r/PoursTea • šŸ«– Mod ā˜•ļø • Sep 14 '26

European Renaissance šŸ¾ šŸ§€ šŸ» šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§The Future?

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u/Timbucktwo1230 šŸ«– Mod ā˜•ļø Sep 14 '26

Excerpt:

David Deans,Ā Wales political reporterĀ andĀ Cemlyn Davies,Ā Wales political correspondent
Published
13 September 2026

The first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have declared that "Westminster's time is coming to an end".

The nationalist leaders from Plaid Cymru, Sinn FƩin and the SNP - who want their countries to leave the United Kingdom - signed an agreement on Monday which said no Westminster government had the right to "block democracy".

But while Scotland's John Swinney and Northern Ireland's Michelle O'Neill called for referendums at a joint press conference, Wales' Rhun ap Iorwerth declined to give a timetable for one in his country.

Labour and Reform accused Plaid of wanting to break up the UK.
Swinney and ap Iorwerth's governments later backed a separate agreement agreed to work together on pressing UK government on "fairness" in funding and powers.

For the first time since devolution began, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have first ministers who want to leave the United Kingdom.

All three met on Monday as representatives of their parties. Sinn FƩin president Mary Lou McDonald also attended.

The memorandum of understanding said: "For people watching across these islands - for people watching around the world - there could be no clearer sign that Westminster's time is coming to an end.

"No Westminster government has the right to block democracy or undermine the principle that our people will decide their own future.ā€

"We recognise that our parties have different constitutional positions and that each nation will determine its own future in its own way and in its own time."

šŸ”—: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62enegxyl9o

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u/flipping-cricket Sep 14 '26

Fucking Brexit.

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u/Glum_Judgment6232 Sep 14 '26

Yep...And this would be like Brexit XXL on steroids

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u/ManuelTzetzes Sep 14 '26

For England. Not for Ireland, Scotland or Wales. They'll immediately start the process to rejoin the EU. Happy days ahead. You'll always have London, they'll pay the bills for the rest of the country.

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u/Adr_LDN Sep 14 '26

It’s good to know nationalism in the UK still relies on delusional nonsense like this to keep going.

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u/TheBlargh5000 Sep 14 '26

Each country would inherit their part of the UK debt. It's highly likely their economies would be too bad for the EU to consider letting them join.

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u/naughtiboiii Sep 14 '26

None of them meet the requirements to join the EU. England subsidises every country in the UK.

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u/edge2528 Sep 14 '26

But who will pay the bills for the others now?

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u/OrangeTractorMan Sep 14 '26

Scotland and Wales trade less with the entirety of Europe than they do with England alone. They have little to offer Europe that requires sea transit that they can't get cheaper within the continent.

Not only that, but the ascesion could drag on for years. You should look at how long it usually takes to join the EU. A decade? Not even unlikely.

The debt-to-GDP would be absolutely insane. I don't think you quite have a grasp on how much the spending would need to be cut to make up for the lost revenue subsidy from England.

Because the English taxpayer pays in more to the Union than is spent, because it quite literally is used to subsidise the rest. Scotland gets roughly £2,500 more public spending per person than England, while Wales gets about £1,933 more and Northern Ireland about £2,631 more.

So how you think England would be worse off I don't know, that's rather naive. It would actually provide more breathing room, as England likely chooses to join the EU itself and would be allowed in sooner due to it's financial situation that wouldn't be the same for Scotland and Wales.

TL;DR

Pahahahahahahaha! Yeah right!

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u/Ok-Ship812 Sep 15 '26

Everyone quoting the Welsh deficit as proof independence is impossible should look at what it actually measures, and at the UK's own books.

TLDR: You havent seen the correct numbers as they are seldom discussed in any discusson on Welsh Independence.

The deficit figures come from estimates of Wales as a region inside the UK, not accounts of Wales as a state. Welsh GDP is systematically undercounted, profits from Welsh water, energy and retail are booked at London head offices, and Crown Estate revenues from the Welsh seabed, including some of the best offshore wind assets in Europe, flow straight to the Treasury.

Meanwhile the spending side charges Wales for things it didn't choose. HS2 was classed as an "England and Wales" project, so Wales was allocated the cost and got zero benefi. Add a population share of Trident and debt interest on borrowing Wales had no say over.

The UK borrowed £132bn last year, has run a deficit in roughly 60 of the last 70 years, and carries £2.9 trillion of debt with £110bn a year in interest, more than the entire defence budget. Nobody calls the UK unviable. Borrowing is how every modern state operates. The difference is the UK controls its own levers, and Wales just gets handed a share of the bill.

