Brexited | the worst threads live the longest

Do you think there will be a Deal or No Deal?

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Maticmaker said:
Yes, very true, Britain is ideal place to pioneer electric car uptake, the Island is so small you can drive from anywhere, to anywhere, on one tank of electricity! ;)
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A tank of electricity! I hope that will be an expression. I love it when we retain such things (instead of calling it a 'charge') - like 'hang up' on a cellphone. :)

(As an aside to this aside: I once heard a Dutch girl say on her cellphone 'ik ga hangen!' = 'I'm going to hang!' Without historical context, that makes absolutely zero sense. It's great!)
 
Cheimoon said:
That's fascinating - thanks for sharing!
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You're welcome, I enjoyed it a lot as well. This is cool too, but completely unrelated. Hope people don't mind too much about it being offtopic.

szdhn86y04471.jpg
 
Penna said:
Just in case anyone living outside the UK needs to renew their British passport, I've just got my new one today and it took a month from sending the old one to getting the new one. I did an online application using a selfie and one of those picture apps which gives you a code to submit.

I never wanted a nasty blue passport. :(
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My passport runs out in March but it's the one we've used for my Singapore visa application, but that whole process keeps getting delayed. It seems almost certain it will have under six months left on it when we hopefully move in about 4-5 weeks, so hope that isn't a problem.
Useful to know it took a month to come though, thanks. Hopefully it doesn't take even longer to reach Asia.
 
Cheimoon said:
A tank of electricity! I hope that will be an expression. I love it when we retain such things (instead of calling it a 'charge') - like 'hang up' on a cellphone. :)

(As an aside to this aside: I once heard a Dutch girl say on her cellphone 'ik ga hangen!' = 'I'm going to hang!' Without historical context, that makes absolutely zero sense. It's great!)
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Yes, that will puzzle our great great grand children, " did they really have a tank, inside their cars"? You can imagine hearing them asking their (also bemused) parents :)
 
Rektsanwalt said:
You're welcome, I enjoyed it a lot as well. This is cool too, but completely unrelated. Hope people don't mind too much about it being offtopic.

szdhn86y04471.jpg
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Yeah, those are fascinating. They've been posted before though, in the context of discussions about the US; but I can't find them back now with a quick search. Something to do with the elections, I think it was.
 
Cheimoon said:
Yeah, those are fascinating. They've been posted before though, in the context of discussions about the US; but I can't find them back now with a quick search. Something to do with the elections, I think it was.
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I think that it was in the context of gerrymandering, politicians have exploited what you see in those maps from day one. But that's not brexit related.
 
JPRouve said:
I think that it was in the context of gerrymandering, politicians have exploited what you see in those maps from day one. But that's not brexit related.
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I think it was in the context of voting patterns more generally for the federal elections, but either way, that's indeed what I meant: better post them elsewhere to discuss them there. :)
 
Tarrou said:
Is the driver shortage caused by mostly by Brexit or Covid
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Our business runs a fleet of around 20 HGV's and in truth it's been a problem slowly getting worst for around 6 years.

We relied on a mix of casual HGV drivers (55+ age wise and driving a couple of times a week max), self employed drivers who we contracted as and when we need; plus salaried drivers who are full time.

The first category got wiped out due to the CPC course. We had a few we used regularly who said it simply wasn't viable for them to spend the money to pass the course (we offered to put them through the course for a commitment of driving days but they said they weren't interested). Some also wouldn't do the course out of principal "why would I have some twenty something try to tell me how to drive a vehicle after 30 years experience".

The second category got decimated due to IR35. We contracted a couple of drivers who were self employed. When asked to go permanent they said they'd need to be paid £34k to cover the tax benefits of being self employed. One had his wife as his secretary, his home as his office, expensed mileage etc. He paid £300 tax and NI in total on a £23k salary. Speaking to other businesses this practice was common place.

Then Covid hit and the backlog in being able to pass the course I'm told is now 9 months. We have people wanting to become drivers, we're willing to pay for them to do so and we have the product demand for them but bureaucracy is holding things up for months on end. People retiring every week and they can't be replaced either. Add in that people have been buying things online at a rate unseen before (we've had HGV drivers poached to drive transit vans for DX freight, something unheard of 2 years ago).

Brexit of course is also a factor, although probably moreso for other businesses than ours (our insurance require 3 years driving in the UK); but it has a knock on effect.

Essentially a perfect storm.
 
