That reminded me of Fanny the wonder dog. Completely off topic of course.
Let’s not forget the dockers were almost permanently on strike from the late 60s until the start of the 80s, which hugely affected food supply. Mind, the latter part of that era also coinciding paradoxically with the era of “butter mountains” and “wine lakes” throughout the then over-subsidised European states.
There’s a lot of emphasis placed on the supply issues we are going to experience, but there’s no need for it to have happened. It’s inevitable now, but supermarkets could have planned for it a hell of a lot better than they have, but they are addicted to wholesale prices so low that suppliers regularly sell below cost. Of course they will source outside the EU easily enough - from nations with substantially fewer welfare and hygiene standards than the EU has, so it suits them well enough - their costs will ultimately be reduced, and after they’ve given us a nice period of austerity, familiar products will reappear - at much higher prices…
Part of the issue is that their distribution model is pared-to-the-bone lean. Warehousing costs money, so they have the bare minimum. The distribution centres likewise are operating on a just-in-time basis. The supermarkets have not seen disaster planning as their job, although some of the panic-buying scenes around Lockdown 1 must have made them fear for the safety of their stores and staff. The pandemic is a genuine disaster - came out of the blue, no-one chose it, the government considered it and failed (or decided not) to take it seriously enough. But Brexit will be the Brexiteers’ choice. If everything goes tits up then they’re the ones who will be responsible for that. The supermarkets’ loyalty is to their shareholders.
VB
Fitting as we head towards whatever is coming!
In truth, I feel pretty depressed this morning. We are threatening gunboats. Our press are openly xenophobic. We are heading towards an almighty economic disaster. But we have to keep the tills ringing - a few more dead won’t matter. We really are a sad country. I and many others have watched our descent into chaos thinking it can’t get worse. But gunboats - that is so much willy-waving it is embarrassing. If I could leave this doomed, wretched country I honestly think I would and I will certainly support my children, neices and nephews if they say “enough is enough” and move anywhere more tolerant than we have become. I know I am not alone but good grief, what have we become? (rhetorical question).
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+1 ^^^^
I think you’ll find there are plenty feeling the same way.
We tend to numb the pain and fear by consuming HUUUUGE amounts of alcohol.
But if there is no deal and EU trawlers still come into our now sovereign territorial waters what should we do, just ignore it?
Is it ok for British farmers to go over to the Champagne region next summer and help themselves to as many grapes as they like and then bring them back to the UK?
It’s all stupid of course but that’s human nature for you.
Don’t see why not, nobody buys the seafood they catch in the UK and British fisherman won’t be able to afford selling it to the EU under no deal.
Ha, it’s literally this made real.
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And when they do eventually arrive in an EU port, they will either be thrown back into the sea by disgruntled EU fisherman, or not be fresh enough for sale.
Perfect.
If only someone could play this to the negotiating teams.
Very well said. Every younger person I know well is either considering, or actively planning, their emigration. Every older person I know is grasping at straws like dual citizenship to try to preserve some semblance of their Rights.
I fucking hate what this country has become, and hate what my own generation has done to the World. We live in a dying nation, on a sickly planet, ill with insanity, materialism for a religion, selfishness, short-termism, hatred, division and greed being actively promoted as good things.
Everywhere in this sea of loathesomeness I see good people trying not to drown under a tsunami of shit, not all of them are going to make it, and there’s almost nothing I can do about any of it except moan to a bunch of people in the same boat…
I never thought I’d be glad not to have children, but I am - because that’s one-or-two less people not suffering through what’s to come.
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The temptation to feck off out of it back to Straya once CV-19 settles down is reasonably strong at the moment. The kid’s education may delay things a while but really the only impediment to going is my expensive medication. We need to find out if we’re covered if we return to Oz on Medicare.
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Once CV-19 settles down the Oz government might even start thinking about it’s climate change reponsibilities and stop acting like a newly industrialised third world country.
Well I have 3 grandchildren, 4,4 and 5 and it scares me what future they will be growing up in to. We live just outside the Welsh valleys, an area regarded by the EU as the poorest in the whole EU, it unanimously voted Brexit and yet has had more EU money per head invested than any other EU region.
Post Brexit what exactly do they think will happen?
Most of the business by us is call centres, care or NHS. Airbus is on our doorstep outside Newport but in a no deal, how long will that remain?
After dropping the charges on the bridge Newport has become a commuter city as people in Bristol sell up and move over and then force the house prices up here. Certainly not moving here for the facilities or thriving city centre (which is dreadful and I used to work in Basildon which is awful but better).
I really hope Wales and the red wall up north get what they want from Brexit, i really do, but somehow I can’t see anyone benefiting who isn’t tied in to the finance world or a dodgy politician
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I’m not going to defend any recent Australian Govt on any of it’s outward facing policies, but particularly climate and immigration. However, they are comparatively less inept/corrupt/devious than the last 40 years of UK Governments (just). I think that my kids might be better off in the short-to-medium term out of the UK. My gut feeling is that they will definitely be better of in the long-term. This is a shame as we came here by choice and are deeply embedded here now.
It is a bit of a choice of acceptable evils.
There is no Nirvana, I agree your kids will probably better off out of the UK.
Tiiming it with educational milestones is the tricky bit.
But you would know more about that than me 
I have the feeling that Oz is closer to the UK and NZ closer to Europe, but I could be rong.
Edit: great malts in NZ as well 