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Scotland: B. Johnson has blundered and blustered through the pandemic but Sturgeon, by
contrast, sounds capable in a crisis. She has benefited politically from her management of the
health crisis.
The nationalist bug is now embedded in the UK. The pro-independence Scottish National Party
(SNP) makes no secret of its desire to hold a new referendum on independence after it lost the
previous one in 2014. The party is widely tipped to win Scottish parliamentary elections in May,
and victory would increase pressure on the UK government in London to agree to a second vote.

Immigration: a new points-based system for foreign citizens wanting to move in the UK. The
new system for work visas will be based on points (70 points).
- Being able to speak English
- Having better qualifications
- Having an offer of job

Northern Ireland becomes an exception: The UK and EU have agreed to keep an all-but-invisible
border, without checkpoints, between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Northern
Ireland will continue to follow many of the EU's rules.

Essai 1: Against a backdrop of rising tensions concerning BREXIT, British carmakers have to
prepare for a possible no-deal that would threaten the whole car industry.

Whilst others rather build up reserves, car manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda and Bentley,
which have factories in Britain, have started to seek for new certification agencies in the EU.
Indeed, every new car model in the UK needs to get an approval from a European regulator, thus
a no-deal could only hurt their business. Moreover, the future of the UK car industry is as
compromised as its Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is. The validity of the VCA sure is a
matter of prime concern.

More worryingly, the columnist asserts that it is actually pretty difficult to prevent any king of
damage that a no-deal would cause. However, it would certainly hit the industry hard.
Manufacturers fear the plausible huge delays that it would trigger; not only could this be a
disaster for the production in the short-term but also for jobs in the long run.
If the journalist argues that stockpiling is not the solution, he asserts that an efficient
alternative would be to adapt the British VCA’s criteria to the European ones.

All in all, the columnist claims that there could still be hope for the British car industry if they
succeed to find an agreement, limiting damage.

Correction prof:
Located in Mainland Europe (Europe continentale). All of the key players have their backs to the
wall be it Honda or …. Even Jaguar, the UK’s flagship/iconic carmaker has to follow suit. Brexit
has stirred up another hornet’s nest: assembly lines rely heavily on in-time deliveries. It is no
doubt a bread and butter issue for the country. Indeed, the UK’s thriving/ flourishing/ buoyant
economy could take a heavy blow. Resulting in countless redundancies. Were the negotiations
to/. There is no escaping it

Ø Brexiters: “the Outers “

Ø (B)remainers: “the Inners”
The Brexit/out campaign
The (B)remain/in campaign
The UK and Europe: History

Charles de Gaulle always resisted the UK’s attempts to join the EEC, claiming the country would
not be fully committed to the cause and would be a Trojan Horse for the USA. History would
prove him right, at least on the former point. Thatcher famously said “I want my money back”,
complaining that UK agriculture did not benefit from the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy),
and she got it (the Thatcher Rebate is still paid back to the UK every year).
During the 80s and the 90s, Margaret Thatcher and John Major consistently vetoed European
legislation. The UK adopted a “pick and choose” policy during that period, opting out of the
Social Chapter of the Maastricht Treaty for example.
<<<<<<
At the time, the gutter press and even more respectable broadsheets such as the Daily
Telegraph contributed to the anti-EU sentiment that pervaded (propager/ diffuser) the country.

Things improved dramatically under Tony Blair (Labour, PM from 1997-2008). He was a staunch
Europhile, even though he was criticized by European partners for acting like George Bush’s
“poodle” (caniche) during the Iraq War in 2003. In 2004, he welcomed immigrants from the 10
new member states with open arms, and they soon started actively contributing to the Nation’s
economic prosperity.

The financial crisis saw a sharp change in attitudes however. “Polish Plumbers” accused of
stealing natives’ jobs and depressing wages, became scapegoats for the nation’s ills (/maux/).
David Cameron came to power in 2010 on the back of pledges to cut eastern and central
European immigration and to prevent “welfare tourists” exploiting the system. Ukip, at first a
single-issue minority party, steadily gained momentum, before winning the European elections
in 2014 and winning its first seats in Parliament soon afterwards. Cameron himself was
moderate on the EU question, but he had his hands tied by the growing Eurosceptic wing of his
party, and had to pander (soutenir) to them to avoid losing votes to Ukip. The mass influx of A2
migrants from Bulgaria and Romania in 2014 after a seven-year moratorium was the final straw
for many UK citizens.