I mix of factors. Maybe? but the big catalyzer should be Brexit by far as as far as I know this shortage of truck drivers don't happen in EU. You can blame covid in other industries that you can see across the countries (waiting staff for example), but not track drivers and is mainly because often times is an industry that requires crossing borders and Brexit made it more difficult for international truckers to find a job and for national truckers to drive abroad into the EU.
 
Rektsanwalt said:
You're welcome, I enjoyed it a lot as well. This is cool too, but completely unrelated. Hope people don't mind too much about it being offtopic.
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there's a cool one like that about the reformation/catholicism and nazi voting in germany.
...

on-topic, saw this headline: https://www.theguardian.com/environ...rtages-leave-uk-farms-with-70000-surplus-pigs
combined with the milkshake news, reminded me of this:

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2012/12/the-red-and-the-black

Items that became unavailable in Hungary at various times due to planning failures included “the kitchen tool used to make Hungarian noodles,” “bath plugs that fit tubs in stock; cosmetics shelves; and the metal box necessary for electrical wiring in new apartment buildings.” As a local newspaper editorial complained in the 1960s, these things “don’t seem important until the moment one needs them, and suddenly they are very important!”
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Jippy said:
My passport runs out in March but it's the one we've used for my Singapore visa application, but that whole process keeps getting delayed. It seems almost certain it will have under six months left on it when we hopefully move in about 4-5 weeks, so hope that isn't a problem.
Useful to know it took a month to come though, thanks. Hopefully it doesn't take even longer to reach Asia.
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Mine was valid until May next year, but then in July I read on the UK Gov pages that in addition to having 6 months left, the passport also mustn't be more than 10 years old. I had an extra 9 months on my old one as I renewed it when I changed my surname (when we got married), but it was 10 years old this month.

I applied for my post-Brexit new residency card for Brits with the old passport, and I think in theory you should get another card when you change your passport, but the passport number isn't written on the card so I'm hoping it's OK. I'm going to take my old passport with me when we travel, just in case.

The courier service took 3 days from England to the wilds of Italy, which is pretty good.
 
golden_blunder said:
Well we ordered a McDonalds Monday and milkshakes are off the menu. In Dublin.
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Oh they're regularly off the menu on an individual basis. As far as I'm aware, usually they're either cleaning the machine or they don't want to clean the machine so they say they've none.

Unless you're trying to tell me Ireland now has a milk shake shortage?
 
Withnail said:
Oh they're regularly off the menu on an individual basis. As far as I'm aware, usually they're either cleaning the machine or they don't want to clean the machine so they say they've none.

Unless you're trying to tell me Ireland now has a milk shake shortage?
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Well I did wonder, my wife read an article to me a few days ago and it mentioned Irish shortages as well.

but you could be right, let’s hope so because I like their milkshakes
 
TheGame said:
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Just so typical of the establishment, post-Empire ENGLISH exceptionalism going on.
  • We can leave because we're a global superpower and things will be fine - WRONG
  • We can screw around with the Good Friday Agreement and 'sacrifice' Northern Ireland - WRONG
  • We can tell the US what to do because we're an equal part of this 'special relationship' - WRONG
One of the best Brexit stories I found out recently concerned the Turkish immigration numbers. Part of the Farage / Leave campaign had posters about us being at 'breaking point' complaining that Turkey was moments away from joining the EU, which it never was, and making everyone fear Turkish immigration. Since we left the EU, Turkish immigration to the UK has reportedly nearly quadrupled!!!

So we left the EU because (in part) people were afraid of how easy it would be for people from Turkey to travel across the EU and immigrate to the UK, but because we left the EU it's now easier for these people to travel to the UK - you couldn't make it up!!!
 
I would love to see Wetherspoons go bankrupt. Love it.
 
Jericholyte2 said:
Just so typical of the establishment, post-Empire ENGLISH exceptionalism going on.
  • We can leave because we're a global superpower and things will be fine - WRONG
  • We can screw around with the Good Friday Agreement and 'sacrifice' Northern Ireland - WRONG
  • We can tell the US what to do because we're an equal part of this 'special relationship' - WRONG
One of the best Brexit stories I found out recently concerned the Turkish immigration numbers. Part of the Farage / Leave campaign had posters about us being at 'breaking point' complaining that Turkey was moments away from joining the EU, which it never was, and making everyone fear Turkish immigration. Since we left the EU, Turkish immigration to the UK has reportedly nearly quadrupled!!!

