Monkey Tennis

Crazy as the UK result seems, and it certainly does to me, it's easy to be dismissive of the strength of the 'Get Brexit Done' narrative. Imagine for a minute that YES had squeaked home by 52% to 48% in 2014, yet, for whatever reason, we'd still been a full part of the Union over three years later. If you'd voted YES, you'd be thoroughly pissed off, and the apparent injustice of that would be the dominant issue in your political thinking. Now you can obviously point out the differences between the two situations, which is perfectly valid given that they are many and significant. However, on a gut level that we know is the basis on which an awful lot of voting behaviour plays out, the similarities probably matter more. Throw in those who genuinely favour right wing economic policies, as well as Remainers who feel a moral obligation to respect the 2016 outcome, and a strong front seems almost inevitable. I still think the result is shameful, destructive and depressing. It maybe isn't altogether baffling though.

I honestly don't think that's the case at all. There was no "force" for her to "resist". She was under no great pressure to hold that election. She had a smallish but certainly suitably substantial overall majority, and had said she was disinclined to take that step. When it was announced in the April, it was a genuine surprise, eclipsed only by the result, that saw Labour do much better than anyone had really thought possible. She made that decision simply as a matter of ill judged opportunism. Had Labour have looked more credible that Spring, May wouldn't have gone anywhere near an election.

There wouldn't have been an election in 2017, if Labour had then been perceived as electable.

Yes, that's true, certainly since Scottish Nationalism became mainstream. Being the smaller partner, the underdog, allows our version to seem more noble. It essentially is, given its pacific, articulate air. You get Scottish fundamentalism too though, and it's pretty much what the SNP was about, before the early years of this century.

The question is a better one than the lazy nonsense which immediately follows it, would suggest. I think there are clear differences between sensibilities (working class or otherwise) in England and Scotland. I also think however that it's easy to overstate them. It annoys me a bit when the rise of the SNP gets lumped alongside the populist surges in lots of other places. I don't think it is quite the same, and the claim is further undermined by the fact that it pre-dates the financial crash. Nevertheless, there is something in it, in that Scottish Nationalism has an appeal for people 'left behind' in a similar way to what we all recognise as English nationalism. It's a lot more palatable for many of us though, because the Scottish version is generally more left leaning. I do think we're different here as evidenced by the Tories' failure to make inroads during the Thatcher years. Again though, it's easy to be a bit self congratulatory. We have our own difficulties with vile prejudice, and a football forum is probably the last place where that needs exposition. I also think that racism is less likely to be an issue in communities where those of colour are likelier to be doctors than people who can be crudely characterised as drains on resources. I'm just grateful that we've got a legitimate direction to turn in. The question concerns whether structures allow that turn to be meaningful, as well as available.

Mmmm, let me think...

I'm almost as pissed off with the immediately local picture, as I am with the UK one. It's absolutely bloody baffling. This corner of Scotland used to be affluent, but it hasn't been so for ages. We now live in a place with very low wages, and vaulting poverty. I hardly know anyone who'd admit to voting Tory, but here we are. How many in this part of the world can actually be farmers? It's as inexplicable as it's dreadful.

By that logic, with 43% the Tories have no mandate to govern.

Really grim. The only saving grace of the Exit Poll was the Scottish picture, but even that picture - despite representing SNP success - is less impressive in the actual results. Once more, my forelock tugging little corner of the country lets people down. Bloody embarrassing.

Dumfries and Galloway on a knife edge.

Even Trump only squeaked home, losing the popular vote in a two horse race. In comparison, the scale of Johnson's victory bears little relation. It's truly horrendous.

I'm heading to bed soon. The only bit that possibly matters now is the extent of the SNP victory in Scotland. We'll not know much more on that for a while. I really hope to Christ that Jack has been unseated here, but it sounds terribly close. The picture in England is genuinely inexplicable. I feel very sorry for left leaning sorts there.

Either that or I exercise a capacity for independent thought, before saying what I actually think.

I don't actually accept that that's true. If current competition structures had been introduced wholesale in that season, with everything before it being exactly as it actually was until the mid-80s, it could be argued that Scotland would be represented as above. The reality is though, that these very structures have played a significant part in the drop in our game's standing. They didn't arrive overnight - they were relatively gradual. Had they happened earlier, it's likely that they too would have unfolded over many years. What I'm trying to say is that there's little point in pretending that Scottish clubs could ever prosper on the European stage as it's now configured.

Indeed. I was at that game, and it fell between the legs of United's semi final with Borrussia Monchengladbach.