Brexit

[RTH10260]

the consequences of Brexit

Thousands of foreign nurses a year leave UK to work abroad
Exclusive: Surge in nurses originally from outside the EU moving overseas prompts concern Britain is a ‘staging post’ in their careers

Denis Campbell Health policy editor
Mon 25 Mar 2024 06.00 CET

Almost 9,000 foreign nurses a year are leaving the UK to work abroad, amid a sudden surge in nurses quitting the already understaffed NHS for better-paid jobs elsewhere.

The rise in nurses originally from outside the EU moving to take up new posts abroad has prompted concerns that Britain is increasingly becoming “a staging post” in their careers.

The number of UK-registered nurses moving to other countries doubled in just one year between 2021-22 and 2022-23 to a record 12,400 and has soared fourfold since before the coronavirus pandemic.

Seven out of 10 of those leaving last year – 8,680 – qualified as a nurse somewhere other than the UK or EU, often in India or the Philippines. Many had worked in Britain for up to three years, according to research from the Health Foundation.

The vast majority of those quitting are heading to the US, New Zealand or Australia, where nurses are paid much more than in the UK – sometimes up to almost double.

Experts have voiced their alarm about the findings and said the NHS across the UK, already struggling with about 40,000 vacancies for nurses and hugely reliant on those coming from abroad, is increasingly losing out in the global recruitment race.

“It feels like the NHS is falling down the league table as a destination of choice for overseas nurses,” said Dame Anne Marie Rafferty, a professor of nursing studies at King’s College London.

“Worryingly, it feels as if the UK is perceived not as a high- but middle-income country in pay terms and as a staging post where nurses from overseas can acclimatise to western-type health systems in the search for better pay and conditions.”

Last year, 12,400 nurses working in the UK applied for a certificate of current professional status (CCPS), which they need to have to move to work in another country, the Health Foundation report shows.

The largest increase among that group was in overseas-trained nurses who had only worked in the UK for three years or less. That pronounced trend in short stays suggests that for many recruits from abroad “the UK may be a stepping-stone prior to moving to other destinations”, the thinktank said.



https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... ork-abroad

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Consider also too the consequences of horrific conditions to get a working visa in the UK ...

[Uninformed]

A feature not a bug

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Northampton haulier EM Rogers protests £66k migrants fine

13 March 2024
BBC

Northampton-based EM Rogers says the haulage industry risks losing drivers over government fines

A haulage firm said it had been fined £66,000 by the authorities after six migrants were found in one of its vehicles.

Ed Rogers, of EM Rogers in Northampton, said it was given the penalty by the UK Border Force after the incident in November.

The firm director previously said the industry risked losing drivers over the fines.

The Home Office says "far too many vehicles are not adequately secured".

Mr Rogers said hauliers were "actually the victims" and that "vulnerable lorry drivers" were being targeted by organised gangs.

"Can you imagine having your house broken into at night and then being fined for it?" he said.

Ed Rogers said hauliers were "actually the victims" and that "vulnerable lorry drivers" were being targeted

Mr Rogers said his company was fined £30,000 over the incident on 10 November, while the driver of the vehicle was fined £36,000.

The company had already been fined £15,000 - and one of its drivers £9,000 - after three people were found during a crossing from Calais to Dover in April last year.

He said EM Rogers, established in 1945, completed "hundreds" of Channel crossings every week and that the company had "robust systems" in place to train drivers against the risks.

The firm renewed training on a "quarterly basis", he said, and carried out audits on drivers throughout the year.

In a statement, a Home Office spokesperson said: "In the last 12 months, we have strengthened the haulier civil penalty with significantly increased financial penalties to ensure that drivers are taking every reasonable step to deter illegal migration and disrupt people smugglers."

Under increased fines introduced last year, anyone found to be carrying an illegal migrant - including tourists - faces a fine of up to £10,000 for each "clandestine entrant".



https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nor ... e-68549722

[RTH10260]

when Boris Johnson promised nothing will change with Brexit

‘It was built for 80 vehicles. We’re expecting six’: the big Brexit border posts that may never be fully used
At Portsmouth and other sites, rule changes have left port operators with new, expensive and now partly redundant facilities

Jack Simpson
Sat 30 Mar 2024 09.00 CET
Share
“It’s a monumental white elephant, just painted black,” says Gerald Vernon-Jackson, Portsmouth city council’s cabinet member for transport, standing outside the £23m warehouse, which was completed two years ago.

