Brexit Deal agreed ( updated )

[NANOJAMBO]

 

[NANOJAMBO]

4 hours ago, Boy Daniel said:

I believe Covid is masking the truth of Brexit which goes some way in relieving the pressure that should be being piled on Johnson and co. No specific proof but they are dodging a bullet at the moment. The big give away for me is the constant lies Johnson keeps telling. I’m baffled how he gets away with it. 

The negative outcomes of brexit were well understood & predicted - and have come home to roost. 

The links to Russian money and the Tory party are also well understood but there is no criticism from the Tory apologia that is the English MSM these days. BBC are terrified now because they are in the crosshairs of everyone (Tories always hated them but Sir Robbie is doing a grand job so far) and Leavers loath it for their open-house approach to the far right loons like ERG/TPA/ukip who got all that free air time over the years. 

So, in England, the only real critic is C4 - but the Tories point blank refuse to appear on their programmes so Clown Shoes gets an easy ride. 

 

Covid has been the go-to excuse (no way shall brexit be sullied) but the public enquiry is months away - and England is bored with it already. 

[ri Alban]

6 hours ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

 

Wasn't being confrontational lads,  asked the question during a phone call and our friends said nothing had changed and things were normal.

Of course that could change rapidly if your link is correct.

 

 

It's total bullshit. 

 

 

Tick Tock!

[Governor Tarkin]

9 hours ago, Konrad von Carstein said:

 

Wasn't being confrontational lads,  asked the question during a phone call and our friends said nothing had changed and things were normal.

Of course that could change rapidly if your link is correct.

 

 

 

Stick to your guns, Konnie.

Anecdotal evidence always trumps statistical facts. Has the covid thread taught you nothing?

[Governor Tarkin]

8 hours ago, Ulysses said:

 

The world is organised around corporate welfare.  Amounts being paid to subsidise the poor are but a tiny fraction of what's being paid to subsidise the rich.  And it is middle-class taxpayers who pay for most of it with their taxes, and poorer people who pay the rest by foregoing income and decent services.

 

It's a racket.  It always has been, but now they've all dropped even the slightest pretence of governments doing stuff for ordinary citizens rather than those who are already seriously loaded.  This is not a British problem; it's an everywhere problem.

 

I won't disagree with that, I was trying to establish whether the poster thinks that a true dog-eat-dog style, zero intervention, market economy would be beneficial to the majority of the general public - especially those who find themselves on the lower rungs of the proverbial ladder. I don't think for a second that's what he was implying, but it would be nice to tease out a little detail on the thought process. The poster often condenses worthy arguments into quasi-aggressive bullet points, but they might gain more traction if he fleshed them out a little for those of us who are not quite on his intellectual wavelength. Your second paragraph is a neat summary. Folk are continuously arguing around the edges (Brexit and the Jock indie stuff are just window dressing), when it's the entire system that's fundamentally flawed. Dire Straits 'Industrial Disease' is playing through my head. It's too early in the morning for Dire Straits.

 

6 hours ago, Lone Striker said:

 

Just why young ladies continue to swoon over a fat 50-something serial philanderer is beyond me.

 

I'll let you know in a couple of years.

 

[Enzo Chiefo]

14 hours ago, Francis Albert said:

Meanwhile the Director General of the BBC gets a £75000 salary increase after a year in the job bringing his salary to £525,000 a year. Nice work if you can get it.

3 times that of the PM, who is the CEO of the entire country.

 

If we could limit all public sector pay to a level below that of the PM, it would be a start.

The tiers of bureaucratic paper shufflers, with glorious titles, in the NHS, council leaders, BBC director generals, serial leftie Gary Lineker etc etc.

It would save the country millions and send out a message about pay restraint.

[Enzo Chiefo]

11 minutes ago, Governor Tarkin said:

 

I won't disagree with that, I was trying to establish whether the poster thinks that a true dog-eat-dog style, zero intervention, market economy would be beneficial to the majority of the general public - especially those who find themselves on the lower rungs of the proverbial ladder. I don't think for a second that's what he was implying, but it would be nice to tease out a little detail on the thought process. The poster often condenses worthy arguments into quasi-aggressive bullet points, but they might gain more traction if he fleshed them out a little for those of us who are not quite on his intellectual wavelength. Your second paragraph is a neat summary. Folk are continuously arguing around the edges (Brexit and the Jock indie stuff are just window dressing), when it's the entire system that's fundamentally flawed. Dire Straits 'Industrial Disease' is playing through my head. It's too early in the morning for Dire Straits.

