Continuation Brexit: Now What? The Perfect 10.

[wobs]

Originally Posted by ohms

Farage typically misremembering again, it was Nissan themselves who threatened to leave it there was no deal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54986195

Maybe they should have put that we should be paying the car industry millions on the side of that bus.

[Darat]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

That's right John.
Farmers can just turn around and produce home grown tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and soft fruit in the middle of winter with not enough greenhouse infrastructure to produce even a tenth of the demand.

He means turnips doesn't he?

You mean a Swiftian solution and we start to eat the cabinet....

[Vixen]

Originally Posted by wobs

Maybe they should have put that we should be paying the car industry millions on the side of that bus.

What is the truth about Nissan? Someone who picketed outside their car production plant, has this to say about the development:

Quote:

The reality remains, however, that although Nissan has the zero tariffs they wanted, there still remain other ‘non-tariff’ barriers to trade – namely customs checks which will raise costs, cause delays and ultimately make them less competitive.

Every time the UK plant has to bid within Nissan to make a new model in Sunderland, we will see in practice how good the Brexit deal really is. Let’s not forget that the Sunderland plant did not win the bid to make their new electric car, the Ariya, due to concerns about Brexit.

Furthermore, Nissan would not confirm if bringing battery production to Sunderland would mean additional jobs at the plant itself.

Nissan paused one of its two production lines on Friday due to disruption at ports, which they say is due to the pandemic. Struggling to get car parts from the EU is clearly going to have an impact on production whatever the reason. However we have all seen on the news the disruption to ports caused by Brexit red tape.

https://northeastbylines.co.uk/are-t...in-sunderland/

[Vixen]

Here's a thread reader by David Lambert, who has been quoted in the FT and the DAILY MAIL, as being a UK wine importer affected by Brexit red-tape. He discovered logjams were happening because of old errors on HMRC webpages and unclear instructions.

Quote:

We are now 23 days into 2021, here is my second thread on how #brexit reality is holding my business back currently, as I watch the wine supply chain collapse before my very eyes. 1/22
Following on from my thread last week I was more than keen to resolve the issues I was having. With now famous #CHIEF computer declaration system, I again spent time checking the coding but sadly to no avail. 2/22
On Monday afternoon I was thrilled to receive a call from an extremely helpful HMRC senior officer from CDS/Chief team. She requested screen shots, which I supplied quickly, and she promised to reply as quickly as possible adding they were extremely busy with help enquiries. 3/22

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...827643904.html

[lomiller]

Originally Posted by Vixen

Who is going to pick all of the soft fruit now that the professional and efficient Romanian gangs have been sent packing? Brits don't want to do it that's for sure, despite much job advertising.

The beauty of Brexit is that pretty soon all those stuck up bankers will have no choice in the matter. They will HAVE to go out and pick crops if they don’t want to pick up and move to the EU where all the banking jobs are.

[The Don]

Yet another "Brexit dividend", online purchases from the EU are set to get more expensive:

Quote:

Credit card giant Mastercard is to raise the fees it charges merchants when UK cardholders buy goods and services from the EU by fivefold.

It has sparked fears that consumer prices could rise if merchants choose to pass on those costs, especially on items not available from UK retailers.

Transactions with airlines, hotels, car rentals and holiday firms based in the EU could all be affected.

Mastercard attributed the move to the UK's decision to leave the EU.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55796426

Mastercard claim that the additional costs won't be passed onto end users but added to the additional shipping costs and VAT costs, something's got to give.

No-one will be too surprised to find that the fees are capped by the EU and Brexit has allowed Mastercard to remove that cap. Sunlit ******* uplands my **** !

[Tolls]

Project Fear!!!

Oh...hang on...