The 8,000 sq metre facility situated in Portsmouth International Port – the UK’s second busiest cross-Channel terminal – is the home to its border control post (BCP). One of more than 100 registered BCPs, it will be the place where many food and plant products coming through Portsmouth from the EU will be checked when post-Brexit import rules come in on 30 April.

Filled with expensive loading equipment and refrigeration systems, the site has 14 unloading bays, where lorries are expected to be examined, and 22 processing chambers, where plant and meat products will be checked by hand for disease by government inspectors.

But despite millions of pounds being pumped into the south coast project, half of the site will be left empty and unused when it comes into operation next month, and the council is chasing a reimbursement of £6m of the construction costs from government.

“When we built this, it was designed to the exact specifications the government wanted under its previous Border Operating Model. Now we are only expecting to use seven bays and 10 chambers,” says Mike Sellers, the port’s director.

The difficulties at Portsmouth have been replicated to varying degrees across the UK, with millions of pounds spent on facilities that may be only partially used. Unlike the majority of ports across the country, which are privately owned, Portsmouth is owned by the council, meaning the authority picks up the associated costs.

“You will find similar situations with a number of other roll-on-roll-off ports across the country,” says Richard Ballantyne, the chief executive of the British Ports Association.

Since the government first announced it would check imports of products of plant and animal origin after Brexit, ministers have changed their minds on the scope of these checks. This has meant the volume of goods expected to go through BCPs such as Portsmouth has fallen, while the amount of redundant space in these facilities has grown.

“It was built for between 50 and 80 vehicles per day: we are now expecting to process only half a dozen when it opens,” Sellers added.

When the UK left the single market in January 2021, the EU immediately began requiring health certificates for British meat, dairy and plant products, while also introducing physical inspections at EU borders.

The UK is now following suit. The certification scheme is already in place, and inspections on high- and medium-risk imports start next month.




https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... fully-used

[RTH10260]

When you have to teach staff that Steak And Kidney Pie is not being served and that they need to recommend more than just pizza ...

‘It’s catastrophic’: Italian restaurants in London struggle to find staff post-Brexit
UK hospitality industry hit by crisis as thousands of young Italians are forced out by latest round of rules and cost-of-living crisis

Rachel Keenan
Sun 14 Apr 2024 07.00 CEST

Emanuela Reccia has lived in London for almost a decade. She was a teenager when she left her home city of Naples to become a waitress in the UK, bringing her expertise and love of Italian cuisine to the capital.

But the 27-year-old, like thousands of other Italians working in the UK hospitality industry, now feels she has no option but to leave and return to Europe after the latest round of post-Brexit rules.

The new Brexit-driven regulations, which came into effect last week, raised the minimum salary threshold for a skilled work visa from £26,000 to £38,700, far more than many restaurant employees earn. The average wage for waiting staff in London in 2024 is £28,000, according to recruitment site Glassdoor.

Last week, the Italian press lamented the end of a rite of passage for young Italians, who would no longer be able to get visas to work as waiters in London. In the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Antonio Polito wrote: “A young Italian with initiative, the will to work and curiosity could once say ‘I’ll go to London’.”

Reccia, who works at Ciao Bella, a restaurant in Bloomsbury that has been open since 1983, said: “In this country we are very stressed now and under pressure. Before Brexit … we were free.

“If I leave, I’m going to miss it a lot. When I’m away from Italy I miss my family, but London became my second home and I bought a house here. For me, it’s very hard to leave.”



https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/a ... ost-brexit

[raison de arizona]

yes but think of all the english teenagers chomping at the bit to finally have a crack at these £28k jobs./s

[Uninformed]

According to the House of Commons library, as of April 2023 the median annual salary in the UK for 18-21 year olds was around £23,000.

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... /cbp-8456/

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Drug shortages, now normal in UK, made worse by Brexit, report warns
Some shortages are so serious they are imperilling the health and even lives of patients with serious illnesses, pharmacy bosses say

Denis Campbell Health policy editor
Thu 18 Apr 2024 01.01 CEST

Drug shortages are a “new normal” in the UK and are being exacerbated by Brexit, a report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank has warned. A dramatic recent spike in the number of drugs that are unavailable has created serious problems for doctors, pharmacists, the NHS and patients, it found.

The number of warnings drug companies have issued about impending supply problems for certain products has more than doubled from 648 in 2020 to 1,634 last year.