Once you strip out allocated shares of UK debt interest, big-power defence spending and legacy pension liabilities, an independent Wales would open with a gap of about £2.6bn, roughly 3.4% of GDP. For comparison, the UK itself borrowed 4.3% of GDP last year, so the country told it's too poor to exist would start with a smaller deficit than the state telling it that.

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u/tree_boom Sep 15 '26

Meanwhile the spending side charges Wales for things it didn't choose. HS2 was classed as an "England and Wales" project, so Wales was allocated the cost and got zero benefi. Add a population share of Trident and debt interest on borrowing Wales had no say over.

Except for the Welsh MPs in Parliament, of course.

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u/FlowBorn5279 Sep 14 '26

*Northern Ireland. Ireland is not part of the UK...

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u/mars-jupiter Sep 14 '26

Demographics and economic reality should mean that we don't reach that point. There are EU countries that would be very against allowing countries which have recently seceeded to join the EU, especially with their potential economic outlook when out on their own.

Northern Ireland I can see rejoining Ireland at some point, which is more likely to be a success (or at least not a failure) because they would be 'annexed' into a country that already exists, is in the EU, and has pre-existing national systems, institutions, and infrastructure to be plugged into. Scotland and Wales don't have that.

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u/Jazzlike_Custard8646 Sep 14 '26

The irony of complaining about leaving the EU while pushing for what would essentially be brexit on steroids is hilarious. The UK exports 42% of it's goods to the EU while Scotland exports 60% of it's goods to the UK. Scotland trying to join the EU common market and all the trade barriers with the UK that come with that would be complete chaos for scotland. Would make brexit look like a walk in the park

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u/LeftAndRightAreWrong Sep 14 '26

Scotlands largest trading partner is England. England is not in the EU. Trading across a hard border would end Scotland.

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u/ManuelTzetzes Sep 14 '26

Ireland's largest trading partners are the US and the UK. Neither are in the EU. Trading across hard borders hasn't ended Ireland.

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u/sljc892 Sep 14 '26

It’s not a hard border…

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u/Glum_Judgment6232 Sep 14 '26

Hmmm. Ā Even the SNP won't talk about what it really means to rip the country apart in practice. They try and avoid that kind of detail wherever possible.

According to an article in the Irish Times this week, the Republic of Ireland political elites don't really want it to happen either.Ā 

And there isn't the support for it in Wales.Ā 

It won't be as neat and tidy as you seem to think anyway, that's for sure

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u/Top-Strength-2701 Sep 14 '26

Yeah eu won't accept you 🤣 Wales voted leave. Why would the EU want two tiny countries joining?

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u/ManuelTzetzes Sep 14 '26

Typical British attitude. Just because you view them as tiny and worthless doesn't mean the rest of us do. And then you wonder why they want to leave you. You're like the abusive partner "Yeah, leave. See if I care. No-one else will have you!"

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u/James20985 Sep 14 '26

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have a net deficit (meaning they spend more than they take in taxes) consistently and are basically funded by the east and south east of England. They also spend about between 110% and 125% per capita on their populations in public services. Independance is going to bring enormous financial burdens to Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff and those independance parties cannot hide that fact so they avoid it at all cost. Any notion that England would be a benevolent former partner is wishful thinking, everything will be paid for by the new countries, pensions, benefits, nhs, everything. Not to mention that Ireland has no military to speak off and England will withdraw all military bases from those countries including rather profitable defence contracts. Wales and Scotland will almost certainly have no currency and will not be invited into the EU as net takers. No NATO coverage and no trade as they will have no currency. Wishful thinking to win votes from a naive public

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u/Adr_LDN Sep 14 '26

Ah yes, whereas ā€œyes, the EU will magically ignore the domestic political dynamics of major member states, as well as completely suspending its normal membership criteria just to somehow spite Englandā€ definitely isn’t weird cope from seething oddballs who seem to obsess over breaking up the UK.

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u/TomorrowSpecial255 Sep 15 '26

Its funny they accuse the English of thinking we deserve exepctions

They also think the EU wont demand a hard border

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u/Top-Strength-2701 Sep 14 '26

Why would the EU want Wales or Scotland to rejoin? You think Spain wouldnt veto it? Wales voted leave also so why would the EU bother?

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u/Akira_116 Sep 14 '26

British like the Welsh you mean?