On June 24 2016, the UK voted to withdraw from the EU by 52% to 48% after a referendum with
a turnout (participation) of 72.16%.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage hailed it as "the UK’s independence day", the Remain camp called it a
catastrophe, and an online petition received over 4 million signatures, asking to hold another
vote, on the grounds that most people had not understood the issues, and had been lied to
during the campaign. Ukip leader Nigel Farage even admitted he had lied about using money
saved from the EU to fund the NHS. The day after the vote, the most popular Google search
was “what is Brexit?”, with many people claiming to regret their protest vote.

The main causes of Brexit

1) Cameron’s aristocratic old Etonian image made him seem out of touch faced with charismatic
populist figures such as Boris Johnson (ironically an aristocratic old Etonian) and Nigel Farage,
whose unrealistic promises won the day over economic arguments.
2) Anti-European immigrant sentiment (see explanation on Polish Plumbers)
3) Years of austerity had caused people to want to protest against the government.
4) A lot of older Britons felt betrayed after voting to join the EEC in a 1975 referendum. They
were promised at the time that it would be a purely economic arrangement, and were unhappy
at increasing political influence of the EU which attacked the UK’s sovereignty, particularly
coming from unelected “Eurocrats”.
5) Many left-wingers (who were not supporters of Farage/Johnson) voted against the EU because
they wanted a social, not an economic Europe.
 The consequences of Brexit
In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, Britain was hugely divided, with people claiming to be
bullied at work because of their vote, a fivefold rise in racial hate crime in the following
months. Even the divorce rate soared. Environmental activists were worried that the UK would
go back to being “the dirty man of Europe” with polluted beaches and weak conservation laws,
as it was the EU that forced the country to play the ecological game. There were also serious
questions about whether or not Scotland would hold another in-out referendum on leaving the
UK, as the Scots voted against Brexit, and were unhappy at having to leave the EU. Many banks
and leading companies threatened to take their business elsewhere, worried about losing the
financial advantages of the UK’s EU membership.

Why is Britain sitting on a powder keg ?

Against a backdrop of fast spreading pandemic, the journalist accounts for the threat looming
over the Kingdom through Boris Johnson’s egregious though unwilling blunders.
Insofar as each nation has had its say (avoir son mot à dire) since Tony Blair’s infamous
(tristement célèbre) devolution, they have been hard put (avoir du mal à) to reach any
agreement whatsoever (pas le moindre).

A motley crew (drôle de bande) of politicians has failed to come up with consistent measures to
crack down on the virus. SNP-lead Scotland jumped on the covid bandwagon so as to shade
(faire de l’ombre à) a crude light on Johnson’s poor management of the crises. It has wreak
havoc on the Kingdom (causer des dégâts). The SNP’s long-standing stranglehold over Scottish
politics is an aggravating factor. Were Hollyrood to quit the Union, it would shake it to its
foundations.

The two thousands and sixteen votes had left the Union in tatters. Since then, much salt has
been rubbed on the gaping wounds. With the ongoing disorderly negotiations aiming to secure a
deal with the EU, come what may (quoiqu’il advienne).
Not only has Scotland drifted (partir à la dérive) farther away, but also Northern Ireland has
reacquainted itself with Ireland (renouer avec, familiariser avec) and thereby with Europe
economically speaking for the time being (pour l’instant). By and large (dans l’ensemble),
Johnson’s rash statements were akin to (analogue à) blowing on the flames of independence.

The incumbent (actuel) Prime Minister pigheadedness is a poisoned chalice (cadeau

empoissonné), the columnist bemoans / laments.
Time Is running out of the UK, were Johnson to turn a deaf ear to Brown or Stainer’s warning
shots (tir d’avertissement, coup de semonce), he might bring about the demise (trépas, chute)
of the Kingdom.

Coup de semonce: a wake-up call

To bury one’s head in the sand: faire l’autruche
A pet peeve: la bête noire