So we left the EU because (in part) people were afraid of how easy it would be for people from Turkey to travel across the EU and immigrate to the UK, but because we left the EU it's now easier for these people to travel to the UK - you couldn't make it up!!!
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That was so stupid, given the UK had a veto on them joining anyway. There are entrepreneur's visas and other means for Turkish people to move to the UK, we actually have a good longstanding relationship with the country on that front.
 
Jippy said:
That was so stupid, given the UK had a veto on them joining anyway. There are entrepreneur's visas and other means for Turkish people to move to the UK, we actually have a good longstanding relationship with the country on that front.
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And Cameron openly supported Turkey's membership, some of the Brexit talks have been particularly weird.
 
TheGame said:
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Except that NI has the best deal of all of the 4 UK countries:
They are part of the EU CU and the UK so have the best of the deal.
Checks on animals etc was happening already from GB to the island of Ireland before Brexit.

The problem is the people in NI who think they are English.
 
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Jippy said:
I'd forgotten that. I don't remember Turkish membership ever being that close to a done deal.
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It hasn't been close since maybe the 90s where it wasn't particularly close. Since then the big countries not named the UK have used every arguments against Turkey in particular when it comes to certain human rights then you have Cyprus who have a veto and are in conflict with Turkey and then Eastern Europe new members have been against Turkey's membership. But the most important point is that Turkey don't want to be a member.
 
JPRouve said:
It hasn't been close since maybe the 90s where it wasn't particularly close. Since then the big countries not named the UK have used every arguments against Turkey in particular when it comes to certain human rights then you have Cyprus who have a veto and are in conflict with Turkey and then Eastern Europe new members have been against Turkey's membership. But the most important point is that Turkey don't want to be a member.
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Wow I didn’t realise it was that close to them joining, thank god for Brexit!
 
Paul the Wolf said:
Except that NI has the best deal of all of the 4 UK countries:
They are part of the EU CU and the UK so have the best of the deal.
Checks on animals etc was happening already from GB to the island of Ireland before Brexit.

The problem is the people in NI who think they are English.
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Tell that to the empty supermarket shelves or the threats Of violence
 
Withnail said:
Oh they're regularly off the menu on an individual basis. As far as I'm aware, usually they're either cleaning the machine or they don't want to clean the machine so they say they've none.

Unless you're trying to tell me Ireland now has a milk shake shortage?
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Yep, have tried regularly to buy one at 4am in different locations in Germany. No chance.
 
golden_blunder said:
Tell that to the empty supermarket shelves or the threats Of violence
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The empty market shelves would be down to supermarkets still relying on GB suppliers. Threats of violence presumably due to the customs border in the Irish Sea by pro British supporters.
The alternative was no Brexit or a land border.

Probably the people threatening the violence also voted for Brexit, the DUP and supporters?
 
Paul the Wolf said:
The empty market shelves would be down to supermarkets still relying on GB suppliers. Threats of violence presumably due to the customs border in the Irish Sea by pro British supporters.
The alternative was no Brexit or a land border.

Probably the people threatening the violence also voted for Brexit, the DUP and supporters?
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Well they shouldn’t rely on me to supply them ffs
 
Completely unsurprising news of the week.

Although even worst case scenarios might not have predicted such a rapid, devastating impact.

Exports of food and drink to the EU have suffered a “disastrous” decline in the first half of the year because of Brexit trade barriers, with sales of beef and cheese hit hardest. Food and Drink Federation (FDF) producers lost £2bn in sales, a dent in revenue that could not be compensated for by the increased sales in the same period to non-EU countries including China and Australia (:lol: as if!)

By product category, the biggest falls in sales to the EU have been in dairy and meat: beef exports were down 37%, cheese down 34% and milk and cream down 19% in the first half of 2021 compared with the equivalent six months in 2019.

Exports to nearly all EU member states fell significantly, including a loss of more than £500m in sales to Ireland, while sales to Germany, Spain and Italy were each down around a half since the first half of 2019.
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Paul the Wolf said:


What is the current level of incompetence?
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Besides all that... what's the competitive advantage of British pork over Mexican pork? Is there some premium pork industry im unaware of? (If I pay premium i'm buying beef so I might be ignorant).

Also maybe Liz will repeat this pork deal with loads of countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Indonesia. Who'll be laughing then? Why can't I make smileys white?
 
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