 

 

I'll let you know in a couple of years.

 

🤣🤣

[Des Lynam]

1 hour ago, Enzo Chiefo said:

3 times that of the PM, who is the CEO of the entire country.

 

If we could limit all public sector pay to a level below that of the PM, it would be a start.

The tiers of bureaucratic paper shufflers, with glorious titles, in the NHS, council leaders, BBC director generals, serial leftie Gary Lineker etc etc.

It would save the country millions and send out a message about pay restraint.

 

Fully agree. 

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

Labour are completely goosed. Freaks on the left wing and anxious, uninspired dullards in the centre or on the right. Fighting among themselves while most of the country laugh at them or ignore them. Rapidly becoming a total irrelevance.

 

Sadly, leaves no opposition to the Tories down south. I’ve started voting green (even though the greens in Scotland are Grade A fuds)

[Don Dan]

https://apple.news/Apem5G3cvRMWSe80g3L1HjQ
Britain’s mounting fuel crisis which has seen pumps run dry is a “direct consequence” of Brexit, the EU’s former chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said.

 

https://apple.news/AaPuwcUIFQe6jFylZxk1CBg

 

Olaf Scholz, who is favourite to become the next German chancellor after his party won the most seats in Sunday’s election, has blamed Brexit for the shortage of lorry drivers in the UK, fuel shortages across the country and empty supermarket shelves.

Asked about the shortages in Britain, Scholz told reporters at a press briefing yesterday: “The free movement of labour is part of the European Union. We worked very hard to convince the British not to leave the union. They decided differently and I hope they will manage the problems coming from that.”

 

https://apple.news/AsKh-8LtOQbqOabN5AngcYg

 

So suddenly they DO want immigrants coming over here and taking our jobs.

At the stroke of a pen, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is poised to make a dramatic U-turn, offering temporary three-month visas to foreign lorry drivers and poultry workers in a bid to tackle the petrol and food shortage.

Christmas is coming, you see.

The Government needs to ensure we have fuel in our cars, food on our tables, booze in our shops and presents around our trees.

 

More and more are pointing out the Brexit failure.

[JudyJudyJudy]

2 hours ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Labour are completely goosed. Freaks on the left wing and anxious, uninspired dullards in the centre or on the right. Fighting among themselves while most of the country laugh at them or ignore them. Rapidly becoming a total irrelevance.

 

Sadly, leaves no opposition to the Tories down south. I’ve started voting green (even though the greens in Scotland are Grade A fuds)

Yep they continually shoot themselves . The trans row is gonna sink then even further now . 

[periodictabledancer]

16 hours ago, Smithee said:

 

Yeah, brexit might not be the root of all problems but it doesn't half make most problems worse

Politicians are telling us its not down to brexit - even though it's quite clear , brexit was the tipping point. Brexiters didn't want EU people coming here and taking their houses , clogging up schools and hospitals and they got their wish. So now we have a chronic shortage of labour across the economy in hospitality, the care sector (I know of one firm in Edinburgh  that folded just a few weeks ago as they can't get staff). Food manufacturing too. But it's not down to brexit. 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

1 hour ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

Labour are completely goosed. Freaks on the left wing and anxious, uninspired dullards in the centre or on the right. Fighting among themselves while most of the country laugh at them or ignore them. Rapidly becoming a total irrelevance.

 

Sadly, leaves no opposition to the Tories down south. I’ve started voting green (even though the greens in Scotland are Grade A fuds)

 

Once again this morning on the news, an open goal for labour but they don't take the shot.

 

The shadow home secretary when asked what labour would do, the reply was 'we'd ask industry what they needed', he then criticized the 5000 visas for HGV drivers as not enough, but when asked how many labour would have the reply was again ' we'd ask industry'.

 

This is not the kind of leadership people want to see in the opposition, effectively it's we don't know what to do so we'd ask somebody else.

 

Whereas, what I think the public want to see is something like this.

We'd have 20,000 HGV visa's for 18 months, prioritze HGV licence applications at DVLA, we would work on these 24/7,  then longer term we would then look at why so many drivers are leaving the industry and why we can't attract new drivers, what needs to be done to make people see that driving an HGV is a good career choice and encourage drivers back into the industry.

