Brexit means a booming Scottish fishing industry

Read Brexit: For A New Country at this link.

A new and amusing line is being heard from Scottish Federasts, which states that if Scotland and England vote differently next month, then the border trade between us could be affected, and that could lead to a rebirth of the old tradition of the Border Reivers.

Now, shall we take this nonsense seriously? Oh, let's do, and say what's wrong with reiving? You may think that I would say that, given my surname is Bell, and you would be dead right since it would mean that I could go back to the old family tradition of stealing sheep on one side of the border and then flogging 'em off on the other - which is basically what the reiver clans in Scotland and families in England did. The Bells were on both sides of the Tweed, so were equal opportunity raiders.

They were generally regarded by in both Edinburgh and London as being the tastiest of all the Border peoples, which is why after the Union of the Crowns in 1603 both governments went after the Bells with a vengeance.

Enough of these increasingly desperate Federast fantasies. It is a fact, and not a fantasy, that  if Scotland votes to leave the EU, then the country will immediately take control of her farming and fisheries. As you will know, the fishing industry was sold out by Ted Heath as one of the bribes paid to get the UK into what would become the EU back in 1973. However, what is left of the fishing industry is fully devolved to Holyrood, which is why fishery protection is handled by Edinburgh and not London.

Yes, that's why we have our very own, perfectly formed Marine Protection Flotilla, which consists of the Mina, Herta and Jura vessels, along with a small air squadron.

Think about it for a minute: all those waters which currently come under the control of Brussels will pass not to London, but to Edinburgh. Think of the jobs that will be created in the new Scottish fishing industry, with skippers of the new trawlers begging school leavers to sign up as fishermen.

Look beyond that because those waters will need protecting, and with all due respect to the officers and men of the three existing patrol ships, they are not going to be enough. Scotland will need her own Royal Scots Navy to ensure that the waters are reserved for our boats, and to check the licenses of any foreign vessels that are allowed into them. How will that be paid for? By the taxes paid by our fishing industry and the license fees from the foreign vessels.

This is the ensign of the old, pre-1707 Royal Scots Navy. Vote Leave next month and you could see it flying proudly again:

This is what the Americans call a no-brainer: anyone who wants to keep Scotland in the EU does not care a tinker's cuss for our school leavers or the future prosperity of the country.