Brexit

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Cornwall produces 80% of the world’s daffodils.

Millions of daffodils ‘will rot’ if Brexit denies UK farmers foreign workers
Flower growers fear end of the UK’s £100m industry as Covid and border restrictions lead to lack of seasonal workers

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... 1639840154

Millions of daffodil stems will be left to rot in the fields this spring, as growers face a critical labour shortage that they fear could spell the end of the entire industry.

“If we can’t recruit more pickers, there won’t be a daffodil industry left. The situation is very grim,” said James Hosking, of Fentongollan Farm, near Truro in Cornwall.

Some growers expect up to 75% of their crop will be left unpicked this spring due to a lack of workers. Many smaller growers are planning to give up daffodil growing entirely, with attempts to recruit locals failing to bring enough people to the fields.

Cornwall’s mild climate and light intensity make it the heart of the UK’s £100m industry, with around 80% of the world’s daffodils grown in the duchy. Harvesting begins in the first week of January and a workforce of around 2,500 people is needed to pick over a billion stems.

[Uninformed]

“Lord Frost reportedly resigns as Brexit minister”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59714241

ABANDON SHIP!

[RTH10260]

same, by the Guardian

who willnow renegociate the Brexit deal? Who will steer the UK to the hard Brexit? Who will work to rejcet the N.Ireland protocol part of the Brexit deal?

Brexit minister’s shock resignation leaves Boris Johnson reeling
Lord Frost’s frustrated exit is yet another blow for PM struggling for control of his government

Michael Savage and Toby Helm
Sat 18 Dec 2021 21.37 GMT

Boris Johnson was dealt another major blow to his leadership on Saturday night as it emerged that the man overseeing Brexit was resigning from the cabinet.

With Tory MPs already warning the prime minister that he would have to regain control of the government to survive as leader until the next election, it emerged that Lord Frost is to leave the government after frustrations over Brexit negotiations and broader concerns over the government’s Covid policies and tax increases.

The shock departure represents another dangerous moment for Johnson, following a series of scandals and a humiliating byelection defeat last week that saw his party lose a 23,000 majority.

Frost’s departure is also another sign of the major fissures opening up within the Tory party.

The peer has been vocal in recent weeks about his concerns over tax increases and the reimposition of Covid restrictions. He is understood to have spoken out against a rise in national insurance to pay for health and social care spending.



https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... on-reeling

[Ben-Prime]

Well, at this point, I know what this morning's reading material is going to be after I've finished cooking breakfast.

Because nothing goes better with bacon and eggs than a side of schadenfreude.

[RTH10260]

I hear the sigh from Brussels - another new face and incompetent negotiator to cope with

[Volkonski]

I hear the sigh from Brussels - another new face and incompetent negotiator to cope with

To heck with the UK. The world can do without daffodils.

[Uninformed]

“Liz Truss replaces Lord Frost in post-Brexit talks”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59721801



“Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will replace Lord Frost as the UK's lead negotiator with the EU in post-Brexit talks.
She will retain her role as foreign minister alongside the new post leading negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol.”

What could go wrong?

[RTH10260]

OMFSM - the creator of the greatest trade deals of the UK in the 21 century will strike again. EU to fear the far reach of UK - Australian and UK - Japanese deals

[RTH10260]

I hear the sigh from Brussels - another new face and incompetent negotiator to cope with

To heck with the UK. The world can do without daffodils.

There will be littel to none daffodils on the market come spring 2022

Millions of daffodils ‘will rot’ if Brexit denies UK farmers foreign workers
Flower growers fear end of the UK’s £100m industry as Covid and border restrictions lead to lack of seasonal workers

Rachel Stevenson
Sat 18 Dec 2021 14.05 GMT

Millions of daffodil stems will be left to rot in the fields this spring, as growers face a critical labour shortage that they fear could spell the end of the entire industry.