 

I think it's certainly a lot better than basically saying we'd ask somebody else what to do.

 

I sometimes wonder if labour really want to get back into government again, the worst tory government is goodness knows how long and labour still can't lay a glove on them and still trail them in the polls.

[Don Dan]

32 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

we'd ask industry'.

 The easy answer even from simpletons is 100,000 chances are they’d never get 100,000 but it would be a bonus if they did. 

[Seymour M Hersh]

I see the Chinese are having massive energy issues to the point they are having power cuts.  Must be a knock on from Brexit. 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

5 minutes ago, Boy Daniel said:

 The easy answer even from simpletons is 100,000 chances are they’d never get 100,000 but it would be a bonus if they did. 

 

We'll struggle to attract 5000.

[Beni]

The government were warned as far back as 2016 by the Transport Select Committee about the structural issues in the haulage industry.

They were also warned that a Brexit that resulted in fewer foreign drivers in the country could result in the situation rapidly becoming acute.

 

Covid was a Black Swan, but the other factors were common knowledge/self inflicted.

 

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/they-knew-select-committee-report-shows-govt-was-warned-about-driver-shortage-in-2016-292487/amp/

[Nucky Thompson]

Why Europe's energy prices are soaring and could get much worse | Euronews

 

It must be Brexit 

[Beni]

Someone brandishing a knife in a fuel queue disagreement.

Thank goodness that plucky blitz spirit brings everyone together at times like these. 

 

[Francis Albert]

2 hours ago, Beni said:

The government were warned as far back as 2016 by the Transport Select Committee about the structural issues in the haulage industry.

They were also warned that a Brexit that resulted in fewer foreign drivers in the country could result in the situation rapidly becoming acute.

 

Covid was a Black Swan, but the other factors were common knowledge/self inflicted.

 

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/they-knew-select-committee-report-shows-govt-was-warned-about-driver-shortage-in-2016-292487/amp/

And what did the road haulage industry do about it? They more than anyone must have known of the threats to their business (average UK driver age apparently now 57) and I assume they had some inkling that Brexit might happen to exacerbate their own created problems,  at the very  latest after the Brexit vote? Instead they assumed apparently that cheap East European drivers would continue to be available and if not the Government would bail them out. And road haulage is a prime example of aggressive  free enterprise combined with weak unionisation at work.

 

[Cade]

All three of the nearest petrol stations to me are out of petrol.

 

 

Rule feckin Britannia.

[Francis Albert]

3 hours ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

I see the Chinese are having massive energy issues to the point they are having power cuts.  Must be a knock on from Brexit. 

Of course. But they will just expand their massive ongoing investment in coal generation. Which means that the ludicrous Insulate Britain campaign will have zero impact on the survival of the planet and its inhabitants. Bit if it makes them fell better and more virtuous ...

[The Real Maroonblood]

25 minutes ago, Cade said:

All three of the nearest petrol stations to me are out of petrol.

 

 

Rule feckin Britannia.

They couldn’t run a bath.

[Beni]

33 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

And what did the road haulage industry do about it? They more than anyone must have known of the threats to their business (average UK driver age apparently now 57) and I assume they had some inkling that Brexit might happen to exacerbate their own created problems,  at the very  latest after the Brexit vote? Instead they assumed apparently that cheap East European drivers would continue to be available and if not the Government would bail them out. And road haulage is a prime example of aggressive  free enterprise combined with weak unionisation at work.

 

 

I wouldn't argue with much of what you've said, there's plenty of blame to go round and the report warns the haulage industry they need to alter their practices.

But very little seems to have been done to change course when everyone was aware of what was unfolding.

[smallfaces]

I'm confused by the number of HGV drivers required.

If Brexit has driven the cheap labour EU drivers home or back to the EU, how can they still be short?

What about the rest of Europe?

According to data collected by Transport Intelligence, Poland was short of more than 120,000 drivers last year, while in Germany between 45,000 and 60,000 were needed. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729

[Beni]

9 minutes ago, smallfaces said:

I'm confused by the number of HGV drivers required.

If Brexit has driven the cheap labour EU drivers home or back to the EU, how can they still be short?

What about the rest of Europe?

