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Brexit

Started by vandermolen, May 01, 2017, 10:14:35 PM

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steve ridgway

We're still seeing plenty of random shortages in the shops and now petrol stations are being hit too. :(

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58645712

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: steve ridgway on September 23, 2021, 06:07:09 AM
We're still seeing plenty of random shortages in the shops and now petrol stations are being hit too. :(

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58645712
Sorry to hear the bad news.  I feel for you!

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

71 dB

Quote from: steve ridgway on September 23, 2021, 06:07:09 AM
We're still seeing plenty of random shortages in the shops and now petrol stations are being hit too. :(

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58645712

BP = Brexit Problems.  :-\
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Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
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steve ridgway

We were due to fill the car up soon as it had only half a tank left so took the opportunity while we still could. Half the pumps had run dry and people were trying to manoeuvre to those remaining but we dropped lucky. Another filling station on the way back home had a queue of vehicles down the road. And the shop had an actual joint of beef which we haven't seen in a few weeks so we bought that too.  ;D

Britain On Its Arse

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: steve ridgway on September 24, 2021, 03:25:34 AM
We were due to fill the car up soon as it had only half a tank left so took the opportunity while we still could. Half the pumps had run dry and people were trying to manoeuvre to those remaining but we dropped lucky. Another filling station on the way back home had a queue of vehicles down the road. And the shop had an actual joint of beef which we haven't seen in a few weeks so we bought that too.  ;D

Britain On Its Arse
It sounds like, according to the article, that only a very small percentage of the gas stations were closed (and temporarily) and that some people are panic buying?  Wondering though about the shortage of truck drivers?

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

steve ridgway

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on September 24, 2021, 06:19:37 AM
Wondering though about the shortage of truck drivers?

Most young people here would rather become social media influencers or at the least games designers. ::)

Que

#1706
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on September 23, 2021, 07:32:29 AM
Sorry to hear the bad news.  I feel for you!

PD

It won't be the last bad news. Can you imagine this is just about lorry drivers?
Labour shortages might appear in other sectors as well, like health care or the food industry.
And the disruption of previously established supply lines goes to the heart of Brexit, which is about altering trade relations.

And then there is the issue of higher inflation and the slowing down of economic growth, which has already started. (In comparison: the speed of economic recovery in the Netherlands exceeds expectations).

The funny thing about Brexit is that most Brits thought it couldn't be so bad - everything kept running as before. The "remoaners" had just been scare mongerers.

Well yes, no wonder if after more than two years of negotiations, transition and "grace" periods any significant changes that could affect the economy only kicked in as from July 1st this year. The speed and way in which things start to unravel now is actually surprising.

And we haven't seen nothing yet...

André

Quote from: steve ridgway on September 24, 2021, 08:41:37 AM
Most young people here would rather become social media influencers or at the least games designers. ::)

Apparently over the years british companies have favoured hiring polish/eastern european drivers on the cheap rather than making the job better paid and more attractive. A lot of those cheap laborers have left as their working conditions became intolerable.


John Copeland

Quote from: Que on September 24, 2021, 10:11:16 AM
It won't be the last bad news. Can you imagine this is just about lorry drivers?
Labour shortages might appear in other sectors as well, like health care or the food industry.
And the disruption of previously established supply lines goes to the heart of Brexit, which is about altering trade relations.

And then there is the issue of higher inflation and the slowing down of economic growth, which has already started. (In comparison: the speed of economic recovery in the Netherlands exceeds expectations).

The funny thing about Brexit is that most Brits thought it couldn't be so bad - everything kept running as before. The "remoaners" had just been scare mongerers.

Well yes, no wonder if after more than two years of negotiations, transition and "grace" periods any significant changes that could affect the economy only kicked in as from July 1st this year. The speed and way in which things start to unravel now is actually surprising.

And we haven't seen nothing yet...

+1  What a shambles is coming around, higher inflation, shortages of this that, the next thing, rocketing fuel bills, power companies going down...the list goes on and like you say, "...we haven't seen nothing yet..."
Up here in Scotland  over 62% voted to remain in Europe in 2016.  Every political constituency up here bar none voted to stay in Europe.  In the Independence election two years before that, Scotland were 'promised' by the Conservative Government that we would remain in Europe if we stuck by the Union and didn't go Independent.  This swung a lot of Unionist votes at the last hurdle of that referendum - to stay in the 'Union' of the United Kingdom.  Here we are not eight years later, OUT of Europe, despite having voted unilaterally to  safeguard our place in Europe in 2016 and having voted on the 2014 front page papers promise to the Scots that if we stayed in the Union we would never leave Europe. 
And people wonder why the Scotttish Independence movement is growing more than ever... :(

Madiel

Quote from: Que on September 25, 2021, 04:24:23 AM
My Secret Brexit Diary by Michel Barnier review – a British roasting

The EU's chief negotiator found his UK counterparts bizarrely unfocused during the long haul to fix a Brexit deal – and believes they still don't know what they've done


It really was amazing just how much UK politicians believed the negotiation was amongst themselves, when in reality they were all on one side of the table (well, actually, most of them were some distance behind the table rather than sitting at it).

