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Oct 5, 2021Liked by Pontifex Minimus 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

It is very likely there would be no physical checks for goods at the actual border and many of the checks will be done via various electronic means. The border will be there but open for unchecked travel to British citizens as there is no reason why Scotland can’t negotiate to remain part of the Common Travel Area in exactly the same way as Ireland has, even post Brexit. Remember a significant proportion of our trade with the rUK is services not goods.

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Sep 6, 2021Liked by Pontifex Minimus 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

"Brexit x10" is definitely an exaggeration, at most this is going to be Brexit x2 (leaving UK and joining EU) but that sounds much less convincing.

The UK-Scotland border would still be a massive hassle to resolve, since freely trading with the EU and having a different immigration system to England are some of them main benefits to leaving, but both of those would require border checks. I honestly think that the cost of that (direct and indirect) would outweigh any benefits for Scotland, because I'm assuming maximal incompetence and spite on behalf of the Tory government (The referendum I'm imagining gets approved by a Labour-SNP coalition, which immediately loses power once Scotland leaves the UK). Admittedly, I'm biased because it would be personally inconvenient for me and my friends if there was an England-Scotland border requiring passport checks, and bad for both countries, but I'm pessimistic enough to think it would happen anyway.

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