“If we can’t recruit more pickers, there won’t be a daffodil industry left. The situation is very grim,” said James Hosking, of Fentongollan Farm, near Truro in Cornwall.

Some growers expect up to 75% of their crop will be left unpicked this spring due to a lack of workers. Many smaller growers are planning to give up daffodil growing entirely, with attempts to recruit locals failing to bring enough people to the fields.

Cornwall’s mild climate and light intensity make it the heart of the UK’s £100m industry, with around 80% of the world’s daffodils grown in the duchy. Harvesting begins in the first week of January and a workforce of around 2,500 people is needed to pick over a billion stems.


https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... gn-workers

Comment: even were the government to change it's mind this week, it would be January until the sleuths in the administration would get down to the details of a work visa, and another two months at best until a worker would show up on the island. Flowering season will be just nearing its end.

[RTH10260]

Van drivers in UK will need new operating licences to enter EU from May
Latest Brexit red tape will come into force alongside a series of further checks at Dover and other ports

Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent
Thu 16 Dec 2021 13.29 GMT

Van drivers will be required to get new international operating licences if they want to travel back and forth to the EU from May next year, the government has announced.

The additional red tape will come into force next year alongside a series of further checks at Dover and other ports that were delayed three times in 2021 because of lack of preparation for Brexit in Great Britain.

According to updates on the gov.uk website, anyone driving a van, a light commercial vehicle or any car towing a trailer will be required to have a “goods vehicle operator licence” to enter the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland from May.

The licence will cost van drivers up to £1,100, a significant burden for solo operators, industry leaders said.

Drivers will have to fork out £257 in an application fee and a further £401 for the licence. Another £401 “continuation fee” will be payable every five years to retain the licence, according to gov.uk.

Drivers will also need to assign a staff member or themselves as “transport manager” – a named individual to ensure the driver follows industry regulations and tax payments in the EU after Brexit.

The person will either have to demonstrate they have managed fleets of vehicles for at least 10 years or will have to complete a course to qualify for a transport manager qualification.

A slew of other rules in the UK will hit hauliers of all sizes from 1 January when EU exporters need to register for a goods vehicle movement service (GVMS) as full customs controls will apply to all goods moving in both directions between the EU and Great Britain.

Hauliers who do not have the paperwork will not be allowed to board a ferry or shuttle.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -eu-brexit

[RTH10260]

no, we don't need any foreign workers, except perhaps we do need some ....

UK to ease immigration rules for care workers as shortage worsens
Loss of more than 40,000 staff over past six months prompts move to recruit overseas

Jessica Elgot Chief political correspondent
Fri 24 Dec 2021 16.20 GMT

Thousands of additional care workers are to be recruited from abroad to fill chronic gaps in the workforce, the government has announced, after figures showed more than 40,000 social care staff had left the sector in the past six months.

Immigration rules will be relaxed for care workers, care assistants and home care workers, who will be added to the Home Office’s shortage occupation list.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the pandemic had brought unprecedented challenges. The change follows a recommendation from the Migration Advisory Committee, which said there were “severe and increasing difficulties faced by the care sector”.

Care workers who arrive on a 12-month health and care visa must receive an annual salary of at least £20,480 to qualify, with the measures expected to come into effect early next year. They will be entitled to bring dependants, including a partner and children.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, said the sector was “experiencing unprecedented challenges prompted by the pandemic”, adding: “The changes we’ve made to the health and care visa will bolster the workforce and help alleviate some of the pressures currently being experienced.”

Health providers have predicted worsening staff shortages, with a requirement for all frontline healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated against Covid by 1 April. The same was asked of care workers by 11 November.

Earlier this month, the Nuffield Trust said the care sector was facing an extremely challenging winter of staff shortages. The health thinktank found staff numbers had fallen by about 42,000 between April and October.

The Home Office also announced that a visa scheme to allow seasonal horticultural workers to come to the UK would continue until the end of 2024, but the government added it wanted to see a new plan from the sector to cut the reliance on foreign labour.