[Vixen]

News at last about my post-Brexit parcel from the UK. It is now due to be delivered tomorrow. It has done the following rounds:

Glostrup, Denmark 22/01/2021 15:15 Arrived at Facility
Hamburg, Germany 22/01/2021 09:00 Departed from Facility
Hamburg, Germany 22/01/2021 08:00 Arrived at Facility
Herne-Boernig, Germany 22/01/2021 03:37 Departed from Facility
Herne-Boernig, Germany 22/01/2021 00:46 Arrived at Facility
Stanford Le Hope, United Kingdom 21/01/2021 12:45 Departed from Facility
Stanford Le Hope, United Kingdom 20/01/2021 14:39 Export Scan
13/01/2021 12:26 A delivery change for this package is in progress. / Your package will be delivered to an alternate address.
13/01/2021 12:20 A valid ID No. (tax, personal, deferment) required for clearance is missing. We're working to obtain this information. / Your package was released by the clearing agency.
13/01/2021 12:19 Your package is being processed at the clearance agency.
Stanford Le Hope, United Kingdom 12/01/2021 13:14 Export Scan
Stanford Le Hope, United Kingdom 12/01/2021 08:44 We've incorrectly sorted this package which may cause a delay.
Stanford Le Hope, United Kingdom 12/01/2021 07:21 Destination Scan
12/01/2021 08:59 Your parcel was released by the customs agency.
12/01/2021 08:59 A valid ID No. (tax, personal, deferment) required for clearance is missing. We're working to obtain this information.
Stanford Le Hope, United Kingdom 12/01/2021 05:54 Arrived at Facility
12/01/2021 06:44 Your package is being processed at the clearance agency.
12/01/2021 06:38 Your package is being processed at the clearance agency.
Tamworth, United Kingdom 12/01/2021 03:02 Departed from Facility
Tamworth, United Kingdom 12/01/2021 00:37 Origin Scan
United Kingdom 11/01/2021 17:12 Shipper created a label, UPS has not received the package yet.
Tracking results provided by UPS 25/01/2021 11:47 Eastern Time

So now it was in Denmark Friday and will somehow get here by tomorrow. According to Google Maps, Glostrup, Denmark is one thousand kilometres away and seventeen hours by road.

[Vixen]

Ballad of my post-Brexit parcel:

YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.

I AGREE

'I've been everywhere, Man!'

[Matthew Ellard]

Originally Posted by Vixen

'I've been everywhere, Man!'

Well excuse me!

"I've been everywhere man" is an Australian song from 1959. When our former Australian prime minister and prize winning idiot Tony Abbott, who is currently working for fellow prize winning idiot prime minister, Boris Johnson , and establishes the UK, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian free trade block.....CANZUK .....we can loose you parcel in places you have never heard of!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OZWi-mTkNU

[The Don]

Looks like the BBC has latched onto the "I had to pay £xx to get my parcel" story as their indication of the "success" of Brexit.

Quote:

She was delighted to hear a friend had sent her a present: a pair of gold earrings from Greece. She was less impressed that she would have to pay nearly £30 in taxes to receive the gift.

The extra charges are a result of new post-Brexit rules that came into force on 1 January.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55752541

I guess that this, standing in the non-EU line in Spanish passport control and more expensive travel insurance/mobile phone roaming/wine will be the most visible effects of Brexit for most people.

[Tolls]

I think that was always going to be the case.
The other costs are likely to be absorbed and only appear in inflation figures, which are less immediately obvious to most people.

Summer will be interesting, presuming people will be able to travel abroad...

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Tolls

I think that was always going to be the case.
The other costs are likely to be absorbed and only appear in inflation figures, which are less immediately obvious to most people.

Summer will be interesting, presuming people will be able to travel abroad...

If international holidays to the EU are possible then the headlines from the Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Express and Daily Telegraph are predicable about the "EU punishing British holidaymakers" by forcing them to use non-EU lines and contrasting to other non-EU countries which are allowed to use the EU lines.

Of course those reports will fail to mention that the non-EU countries which are allowed to use the EU lines have signed up to free movement of people.

