Most surreal story and one which seems to have slipped most peoples eye has been the erosion of the Scottish Parliaments hard won tax varying powers as described in the BBC report below...
This is a Parliament led by the Nationalists who have hissy fits about which way up you hang the flag but when it comes down to real issues of autonomy the Nats have let their subs lapse as if it were a membership of a golf club. Come on guys you're supposed to be running a country.
A close second in terms of surrealism is the referees strike being planned for Saturday.
Tired of repeated abuse being directed their way our Men in Black (they are all at present men) have decided to down whistles and flex their industrial muscle. Football is very big business and the players and owners generally do very very well out of it considering what they do (it isn't developing life saving medicine or anything). The worst paid on the pitch are the refs and the players treat them appallingly. The refs usually do not complain and get on with it. In Scotland the spectre of religious intolerance is never far away and refs perceived allegiances are always the subject of debate and innuendo. This is adds an unhealthy dimension. This week when the criticism from the Clubs went too far the refs decided to go out on strike.
Who can blame them. It is a difficult job when decisions, which rely on a few inches and split seconds, have to be taken and you are then audited against TV play backs. In rugby refs are given due respect and the idea that any of them would be subjected to what a footie ref gets would be anathema to all. This is not the most surreal industrial dispute I have heard of. I do recall in the militant early 70's one of my brothers leading an altar boys strike. But that is a different story!
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