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u/TomorrowSpecial255 Sep 14 '26

I'm sure the EU will love two more net drains on there budget

Especially as leaving the UK will cripple those countries

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u/U-47 Sep 15 '26

I mean it would be the one good thing to come from Brexit.

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u/E_D_K_2 Sep 14 '26

"Project fear" they called it when we said leaving the EU risked breaking up the union.

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u/AccomplishedAct5364 Sep 14 '26

And now the Russians have got the uk questioning its own existence. Outstanding stuff. Can’t wait for wales to thrive with its Ā£85billion economy on the world stage

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u/celaconacr Sep 14 '26

Don't forget the 19% deficit for Wales and 11% for Scotland. European entry is clearly going to be easy. England on paper would be better off financially but its unlikely to end that way over time. We are stronger together, I kind of hope the pressure will trigger closer ties with the EU or force a vote for applying for membership again.

I leave Northern Ireland out of this as there is a clear potentially United Ireland if the population support it.

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u/FroggyWinky Sep 15 '26

Project Fear was originally the unionist campaign scaring Scots to vote No to independence in 2014. "Voting Yes would take Scotland out the EU" was one of the many false claims.

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u/Jealous-Juggernaut85 Sep 14 '26

Burnham shoukd just say fuckit and rejoin the EU .

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u/BooRaccoon Sep 15 '26

I think he will if Labour wins in 2029, and possibly move to implement PR too

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u/Huge-Brick-3495 Sep 15 '26

It would completely neuter the drive for independence referendums if he did

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u/DarkObiWanKenobi Sep 15 '26

I don't think so. 45% of Scots wanting to leave in 2014 was pretty close when we had the EU. Wales could just change tune and say 'but we wanted out the EU' for a favourable counter point.

God I hate politics

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u/burdman444 Sep 15 '26

Shame it’s also up to the EU, and the answer may be no. Election promises which depend on negotiations rarely work, as we’ve seen before….

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u/Apple2727 Sep 14 '26

Most people in Scotland vote for unionist parties, it’s just that the vote is split between several unionist parties whereas the SNP hoover up practically all of the pro-separatist vote.

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u/chrizzleon Sep 14 '26

Same with Northern Ireland

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u/Chunk3yM0nkey Sep 15 '26

In accordance with the will of its people?

Scotland voted remain, Northern Ireland voted remain twice. Democratic doesn't mean you get to keep voting until you get the result you want.

This reeks of foreign money and interference.

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u/Hollyhop_Drive Sep 15 '26

This is big time interference.Ā 

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u/Ultearov1 Sep 15 '26

Scotland voted remain due to a massive campaign by Westminster saying they wouldn't be in the EU if they left the UK and the UK would stay in the EU. These are now both known to have been major, election interfering lies.

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u/AegisThievenax Sep 15 '26

Unionism in Northern ireland has been in steep decline for decades lol

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u/FroggyWinky Sep 15 '26

"Democratic doesn't mean you get to keep voting until you get the result you want."

This claim is downright undemoctratic. We vote for a new party every four years - that is democracy. You're saying a 27 year old in 2026 doesn't get a right to self determination because their deceased grandparent settled the matter in 2014.

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u/Chunk3yM0nkey Sep 15 '26

We both know that if it had been a yes vote the SNP wouldn't be allowing a rejoin vote this soon. Once a generation is plenty.

There are far more important thing for politicians to be focusing on and spending our tax payers money on.

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u/Jozin_von_Bazin Sep 15 '26

Meanwhile Brext did not reek of foreign interfefence?

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u/FlyingScotsman42069 Sep 15 '26

Voting remains was contingent on remaining in EU too. It was one of the promises. As was the new devo+ which also didn't happen.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '26

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u/slowPaint21 Sep 16 '26

Before Ref:

"Once in a lifetime" SNP

After Ref:

Whens the next one.

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u/KhaosByDesignUK Sep 14 '26

Brexit still kicking us in the balls all these years later 🤦

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u/Working_Arachnid_661 Sep 14 '26

Nothing burger btw. just a bunch of pro-independance parties coming together to shout out how independant they are

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u/Aircon-007 Sep 15 '26

Pretty much, these parties easiest PR move is to go ā€œthose English aye?ā€ Every time to get some support.