There will be 30,000 visas available next year, with the number being tapered down from 2023. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said a review had found the reliance on foreign labour had held down wages and was a disincentive to investment.



https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... ers-worsen

[RTH10260]

but think SOVEREIGNITY!

Brexit: ‘the biggest disaster any government has ever negotiated’
Exclusive: British cheesemaker says Brexit and subsequent trade deals have cost his firm £270,000

Lisa O'Carroll Brexit Correspondent
Mon 27 Dec 2021 14.00 GMT

ABritish cheesemaker who predicted Brexit would cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds in exports has called the UK’s departure from the EU single market a disaster, after losing his entire wholesale and retail business in the bloc over the past year. Simon Spurrell, the co-founder of the Cheshire Cheese Company, said personal advice from a government minister to pursue non-EU markets to compensate for his losses had proved to be “an expensive joke”.

“It turns out our greatest competitor on the planet is the UK government because every time they do a fantastic deal, they kick us out of that market – starting with the Brexit deal,” he said.

Spurrell predicted in January that Brexit would cost him £250,000 in sales. “We lost £270,000, so I got one thing right,” he said, describing the post-Brexit EU trade deal as the “biggest disaster that any government has ever negotiated in the history of trade negotiations”.

His online retail business was hit immediately after the Brexit negotiator David Frost failed to secure a frictionless trade deal addressing sales to individual customers in the EU.

Spurrell said he had lost 20% of sales overnight after discovering he needed to provide a £180 health certificate on each order, including gift packs costing £25 or £30. He said the viability of his online retail had come to a “dead stop”.

After he embarked on a personal crusade to draw attention to the plight of UK exporters involving almost 200 media interviews around the world, he was invited to an online meeting with Victoria Prentis, a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She suggested that emerging markets could compensate for the Brexit-related hole in the Cheshire Cheese Company’s finances.

Spurrell said he had pursued new business in Norway and Canada but post-Brexit trade deals sealed by the government had put barriers in place.

“We no longer have any ability to deal with the EU as our three distributors in Germany, France and Italy have said we have become too expensive because of the new checks and paperwork.

“And now we’ve also lost Norway since the trade deal, as duty for wholesale is 273%. Then we tried Canada but what the government didn’t tell us is that duty of 244% is applied on any consignment over $20 [£15].”

That meant Canadian customers who ordered a gift pack worth £50, including transport fees, were asked to pay £178 extra in duty when the courier arrived at their door, Spurrell said. “As you can imagine, customers were saying: ‘You can take that back, we don’t want it anymore’.”

Norwegian duty on a £30 cheese pack amounted to £190 extra, he said.



https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... negotiated

[bill_g]

I was assured by a man in the post office queue yesterday that Right Wing govts know how to run things smoothly. It's just inherent in their nature.

[Suranis]

Lol. They might tell everyone that, but the Nazi Goverment was a chaotic mess. And there is a sense Hitler made it so deliberately, so that everyone would be so busy fighting one another that they would have no time to fight him. He often put 2 people in charge of the same department, for example, and they would be constantly at war with one another.

[RTH10260]

why this when nobody buys their seafood?

Fishing industry promised ‘bright future’ with £75m funding boost
The UK Government money will be used to modernise ports and processing facilities throughout the country.

Scottish fishing firms have been promised a ‘bright future’ after the UK Government announced a £75m funding boost to modernise the fishing industry and level up coastal communities.

The funding, which will be used to modernise UK ports and processing facilities, has been welcomed by industry bodies who have faced challenges in the sector following Brexit.

Announcing the funding, the UK Government said it would go towards better infrastructure, strengthened supply chains, new jobs, and an investment in skills.

