A big thank you to those who voted for Brexit

varian

The governor of the Bank of England (appointed by Johnson) has said that brexit will damage the UK economy far more than the pandemic, but perhaps you are better qualified to make economic predictions UG!!!!

I think she's been consulting that Department of Guessology again, varian

Really, who needs to take notice of people who know what they're talking about? Ug voted for a government full of people who haven't a clue what they're talking about because they don't read anything at all, but they're doing absolutely fine, aren't they?

Urmstongran

I bet the fact that both sides of the Channel are haemorrhaging money, on top of the financial crisis during a pandemic, will speed up negotiations on how to get the situations resolved varian. With goodwill on both sides those hauliers could be up and running smoothly in a few more days.

Bet Boris rings Ursula vd Leyen today if he’s not already done so!

The EU truckers referenced in the piece that varian posted have a huge market to turn to for alternative work in Europe. A market that doesn't require them to register with each country's tax authority, collect money on their behalf and then pay it over to them. Nor do they have to worry about getting out of the European countries once they have got in. A market where they can take back loads without having to worry about the paperwork for every single item being in order. They are making commercial decisions not to deal with the UK any more. Their market is expanding anyway as countries such as Poland become more affluent. So I doubt that they're particularly bothered.

On the other hand, UK exporters don't have any other conveniently close market. It's the European mainland or your fish rotting... The mountain of extra paperwork is a product of its own government and the SPS inspections which hold up much of the fresh produce are an inevitable result of the UK becoming a third country. These are not 'bumps' to be ironed out, they are permanent features.

Ursula van der Leyden can do nothing about either and I doubt if she'd be at all receptive to Johnson trying to smarm her into altering things, if she even consented to take the call at all. It's not her remit...

Any deal is better than no deal. But the agreement that Boris Johnson struck with the European Union on Christmas Eve is no political triumph, no diplomatic feat. It will one day surely be regarded as one of the greatest-ever deceits inflicted on the British electorate. We were told that a free trade agreement with the EU would be “one of the easiest in human history” to get, that we were “going to get a great deal”. We were told that a free trade agreement would give us “the exact same benefits” of EU membership without any of the obligations or financial costs.

Yet the deal Johnson has reached will inflict all the costs he denied it ever would. It will take some weeks to fully digest the many pages of legal text. But it is already clear that this deal will have enduring consequences for Britain in the coming decades: for the wellbeing and resilience of communities across a highly unequal nation; for the potential for the UK to be an influence for good in an increasingly unstable world; and perhaps even for the very integrity of our nation. Johnson’s act of national harm could not come at a worse time. It will set in train significant economic damage during a global pandemic that has left the NHS and economy reeling.

That we have ended up here is no great surprise. It was always in the interests of both sides to reach a deal before this week’s hard deadline. But no number of bombastic speeches from Johnson can disguise that the realpolitik of negotiation finally forced him to grapple with Brexit’s fundamental tradeoffs. The man who has spent years telling voters Britain can gorge itself on cake now and forever has agreed to pay a serious price.

First there are the costs that will be measured in pounds and pence. This trade deal is unique in erecting rather than eliminating barriers to trade. Goods will be subject to costly new customs and regulatory checks. Services – which make up 80% of the British economy – do not even get a look in. The economic consequences will be profound: the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast that in the long term, this kind of deal will reduce Britain’s long-run GDP by 4%, dwarfing the long-run costs of the pandemic.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/the-observer-view-on-the-brexit-deal

The governor of the Bank of England (appointed by Johnson) has said that brexit will damage the UK economy far more than the pandemic, but perhaps you are better qualified to make economic predictions UG!!!!

Actually I just re-read your sentence varian It says a lot that some brexiters don't mind damaging the UK as long as other countries suffer too.

It’s quite mean-spirited. I don’t harbour any kind of ill feeling to our friends in Europe. I hope all this smooths out quickly and pragmatically.

Yours very sincerely
A Brexiteer

It was all negotiated varian. The knock on effect is affecting both sides, like it or not. Pressure groups on both sides will demand action to save their businesses and shareholder profits. Money talks.

This messy situation won’t last long. It’s too costly. The financial markets won’t be happy. It’ll sort.

We are only in the second WEEK of transition remember! This was to be expected on some level. That said, it pales in significance when compared to the seismic shocks of the pandemic. All countries have much to worry about right now.

Very early days. It will take time to sort out these teething problems and as you say Urmstongran if there's goodwill on both sides that will speed up the resolution to these problems.