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u/WhatTheChuff9321 Sep 14 '26

Good luck to them.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '26 edited 25d ago

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u/SuspiciousRun4043 Sep 15 '26

I hope not

Wales doesn’t make enough money of its own to make independence economically viable

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '26

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u/NeatFootball3646 Sep 15 '26

It was fun in the beginning then the mood all changed

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u/Speakop Sep 16 '26

All the English people saying we wouldn’t survive on our own and they pay to keep our country afloat. Why are they so desperate for us to stay then if we’re such a burden?

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u/Frosty_Shame8876 Sep 16 '26

Because we don't want you guys to fuck yourselves over. This would basically be Brexit on meth and the austerity that Scotland would go through after would make the conservatives look like they did amazingly.

Northern Ireland would most likely rejoin Ireland and Wales is way too intwined to England in law and such it's very unlikely Wales would declare independence.

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u/Honest-Addendum7974 Sep 16 '26

Because you’re an integral part of the country’s identity and it would make all countries involved poorer and worse off? What?

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u/slowPaint21 Sep 16 '26

Russia is a burden - now go back there Ivan.

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u/CaterpillarLoud8071 29d ago

Couldn't care less whether countries are within or outside of the UK, it's just a massive waste of political energy. We spent 4 years debating how to split with the EU and then spent another 4 years actually carrying out the split. Separating a country into parts is significantly more difficult and the uncertainty of the negotiating stage kills investment.

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u/Headpuncher 29d ago

Domestic violence. Ā Screams: no one will love you! You’re dirt, you’re nothing without me! Nothing! Ā I’ll k1!! Myself if you leave me ! Ā 

Etc etc.Ā 

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u/Weird_Regret_6369 29d ago

We're not. The government is

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u/2521harris Sep 16 '26

This all started getting a load more attention after Trump started wading in.

As a general rule, if Trump supports something, I'm against it.

If the independence people want to be on the same side as Trump, that says quite a lot about them tbh.

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u/Professional_Bar4748 Sep 14 '26

Lmao. Yeah okay i'm sure the Spanish with all of their problems with Catalonia would LOVE several breakaway nations joining the EU.

Usual delusion from remoaners

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u/Adr_LDN Sep 14 '26

This was a perfectly reasonable argument until you started waffling on about ā€˜remoaners’.

Given the utter waste of time (at best) Brexit has been, a period of silence is in order from anyone who loudly extolled its virtues. That or we drop you on an island with all the hardline weirdos on the other side and you can just shout at each other for eternity.

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u/Expert-Food1902 Sep 15 '26

Montenegro left Serbia in 2006 and they are an official candidate country Spain has no problem with, as they left Serbia in mutual agreement. Meaning if Scotland isn't leaving the UK illegally they're fine with it. Calling others delusional when you know nothing about the topic is kinda funny, lol

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u/No-Bluejay4261 Sep 14 '26

How exactly do these nations think they will survive independently? They don't meet any criteria to join the EU. The Northern Ireland situation is an obvious one, but it doesn't sound much like Ireland want to take on the burden. Scotland's oil is privately owned. Wales has almost no industry left. It would be economically devastating, wouldn't it?

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u/Ok-Ship812 Sep 15 '26

No it would not be economically devestating. It would not be easy but there are many routes to becoming a viable independent nation as many nations have done in the last 40 years.

The only peer reviewed academic study on Welsh Independence put a day-one Welsh deficit at a lower % of GDP than the current UK one (and nobody is arguing that the UK can't survive independently are they).

Here is a BBC report on the report by Prof John Doyle

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-63082210

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u/Upset-Praline-5246 Sep 15 '26

The article implies a lot of the savings would come from England paying for Welsh pensions, which is a comically delusional assumption, peer reviewed or not.

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u/f5adff Sep 15 '26

The idea that the UK, or in this instance - just England - would pay a penny toward Welsh or Scottish welfare is bewildering. If you want independence, you get just that.

Dependency with extra steps is ridiculous, and would benefit England in no way whatsoever, why would anyone take that deal? šŸ˜‚

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '26 edited 25d ago

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u/TheBlargh5000 Sep 14 '26

Remember that time Scotland had a referendum that was labeled a once in a lifetime opportunity for independence and they voted no. Anyone? Anyone remember that? No just me?

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u/Outside-Inspection68 Sep 14 '26

Well then the uk decided to leave the EU

Now everyone is worse off

They deserve a second chance

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u/nonveganveganyogurt Sep 14 '26

So leaving the UK is going to make them be well off again? It's going to make Brexit look like a tiny mistake in comparison.

