Bring on Brexit

Let's face it, the United Kingdom — the parts of it that matter in England and Wales anyway — has never really been that pushed on the European Union. One foot in, one foot out kind of job. 

So should the UK's electorate do the, um, honourable thing and decide to leave the European Union, a Brexit as it's being called (a bit unfair to Northern Ireland, situated on the island of Ireland as it is), a whole raft of exciting, new opportunities looks set to come their way. Here we take a look at some of the standout ones:

Going down! (Image from Facebook.)

Eurovision: 'Eur havin' a laff!'

Europe's annual song contest, an event that has been running since 1956, used to have a bit of prestige — it did introduce the world to ABBA remember, while the UK had memorable winners in Brotherhood of Man, Bucks Fizz, and even Katrina and the Waves. 

However, in recent years it seems to have become less about the quality of songs and more about ridiculous on-stage antics. A Brexit would give the UK the perfect excuse to stand aside and leave those crazy eastern Europeans to it. (Perhaps Ireland could follow suit?)

Flood the Channel Tunnel

If the UK's relationship with Europe has been a bit love-hate its, nay England's, relationship with France has been much more hate than love down through the centuries. 

The Channel Tunnel/Eurotunnel that connects the two countries might be seen as a symbol of European integration and togetherness. Sod that. England should be erecting barriers to keep the French et al. out, not allowing them an easy route in. In the aftermath of a Brexit, Donald Trump will be on hand to help out in keeping those nasty foreigners at bay.

United England (and Wales)

Speaking of foreigners, the reality is that the heartbeat of the United Kingdom has always been England, with Wales in tow. Those guys on the peripheries, namely the Scots and Northern Irish, have generally been unstable nuisances. 

Voting to leave the EU could give the opportunity to do a bit of overdue pruning. The parsimonious Scots would have more reason to go it alone after chickening out a couple of years back. As for the Northern Irish, they might realise they've more in common with their southern brethren, finally putting an end to that 'damned Irish question' for Westminster.

Football's coming home

The English — the essence of the UK as we've already deciphered — invented football (or soccer if you will) as we know it (China doesn't count). Why then, should they have to pander to the likes of Uefa and Fifa? They should be dictating things, like the old empire used to do in many spheres back in the day. 

Exiting the European political union could open the door to re-evaluate how England does business with the rest of the continent from a football perspective. 

For example, if you'd all English referees at the European Championships, none of these diving prima donnas from the continent would get away with their antics and England would probably win the thing outright (or fail gloriously in a penalty shoot-out; plus ça change). 

Or if tournaments were just held in England, the country's football hooligans could engage in their regular, just-for-a-laff 'show of strength' without having to put up with all the, um, over-the-top international castigation.

Sticking with sport, a Brexit could also pave the way for a return to golf’s original Ryder Cup, that of Great Britain versus the USA. Heck, even if it was just English players on their own, they'd easily dispose of the States these days.

So there you have it; the future's looking bright, the future's Brexit.
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"Put the 'rucking' rugby on, ¡por favor!"

The bars/tiendas are stocking up. Replica jerseys of the competing nations are being sold on the street. There's giddy excitement in the air. Yep, Rugby World Cup 2015 is almost upon us and Colombia is gearing up for it with gusto.

OK, I might be in dreamland there. Yes, the tiendas are stocking up, but that's a never-ending process. Yes, replica jerseys are being sold on the streets, but they always are and there's not a rugby one to be found. And yes, there's giddy excitement (or is that nervousness?) in the air — in a land with so many gorgeous (flaky as some may be) women about, that's inevitable.

Ireland's talismanic leader, Paul O'Connell. (Photo from Facebook.)

Considering there isn't a Colombian link to rugby union's showcase event — not one that I know of anyway — that the tournament will pass off without registering much of a beat in these parts isn't surprising. 

There's also the fact that rugby is very much a minority sport here. It is played in some universities and elsewhere but it's generally expat-led. The vast majority of football-mad locals have no idea of what rugby is about nor, understandably enough, do they have any interest in it; indeed even those who actually play it here don't seem to get it.

Thankfully, via ESPN Latin America, the battle for the Webb Ellis trophy will be broadcast on TV in the region. The only snag is convincing my local tienda owner to put it on; a Spanish football second division match would take precedence over the likes of Ireland-France. Perhaps I can arouse the locals' curiosity sufficiently enough to get them slightly interested (and supporting Ireland, of course) in order to watch the games.

There's always the internet or an interested party's house (somebody who has a TV, that is), but it can be nice to watch these things in a bar/tienda, if you could just get people not to interrupt your viewing.

As for the competition itself, well despite the genuine effort that will come from the other nations involved (20 in total), you can be pretty certain that the winner will come from one of the top-seven ranked teams in the world. Those are, in current order; New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, Wales, Ireland and France.

There are those who say you could narrow it down even further, to simply one — New Zealand. That's being a little disrespectful to the others, especially previous winners South Africa, Australia and England, but there's no doubt that the All Blacks, like always, are the team to beat.

What makes them more formidable this time around is that what had been a recurring theme for them in renewals prior to 2011 — cracking under the pressure of expectation — doesn't appear to be part of the equation this time around. Winning on home soil four years ago, their first global triumph in the professional era, has only added to their aura of invincibility.

Yet, the bookmakers aren't about to pay out on them just yet. Of the chasing pack, it could be argued that the big Northern Hemisphere sides come into this as strong as ever. And that it is being held in England and Wales, this should be a help to both those sides, as well as Ireland who go into the tournament as the best team in Europe for the past two seasons.

Formidable: the All Blacks. (Photo from Facebook.)

