Brexit.

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

That's capitalism, baby! And since the UK is so drunk on being a country which frequently kisses the ass of big business, this is just the logical consequence of that.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

That's capitalism, baby! And since the UK is so drunk on being a country which frequently kisses the ass of big business, this is just the logical consequence of that.

That's only one mobile provider, of course. Mine phone company (Three.co.uk) haven't introduced roaming charges, and neither have BT (the largest). Doesn't mean they won't introduce them, of course, but at the moment it's just one company (and since Three scrapped them well before some of their larger rivals, and always pushed that as one of their features, I doubt they're much hurry to bring them back).

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Thread

Tl;dr -- Gread news from Nissan (particularly for people working in Sunderland) but it doesn't replace all the other motor industry inward investment we've lost because of Brexit, and it also gives the EU an excellent lever should Johnson (or any subsequent PM) try to bend the rules too much.


also

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Sid]

/me shakes head.
Who can be troubled with bottled water if you live in a country that produces all those excellent whiskys?

 

[Stora]

On a side note. I'm the idiot who took bottled mineral water to Buxton on a day trip and parked up at the side of the drinking well.

St Ann's Well (Buxton) - Wikipedia

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

UK-EU relations deteriorate again after ‘strange’ David Frost remarks

Irish foreign minister hits out at Brexit minister over provocative article on Northern Ireland protocol

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link because why not

I have no idea what he thinks he's doing.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

That's the EU on the left.

 

[Sid]

A possible solution:

All goods for Northern Ireland from the UK and the EU only through an Irish port or checked at sea on the ferry.
People can freely move when from Northern Ireland. Other Bits have to go through check points at sea on the ferry or in the airplane when traveling into Northern Ireland or Ireland.

Personal extra options: A concrete wall in the Channel tunnel and no more negotiations with the current Tory government.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

A possible solution:

All goods for Northern Ireland from the UK and the EU only through an Irish port or checked at sea on the ferry.
People can freely move when from Northern Ireland. Other Bits have to go through check points at sea on the ferry or in the airplane when traveling into Northern Ireland or Ireland.

Personal extra options: A concrete wall in the Chanel tunnel and no more negotiations with the current Tory government.

Sending everything through the Republic would certainly work, though it might run into serious logistics issues, but I suspect we''ll see it ending with the UK agreeing with the EU's wholly sensible proposal that the UK agree to align with the EU sanitary and phytosanitary rulebook, so maybe this circus is for the benefit of the Conservatives back home, before eventually Johnson backs down while claiming victory.

This is Boris Johnson, we're talking about. He was going to lie down in front of a bulldozer, I seem to recall, and then he was going to die in a ditch.

He can't afford to annoy the EU too much, and he knows it and they know it, too, and I can't think of any particular reason (and I'm sure he can't, either) why anyone would expect him to keep a promise to the Unionists now they've served their purpose and keeping his word is neither necessary nor convenient.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I'm not actually sure I'm too worried about this.

Subsidies to established industries like farming are, as far as I'm concerned, ways of giving money to landowners and capitalists. If I particularly want to buy locally- or British-grown food I use farmers' markets, delivery boxes, farm shops, or particular retail chains, but generally, unless I'm looking for specific types of seasonal produce, I'm not that worried about where Tesco or M&S source their fruit and veg, and when I am, I'm more worried about food miles than anything else.

The government seems to share that view, and is now subsidising farmers to preserve and re-wild land they can't profitably use for crops instead of, via the EU, subsidising them to grow food they can't find anyone local to pick because they pay their workers so little.

I find it difficult, therefore, to raise much sympathy for the farmer who can't find people to work for low wages, just as I find it difficult to sympathise with the plight of US fast-food outlets who can't recruit because the pay's so bad.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

I'm way over here across the water, but it certainly sounds to me like that whole Brexit thing kind of sucks and maybe wasn't thought through very well.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The joys of Brexit.

 

[Essence Lumin]

The joys of Brexit.

Sure is a lot of Fruit and Fiber.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The joys of Brexit.

Brexit or Covid? The main reason for empty shelves in supermarkets at the moment, we are told, is the "pingdemic" -- that is, as the positivity rate rises, supermarkets (and other employers too, of course, but the effects on supermarkets are particularly obvious) are having problems because so many people are being pinged by the test and trace apps we are asked to keep installed on our phones and told they need to self-isolate for the next ten days that it's disrupting their normal operations.

UK to launch daily COVID tests in food sector to tackle 'pingdemic'

Daily contact testing will be rolled out to workplaces in Britain's food sector so staff who have been 'pinged' by the COVID-19 app can keep working if they test negative rather than isolating, the government said on Thursday.

www.reuters.com

However, I suspect that the simple rumours of shortages (for whatever reason) are sufficient to create empty shelves.

Covid: Supermarkets say shortages are not widespread

The Co-op says that supplies of soft drinks, beer and deodorant have been affected.

www.bbc.co.uk

As it happens, I'm not long back from my local supermarket. It seemed much as I would expect on any weekday evening around this time, and everything looked as I'd expect it to look an hour or so after the early evening rush when people shop on their way home from work while the staff get on with restocking the shelves.

ETA: One of the "other employers too, of course":

BBC pulls local morning TV bulletins as ‘pingdemic’ leads to staff shortages

Breakfast programme’s regional coverage in England off air until September at least – with further regional programmes at risk

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

 

[Sid]

I bet there is still plenty of toilet paper on the shelves.

 

[Tirellia]

I bet there is still plenty of toilet paper on the shelves.

I doubt if the hoarders have finished the supplies they panic bought in March last year.