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u/TheBlargh5000 Sep 14 '26

Considering England is the biggest trade partner of Scotland so creating a hard border would severely limit their economy. On top of that they would inherit their share of the UK debt, which would likely put them in a position where they would be too poor to joing the EU.

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u/h_abr Sep 15 '26

They’re already miles away from qualifying for the EU. Inheriting their share of the national debt would put it out of sight.

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u/mchris203 Sep 15 '26

That’s a crap argument. If your wife agrees to marry you today, you can’t say she’s not allowed to divorce you 10 years later. In a real democracy they should just be allowed to vote again, if they still say no then they obviously want to stay.

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u/drafsack Sep 15 '26

If Scotland really wanted independence they should have given the English the vote as well - they would have got their wish

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u/LongShow5279 Sep 14 '26

Wales support for Indy is at a whopping 26% LOL.

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u/OnlyMeFFS Sep 14 '26

They're delusional if they think it's going to happen as everytime they put it to the public vote the majority of the public say no.

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u/FewElk6678 Sep 14 '26

Guess we'll see, especially as here in NI the trajectory actually seems to be heading more towards a United Ireland, especially among Unionist communities as they get tired of their MLAs doing sweet FA other than complaining about 'IRA Sinn Fein' and hating on Ireland for the shocking crime of simply existing.

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u/AccomplishedAct5364 Sep 14 '26

Considering none of them have an economy larger than Ā£200 billion it’ll be amazing to see how they handle being on par with… checks notes… Uzbekistan

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u/Ok-Ship812 Sep 14 '26

Ah yes, the famous poverty of small economies. Ireland, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, all tragically "on par with Uzbekistan" by this metric, yet all somehow richer per head than the UK

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u/Beautiful-Step5643 Sep 14 '26

Comparing Uzbekistan to any of them doesn't really make sense. If we look at just Scotland, Uzbekistan is 6 times larger then Scotland and has around 7 times Scotland's population... Yet Scotland's GDP per capita is around 39,000 a person to Uzbekistan's measly 3,000 a person. (Scotland's GDP is higher then 200 billion btw). Even if we look at Wales or Northern Ireland in terms of GDP per capita, they still blow Uzbekistan out of the water.

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u/Iamoggierock Sep 14 '26

Independence without the money tree. Probably won't be as good as it seems. Brexit was a stupid bloody move. We should be coming together not apart.

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u/NiallHeartfire Sep 14 '26

Seems a bit odd to me that they want to leave one union of nations, just to spend years trying to get into another union. I disagree with brexit for the same reason I disagree with these movements. The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. Seems pretty inconsistent to support one and not the other.

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u/aviatorproductions Sep 14 '26

While the EU isn't perfect England is heading full-speed towards a Reform government and considering how they've managed at a local level its gonna be disastrous for the nation, makes a lot of sense for these countries to flee this burning ship and hitch themselves to something more stable.

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u/Glum_Judgment6232 Sep 14 '26

They've peaked. They won't be in government.

You may not have noticed that a lot of EU countries have got the same kind of right wing grifters and racists as reform banging at the door of government. Hard to say where they will be in 10 years

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u/confusedukrainian Sep 14 '26

The party whose leader is setting records for negative approval is going to somehow win and election that’s 3 years away?

This is such a reach that it makes the rest of the comment pointless.

How are three countries that are subsidised by England going to survive on their own without huge spending cuts? It’s just a nonstarter.

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u/Simply_a_nom Sep 14 '26

The UK is a nation state where political, legal, and social systems are intertwined into one country, whereas the EU is an international association of separate, sovereign states that choose to cooperate.

Being part of the EU means being in a partnership as an independent country rather than being a region within a single nation state. Who knows where the EU might end up, and while there may be movement toward a United States of Europe, for now it is not fair to treat leaving the UK to join the EU as the same kind of thing

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '26

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u/Cpt_keaSar Sep 14 '26

England is proclaimed successor state of the UK with UNSC seat, debts and nukes going with it

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u/NotYourAverageLongbo Sep 14 '26

similar to how russia inherited the USSRs nuclear arsenal, england would keep it all.

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u/edge2528 Sep 14 '26

And whatever system they are left with immediately go offline and can't afford to run it

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u/Confident-Message-47 Sep 14 '26

We'll see....depends on how the pensioners vote. This happens every so often and the pensioners always vote to stay in the UK.

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '26

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u/Pisscuit9000 Sep 14 '26

I don't bother looking at Reddit to see what will happen. I ask old people because they vote for it.

