THE SNP has been ducking and diving a few cannon balls whilst I have been on a jaunt around and about the continent of Europe. Let me tell, you the supermarkets were stocked with a vibrancy unseen recently en Ecosse.
Oh you should see the anti-smoking packages on German cigarettes, most horrific, right by the checkout. Things have changed a lot. On my first visit to Germany, 50 years ago, in the autobahn restaurant a waiter in bow tie and tails led us to a linen-clad table with napkins. If it is not the golden arches it is the king of burgers all the way now-a-days.
I thought there were a few rough edges in Luxembourg and there was a bit of litter in some spots where I do not recall seeing it before.
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I could not find Van Houten chocolate in the petrol stations in Holland although their website indicates one can still buy it, but not in Albert Heijn supermarket either. It seemed to me that there was a homogeneous thing going on.
It was refreshing to be away from the Westminster shower. They do think they are so great, don’t they? No-one cares once the channel is crossed.
You know I could not find anyone who gave a euro about anything to do with that crowd, except a few comments about the ridiculousness of Brexit and some stuff about the questionable legality of various bits of legislation recently presented to the Westminster parliament.
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I met two Scotsmen, one married to a Dutch woman. Circumstances around Brexit mean he has to return to Scotland every 90 days and remain for 90 days waiting to see his true love once again. Another has a lovely house in the mountains in Italy and he too is compelled to drive the distance to Scotland (he hates flying) so his wife spends slightly less time travelling to and from Scotland each three months.
It was great to get to Switzerland. Credit Suisse went belly-up whilst I was there. I spoke with a guy who said he had 300,000 Swiss francs invested – he lost it, but he said it did not really matter as he had plenty of money anyway. I stopped at a motorway services and it had an upmarket delicatessen complete with bottles of fine wine, super sandwiches, varieties of nougat and perfect Italian ice-cream. Switzerland was as ever it has been, clean and ordered, and all but unruffled by such a major crash – which was comforting.
The most important message from my visits is this: Brexit has, in my opinion, produced its own version of the Berlin Wall around the UK. It is now like an open prison they let you out for 90 days, if you want to work or live in other European countries there are high hoops to jump, and then woe betide you if you are not over the border by midnight — those foreigners will lock you up. Even Simon Rattle has said that Britain is becoming a cultural desert. Hordes of police in hi-viz jogging the Sunak motorcade through the Streets of London. “Mama Mia”, they laughed in Italy.
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The Westminster crowd must be so desperate about our independence that they have bought their biggest gun ships to the fray, and the joke is that they think that blowing a few shells through the SNP will scupper our resolve. They do not realise there are many people in Scotland who want independence who will have nothing to do with the SNP. You know some people dropped their SNP subscription and joined Alba, so some of the decrease in SNP membership went that way. No not me, I think we should all get back to one force in pursuit of our independence, everyone going the same way, together, because we really need to be Scotland in Europe, where we can come and go and work as we please.
As the new King gets crowned and some of his subjects cry allegiance, I hope that many will realise our future is an independent nation in Europe and we need to hurry before French Polynesia beats us to being the 198 nation.
Cher Bonfis
via email
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