The move will see £65m go to modernising ports and harbours, while £10m will encourage new entrants into the sector, and train and upskill those already working in it.



https://news.stv.tv/world/fishing-indus ... ding-boost

[RTH10260]

i bet with the recent trade deals Japan, New Zealand and Australia are waiting wih open arms for those goodies the UK cannot sell to the EU

[noblepa]

Is there any chance that the British people will someday realize that they are much worse off than they were under the EU and apply to re-enter the union?

I realize that Boris Johnson and the current crop of Brexiteers will never accept the humiliation of turning to Brussels, hat in hand, and ask to be members again?

The only thing that the Brexiteers promised that has come to pass is that the UK now has tighter controls on immigration. The racists seem to have gotten their wish to keep all those brown-skinned people out of the country.

I remember seeing some man-in-the-street interviews, immediately after the Brexit vote, with some voters who said that they never for a moment thought that it would pass, but they wanted to cast a protest vote to let TPTB know that they were not happy. Several asked if they could have a do-over.

If I recall, the Brexit vote was not a landslide, and I suspect that, if people knew then what they know now, it would fail.

[bob]

There are practical and political considerations.

Other nations already are candidate countries. It is a long process to be admitted.

Politically, who is going to advocate that the UK be allowed to cut to the front of the line? Especially when the point of Brexit was to decouple itself from the EU's rules.

The UK has already cost the EU at least millions to go through the divorce. A "just kidding" without an acknowledgment of the debts incurred is DOA.

[Suranis]

The UK has also burned its bridges by being an utterly pain in the ass member while it was part of the union, and then acting like a complete knob during the withdrawal negotiations.

There is pretty much zero goodwill left in the EU for the UK, so asking to skip the queue will be met with gales of laughter. Especially since we know they would phrase it in the most imperious way possible.

[RTH10260]

"Rarely is the question asked: ..."

And the answer is - it will be decades for the UK to return to the EU if ever. First and foremost, they need a national referendum that requests the government to get do anything, and like with Brexit they can stretch that out to eternity. Then they will join the end of the queue of applicants, now at 5 with an additional 2 potential candidates. Then the UK will have to fullfill a long laundry list of conditions that makes it finally elligible. Least and not last all EU member states at the time need to accept a fresh member.

The most important and damaging point is that the UK has decided it will deviate its laws from former agreed EU standards. A return will be a painful adjustment to what status is common in the EU at that future time.

Actually the deviation will already now be damaging to the UK economy, cause the EU will not accept goods that are not proven to be compatible, and it's the EU who decides what they think is acceptable. Most notable is that the "CE" standards mark is no longer acceptable for goods sold in the UK market (less N.Ireland) and has to be replaced by their own homebrewn "UKCA" certification. UK manufacturers that wish to sell to both markets need to apply for both. UKCA alone is not elligible for selling to the EU. And many countries around the world are recognizing the high standards of CE, it's still open how many will be content with goods that only comply to UKCA. Note: at the moment the UKCA is identical to CE but will deviate in the future.

[RTH10260]

What a Year of Brexit Brought U.K. Companies: Higher Costs and Endless Forms
While the worst of the Brexit trade disruptions are over, British exports to the European Union are down and companies are frustrated.

By Eshe Nelson
Dec. 29, 2021

For more than a decade, Neil Currie could sell his company’s handcrafted black iron pans and cookware from Shropshire, the birthplace of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, to customers in Berlin as easily as he could to ones in Birmingham, less than 30 miles to the east. But this year, since Britain left the European Union, Netherton Foundry’s sales into the bloc have plummeted.

For 12 months, British businesses have been confronting the reality of the country’s decision to distance itself from its largest trading partner. Initially, the new system collapsed: Perishable goods got stuck at ports, retailers discovered their supply chains were obsolete and trucking companies stopped delivering to the whole island of Ireland.

The worst of the problems (outside of Northern Ireland) eased after a few months. But what remains is a frustrating regime of higher costs, time-consuming customs paperwork and countless lost opportunities.

Netherton Foundry’s website sales to the European Union are “just draining away,” Mr. Currie said. They have dropped 40 percent this year.