Mark Dayan, the report’s lead author and the Nuffield Trust’s Brexit programme lead, said: “The rise in shortages of vital medicines from rare to commonplace has been a shocking development that few would have expected a decade ago.”

The UK has been struggling since last year with major shortages of drugs to treat ADHD, type 2 diabetes and epilepsy. Three ADHD drugs that were in short supply were meant to be back in normal circulation by the end of 2023 but remain hard to obtain.

Some medicine shortages are so serious that they are imperilling the health and even lives of patients with serious illnesses, pharmacy bosses warned.

Health charities have seen a sharp rise in calls from patients unable to obtain their usual medication. Nicola Swanborough, head of external affairs at the Epilepsy Society, said: “Our helpline has been inundated with calls from desperate people who are having to travel miles, often visiting multiple pharmacies to try and access their medication.”

Paul Rees, the chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, which represents most of the UK’s 7,000 independently owned pharmacies, said: “Supply shortages are a real and present danger to those patients who rely on life-saving medicines for their wellbeing. Pharmacy teams have seen the problems get worse in this country over recent years, putting more patients at risk.



https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... port-warns

[pipistrelle]

_______________ shortages, now normal in UK, made worse by Brexit, report warns

Now it’s a template.

[Uninformed]

[RTH10260]

Brussels proposes return to pre-Brexit mobility for UK and EU young people
Commission to seek approval from leaders to start talks with UK on visa-free exchanges for 18- to 30-year-olds

Lisa O'Carroll in Brussels
Thu 18 Apr 2024 20.15 CEST

The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK to allow mobility enjoyed before Brexit to millions of 18- to 30-year-olds in a major concession.

It said it would now seek approval from individual EU leaders to start the talks, which could partly eliminate one of the most controversial elements of Brexit, a block on the right to live in one another’s countries, albeit for a limited period and with conditions.

Referring to the post-Brexit trading agreement on Northern Ireland, the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Since we have the Windsor agreement in place, the relationship has been much more constructive.

“There are certainly topics where we can have closer collaboration … and the topic of youth mobility is in both our interests because the more we have youth mobility being on both sides of the channel, the more we increase the probability we will be on good terms because the next generation knows each other very well.”

Under the envisaged agreement, EU and UK citizens aged between 18 and 30 would be able to stay for up to four years in the destination country, the European Commission said in a detailed statement.

If agreed, a youth mobility scheme visa would be issued in those countries that participate, with possible conditions including a requirement for health insurance and proof of sufficient subsistence funds, a feature of other mobility schemes around the world.

“The objective would be to facilitate youth exchanges, making it easier for young EU citizens to travel, work and live in the UK, with reciprocity for young UK nationals in a member state,” the commission said.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ung-people

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UK to delay start of health and safety checks on EU imports – report
New post-Brexit border checks ‘set to zero’ to avoid what Defra calls risk of serious disruption

Charlie Moloney
Thu 18 Apr 2024 23.30 CEST

The UK government has reportedly told port health authorities it will not “turn on” health and safety checks for EU imports as new post-Brexit border controls begin this month.

A presentation prepared by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) highlighted the risk of “significant disruption” if the new measures were implemented, according to the Financial Times. It made clear that the systems would not be fully ready on time.

In a move designed to avoid big delays, the government said it would ensure the rate of checks was initially “set to zero for all commodity groups”.

The border controls have already been delayed five times over fears that they could cause disruption and further fuel price inflation.

In its presentation, Defra admitted to port health authorities that “challenges” still remained within its systems for registering imports of food and animal products.

These challenges could trigger unmanageable levels of inspections, overwhelming ports, it was reported.

“There is a potential for significant disruption on day one if all commodity codes are turned on at once,” it said.

It was not made clear for how long border checks would be suspended but the presentation was said to indicate that the systems would be “progressively turned on” for different product groups.

Business organisations have repeatedly called for the introduction of the new border checks to be delayed until at least October.

The final big change will come in October, with the government requiring safety and security declarations for medium- and high-risk imports, while also introducing a single trade window, which the government says will reduce the number of forms needed for importers.

As of yet, goods coming from the island of Ireland will not require physical checks but the government has said these will be introduced at some point after 31 October this year.

A Defra spokesperson said: “As we have always said, the goods posing the highest biosecurity risk are being prioritised as we build up to full check rates and high levels of compliance.

