Brexit

I has an extract from an Italian Trade Newspaper regarding Hauliers and the shortage of sent to me.
Germany, Italy, the USA along with U.K. are all experiencing a shortage of HGV drivers?

Why is that I wonder?

Whitewavemark2

Why is that I wonder?

Maybe it’s due to a worldwide pandemic?

Age apparently! An ageing population of truckers.

Are situation is much worse of course because 10s of thousands left to go back to the EU.

It isn’t impacting on supply in other countries as it is in the U.K.

Our situation?

This should sort the problem and us out???

Isn't there a problem with the backlog of tests too?

Listening to some of my much-loved Radio4 programmes it seems that some people have decided they would rather work for less money and have a better home/work balance. I can imagine that some long-distance lorry drivers might well have thought about this.

Whitewavemark2

This should sort the problem and us out???

How about puting useless Tory politicians to work picking fruit?

Apparently the pay of hauliers has dropped drastically in comparison with other jobs over the last 10 years and this is just one of the inequalities shown up by Brexit. Shortage of food is another. Few, if any, shortages in the EU.

The problems with the lack of drivers and similar were always on the cards. People were warned about how leaving the EU would affect our pool of workers and there was no plan to overcome it. There were warnings about shortages of food too. But it was rudely cast aside.

The Brexiteers wanted Brexit; that was all they wanted and none of them could define it. The only thing they were ever going to get from Brexit was the ability for us to have laws and policies with obligations under the treaties of the European Union. Except we still have to stick to those obligations in order to get a deal - and now we don't get to make them. Can Leavers tell us where and how much being able to make laws and policies regardless of the treaties of the European Union - our only gain - has helped us?

Having this ability was not "taking back" our Sovereignty. We always had it; we never lost it. Without it, we would not have been able to pass the law taking us out of the EU.

It has shown itself to be entirely impractical. Most of the "deals" we now make with the EU will have to take what they have decided into account or we will be buried under a mountain of paperwork and delays. What other deals have been made with other countries? Where is there a country where we will have the advantage in that deal-making?

Brexit has made us the proud possessors only of something that no one ever told us they wanted, that no one ever expected to have and that we cannot use in a purposeful way.

Well done Leavers.

This is what being a member of the EU meant to me.

policies with obligations policies without obligations

So, the Mail on Sunday is calling for us to unite with Europe to 'crush the curse of border bureaucracy'

twitter.com/DavidHenigUK/status/1431882529326444546

Couldn't make it up, could you? Wasn't that what the Single Market was all about?

Anyway, they've got no chance with that, not with our current government.

We have just made a new acquaintance, a retired economist who lived in London more than 20 years. Talking to my OH about Brexit and whether we could rejoin the EU his opinion was that they wouldn't want us, certainly not in the near future, and in any event, they are managing OK without us.

This coming from someone who liked the UK very much and found London to be a very interesting city, preferable to Paris in many ways.

MaizieD

So, the Mail on Sunday is calling for us to unite with Europe to 'crush the curse of border bureaucracy'

twitter.com/DavidHenigUK/status/1431882529326444546

Couldn't make it up, could you? Wasn't that what the Single Market was all about?

Anyway, they've got no chance with that, not with our current government.

Exactly Maizie. Someone will have to sort all this out eventually but it won't be this government.

Border bureaucracy at present is much worse because of Covid checks when that ends personal movement will become easy again. For commercial traffic there is going to be no chance, when the current fast track system finishes it will get worse, thats what independence means.

I sent a parcel to Europe and it still hasn’t arrived in 3 weeks, it used to take 3 days, setting our own rules for regulation and licensing means they are not recognized in EU, that’s one of the reasons HGV drivers are short, their licences are not valid in the UK.

CEO of M & S, Archie Norman, today in the Mail Online:

On average, Marks & Spencer wagons now travel to the ports with 700 pages of documentation, equivalent to three paperback books.

(this is because many of the range of products they carry require paperwork for each component part)

The whole article is slanted towards how dreadfully unfairly we're being treated by the EU but unfortunately Mr Norman cannot escape the fact that we are being asked to conform to rules for 3rd party countries; rules which existed before we left the EU; rules which we helped to make while in the EU.

It's what he (for he was a Brexit supporter, apparently), and 17million other people, voted for...

Did people not realise that those EU rules which they hated so much for being 'protectionist' would apply to the UK once it was out of the EU?

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9936625/M-S-boss-ARCHIE-NORMAN-EUs-bureaucracy-hurt-makers-French-cheese-Spanish-chorizo.html

Oh yes MaizieD, Mr M & S is like Prue Leith and Alex Polizzia, both in hospitality, both voted to leave, both baffled by staff shortages.

Maybe the politicians could do a bit of moonlighting and pick fruit to help their country. Pick a raspberry for Britain?

Katie59

Border bureaucracy at present is much worse because of Covid checks when that ends personal movement will become easy again. For commercial traffic there is going to be no chance, when the current fast track system finishes it will get worse, thats what independence means.

I sent a parcel to Europe and it still hasn’t arrived in 3 weeks, it used to take 3 days, setting our own rules for regulation and licensing means they are not recognized in EU, that’s one of the reasons HGV drivers are short, their licences are not valid in the UK.

I sent a parcel to the Netherlands. Arrived within a week. So. Postal delays happen. Remember while in EU parcels to Germany went missing on a fairly regular basis.

From Germany, empty shelves also. Many on here so love to blame lack of goods from EU as down to Brexit. Still seeing lorries from Hamburg Poland. Spanish tomatoes, etc. Shortages from UK warehouses down to self isolation, backlog of training, poor pay and drivers leaving. All last year no empty shelves, apart from goods people were hoarding, but delivery kept coming. Delta variant has had a massive effect on the workforce.

GillT57

Oh yes MaizieD, Mr M & S is like Prue Leith and Alex Polizzia, both in hospitality, both voted to leave, both baffled by staff shortages.

Good lord ? who knew that Prue Leith & Alex Polizzi were hairy knuckle dragging racists. Insert sarcastic emoji just in case someone thinks I’m serious.
Which is more than likely on GN.

Lincslass

From Germany, empty shelves also. Many on here so love to blame lack of goods from EU as down to Brexit. Still seeing lorries from Hamburg Poland. Spanish tomatoes, etc. Shortages from UK warehouses down to self isolation, backlog of training, poor pay and drivers leaving. All last year no empty shelves, apart from goods people were hoarding, but delivery kept coming. Delta variant has had a massive effect on the workforce.

No has said it's only the Brexit affect, have they? Equally you need to admit that the Brexit affect has made it worse than it otherwise would be.

If you expect a reasoned conversation from others then you need to be prepared to be reasonable too.

I read that the HGV issue is wider than the UK but we are hit worst.
This is because of Brexit and the extra problems it has created.

As someone said upthread, creating a "perfect storm".

I have just heard a notorious brexit liar claim on the radio that the UK's economy is doing better than other comparable countries! Here are the figures.