Has anyone seen anything about the delivery of isotopes for radiotherapy machines? I have not seen anything but wondered about them as they have a short life once they have left the storage facility - I seem to remember seeing they were primed in some way and only good for a couple of days.
I am very pro EU so therefore would have preferred we had never left but I remember Gove saying how U.K. could get rid of much of the Brussels red tape - it all seems ridiculous what is happening now.
The fresh food problems are a disgrace and it is dreadful for the fishermen and their families that they cannot get their produce to the destinations in good condition. Does anyone know if anything is being done about it?

Those on the other side of the Channel did not cause this disastrous fiasco.

It says a lot that some brexiters don't mind damaging the UK as long as other countries suffer too.

I bet the fact that both sides of the Channel are haemorrhaging money, on top of the financial crisis during a pandemic, will speed up negotiations on how to get the situations resolved varian. With goodwill on both sides those hauliers could be up and running smoothly in a few more days.

Bet Boris rings Ursula vd Leyen today if he’s not already done so!

Fears of food shortages grow as EU truckers avoid UK ports in record numbers.

Data from logistics software company Transporean show the number of haulage companies from Germany that are rejecting delivery contracts to the UK have more than doubled since the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December. French trucking firms are rejecting three times as many UK deliveries.

This has led to around half the usual deliveries coming into the UK since the turn of the year, and is increasing fears of food and other product shortages in the coming weeks.

Digital modelling firm Simul8, which has been evaluating additional burden Brexit red-tape will bring at UK ports, said fresh food was already going to waste as a result of delays.

Frances Sneddon, chief technical officer at Simul8, said: “Unfortunately, we’re already beginning to see the cost of perishable items being left to waste due to the disruptions at ports and extended queue times for freight vehicles. Fruit, vegetables, seafood and meat are affected in the food industry, while the shelf life of medical supplies won’t allow for the extended waiting times that our model has predicted either.”

inews.co.uk/news/brexit/brexit-food-shortages-fears-grow-eu-truckers-avoid-uk-ports-830040

Urmstongran

I’ll just check Petera with the Department of Guessology.
Bear with me ...

So that's a 'no idea but I'll feel free to deploy the argaument for as long as I like'

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Ultimately (and I have thought about this a lot, because I have also given up friends who are too different to me) you need to have things in common with friends. To be honest, I had NO Brexit supporting friends.

But I DID have 2 Trump supporting friends in the US. They were people I had worked with that seemed fine. But they were pro gun lobby, had racist opinions that I hadn't noticed while working with them and were VERY pro Trump. One of them, a rape survivor, supported the promotion of Brett Cavanagh.

It was really sad, and I told the one I really liked why I was doing it. And she was sad too. But then she made ANOTHER racist comment. So...

Urmstongran

Gaga ... THIS was the comment I thought mean spirited & bitter ...

And I will never have enough common ground with you or other Leavers that would induce me to have tea with them. So count me out of your little party..)

Wowzer!
See what I’m getting at here?

Which is also why I stay über calm. Getting riled up gets one reported. It’s not worth a smack down from the moderators.

Play nice is my motto.
?

I think Maizie is right. I know a couple here who have lost many of their friends and acquaintances because or their stance on Brexit. In the early days one could hear his voice across a room full of people stating "the German car manufacturers...." etc etc.

My mouse slipped when selecting the quote. I intended to qoute Hetty58 But &Urmstongran* will do just as well.

Urmstongran

Well said Hetty58.

I'm not assuming anything. You are imputing far too much in my comment. I have commented several times on covid related topics, including one which you would no doubt disagree with. That Johnson should have asked for an extension because of the disruption being caused by covid.

?gin and tonic Urmstongran ?

I didn't imagine you were UG. Better things to do.

Hi everyone - I went AWOL watching ‘The Pembrokeshire Murders’. Not p.’ming people Gaga!

I really think that given time these divisions will heal. Life is so much more than Brexit, sadly so at present.

To the future eh? May it be successful for all of us
??

I made ONE comment to UG lemongrove. I don't have a problem at all with her. She offers a good discussion, which I enjoy. Now, as you have on the other thread, you can make something from nothing if you wish, but I am withdrawing from responding from this point.

For the record I have close friends of every political persuasion, race, religion and both leave and remain voters.

I do not belong to any gang on GN, nor do I report posts because they disagree with my views, unlike others posters.

But not everybody who voted Remain is mean, and not everybody who voted Leave is civil - there is a pattern of the same posters constantly having it out between themselves on lots of different threads, goading each other and getting very personal and nasty in the comments they make.

I find it upsetting to read how little some people hear or understand the points other people make, and I really wish there was a bit more humanity (and humour) on the political threads.

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