According to data collected by Transport Intelligence, Poland was short of more than 120,000 drivers last year, while in Germany between 45,000 and 60,000 were needed. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729

 

There are estimates that between 15 and 20 thousand drivers left due to Brexit, enough to cause disruption in the UK, but a drop in the ocean in terms of the EU.

[The Real Maroonblood]

12 minutes ago, smallfaces said:

I'm confused by the number of HGV drivers required.

If Brexit has driven the cheap labour EU drivers home or back to the EU, how can they still be short?

What about the rest of Europe?

According to data collected by Transport Intelligence, Poland was short of more than 120,000 drivers last year, while in Germany between 45,000 and 60,000 were needed. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729

They’ll be queuing up to come over here.

 

[ri Alban]

Just now, The Real Maroonblood said:

They’ll be queuing up to come over here.

 

The EU are paying Better wages.

[Nucky Thompson]

Passed 4 petrol stations today in Edinburgh and although there was a few cars on the forecourts, there was no queuing anywhere.

 

[Francis Albert]

3 minutes ago, Beni said:

 

There are estimates that between 15 and 20 thousand drivers left due to Brexit, enough to cause disruption in the UK, but a drop in the ocean in terms of the EU.

76000 drivers short in UK so the departure of EU drivers is not the main problem. It is UK industry incompetence. Though the industry will of course blame the government despite its proud free enterprise claims.

Also major shortages in the EU despite the return of the drop in the ocean from the UK. So maybe similar issues there.

[JudyJudyJudy]

1 hour ago, Cade said:

All three of the nearest petrol stations to me are out of petrol.

 

 

Rule feckin Britannia.

I honestly feel like smashing my tv when the news is on and they interview arse holes who are panic buying !!!’ Arrghhhh 

[The Real Maroonblood]

22 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

The EU are paying Better wages.

What a surprise.

[Seymour M Hersh]

59 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Of course. But they will just expand their massive ongoing investment in coal generation. Which means that the ludicrous Insulate Britain campaign will have zero impact on the survival of the planet and its inhabitants. Bit if it makes them fell better and more virtuous ...

 

I think one of their problems is a lack of coal due to their spat with Australia. 

[Ulysses]

10 hours ago, Governor Tarkin said:

 

I won't disagree with that, I was trying to establish whether the poster thinks that a true dog-eat-dog style, zero intervention, market economy would be beneficial to the majority of the general public - especially those who find themselves on the lower rungs of the proverbial ladder. I don't think for a second that's what he was implying, but it would be nice to tease out a little detail on the thought process. The poster often condenses worthy arguments into quasi-aggressive bullet points, but they might gain more traction if he fleshed them out a little for those of us who are not quite on his intellectual wavelength. Your second paragraph is a neat summary. Folk are continuously arguing around the edges (Brexit and the Jock indie stuff are just window dressing), when it's the entire system that's fundamentally flawed. Dire Straits 'Industrial Disease' is playing through my head. It's too early in the morning for Dire Straits

 

 

 

As you know, it's not a free market when the payments are for the benefit of the rich, but it is a free market when they're wanted by everyone else.

 

It's always too early in the morning for Dire Straits.

[Francis Albert]

3 minutes ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

I think one of their problems is a lack of coal due to their spat with Australia. 

Suspect they will get around that. If not ... look out Australia!

[Francis Albert]

48 minutes ago, Nucky Thompson said:

Passed 4 petrol stations today in Edinburgh and although there was a few cars on the forecourts, there was no queuing anywhere.

 

That won't make the news.

[jamboy1982]

Some folk on this thread desperately trying convince us that this has nothing whatsoever to with the b word. Embarrassing 

[willie wallace]

Saw my first petrol station with no fuel available signs today.

BP garage opposite  the airport.

Hope the shop is still open.Like to pick up a coffee there when I go walking.😊

[Don Dan]

1 hour ago, Deke Thornton said:

Barnier getting his campaign for the French presidency off to a flyer.

Did he say anything about the rise of authoritarianism in Poland and Hungary?

Not yet 🤷🏽‍♂️

[Don Dan]

1 hour ago, Ulysses said:

 

As you know, it's not a free market when the payments are for the benefit of the rich, but it is a free market when they're wanted by everyone else.

 

It's always too early in the morning for Dire Straits.