Indeed, expectations for the latter — although tempered somewhat by previous demoralising experiences when hopes were high as well as warm-up defeats to Wales and England which have left some doubts — are that at least a maiden semi-final can be reached. In this regard, defeating France in the pool stage and thus avoiding a potential last-eight clash with the All Blacks could be key to attaining that goal.

That brings us to the South American powerhouse in the mix, Argentina, Ireland's other possible quarter-final opponents. Los Pumas in many ways have been world rugby's breath of fresh air in recent years. While they have long been producing top-class players, it had been difficult for them to maintain consistency against the more traditional rugby-playing nations.

A lot of this was down to their geographical isolation and relatively poor organisational structures back home, meaning their most talented plied their trade miles from Argentina. 

Both drawbacks still exist but their merited inclusion in the Rugby Championship (formerly the Tri-Nations) in 2012 has seen them play Australia, New Zealand and South Africa on an annual basis.

Such tests have only helped to improve their competitiveness — note their historic first-ever win over South Africa this year. Were they to meet Ireland in the last eight, they'd certainly fancy their chances of another World Cup success against their old foes.

South America has another representative in the shape of Uruguay. Their best hope will be to keep losing margins respectable in what is the toughest pool in the tournament with England, Australia, Wales and an unpredictable Fiji expected to lead the charge, perhaps in that order.

So who can we expect to see going head-to-head in the Halloween final? Well, at this stage it would be a shock if the All Blacks weren’t there. Who will join them is a far trickier prediction. Depending on how the pools go, we could end up with an Australia-New Zealand final.

Ireland had been touted as potential finalists, but as mentioned their lead-in games have watered down such thoughts. The smarter money might be on hosts England, with fortress Twickenham giving them an extra edge, making the final cut.

But as anyone who has ever kicked a rugby ball knows, it can bounce in strange ways. Perhaps France have been saving themselves for this moment; a coup de foudre of sorts, on enemy territory? The next six weeks or so will tell a tale.
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Scotland: Rising to be the nation again?

It is said that all good things come to those who wait. So, after a political union with its fellow British neighbours to the south, England and Wales, since 1707, Scotland may be about to, once again, go it alone. Well, that is go it alone insofar as any independent country can in today’s globalised world.

There's much focus on Scotland right now. Yes or no chaps? (Image from bbc.co.uk.)

Of course, whether making a break for autonomy from the UK will be a good thing or not for our Celtic cousins depends on who you speak to. In truth, nobody really knows how such a move would go.

In contrast to many other countries that are currently striving for self-determination and those that did so previously, the Scottish position isn’t exactly a case of running from an oppressive, unrepresentative regime.

In fact, it could be argued that Scotland, on the whole, has benefitted as much as any of the countries in the Union since its inception.

Looking at it with green-tinted eyes, it would be ironic that after countless deaths due to failed uprisings in the name of Irish freedom – followed by protracted violence and death when said freedom wasn’t achieved for some – Scotland gets full independence after a single, democratic act.

OK, different time, different context.

For one, in the Irish story, you had a majority on the island who were treated and maintained as, at best, second-class citizens due to their religion, culture and customs. This was the case throughout the period of English dominance there. In general, the Scots have enjoyed a much fairer deal since their union.

On the flip side, considering all that happened in the last century and the problems still existing regarding Ireland’s national question, perhaps it should have been the Irish revolutionaries who trusted in the all-good-things motto.

In purely economic terms, some say Ireland would have been better staying in the UK.

However, asserting one’s autonomy is more than just loot. At the time of partial Irish secession, there was a general feeling of ‘freedom from a repressive regime’ – we’ll leave the Catholic Church’s unchecked, iron-fisted rule out of this for now.* 

Also, thankfully, that freedom from led to a freedom to allow individuals to live their lives, speak their minds, state their own political party, etc. (for a greater discussion on this read Thomas L. Friedman’s Order vs. Disorder from The New York Times).

Moreover, after a shaky start, the new Irish state formed alliances, on its own terms, with old friends in Europe. Current financial problems apart, it can be said that the Irish spirit and confidence are stronger today than they were 100 years ago. This is despite (or maybe because of) our natural begrudgery and cynicism.

As for Scotland’s current run for freedom, it’s not, to restate, a case of trying to remove the shackles of a repressive regime. It’s a group of largely like-minded people attempting to reassert the full independence of an ancient kingdom.

Is that an 'X' for yes or for no?

It’s what you might call benign nationalism, sought after in a democratic way. Should the people give it the green light, it’s highly unlikely "new" Scotland will embark on an expansionist scheme, trying to Tartanise the region. Well, there will be a few difficult issues to be needled out – maritime borders and currency to name just two – but they’ll be settled around the negotiating table, not the battlefield.

The point is you, only need to look at the Middle East to see the uglier, far more dangerous side to this: aggressive, undemocratic nationalism. Yes, there are a host of intertwined, complex reasons why this is so, with outside influences having as much culpability as those inside.

Much of it emanates from a succession of autocratic leaders followed by weak, quasi-democratic administrations. Legitimacy and order have been sorely lacking. Needless to say, the problems there won’t be solved after one or two elections. We’ll leave that discussion for another day.

Back in Scotland, if a yes vote is delivered it would serve to underscore that this once united, great – for it did many great deeds on this planet – Britain is now a fragmented, very ordinary shadow of itself. It would also be, at the very least, a blow to British, nay English, prestige.

In such an event, the door would be open for our Anglo-Saxon and Welsh neighbours to join what you might see as a restructured union, the ‘Alliance of Celts and English’, the ACE group of nations. A potentially powerful hand indeed.

So what'll it be Scotland?
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*If there are problems with the hyperlink to that light-hearted, but telling, take on the Catholic Church's assumption of power after the Irish Free State came into existence, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Z1dqJzxNo.

For a more general piece on the whole area of nationalism and the accompanying problems with it, read Tribal warfare.