“Taking a pragmatic approach to introducing our new border checks minimises disruption, protects our biosecurity and benefits everyone – especially traders.

“There has been extensive engagement with businesses over the past year – with our approach welcomed by several trade associations and port authorities.

“We will continue to work with and support businesses throughout this process to maintain the smooth flow of imported goods.”



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... rts-report

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Brexit plans in ‘complete disarray’ as EU import checks delayed, say businesses
Trade bodies say ongoing confusion about when checks will come in is ‘incredibly challenging’

Jack Simpson
Fri 19 Apr 2024 16.59 CEST

Businesses have described Britain’s Brexit border plans as being in “complete disarray” after it emerged the introduction of some checks on EU imports will be delayed.

Post-Brexit border rules, due to come into force on 30 April, will require many meat, dairy and plant products from the EU to be physically checked at government border control posts (BCPs).

But trade bodies have said fresh confusion about when the checks would begin were “incredibly challenging” for business planning, while others said serious questions remained about the government’s readiness for the regime.

Under the rules, medium- and high-risk products, which include meat and dairy products, as well as most plants, could be subject to checks at the borders as part of a move to enhance the UK’s biosecurity.

The Financial Times reported that the government would not “turn on” the checks on 30 April in an attempt to avert delays because border systems were not fully ready.

However, the government insisted the checks would be commencing on 30 April but indicated they would be focusing on higher-risk products and scaling up checks on other products in a “sensible and controlled way”.

The Guardian understands this will mean the government will focus the checks on the highest-risk products across high and medium bands, and then slowly build up to full checks. The government has yet to give a timeline on this but said it would take a “pragmatic approach”.

There have already been five previous delays to the implementation of the checks, which were initially set to come in in July 2021.

Phil Pluck, the chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation (CCF), said: “The ongoing confusion about how and when new checks will be introduced makes these preparations incredibly challenging.

“A phased approach is the right one but businesses urgently need clear information about what exactly these phases will include, and a definitive timeline.”

Martin McTague, the chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the system was in “complete disarray” and businesses were having to “decode messy and unclear messages” from Whitehall over whether they would face checks.

In January, the first phase of the border target operating model was introduced, with medium- and high-risk goods having to secure plant health and vet sign-offs before they could be exported to the UK.

Nan Jones, the technical policy manager at the British Meat Processors Association, said it was aware importers were making a high rate of mistakes in the new paperwork, which was causing issues with the government’s IT system at the border.

She said: “Currently there is no consequence for this error but once the new border controls come into force, these errors will result in consignments being directed to a BCP for an inspection.

“This could result in UK border posts being overwhelmed with extra work they are not equipped to process.”

Despite being just 11 days away from implementation, businesses have said there are gaping holes in the government’s regime, which are affecting their planning.

Delays to the government publishing its charges for goods coming through Dover has meant a number of private BCPs at ports across the country have yet to publish their rates for importers.

It has also emerged that the government’s Sevington BCP in Kent, which will process all Dover and Folkestone goods, has yet to receive formal designation that will allow it to carry out the checks.




https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ade-checks

[RTH10260]

a Times interview

New Brexit border checks to bring major disruption to the UK

Times Radio
30 Apr 2024

New Brexit border checks have now been introduced, nearly eight years since the UK left the European Union.

Product inspections on flowers, meat and dairy products will likely lead to increased delays and costs for customers.

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Consumers may have to pick up bill for new Brexit checks

Sky News
30 Apr 2024

New border checks on food and plant imports will add billions of pounds to the cost of doing business with the European Union, industry figures have warned.

Smaller independent food importers fear they will be disproportionately affected by the regime as they lack the scale to mitigate costs or set up European subsidiaries to handle the process.

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What really happened in the Brexit negotiations | Tim Shipman | The Story

Times Radio
4 May 2024 The Story | PODCAST

They were some of the most turbulent years of British politics as Prime Minister Theresa May steered her Brexit deal, via unprecedented disasters and triumphs, through parliament.

The ultimate insider, Tim Shipman, Sunday Times’ chief political commentator was there throughout and shares new revelations and his unfiltered reflections on the politicians who led us through it all.

Guest: Tim Shipman, chief political commentator, The Sunday Times and author of No Way Out: From the Backstop to Boris.

Host: Luke Jones.

Clips: BBC News, Channel 4 News and 5 News.

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Brexit: A billion pound disaster is unfolding at Dover

PoliticsJOE
3 May 2024

New checks introduced by the government are wreaking havoc on businesses.

