Brexit

[gmoney]

9 minutes ago, Just Some Guy said:

I live in the UK and prior to Friday the news and papers did not have wall to wall coverage of HGV driver shortages.

That's weird, I thought it was the press that stirred it up?

[Just Some Guy]

1 minute ago, gmoney said:

That's weird, I thought it was the press that stirred it up?

Not my argument.

[Keith Houchen]

6 minutes ago, Just Some Guy said:

40,000 short in Deutschland it would appear.

Yeah I was under the impression that there is a shortage but not to the point where the supply chain has been affected, however that will change should similar issues that we have regarding the aging driver base and conditions. 
 

Panic buying is a is usually a symptom and not a cause. As you say, it happens when something has already gone wrong. Was reading someone theorising that BP approached the papers after badgering the government for years over the issue of driver shortage and the problem it’ll cause and got fed up of Downing St doing nothing about it. 
 

Ive certainly noticed a difference in supermarket stock levels since we took back control and sent the buggers back. 

[BomberPat]

13 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

Ive certainly noticed a difference in supermarket stock levels since we took back control and sent the buggers back. 

My dad worked in supermarkets in the '80s and early '90s, and has been banging this drum for a while - Covid and Brexit have massively accelerated a problem that was already there, but beforehand supermarkets were able to paper over the cracks.

In the '90s pretty much every supermarket moved towards "just in time" stock replenishment, which means that if anything goes wrong with the supply chain there's fuck all that they can do about it, because they don't have stockpiles of produce or a warehouse down the road to pull from. Until now, it's been rare that the (mainland) UK has been consistently hit with situations that expose the weakness of that model, but Covid, Brexit, and associated panic buying have exposed it. When I lived in Jersey, all it took was a couple of days' bad weather to mean the boats didn't get in and the shelves were bare - if that fell over a bank holiday, it got a bit desperate - but in most parts of England, it's the first time people are facing this.

[King Coconut]

52 minutes ago, Just Some Guy said:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.transportlogistic.de/en/trade-fair/industry-insights/truck-driver-shortage/&ved=2ahUKEwiS3qS266HzAhXKNuwKHSeyB9IQFnoECF4QBQ&usg=AOvVaw38eqawojiScTcm_ARCO-HU

Thanks for that. I followed a few of the source links and some of them refer back to reports from 2017, so it's certainly an issue that's been anticipated for years within the industry. It seems that this info simply isn't being used in a political manner here and, of course, being right in the middle of the EU (and a member of it) will definitely help Germany fill the shortfall.

[kieranjennings]

I think we work on a 4 day cycle supply of food so any disruptions in that chain obviously causes an issue getting things to the shelves. Last year for example there was a gap of 60-80,000 people (heavily dependent on coming from Europe)  to support our harvest season (which is traditionally where switch from imports to domestic products). When that shortfall can't be met then we become very dependent on imports which obviously has become more expensive. With the haulage issues too it's now so much harder to get into and around the country. 

Companies were asked to start stockpiling up to 6 months worth of goods in the last year but not all were able to do so due to cash flow reasons obviously and with the cost of freight leaping dramatically then it becomes even more of a struggle.

To think we did this to ourselves is just madness really. Even worse that we did and then didn't even prepare properly (pandemic or no pandemic)

[LCJ]

6 hours ago, kieranjennings said:

To think we did this to ourselves is just madness really. Even worse that we did and then didn't even prepare properly (pandemic or no pandemic)

Well 52% of the voters in the referendum did this. The incompetent, lazy and rash PM and his God awful Government made sure we left without preparing properly.

[Keith Houchen]

36 minutes ago, LCJ said:

Well 52% of the voters in the referendum did this. The incompetent, lazy and rash PM and his God awful Government made sure we left without preparing properly.

The previous PM has to bear a good chunk of blame too. 

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, LCJ said:

Well 52% of the voters in the referendum did this. The incompetent, lazy and rash PM and his God awful Government made sure we left without preparing properly.

That's the thing: Brexit, in itself, didn't have to be the absolute shit-storm it is. The UK wouldn't just wink out of existence because we left the EU, as there are several states outside the EU that do alright; we have the world's 5th largest national economy. But we were members of the EU for forty fucking years, which means institutions, systems, legislature, meta-systems, networks, frameworks, infrastructure were all entwined to a deep level, and couldn't just be removed within a year or so. It's a process that would take time.

But no - the gammon had to have their cake and eat it; like children, they wanted what they wanted and they wanted it now, making out that anyone who advocated a measured and careful exit was basically a Remainer. 

Whatever we chose to do, remain or leave, we could've done fine. But the people driving Brexit, and the mindset of those people, are what fucked the option that required the most care and time. It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Carbomb

[LCJ]

I mean I get that Brexit was the result of a referendum (democracy, the will of the people - as small as that margin was) but it just isn’t working. I know it’s early days but I can’t see a single benefit to Brexit that is going to improve the lives of the people of Britain. I can’t think of any long term benefits either. I know that Labour are respecting the result of the referendum but there may come a time where you have to say enough is enough and put another EU Referendum in your manifesto. If Brexit keeps going as disastrously as it has been for the next three years, then it could cost the Tories dearly at the next election. Even if Labour are still a shambles who need to sort themselves out.

[air_raid]

7 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

The previous PM has to bear a good chunk of blame too. 

And the one before her. Who gambled the entire country’s future in the first place on the referendum to play to his own agenda, and when he lost, we all lost.

[RancidPunx]

2 hours ago, air_raid said:

And the one before her. Who gambled the entire country’s future in the first place on the referendum to play to his own agenda, and when he lost, we all lost.

I honestly don’t get why people blame David Cameron do much..

He made a promise to hold a referendum if re-elected, he was re-elected and held the referendum.

Or an i missing a bit there ?

Surey what happens after that is beyond him. It’s the likes of Farrage surely that deserve the majority of the blame ?

 

Has anybody actually held them accountable over the NHS bus figures being wrong ?

[kieranjennings]

He only did that though to get the more far right parts of the country to vote Tory rather than lose some of their support to Farage. Unfortunately it then gave Farage the oxygen he needed and massively backfired

[westlondonmist]

22 minutes ago, RancidPunx said:

I honestly don’t get why people blame David Cameron do much..

He made a promise to hold a referendum if re-elected, he was re-elected and held the referendum.

Or an i missing a bit there ?

Surey what happens after that is beyond him. It’s the likes of Farrage surely that deserve the majority of the blame ?

 

Has anybody actually held them accountable over the NHS bus figures being wrong ?

I think he should have stayed and faced the music, he said he would. However I'm not surprised he thought the anti EU side should deal with the shit show they caused. 

I personally will always mostly blame Farage, Johnson, Mogg and the fuck wits to made up shit. I think they all knew it was bullshit too. Farage has made a good living spreading fear that he knows is bollocks and the others saw the opportunity to take control of their party and that leaving wouldn't affect them much personally. 

[air_raid]

37 minutes ago, RancidPunx said:

I honestly don’t get why people blame David Cameron do much..

He made a promise to hold a referendum if re-elected, he was re-elected and held the referendum.

Or an i missing a bit there ?

His main motivation for promising the referendum was thought in some circles to be to out as many anti-Europe members of his own party as he could, gambling that the country wouldn’t actually be suicidal enough to vote to leave, and that he could deal with “traitors” in the aftermath. He gambled, we all lost.