Just as a matter of interest I had a communication from my Electricity supplier Endesa here in Tenerife.  The Spanish Government taking steps looking after the consumer.
https://www.endesa.com/en/advice/about-your-bill/how-will-the-governments-measures-affect-your-bills

 

 

How will the latest measures taken by the Government affect your electricity and gas bills? Let's focus on what concerns you.

They were published in the RDL on 14 September and came into force on 16 September.

It is essential for you to know that, if you are with Endesa, your tariff is in the free market. That means you do not need to worry about the increases in the price of electricity that are being talked about in the media. Your contract has stable prices that are not affected by market price changes.

What really affects your bill is summarised in 2 major sections:

 

Taxes and charges

There has been a reduction in the percentage corresponding to the Excise Tax on Electricity: It was over 5% and will fall to as little as 0.5% depending on your consumption for invoices issued between 16 September and 31 December 2021.

There has been a reduction in electricity charges: You will find the reduction in the detail section in your invoice, below the total amount. Charges represent approximately 20%* of your bill depending on your consumption profile. In the following table you can see what the charges are now, both for the power term and for the energy term.

 

 

 

[Seymour M Hersh]

RAF to the rescue and not for the first time either.

 

 

 

[jack D and coke]

4 hours ago, Beni said:

Someone brandishing a knife in a fuel queue disagreement.

Thank goodness that plucky blitz spirit brings everyone together at times like these. 

 

I genuinely fear when an actual emergency happens. Half the country is literally brain dead. 

[smallfaces]

2 hours ago, ri Alban said:

The EU are paying Better wages.

Is this a known fact or a simple Brexit-ism?

If EU countries are paying higher wages, yet have a deficit of drivers, it does beg the question, why were EU drivers working for lower wages in the UK?

[Governor Tarkin]

19 minutes ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

RAF to the rescue and not for the first time either.

 

 

 

[Unknown user]

19 minutes ago, jack D and coke said:

I genuinely fear when an actual emergency happens. Half the country is literally brain dead. 

 

Get a dug

[Nucky Thompson]

2 hours ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

What a surprise.

I wouldn't take his word for it.

A quick check and a truck driver in Germany gets on average 30,000 euros a year, Waitrose are offering £54,000 per year just now.

Not even close

Edited September 28, 2021 by Nucky Thompson

[Don Dan]

😂 Do you blame them. 
 

 

https://apple.news/A2h11CKQRRJyOb8T2qk_XHg
 

Spanish lorry drivers say Britain is no longer an attractive place to work for European truckers despite the offer of temporary visas to lure them to ease the driver crisis in the UK.

Up to 5,000 foreign drivers are to be offered visas in an attempt to avoid supply chain disruptions ahead of Christmas, the UK Government has said, as petrol shortages spark fights on forecourts.

But truckers say this will be little temptation to head to the UK.

Manuel Roa, a lorry driver for 30 years, said Europeans were put off working in Britain because extra bureaucracy caused by Brexit means they can be delayed at the French border for days.

“We are treated the same as before except that when we are driving a load from the UK to Europe, we can be stuck at the ports in the UK for between two to three days while the paperwork is completed,” he told i.

[The Real Maroonblood]

9 minutes ago, Nucky Thompson said:

I wouldn't take his word for it.

A quick check and a truck driver in Germany gets on average 30,000 euros a year, Waitrose are offering £54,000 per year just now.

Not even close

Depends what company you Google

There'll  be a lot lower salaries elsewhere in the UK like anywhere else.

I've looked at various sites and there quite a difference on salaries in Germany.

Some say €30,000 - €53,000.

 

 

 

[Governor Tarkin]

 

[WorldChampions1902]

3 hours ago, jamboy1982 said:

Some folk on this thread desperately trying convince us that this has nothing whatsoever to with the b word. Embarrassing 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps finally recognising Project Reality. Better late than never.

 

”British transport secretary, Grant Shapps has finally admitted that the recent fuel crisis across the UK is not unconnected to Brexit”.

 

Shapps, on Tuesday said there is ‘no doubt’ Brexit will have contributed to Britain’s current fuel crisis.

 

“Brexit I hear mentioned a lot and it no doubt will have been a factor,” Shapps said on Tuesday.

 

https://surgezirc.co.uk/2021/09/28/breaking-shapps-admits-brexit-role-in-uk-fuel-crisis/?fbclid=IwAR16U00Sr1NQV7hEBR532x0M7BlxG6MTWS9B6ZQyoNtPhHtZXEtzahldmP0