The whole thing was constantly framed not as about a deal between the EU and the UK, but about what the UK's House of Commons would agree to. And of course, even that was a total mess, with at one stage Theresa May observing that not only did the House of Commons vote against her proposal, it voted against every alternative proposal as well.

You had 27 organised countries on one side of the negotiation, and a shambles on the other side. It's the kind of policy failure that ought occupy to the textbooks for decades to come.
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Irons

Quote from: steve ridgway on September 23, 2021, 06:07:09 AM
We're still seeing plenty of random shortages in the shops and now petrol stations are being hit too. :(

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58645712

You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

steve ridgway

LOL well the media have created themselves plenty of headlines now with the petrol stations drained. At least my wife has bought a Christmas pudding. ;D

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58701620

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: steve ridgway on September 26, 2021, 09:14:54 PM
LOL well the media have created themselves plenty of headlines now with the petrol stations drained. At least my wife has bought a Christmas pudding. ;D

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58701620
So much for the what was it?  Only 1% of the stations had been impacted/out of fuel article?!

This story broke my heart:  https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-58697788

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Irons

#1714
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on September 27, 2021, 05:06:18 AM
So much for the what was it?  Only 1% of the stations had been impacted/out of fuel article?!

This story broke my heart:  https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-58697788

PD

Only 1% have fuel more like! Brexit, Covid, the selfishness of public or whatever, the Government should have never allowed this to happen and with a feeble opposition navel gazing in Brighton they get away with it!
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Irons on September 27, 2021, 01:28:14 PM
Only 1% have fuel more like! Brexit, Covid, the selfishness of public or whatever, the Government should have never allowed this to happen and with a feeble opposition navel gazing in Brighton they get away with it!
What have you seen/experienced in your area Irons?

And what have others seen?

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Irons

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on September 28, 2021, 02:44:02 AM
What have you seen/experienced in your area Irons?

And what have others seen?

PD

A strange one. Chatting to someone this morning he made the point that, yes, there is a shortage of HGV drivers that (me talking) is down to Brexit. But for delivering fuel there is no shortage. Due to potential dangerous load drivers are highly trained and paid. Also, they are not required to travel long distances unlike many HGV drivers. In other words, a desirable well paid job with good working conditions. So why are motorists are in some cases coming to blows queuing for fuel? I am definitely not going to repeat here the theory put to me and I'm not sure I believe it myself, but much of the blame for this rests with national newspapers. Thanks to their headlines motorists panicked and as one filled up their tanks to full all at the same time. It will be Christmas turkeys next!   
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Spotted Horses

Quote from: Irons on September 28, 2021, 07:23:10 AM
A strange one. Chatting to someone this morning he made the point that, yes, there is a shortage of HGV drivers that (me talking) is down to Brexit. But for delivering fuel there is no shortage. Due to potential dangerous load drivers are highly trained and paid. Also, they are not required to travel long distances unlike many HGV drivers. In other words, a desirable well paid job with good working conditions. So why are motorists are in some cases coming to blows queuing for fuel? I am definitely not going to repeat here the theory put to me and I'm not sure I believe it myself, but much of the blame for this rests with national newspapers. Thanks to their headlines motorists panicked and as one filled up their tanks to full all at the same time. It will be Christmas turkeys next!

That is the explanation. Supply chains do not have a great deal of excess capacity. Everything can be fine, but if everyone decided to top off their tank the same day the fuel suppliers will run out.
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Que

#1718
Quote from: Irons on September 28, 2021, 07:23:10 AM
[...] but much of the blame for this rests with national newspapers. Thanks to their headlines motorists panicked and as one filled up their tanks to full all at the same time. It will be Christmas turkeys next!   

Quote from: Spotted Horses on September 28, 2021, 08:40:16 AM
That is the explanation. Supply chains do not have a great deal of excess capacity. Everything can be fine, but if everyone decided to top off their tank the same day the fuel suppliers will run out.