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u/Arthur_Figg_II Sep 14 '26

ScottishIndependance

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u/Timely_Pattern3209 Sep 15 '26

SusanalbumpartyĀ 

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u/Unexciteable Sep 14 '26

Literally every single British enemy liked that
Jokes aside, this is exactly the wrong answer. We just need to rejoin the EU

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u/Stan-Ferris Sep 14 '26

The part you will need to rember is that the so-called representative of Northern Ireland at this event will not be in the same position come the next elections

It is widely anticipated that sinn Fein/ira will lose a record number of votes.

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u/secondcomingwp Sep 14 '26

Yes, as if Brexit hasn't done enough damage, lets just finish ourselves off... jesus fucking christ.

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u/Acrobatic_Pianist_52 Sep 14 '26

Can't win a vote though

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u/Slyspy006 Sep 14 '26

Useful fools.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '26

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u/Sufficient-Grass- Sep 15 '26

I somehow hope Russia one-day releases how they used psyops to turn Britain against their most valued trading partners and ruined themselves.

Will be a great netflix doco.

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u/BooRaccoon Sep 15 '26

It's interesting how all these nationalist movements started talking again after Trump turned on the UK for not backing down to his Far Right Argentinian friend...

Reminds me of that time that people discovered 25th of pro Scottish indy accounts were based out of Iran.

I'd encourage people to stay level headed and not blindly follow populist nonsense

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u/Correct_Ad_7817 Sep 15 '26

Wales and Scotland on their own economy? Without Westminster backing. Good luck, I couldn’t see either surviving. Scotland maybe due to Energy industry

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u/vacri Sep 15 '26

The EU has funds to help develop economically subdued areas. It was one of the big problems of Brexit - those income streams weren't replaced

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u/j_sig Sep 15 '26

I'm so sick of living in interesting times

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u/QuietResident96 Sep 15 '26

Absolute irony that leaving one union to join another is apparently "independence"

Absolute ROFL

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u/Sheeverton Sep 15 '26

The likely solution here is to do a referendum on rejoining the EU, which likely will happen at some point.

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u/TremendousCustard Sep 15 '26

EU need an EU Lite tier. With the way the world is, and with Canada possibly shifting to some form of associate member status, UK coming back in a similar position makes more sense. Ukraine and... well, I'd have said Turkey based on defence but they've just cracked down on LGBT folk.Ā 

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u/jonyprepperisrael Sep 15 '26

What would we call it? Bre-akup? Break UK?

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u/BigfootUK Sep 15 '26

Britain in 2016: 'we object to being ruled by a distant unelected government that doesn't listen and doesn't have our interests at heart, it's time to leave the EU'.

Wales/Scotland/Ireland: 'we object to being ruled by a distant unelected government that doesn't listen and doesn't have our interests at heart, it's time to leave the UK...........and join the EU'.

Can't they at least even appreciate the irony?

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u/i-read-it-again Sep 15 '26

Well you can leave one voluntarily. Or be held hostage by the another . Hmmm

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u/jbuk1 Sep 15 '26

In what way exactly is Scotland being run by a distant unelected government?

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u/RealisticAd3095 Sep 15 '26

They are lunatics without a mandate. Being ruled by Brussels as small nations with no veto isn’t independence clearly. They want to destroy what exists because they think they can. All these parties grossly overspend and that is only possible because they are inside the UK, none of them are cutting back on that spending and none of them are refusing the extra cash the UK gives them. Scotland isn’t demanding to take its debt. It’s nonsense.

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u/Stinky_Pete699 Sep 15 '26

Their mandate is the vote of the majority selecting their parties into government. Catch up

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u/Lplus Sep 15 '26

If Wales and Scotland are going to fund the border walls they can leave tomorrow.

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u/i-read-it-again Sep 15 '26

Why do you need a wall. Your sounding very trumpian

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u/_Rowdy_Raider_ Sep 15 '26

I'm Scottish and I can factually state that all of the Nations in the Union with exception of England, are dependant on English tax money. It's simple math, England has the Majority population and generated the majority of wealth that is then distributed,. The EU isn't going to accept 3 more net drains as German and France decide how involved they want to be in a crumbling EU. The time to do this was when we were still in the EU but I would rather be tied to a disfunctional family of ruined husks than to be stomped by an out of control dying giant.

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u/serena68uk Sep 15 '26

Wales voted to leave so that’s rich coming from them… also a lot of the major cities like London and Manchester also voted remain not leave so I don’t know if it’s as clear cut as England = bad brexit everywhere else = good

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u/Improper_Usage Sep 15 '26

Wales voted to leave didn’t they?