[Tolls]

They'll try, I'm just not sure how successful they'll be.
They've failed, for example, to turn the charges people are seeing on goods coming (eg ebay or amazon) as somehow the EUs fault.

The view that the deal we have with the EU is not what was promised is getting pretty firmly embedded.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Tolls

They'll try, I'm just not sure how successful they'll be.
They've failed, for example, to turn the charges people are seeing on goods coming (eg ebay or amazon) as somehow the EUs fault.

The view that the deal we have with the EU is not what was promised is getting pretty firmly embedded.

Will they therefore push for the UK to renege on the deal on the grounds that a no-deal would be preferable ?

[Wudang]

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/bu...-favour/26/01/


Moody's analysis of the trade deal. The article is light on details but says

Quote:

"it largely lacks substance in areas vital to the UK economy".

[Tolls]

Ah, well.
I'm sure some will, but I would hope this stab of reality might wake some people up to what crashing out would mean.

I know, I know...I'm just an optimist!

[Darat]

Originally Posted by Wudang

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/bu...-favour/26/01/


Moody's analysis of the trade deal. The article is light on details but says

You mean he read it? Why on earth did he read it - after all our own government hasn’t, plus of course it was never meant to do anything for UK trade - its purpose was to get Johnson good headlines for Christmas.

[Wudang]

I think someone said they "were doing their job". I seem to recall that phrase from somewhere but I can't recall its significance.

[Wudang]

Link to Moody's report


https://m.moodys.com/research/Moodys...K--PBC_1262240

[Vixen]

Post Script: My package arrived and there were no charge either end. I also received that fancy light I sent off for from a 'French' firm who claimed delivery was delayed two months because of Brexit problems. The package came direct from...CHINA.

[Vixen]

Interesting article here about Brits and expat Finns migrating/returning to Finland due to Brexit:

Quote:

Along with Finns returning home, some Brits are also looking to secure EU residency before the door closes at the end of the transition period.

In total, there are about 5,000 British citizens currently living in Finland and they have been urged to apply for a right of residence under the withdrawal agreement, which secures their residence, employment and social security in Finland for life.

The Finnish Immigration Service stated EU-registrations by British citizens had doubled in 2019 compared to the previous year, and the figure is expected to be even higher this year.

Finnish citizenship has been granted to more British people since the Brexit vote than in the previous 20 years combined.

Matthew Campbell arrived in Finland from the UK at the end of October with his Finnish wife. However, as an Irish citizen, his right to live and work in Finland is secure.

YLE

[gypsyjackson]

Originally Posted by Vixen

Post Script: My package arrived and there were no charge either end. I also received that fancy light I sent off for from a 'French' firm who claimed delivery was delayed two months because of Brexit problems. The package came direct from...CHINA.

Weirdly something like that just happened to me. I ordered a book from a UK company with a subsidiary in Australia. It didn’t turn up so I asked what was going on - “customs delays due to Brexit”. It came a few days later... posted from Oz.

[lomiller]

Originally Posted by Wudang

I think someone said they "were doing their job". I seem to recall that phrase from somewhere but I can't recall its significance.

The way the phrase is used in pro wrestling kind of fits.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Jobber

Quote:

In any competition, there are winners and losers. In Professional Wrestling, the overwhelming majority of them have been pre-determined since at least 1920. Fans and insiders alike refer to being on the losing end of the equation as "doing the job," or "jobbing" in short.

[Aber]

And the EU has invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol

https://twitter.com/faisalislam/stat...92363522658309

[Vixen]

Originally Posted by Aber

And the EU has invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol

https://twitter.com/faisalislam/stat...92363522658309

That's all we need: train crash post-Brexit issues meets train crash Covid19 Vaccines Row.

We need a 'BrexCov' thread.

[catsmate]

My latest package from Book Repository arrived, now with customs paperwork.