So the issue is not insufficient supply but a peak in demand, because of scare mongering in the newspapers?

Well, I guess the upside of that would be that since panick buying can't last forever the issue with the shortages will soon be resolved.

André

From today's Washington Post.

Quote
Opinion by Michael Dobbs
Yesterday at 3:24 p.m. EDT


Michael Dobbs is an author and former Washington Post foreign correspondent. His most recent book is "King Richard: Nixon and Watergate — An American Tragedy."


Channeling his inner Winston Churchill, Boris Johnson earned a few headlines recently by addressing his continental "friends" in "Franglais." "Prenez un grip et donnez-moi un break," he said of the French reaction to the new U.S.-Britain-Australia alliance. ("Get a grip and give me a break.") As an expatriate Brit nouvellement arrivé at London's Heathrow Airport from France, I would like to give the British prime minister some equally amicable advice in the foreign language he evidently knows best. "Sortez-out vos horribles problemes de border before lecturer le reste du monde."

As numerous travelers have had occasion to note, the passport lines at Heathrow have become a national disgrace. When I arrived at Terminal Five last Friday, I was confronted with a scene that evoked a peculiarly English version of the Last Judgment. Armies of lost souls in blue masks sat wearily next to their hand luggage waiting for the signal to shuffle forward. The line stretched around two sides of the football-field-sized terminal and all the way back again before even approaching the vast "arrivals" area, where we would prepare to meet our bureaucratic inquisitors.

"E-gates are out of service," a voice informed us over the loudspeaker. "Contingency plans have been activated."
The "contingency plan" turned out to consist of handing out snacks and water to travelers on the verge of fainting. Soon the terminal was littered with the detritus of discarded cans and crumpled crisp bags. The milling throngs of desperate airline passengers were a perfect petri dish for a covid-19 superspreading event.

The British government has strenuously rejected any link between the chaotic scenes at Heathrow — and other, increasingly irksome disruptions to daily life in this "vert et generalement pleasant Terre" — and the fateful decision, in 2016, to leave the European Union. Instead, it has blamed temporary phenomena linked to the pandemic and technical glitches with its passport control system.

"Très désolé, Monsieur Johnson, but cette explication ne wash pas." Over the past two months, I have been traveling around Europe, from Croatia to Ireland to France, with few of the problems I have encountered en Angleterre. European border controls are much less onerous than those of the United Kingdom. In France, I was able to instantly convert my U.S.-issued vaccination card into a French "passe sanitaire" and QR code for access to museums, restaurants and public transport. Britain, by contrast, has insisted on devising an extraordinarily cumbersome health control system, complete with red, orange and green traffic light signals and multiple covid-19 tests for incoming passengers.

The costs of this go-it-alone policy extend far beyond the lines at Heathrow Airport. The latest crisis du jour has taken the form of long lines at gas stations, as visa restrictions on European lorry drivers have caused disruptions to fuel supplies. The government has responded by promising to waive some of the restrictions, but it remains unclear whether this will be sufficient incentive for absent drivers who can drive quite freely across the rest of the continent.
Elsewhere, fruit is rotting in fields due to a shortage of Bulgarian and Romanian pickers who are willing to work for much lower wages. The hospitality industry is in crisis because of the lack of Polish cooks and waiters. Even the iconic National Health Service is having difficulty recruiting sufficient staff.

For all the boasts about "global Britain," the land of my birth seems to be becoming ever more insular. If "taking back control" from supranational European institutions resulted in better outcomes for ordinary Brits, Brexit might be defensible, but so far there have been few concrete benefits and numerous inconveniences. After a successful vaccine rollout early on, Britain is now slipping behind France and Italy in vaccination rates and infection rates.
Most amazing to me, after a two-year absence from these islands, was the resigned way in which my fellow Brits are putting up with all these indignities. It was as if they have been so worn down by the political and economic turmoil of the past few years that they no longer have the will to do much about it.

In Heathrow, it turned out that I was one of the lucky ones, managing to shuffle my way to the head of the immigration line after a mere two hours. British newspapers reported that some were trapped on their planes because of the logjam. Some had to wait up to four hours to get through passport control. "I'm here to tell you that I will never go abroad again," television actress Maureen Lipman wrote in the Daily Mail. "It took years off my life."

Touting the benefits of Brexit, Johnson famously told his fellow countrymen that they would be able to "have (their) cake and eat it." Sadly, Brits are discovering that this is not the case. To put it in language the prime minister might understand: "Votre gouvernement cannot runner un toy train, let alone une patisserie. Je voie only une solution. Retournez en Europe le plus fast possible."