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u/Deviant-Killer Sep 15 '26

I always love to wonder how Scotland Wales and Ireland would survive without being united? Like, it's easy enough to say "they've done it before, they can do it again", but to my understanding, they have no exports which are valuable enough to sustain an economy.

Really never understand why nationalistic groups are so committed to destroying the thing they claim they love.. All because they listen to American propaganda and terrible memes from world leaders thinking they can stir poo.

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u/Ok-Ship812 Sep 15 '26

"No exports valuable enough to sustain an economy" is doing a lot of work here.

Scotland exports whisky at £5bn plus a year, more than the UK exports in beef, lamb, pork and poultry combined, plus salmon, North Sea energy, renewables, financial services and one of Europe's biggest offshore wind pipelines.

Wales is the modest one and still exports power, water, steel, aerospace components and sits on some of the best offshore wind resource in Europe. Small countries don't need world-beating exports, they need exports proportionate to 3 million people, which is why Slovenia, Lithuania and Estonia, none of them blessed with the resources Wales possesses, all function fine.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '26

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u/De_Dominator69 Sep 15 '26

It's a nothing burger.

The whole memorandum is basically just a bunch of buzzwords and them reaffirming what they were already doing. It's no grand statement or call to action that is about to herald the end of the UK. Look past the fancy words and there is nothing meaningful here, it's the most milquetoast memorandum you could make.

Besides even if it did manage to help them gain referendums, the desire for independence is far from unanimous and so it's not a guarantee it would succeed. Scottish independence polls tend to float around 45 - 55% mark (in favour of independence) fluctuating depending on the poll and recent events. Welsh indepence polls even lower. Northern Ireland has the added roadblock of there also having to be a referendum in the Republic of Ireland for whether they accept Northern Ireland joining.

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u/RockTheBloat Sep 15 '26

Yep. Smart baggers go cap in hand in the richer part of town.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Thatcherist_Sybil Sep 15 '26

Reminder that the Welsh voted to leave the EU and are now seemingly blaming it on others.

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u/We_R_All_Different99 Sep 15 '26

If each english county had a referendum on leaving the UK with them, there might not be much UK left. It would probably be fairer to describe it as the UK kicking out the south east counties.

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u/Klatterbyne Sep 15 '26

Irrespective of the aforementioned nations leaving the Union… is it not time for Westminster to go anyway? It’s viciously expensive, ineffective, unqualified, corrupt and primarily services the needs of a single city at the consistent expense of the rest of the country’s needs. They’ve allowed things to go to wrack and ruin and have persistently placed their personal/political gain over the good of the country they’re supposed to serve.

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u/abcdmagicheaven Sep 15 '26

so they want to šŸ‡®šŸ‡Ŗ?

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u/Adventurous-War-7696 Sep 15 '26

Uk are no better and the ithers would be a bigger dumping around for the doctors and engineers than already are

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u/Wooden-Commercial-40 Sep 15 '26

Who to vote for?

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u/HunterM567 Sep 15 '26

This is just stupid. Wales, NI and Scotland’s economies will be destroyed since they rely on the Uk so much. Who’s gonna fund defence, healthcare and the energy transition then?

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u/mikejbarlow1989 Sep 15 '26

The absolute irony of English people saying what a stupid idea it would be for these countries to leave the union.

I say good luck to them, and if it happens, I genuinely hope it works out for them.

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u/Honest-Addendum7974 Sep 16 '26

Explain how it wouldn’t be

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u/2Bait4Me Sep 15 '26

Scotland economy is subs from England, how exactly are you going to afford this ?

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u/Jallen9108 Sep 15 '26

What about when they they leave and the subsidising of their economies by England stops? Do they know where the money came from for EU membership came from.

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u/swirve-psn Sep 15 '26

Does the EU want further nationalist countries joining?

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u/Agitated-Insect3558 Sep 15 '26

I was born in England but have lived and worked in Wales for over thirty years and would vote for Welsh Independence like a shot.

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u/Daytonastewie Sep 15 '26

And who would provide defence for these nations ?

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u/DarlingDaddysMilkers Sep 15 '26

The Welsh leave vote was 52.5% being in a union isn’t the fucking problem, the problem was idiots. We
were constantly tripping over EU funded projects but sizeable part of the Welsh electorate decided to vote no. Plebs.