[Planigale]

Originally Posted by Aber

And the EU has invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol

https://twitter.com/faisalislam/stat...92363522658309

I did not see that coming. I never thought the EU would be the first to introduce barriers at the NI / Ireland border. I wonder what the Irish government's response will be? Politically I think this is an ill advised move, NI should have been left with an open border with Ireland as the EU insisted on. I hope the UK government doesn't do something stupid in response, they should just (unbelievably) occupy the moral high ground on this.

[Jack by the hedge]

Originally Posted by Planigale

... I hope the UK government doesn't do something stupid ...

What are the odds of that?

[lomiller]

Originally Posted by Planigale

I did not see that coming. I never thought the EU would be the first to introduce barriers at the NI / Ireland border. I wonder what the Irish government's response will be? Politically I think this is an ill advised move, NI should have been left with an open border with Ireland as the EU insisted on. I hope the UK government doesn't do something stupid in response, they should just (unbelievably) occupy the moral high ground on this.

AFAICT they are trying to make sure the UK can't use NI to buy up the limited EU vaccine supplies for use in the UK. This is more or less in line with what the EU has been doing all along. They don't want NI to be used as a way to bypass their import export controls.

[Planigale]

Originally Posted by Jack by the hedge

What are the odds of that?

Pretty low, the reality is how stupid!

[Planigale]

Originally Posted by lomiller

AFAICT they are trying to make sure the UK can't use NI to buy up the limited EU vaccine supplies for use in the UK. This is more or less in line with what the EU has been doing all along. They don't want NI to be used as a way to bypass their import export controls.

The thing is this is a phantasm. The drug companies are ONLY selling to governments at present. Unless there is black market diversion this is never going to be an issue. This is purely to make a point. The only group that could divert supplies would be the Irish government.

[angrysoba]

Originally Posted by lomiller

AFAICT they are trying to make sure the UK can't use NI to buy up the limited EU vaccine supplies for use in the UK. This is more or less in line with what the EU has been doing all along. They don't want NI to be used as a way to bypass their import export controls.

Yes. I think they don’t want the Phizer vaccine going to the UK and/or maybe to prevent Belgian-produced AZ one going there after AZ said it won’t send UK-produced ones to make up the shortfall in what they can produce in Belgium. EU have definitely decided to play hardball. This is getting ugly.

[Garrison]

Originally Posted by lomiller

AFAICT they are trying to make sure the UK can't use NI to buy up the limited EU vaccine supplies for use in the UK. This is more or less in line with what the EU has been doing all along. They don't want NI to be used as a way to bypass their import export controls.

But I thought the complaint was that AZ wouldn't ship vaccines from the UK to the EU to meet demand there? Aren't they just inviting the UK government to take the same measure, which would disadvantage the EU far more than the UK?

[angrysoba]

Originally Posted by Garrison

But I thought the complaint was that AZ wouldn't ship vaccines from the UK to the EU to meet demand there? Aren't they just inviting the UK government to take the same measure, which would disadvantage the EU far more than the UK?

Another complaint is that AZ might be shipping from its Belgian plant to the UK. Police have raided the office, have they not? I don’t know what the evidence is that they have done that or even why AZ would do that.

I also don’t see how closing the border is a proportional response if their argument is with AZ. It seems that punishing the UK and Ireland is overkill.

[Planigale]

Originally Posted by angrysoba

Yes. I think they don’t want the Phizer vaccine going to the UK and/or maybe to prevent Belgian-produced AZ one going there after AZ said it won’t send UK-produced ones to make up the shortfall in what they can produce in Belgium. EU have definitely decided to play hardball. This is getting ugly.

Does anyone really think that Pfizer are going to covertly ship vaccine to the UK from Belgium via Ireland so it can be smuggled across the border to NI and onto GB? This is a symbolic act. Not one that has any practical role. This is the vaccine that needs to be kept at -80C, it can not just be shipped around in the back of a truck. The RAF had to be on stand by to fly it from Belgium. This is grandstanding.

