Is stupid the same as denial?

I listened with interest today as four fellow golfers (70+) talked about Ms May and how she had stopped the SNP and independence in their tracks after Tuesday's big speech. They seemed reassured by Donald Trump's assurance of a USA trade deal and swallowed hook line and sinker the idea the day after Brexit all would be hunky-dory as the UK would also have trade deals with Canada and New Zealand as well. After all, was this not what the Daily Mail, Express and Daily Telegraph had reassured them is going to happen, so it must be true. Ms Sturgeon and the SNP had not a leg to stand on, Scotland would just have to do what Westminster told us to do whether Scotland liked it or not.

Let us hold on for a minute. These folk are not stupid, three out of the four ran their own successful, small businesses and yet I was left astounded at the degree of twisting reality to fit their own prejudices that was going on. There was not the slightest cognisance of the reality which is; not one trade deal can begin to be negotiated until after the UK has exited the EU, let alone brought into effect.

Most trade experts agree the earliest any new trade agreement could be brought into force between the USA and UK would be two years after Brexit, given the requirements of any trade deal to secure fiscal and legal checks and balances. Complex trade deals take up to five years or more to agree unless the UK Government is simply going to concede every advantage to the USA and become a defacto state of the USA, the irony would be lost on the 'Free Britain from the EU yoke',Tories.

Until any such trade deals are agreed and ratified by the UK Parliament, the UK will trade with the rest of the world on the basis of World Trade Organisation tariffs. Again, none of this can happen or be put in place until after Brexit.

The current estimates of the hard cash cost to the UK taxpayers of the process of Brexit range from between £30 billion at the bottom end to £50 billion at the top end. Money which will need to be paid to the EU to cover the costs incurred by the EU to expunge the UK from all its current treaties, laws and regulations and the EU side's costs of administering the Article 50 process. The UK wants to leave then EU then the UK pays all the costs of doing so.

Yesterday HSBC announced another 1,000 senior jobs were being moved from London to Paris, this is on top of the 10,000 senior finance jobs which have already left the City of London since the 23rd of June 2016. It would seem the financial world does not see the same glorious end result for the UK economy from Hammond and the Tories rush to create the UK as being the ultimate 'tax haven' for big money. The rich folk meeting at Davos are reported as being seriously underwhelmed by May and Hammond's fiscal plan for the UK and the WTO are pointing out the limits their organisation places on such fiscal jiggery-pokery all of which will seriously curtail Hammond's 'big idea' to save the UK economy.

Yet if you only listen to or read the London based UK media you would never find out what the rest of the world thinks about the Tories rushing the UK to the economic cliff edge with their 'Brexit means Brexit' mantra.

Reuters is reporting the pound is currently at its lowest level against the dollar for 30 years and its lowest ever level versus the Euro. While Bloombergs are reporting increasing world financial worries that the UK is slipping into a period of 'stagflation', that is persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a country's economy. This is the real impact of austerity and Brexit on the UK economy , no matter the rosy glow of better than forecast economic growth for 2016 -17 being waved around like Chamberlain's claim of "Peace in our time". Instead of 0.9% the IMF now say UK growth is likely to be 1.3%, based on the previous quarter. This 'increase' in forecast growth is, of course, being sold in the Daily Mail as a positive sign and can only have been brought about by Brexit. The problem is the last quarter's UK economic growth figures have yet to be finalised, so the real figure could well end up back at 0.9% and lower or even be as high 1.5%. No one actually knows until the UK's NAO reports on its final adjusted figures for the quarter.

Outside of the world of the sweat marked semmit and urine stained, tattered Union Flag Y-fronts of UKIP and the Tories few think Brexit is anything else but disastrous for the UK economy. Sadly it appears Corbyn's Labour have also bought into this vision of UK loveliness and are donning the requisite semmit and Union flag Y-fronts, as I type. They too seem to be under the impression that Scotland will just have to do what it is told to do by Westminster, no matter whether the majority of the sovereign people of Scotland agree with Westminster or not. Labour and Corbyn are now most definitely part of the problem and do not represent any solution for Scotland's concerns for its place in an increasingly fascist leaning, post Brexit, UK. Over the next 18 months to two years we Scots will just have to sit in Westminster's naughty corner while the British Establishment grown ups decide what is best for us, if you believe what is being said by the BBC, Telegraph, Mail or Express. The message is clear from the British Establishment mouth pieces, "Scotland, just shut the fuck up!"

The question remains, "Will we get back in our box or not?" in the face of ever shriller attacks on our nation by an increasingly feart Westminster; my friends at the golf club are definitely for getting back in the box as for me, I will continue to shout from the roof tops;

"Let us get the hell out of this perfidious UK Union Treaty as fast as is practicable."

Once Liz has popped her clogs, the anachronistic Scottish crown can follow - it has had its day. Maybe we can choose our future king or queen, annually, through some sort of talent show contest vote. Just imagine, we could end up with a year of King Wee Shuggie frae Drumchapel chosen for his impression of Billy Connolly singing  "Grannie's Fuckin' Hielan' hame"  or Queen Euphemia frae Peterheid playing "Bach's Toccata and Fugue" on her nose flute. You could have Kezia the Dug and Ruth the Mooth as two of the judges and get Wullie Rennie to compaire the gig then chuck in Neil Oliver and Alisdair Darling as judges, as well, to keep everyone happy and nostalgic for the old days of the British Empire.

Anything has to be better than the current bunch of Saxe-Coburgs.