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u/nickvagus Sep 15 '26

Cornwall watching on with envy!

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u/Accomplished-Mud8473 Sep 15 '26

Mistake to link independence with being in the EU. For all kinds of reasons.

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u/JohnnyTruant89 Sep 15 '26

Amusing considering Wales voted for Brexit, I do feel for the Scottish in that regard.

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u/Gill217 Sep 15 '26

England's is a money powerhouse for a reason.

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u/Expensive_Eye_22 Sep 15 '26

Trumpty Dumpty sat on a wall

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u/Feeling-Froyo-586 Sep 15 '26

Just have even more English folk moving to Scotland. Edinburgh specifically

Knocks me sick

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u/PckMan Sep 15 '26

England rn

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u/Due_Strawberry_1001 Sep 15 '26

Wanting ā€˜independence’ then running off to join the EU is like a teenager wanting independence but going to live with his/her Aunt and Uncle.

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u/Starwars_femboy Sep 15 '26

More like wanting to leave youre abusive husbamd and get with a younger man

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u/RecordingFamous4947 Sep 16 '26

The SNP have had 20 years to tell the people of Scotland which currency an independent Scotland would use and they still can’t answer. Thats how serious they really take Scottish independence.

All these schemes and plans are nothing more than posturing so their supporters continue to vote them in, which keeps their noses firmly in the trough!

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u/Real_Bobsbacon Sep 16 '26

Yes, let's negotiate those funding to make it fair (I.e. fund them less as they get more per person)

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u/iamnosuperman123 Sep 16 '26

Mental. Even the best case (NI) isn't without its issues. Wales and Scotland would become basket cases

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u/SuspectJuice Sep 16 '26

Captain Orange will shit himself to death live on television during an interview in the next year or so and all of the issues surrounding this will vanish. No worries

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u/bediaxenciJenD81gEEx Sep 16 '26

A United Ireland is believable, there's already a legal roadmap in place and NI would be joining another rich country. Presumably the economic integration of the whole island will also make some money eventually.

I don't see Scottish independence happening without it being them shooting themselves in their own foot. Ā 

Welsh independence is basically a meme, it won't happen unless there is a significant social shift and England does something to really piss them off.

This is just a nationalist party circlejerk meant to draw attention, it's not indicative of any progress being made towards independence from the UK.Ā 

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u/davzinzan Sep 16 '26

A different relationship would be better for everyone, England included

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u/PositiveLibrary7032 Sep 16 '26

So you like interacting with 12 year olds? Strange

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u/Individual-Ad3464 Sep 16 '26

Meanwhile what are they going to do for us in the meantime

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u/slowPaint21 Sep 16 '26

Russia knows they wont be allowed in the EU easily

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u/meguminsupremacy Sep 16 '26

Trump and Xi are salivating over more smaller states that are easy to exploit, especially in the time it would take to negotiate entry into the EU.

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u/SventasKefyras Sep 17 '26

Bit fucking rich from Wales considering they voted for Brexit pretty overwhelmingly lol

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u/futurefinancier Sep 17 '26

I can completely understand Northern Ireland and Scotland’s position on this. But Wales voted to leave as well though.

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u/tabularosaaaaaa Sep 17 '26

Countries are just fabrications, drawn in the sand with a stick

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u/_1489555458biguy Sep 17 '26

They're out of their fucking minds.

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u/Infinite-Math-1046 Sep 17 '26

Can England please join…. šŸ˜‚

Seriously, I don’t mind splitting it up, but you take the debt as well as the assets and we all go our separate ways as friends. šŸ‘šŸ¼

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u/bedheadB188 29d ago

It's amazing knowing I'll spend the rest of my life watching my country go to shit because of brexit, a stupid decision that I had no say in and that was voted for by a bunch of people who'd die without facing the consequences of their decision. I wish the other members of the UK didn't do this but I absolutely cannot blame them because I'd choose the EU over us as well.

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u/dmcboi 29d ago

It would never happen, but an indy scotland that nationalised its energy resources whilst ramping up all varieties of it would become the EUs battery in terms of energy export. London reduces how much we tap into it, and we have to give what we do get to them. I can't say that any scottish political party gives me much hope either though, they are all mega ideologically driven.

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u/Doige 29d ago

If I heard news that the devolved powers were gaining more influence over their defence and international relations then I might take separatists more seriously.

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u/Funny-Runner-2835 29d ago

Got to love all the haters that don't want these Nations to be free from under the Yoke of Brussels, sorry London.