Before Brexit, the only discernible difference about sales to the continent were the extra delivery costs. Arranging the shipment took less than a minute. Now, for every different product leaving Britain — whether it’s a specially designed tortilla press or a popular frying pan with locally sourced oak handles — a four-page customs form needs to be completed, which takes up to 20 minutes per shipment.



https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/29/busi ... trade.html

[RTH10260]

The best New Year promises - more bureaucracy

‘It won’t be easy’: the European exporters battling Brexit bureaucracy
Paperwork and Covid culminate in another year of headaches for food and wine producers

Ashifa Kassam in Madrid and Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Wed 29 Dec 2021 18.04 GMT

For more than two decades, Unexport has shipped millions of kilograms of produce annually from farms in the southern Spanish region of Murcia to clients in the UK. Brexit has transformed the relatively straightforward process into a bureaucratic nightmare, yielding border waiting times of up to 10 hours for lorries laden with lemons and lettuce, said Domingo Llamas, its president.

Given the damage already inflicted by the UK’s exit from the bloc, plus the coronavirus pandemic, he sees the final implementation of thrice-delayed checks as just “one other thing” to manage.

“The lorry that doesn’t have the document will be caught in the queue and those in behind will have to wait for them to move aside,” Llamas says. “At the end of the day, it might mean more time in the queue.

“There’s just more and more bureaucracy. You need this document, this document isn’t completed properly, now go back to the queue and so on. Covid isn’t helping either.”

Even when lorries arrive at the border with all the necessary documents, they risk being held up by less prepared hauliers. “If those in front of you don’t have their paperwork in order, everyone suffers the consequences as nobody can advance.”

The constant threat of delays has left many drivers in Spain reluctant to take on UK-bound deliveries, pushing up the cost of the route and ultimately translating into higher prices for consumers, he said. “And any driver who isn’t very comfortable in English, they’ll have more problems. So there are many who have told their bosses that they don’t want to go to England, that they can be sent to other places but not England.”



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ureaucracy

[RTH10260]

Covid related, but Brexit induced inconvenience

Britons with homes in EU told they can’t drive through France to get there
Eurotunnel operator issues warning to UK nationals after update to Covid travel rules by French government

Léonie Chao-Fong
Thu 30 Dec 2021 00.48 GMT

Eurotunnel is warning British citizens who live in the EU that they cannot travel through France by car from the UK due to new coronavirus restrictions imposed by the French government.

Getlink, the operator of the Channel rail link, issued an urgent warning on its website and Twitter page on Wednesday evening that appeared to confirm that the French government had changed its travel rules.

The statement read: “Following a French Government decision, on 28/12/2021, unless they hold French residency, British citizens are now considered 3rd country citizens and can no longer transit France by road to reach their country of residence in the EU.”



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... -get-to-uk

[Reality Check]

"Rarely is the question asked: ..."

And the answer is - it will be decades for the UK to return to the EU if ever. First and foremost, they need a national referendum that requests the government to get do anything, and like with Brexit they can stretch that out to eternity. Then they will join the end of the queue of applicants, now at 5 with an additional 2 potential candidates. Then the UK will have to fullfill a long laundry list of conditions that makes it finally elligible. Least and not last all EU member states at the time need to accept a fresh member.

The most important and damaging point is that the UK has decided it will deviate its laws from former agreed EU standards. A return will be a painful adjustment to what status is common in the EU at that future time.

I agree with your analysis. The UK will be out for at least a generation. However, would it take another referendum for the UK to partition to join or just an act of Parliament? Practically speaking it probably would but my understanding was that the last referendum was made non binding and the UK could have probably retracted invoking Article 50 up until the withdrawal was finalized. I seem to recall that was even litigated in EU courts. I am just spitballing but if Labor and/or the Lib Dems ran on a platform of petitioning the EU for rejoining and won a large victory would that not be enough?