Importers say fees for Dover inspections are much higher than first thought and will push up shop prices.

The total cost could be £1-3 billion this year alone.

[RTH10260]

and another one

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Post-Brexit border checks forecast to cost UK £4.7bn, says NAO
Watchdog says says repeated delays have caused unnecessary costs and strategy lacks a ‘clear timetable’

Jack Simpson
Mon 20 May 2024 10.34 CEST

The government expects to have spent at least £4.7bn on introducing post-Brexit border controls, which have been repeatedly hit by delays, the public spending watchdog has warned.

Plans to bring in border checks on goods coming from the EU faced “significant issues” including critical shortages of inspectors before their introduction last month, the National Audit Office said in a report.

The UK has said it hopes to have the “world’s most effective border” by 2025, but the watchdog said the strategy lacked “a clear timetable and an integrated cross-government delivery plan”, with individual departments responsible for implementing different aspects.

The government estimates it will spend at least £4.7bn on the 13 most significant border-related programmes over their lifetimes, of which £2.6bn had been spent by March 2023.

The report found that the Cabinet Office’s confidence in physical checks on plant and animal imports being introduced in April had been rated as “amber” at the start of the year. The department, which monitors the government and business readiness for the changes, said the amber rating meant that while the implementation was “feasible”, there were “significant issues that required management attention”.

This included difficulties recruiting and training port health authority inspectors to carry out the checks, with the government admitting that authorities “would not have 100% of the staff they required from day one”.

The Cabinet Office also raised concerns over whether the government had sufficient legislation in place to support the new checks.

The revelations over a lack of government preparedness for the changes, come a week after an IT outage led to lorries being held at the border posts for up to 20 hours, affecting many import businesses bringing in goods from the EU.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... s-watchdog

[Ben-Prime]

The UK has said it hopes to have the “world’s most effective border” by 2025, but the watchdog said the strategy lacked “a clear timetable and an integrated cross-government delivery plan”, with individual departments responsible for implementing different aspects.

True masters of aspirational government. TFG and his team ought to note that this beats the hell out of promising a beautiful plan for infrastructure in 2 weeks.

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World’s largest food awards move judging panel from UK to Ireland to avoid Brexit red tape
Due to new import controls, a judging session for the Great Taste awards is being held outside the UK for the first time in 30 years

James Tapper
Sun 26 May 2024 07.00 CEST

The Great Taste awards are a British success story – the world’s largest food awards, celebrating the best products on the planet. But new post-Brexit import controls have forced the organisers to hold a judging panel outside the UK for the first time in the awards’ 30-year history.

On Sunday, judges from the Guild of Fine Foods panel will travel to County Tipperary in Ireland to spend three days tasting products that have become much harder to bring to the UK.

Since January, anyone sending meat, dairy or fish products to the UK has to find a vet to fill out a seven-page form showing that the product is disease-free. And since April, exporters have also had to pay a fee of £29 for each product, whether it’s a container full of Irish beef or a single packet of Tayto cheese and onion crisps, unless they are for personal use. This includes the 13,672 samples sent to the Great Taste judges from 115 countries.

John Farrand, the managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, said: “The friction at the borders has tripped us up this year. We’re a bellwether for the wider problems in the market. It’s irritating for us because it’s going to cost us a lot more money to go and judge in Ireland. We’re going to judge [in Clonmel, Co Tipperary] to help the smaller food and drink producers who can’t cope with the paperwork and the cost.”

Some judging will still take place in the UK. Sally Ferns Barnes, a Scot who founded the Woodcock Smokery in West Cork in 1981 and won supreme champion at the 2006 Great Taste awards for her cold-smoked wild Atlantic salmon, is not entering this year. “We used to send entries every year,” she said. “It was a wonderful yardstick for us because you’re up against [about] 10,000 other products. When you win, you think, ‘I must be doing something right here’.

“I didn’t enter because I thought, ‘what’s the point – I can’t offer it to customers in the UK any more.’ ”



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... t-red-tape

[Chilidog]

When are they going to swallow their pride and admit that Brexit was the biggest mistake in British history?

It has effectively turned the UK into a third world country.

[Foggy]

Oh, I think it isn't finished yet, descending into 3rd worldliness.

Sad to say. We can overcome our huge mistake in electing Trump. The UK has no real way to escape the madness of Brexit.