British exports to the EU countries fell by 40% in January (compared to the previous year).

Who'd have thunk it? 🙄

#politics #Brexit

That 40% figure, in combination with the effects of covid, is a portent of a coming catastrophe. The EU was the UK's largest export market. The Lockdown is probably just masking a terrible economic collapse.

#politics #Brexit

However, it gets worse, a lot worse.

Scotland is a small country which has to exist economically by having strong exports (and we have always *had* strong exports).

Here are the figures for some of Scotland's strongest food export sectors:

fish & shellfish down 83%
meat down 59%
dairy down 50%

EU exports in general down 63%

#politics #Brexit #Scotland

Let's do it.

#politics #Brexit #Scotland #Yes

@fitheach Does the relative success of the vaccination programme in the UK in comparison with the EU affect people's perception of the EU?

@mpjgregoire
I shouldn't think so. Views about the EU are very entrenched, on both sides.

Is the vaccination programme relatively successful in the UK, compared to the EU? I don't know.

@fitheach @mpjgregoire Afaik, its slightly better than in France.
But it would be very hard to do worse, so not sure how much this means.

@Meandres @fitheach The UK has managed to vaccinate almost 40% of its population, the EU about 10%. See https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

(The US is almost as good as the UK, Canada is worse than the EU.)

I'm surprised this is not well known; this is arguably the most important chart in the world at the moment.

#ukpol #eupol #uspol #canpol
#covid19

@mpjgregoire
I'm not aware that this is a particular talking point in the UK (or the press), although I might not have my finger on the pulse, currently.

@Meandres