[angrysoba]

Originally Posted by Planigale

Does anyone really think that Pfizer are going to covertly ship vaccine to the UK from Belgium via Ireland so it can be smuggled across the border to NI and onto GB? This is a symbolic act. Not one that has any practical role. This is the vaccine that needs to be kept at -80C, it can not just be shipped around in the back of a truck. The RAF had to be on stand by to fly it from Belgium. This is grandstanding.

Sorry, it is not Phizer they are worried about smuggling. It is Astra Zeneca. But I agree with you that it sounds loopy to me. Why would they be saying to themselves “let’s make them in Belgium and ship them to the UK” unless there is a claim that the UK is paying them extra....????!

Anyway, the EU investigated AZ. Does this mean they have some dirt on them? If so why not produce this first before taking this action?

[Planigale]

Originally Posted by angrysoba

Sorry, it is not Phizer they are worried about smuggling. It is Astra Zeneca. But I agree with you that it sounds loopy to me. Why would they be saying to themselves “let’s make them in Belgium and ship them to the UK” unless there is a claim that the UK is paying them extra....????!

Anyway, the EU investigated AZ. Does this mean they have some dirt on them? If so why not produce this first before taking this action?

AZ is happy for the Belgium / French factories to deliver to the EU. No one thinks that currently AZ is shipping from the EU to the UK. The EU wants a proportion of the UK production of the AZ vaccine to go to the EU and wants to threaten to withhold Pfizer production in Belgium.

As a pro EU person I am really distressed by this. I cannot see anyway this is spun in the EU's favour. This was always going to be an issue. India has restricted the export of the Indian production of the AZ vaccine, some is being exported, but in a restricted manner.

Much more of an issue is that some of the UK vaccine is shipped into the EU and then repackaged into individual dose vials. The ability to do this is being developed in the UK. So the likely outcome is a threat that if the UK does not share vaccine with the EU voluntarily then the EU will just refuse to re-export vaccine intended for the UK being repackaged in the EU. The danger is that the UK may find an option not using the EU.

[Aber]

Originally Posted by Planigale

I did not see that coming. I never thought the EU would be the first to introduce barriers at the NI / Ireland border. I wonder what the Irish government's response will be? Politically I think this is an ill advised move, NI should have been left with an open border with Ireland as the EU insisted on. I hope the UK government doesn't do something stupid in response, they should just (unbelievably) occupy the moral high ground on this.

And the EU has backtracked within about 4 hours.

Invoking Article 16 without informing the Irish or British governments, let alone discussing it in advance should get someone sacked.

[Vixen]

Originally Posted by Aber

And the EU has backtracked within about 4 hours.

Invoking Article 16 without informing the Irish or British governments, let alone discussing it in advance should get someone sacked.

There is much more to this than meets the eye. Journalists such as BBC's Laura Kuennsberg are claiming it was just an EU 'oversight' as a direct phone call from 'Boris' Johnson to Ursula Von Der Leyen resulted in the EU relenting and issuing a statement that they would not invoke Article 16 after all.

HOWEVER, it was not an 'oversight' or a 'mistake', the entire thing had been written up in full and confirmed on the EU Commission webpage.

As for a 'mistake', well, read the revised statement it still says they can instigate Art 16 any time should they feel the UK government is not playing fairly or transparently in the matter of vaccines.

IMV there is something off about Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca. He doesn't come across as being straight, or why else would the EU disbelieve him and send in their own officials to demand to review the books and the production lines. They are checking up on his claim that AZ in Belgium had 'production issues' - which he blames on the co-sharer, Nova-Something - and it is clear the EU does not believe the explanations given for the shortfall of almost 70m of the doses promised per contract.

Arlene Foster said triggering Article 16 was 'an incredibly hostile act' and that is right it's almost casus belli and IMV the EU did not do that 'by accident'.