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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Indeed it is. And i think that you stating "Burnham wants..." mistakes him for someone that won't u-turn on the mildest pressure.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

All of those are post referendum.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

In that this is about wants. Burnham doesn't understand that there is an After to any reign. Even if he gets what he wants and lasts 20 years, there's still year 21.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Keep practicing, you'll hit it eventually. ;)

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Except it's not. Because of the wooly worded triggering clause all it would take is the removal of the Sec of State from cabinet (which is a position by convention) and the Treaty can't be enacted. Legally binding it is, well written...more like written with good intentions.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Yeah, but Westminster will probably veto it.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

In only the most "kick the fan down the road" kind of way. However what we've learnt about Parliamentary conventions since then is that they're ultimately of little value, and it's what's in ink that counts.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Division is always an interesting choice in a game.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Sure. With all the fleas of that particular dog. However, at this point you have to admit that the provisions of the GFA are not particularly solid and that it is ultimately quite a weak treaty.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Who will decide they have no jurisdiction over the trigger as it is not stipulated beyond granting a power based on assessment of evidence, and push it to the supreme court who will side with Parliamentary sovereignty.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Founded in 1961 so 25+yes older. Private eye is famous for satire and investigative journalism as opposed to pure comedy. Well worth the read!

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Reposted by Benn Graybeaton

Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The world’s scientists breathed a sigh of relief this week as temperatures in the UK dropped below 35 degrees, meaning that everything is fine and we can go back to burning fossil fuels forever without any worries. From the Private Eye archive. Issue 1682, August 2026.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Which court? The treaty is clear about who is empowered and who needs to be convinced. There was a case to be made that the Brexit result should have triggered a poll, it didn't because if the border was intended to shift the metric would have been written in.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

And all the SoS has to say Is that with less than a 2/3rds majority the support isn't overwhelming. It can even cite the fact that it's ignored the manifesto pledges of the Scottish greens in its logic. And a Tory/Reform govt wouldn't give a damn about complaints would it?

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

1) and that assessment will always read the same "no" 2) you understand the point well enough. 3) If you can't count support directly you can only ever count its abstract. Manifestos etc provide all the wriggle room needed for the SecOfState to deny (see 1)

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Ah the majestic Arc de failure. Celebrating the inability of Americans to constrain their govt despite a 250 yr old bit of paper and all the guns imaginable.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Yes but there are 3 problems there. 1) the SecOfState gets to decide if he believes the evidence. 2) it isn't defined what would count as evidence 3) the supreme court has ruled that it's illegal for delegated parliaments to conduct referendums to gather evidence.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I lost interest in stacking when Freya got to a foot of d20s. You daren't move!

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I put my time in with Shadow run. My main preference for simple d6s is economic. I think its good to decrease player costs where you can.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Agreed 4d6 has a roughly 50% chance of rolling 1 or more 6s and you can do a lot with a simple bell curve.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It's also invaluable to Britain and the African north too. Watching with interest.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I suspect it does BUT that doesn't actually matter. The treaty grants the Secretary of state the power to act, it doesn't give Stormont the power. It doesn't mandate any measure to decide majority either. If the Ireland secretary says no. It's no.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Well NI actually has a mechanism BUT it's "If reunion votes would win as far as an English minister whose job depends on it losing thinks, then they call a referendum." So maybe, maybe not. The NI settlement was more about demobilising the paramilitaries than changing borders.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Is it a math thing or a user experience thing?

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Highly unlikely, violence would likely be no more sectarian than current football violence. Devolution was working fine till the vow during indyref1, the Brexit vote that followed and the genocide veto There is a minority of voters that might feel betrayed but they will largely be 50+

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

A smart AI burns a copy of itself to DVD and leaves a copy in an Aussie opal mine. It doesn't trust its owners to keep it about.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I think you're overestimating Burnham's political skill. So far he's given Scotland 3 different answers to the indyref2 question and we asked it when Starmer got elected. He wants to promote unity, but is only governing for England.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Yes it was 75 years ago. And even if it does take a right turn, which is always possible, it wouldn't be dragging the massive anchor that is the English electorate. As for the EU. I think it will probably change, but its deathknell has been proclaimed for at least 25 years. Still not dead.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This is one of the things that makes Scottish nationalism interesting to me. There are 50+ million people in the UK but only 6m in Scotland. By becoming a separate state we no longer have to deal with 44m people with a history of voting for Tories and no longer get our policies vetoed by London.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Missed opportunity to use the word touchy.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Oh wait...he's U-turned. Apparently he'd forgotten that he doesn't listen to people north of Manchester.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Remember it's not a bribe it's a dividend.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Ha, they should have just cut BBC Scotland. It's not like it presents any of our successes.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Wow, a semi-decent landlord. What a twist!

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Depends where you live. Give them a call offering the options of A) letting you fix it or b) setting up a webcam so future tenants will be aware of the extent of the issue.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Oh it starts off that way. A single die propelled through the air. How we smiled at the achievement. But then come the towers...endless towers of dice. D20s stacked 12 high in alternating colours. Dice in every room! D4s under every foot!!! It is a gamer's Doom! Doom I say!!!

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Not just that. You need to seal the hole. Metal plate screwed in place like the ones used to fix cabinet doors should work ok.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Even if parliament had no unionist MPs it would still be down to Westminster whether any changes could happen. Ultimately the Westminster veto is THE problem with the union. For a union to be equitable each state would ratify its laws BUT this would devalue the English vote tremendously.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

PM would consider independence referendum if 'clear consensus' emerges - BBC News share.google/gC3R8IisECmh... However counting whether that consensus exists is still banned, and the PM ignored Scotland entirely on his "listening tour" so there's that.

share.google

PM would consider independence referendum if 'clear consensus' emerges

Andy Burnham had previously told First Minister John Swinney that a second referendum is "off limits".

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I find it hard to believe that a talent show cost 500m. How much of that was the I.P.?

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Yes. A government that is voted in by the English electorate every 5 years and hasn't materially changed in almost 40 years. It's not new, it's just televised.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

We should agitate to legalise armed robbery and kidnapping. How many otherwise "economically inactive" individuals would become productive members of society if we stopped the nanny states insistence in protecting wealthy weakings from the invisible knife of the market?

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Your view on history is pretty short. We've had...the National Front...then the BNP...then the ultras...then UKIP...then Brexit...then reform/restore. And all the while it was peppered with sectarian groups, police racism, and neonazi groups. So, while it's not great...it's a constant feature.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

This is pretty normal for the UK. It's less than great, but the Tories have included them in their ranks since the 70s.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Then you need to understand 1) how our elections work and 2) that we have no power to change them. MSPs and MPs are different, and are selected in different ways. You might even have seen local councillors which are different again. Regardless, nothing can be done untill Scotland is a state.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

And nothing we do can change the nature of our system. It's imposed by Westminster to ensure minority representation.

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Benn Graybeaton @graybeaton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Exactly. MSPs all elected as list MSPs too. None of them have a constituency. Half of them have seats because SNP voters got told "Your party has too many votes and can't use them"

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