexit: Lough Neagh eels can't be sold in Britain

3. Brexit: EU introduces controls on vaccines to NI

What an absolute, complete and utter shambles. It would be laughable were it not so serious.

[The Horseman]

Didn't I read somewhere that Scotland wanted to leave ‘The Union’.......even if Brexit didn't happen!
And didn't The EU say they were not keen on Scotland joining them!
And didn't I read Boris is on his way to see you!........

[Corky Smeek]

Yes.
No.
He did - and breached lockdown rules in the process.

[The Horseman]

Yes.
No.
He did - and breached lockdown rules in the process.

My best wishes...and good luck.

[Fulmar]

He is the Prime Minister at present of the whole of the UK and he is entitled to come up to Scotland as such. I can hardly imagine the uproar if NS had been told she was not welcome in England and to me, her response to the PM's brief visit was point scoring at its worst and does her and her cause no good whatsoever. If she is concerned she had better report him to the police and see if she can get him fined but in the meantime I think she should grow up and shut up on that particular subject.
On another topic, I wanted to remain in Europe but I'd be totally false if I said I would be glad to still be a member of the EU right now. I believe in giving credit where it is due (and it is the only credit that I am prepared to give) but the Westminster government did well in investing in vaccines and putting in orders for very many doses of vaccines that they did not even know at the time would work and the roll out of vaccination is going well throughout the whole UK. The response of Brussels falls far short and their recent actions shambolic and the whole world knows it in spite of what gloss that they and others might wish to put onto it.

[Corky Smeek]

Wow Fulmar, that needs a response.

No-one is disputing Johnson's right to visit Scotland. The problems with his visit are that, firstly he chose to do so for blatantly political reasons. He even (or at least his spin doctors) said as much himself when he havered about how much the Union has helped Scotland during the pandemic and how he thought independence was an irrelevance. Secondly, his visit did not fall into the category of "essential travel" under any definition currently in place governing the movement of people during the Covid crisis. He did nothing for his credibility by breaking the rules he is insisting everyone else follows.

I really do think you saying Sturgeon was political point scoring is curious. What the hell was Johnson doing if it wasn't exactly that? Fortunately, Johnson's scoring record is appalling and his visit achieved nothing he hoped it would. Furthermore, I really don't think NS would even contemplate a visit to England at the moment. She knows it would be against the rules and is savvy enough to realise the press would savage her for doing it despite them not doing the same with BJ. In any case, I know she has already turned down requests to visit various locations in Scotland because she knows it is against the rules.

As to the EU and the vaccine issue I think you should be very wary of any reports from the MSM who are, almost without exception, rabidly anti-EU. They will spin any story they can to suit that agenda. One thing I will say is that Westminster has not done well in investing in vaccines. What they have done in ordering and hoarding many tens of millions of extra doses is deny access to the vaccine to other countries, particularly those in the third world. In attempting to rid themselves of their reputation as incompetent nincompoops they have sought to turn vaccine acquisition and delivery into a race. All of the vaccines so far approved for use in the UK are, essentially, untested at least in comparison to standard vaccine approval protocols. HMG have been pursuing this insane policy for political ends not health or societal ones. By their actions HMG are denying access to millions of people in other countries and in so doing have shown themselves to be utterly heartless. This is a global pandemic yet the UK government is actively pursuing a policy that will lead to the deaths of many thousands of people. And, it is not sufficient to say, who cares about other countries? The entire planet is affected and for us to be stockpiling 3 or 4 times as many doses as we need is utterly immoral. The UK will not be free from Covid until the world is free from it. We need to be acting to ensure every country has sufficient supplies.

So, in summary, the EU may have been hasty in their actions but the UK will have blood on its hands if we continue with this policy.