Topic: Post-Brexit fallout - we can't have our cake or eat it

[evilcommiedictator]

And even better, for those who love actual fallout, neonicotinoids which are a type of pesticide which have been heavily linked to massive decline in bees, have been re-approved for use in the UK
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/09/pesticide-believed-kill-bees-authorised-use-england-eu-farmers

A pesticide believed to kill bees has been authorised for use in England despite an EU-wide ban two years ago and an explicit government pledge to keep the restrictions.

Following lobbying from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and British Sugar, a product containing the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam was sanctioned for emergency use on sugar beet seeds this year because of the threat posed by a virus.

Conservationists have described the decision as regressive and called for safeguards to prevent the pollution of rivers with rainwater containing the chemical at a time when British insects are in serious decline.

The decision by 11 countries to allow emergency use of the product comes amid a growing awareness of the harmful role played by refined sugar in the development of long-term health problems.

Matt Shardlow, the chief executive of the invertebrate conservation group Buglife, said it was an “environmentally regressive” decision that would destroy wildflowers and add to an “onslaught” on insects.

“In addition, no action is proposed to prevent the pollution of rivers with insecticides applied to sugar beet,” he said. “Nothing has changed scientifically since the decision to ban neonics from use on sugar beet in 2018. They are still going to harm the environment.”

Michael Sly, the chairman of the NFU sugar board, said he was relieved the application had been granted and that the sector was working to find long-term solutions to virus yellows disease. “Any treatment will be used in a limited and controlled way on sugar beet, a non-flowering crop, and only when the scientific threshold has been independently judged to have been met,” he said.

“Virus yellows disease is having an unprecedented impact on Britain’s sugar beet crop, with some growers experiencing yield losses of up to 80%, and this authorisation is desperately needed to fight this disease. It will be crucial in ensuring that Britain’s sugar beet growers continue to have viable farm businesses.”

The EU agreed to a ban on all outdoor uses of thiamethoxam in 2018 to protect bees. When the UK pledged to back the ban, Michael Gove, then the environment secretary, said: “The weight of evidence now shows the risks neonicotinoids pose to our environment, particularly to the bees and other pollinators which play such a key part in our £100bn food industry, is greater than previously understood … We cannot afford to put our pollinator populations at risk.”

He also wrote in the Guardian: “Unless the evidence base changes again, the government will keep these restrictions in place after we have left the EU.”

[NoSleep]

I remember when we joined the EU that suddenly bands like Gong (who were formed in France) were suddenly regularly touring this country, which was a good thing, as Daevid Allen had been refused re-entry to the UK after Soft Machine toured in Europe.

I think the usual way things were done before then, aside from the visa palaver, was that the respective national musicians' unions would make sure there was tit for tat regarding the number of musicians allowed in and out. The same for US musicians (so I would guess most UK bands would head to the US for the better swapsies) which is how some blues artists like Big Bill Broonzy ended up coming over to the UK alone, as they could then come into the UK as an entertainer rather than a musician.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Tweets from the CEO of a food and drink company:

https://twitter.com/scotfoodjames/status/1348228266784649216

Brexit, week 1 was bad. Week 2 will be worse.
UK Govt’s dismissal of the request from us (& most main business orgs) for a grace period was a critical mistake. By this time next week, pressure to revisit that will be even greater. Emergency financial aid may also be necessary.

For those that say businesses had years to prepare, a reminder that the final Border Operating Model (all 160+ pages) was published 6 hours before the end of the transition period.
Yes, 6 hours.

We wrote to UKGov with 100 days to go warning that UK could not be ready & asking for a grace period.
With 60 days to go, we wrote to
@BorisJohnson
 making the same plea. There was no willingness to even ask the EU about it.
Mistakes of 2020 are done.
2021 fixes now critical.

Brexiteers in reply failing to read his tweets and just blaming businesses.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Looks like the UK fishing industry is not doing well from Brexit:

Fishermen are halting exports to Europe because new border bureaucracy introduced by the government as part of Brexit is making their business unviable.

Exporters now have to deal with new health certificates, customs declarations and other paperwork if they want to sell to the EU, the largest market for much of the UK's catch.

Describing the situation as a "catastrophe", businesses said orders from Europe were also drying up because of Boris Johnson's new trade barriers. 

Seafood is highly perishable and relies on a seamless flow across borders, but small test consignments sent to France and Spain that would normally take one day are now taking three or more days, if they get through at all...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-fish-trade-uk-eu-lorries-exports-b1784312.html

Aren't a lot of seaside towns areas of high unemployment? Johnson's Brexit will probably turn a lot of them into ghost towns.

[Bingo Fury]

Made an order with Thomann on January 5 which went through as usual (i.e. prices including VAT were totalled up and were paid to Thomann in Germany). Then made another order to Thomann on January 8 in which I was informed that no prices included VAT and that this would have to be paid to the delivery company before they handed over the gear (I had wondered why everything seemed a little cheaper).

I rashly did exactly the same thing on Saturday, after humming and hawing over a Harley Benton DC-Junior guitar for a few weeks. The website only warned that Brexit might lead to delays in delivery, so your post was the first I knew about VAT and "additional customs fees". I selected the option to pay via bank transfer, so the payment hasn't gone through yet. I've e-mailed Thomann's UK rep to ask if he can tell me what I'd be likely to be charged, and if he can't answer, or if it's higher than I'm prepared to go, I'll have to cancel too. Damn shame, as I'd never had any dealings with Thomann before but had become obsessed with that guitar and must have watched upwards of a dozen YouTube videos about it.

[Neomod]

I rashly did exactly the same thing on Saturday, after humming and hawing over a Harley Benton DC-Junior guitar for a few weeks. The website only warned that Brexit might lead to delays in delivery, so your post was the first I knew about VAT and "additional customs fees". I selected the option to pay via bank transfer, so the payment hasn't gone through yet. I've e-mailed Thomann's UK rep to ask if he can tell me what I'd be likely to be charged, and if he can't answer, or if it's higher than I'm prepared to go, I'll have to cancel too. Damn shame, as I'd never had any dealings with Thomann before but had become obsessed with that guitar and must have watched upwards of a dozen YouTube videos about it.

If the total doesn't exceed £135 they will add £15 vat themselves I read at checkout.



I was going to buy one of the HB travel acoustics but have held off because even though you've paid the vat will you then be stung by the courier/more vat charges?

[Jumblegraws]

Looks like the UK fishing industry is not doing well from Brexit:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-fish-trade-uk-eu-lorries-exports-b1784312.html

Aren't a lot of seaside towns areas of high unemployment? Johnson's Brexit will probably turn a lot of them into ghost towns.

There’s probably no better example of how the Brexit fetishisation of sovereignty will be realised than fisheries. What Brexiteers call becoming an “independent coastal state” amounts to a five-year incremental increase in a share of the fishing quotas, followed by an option to claim total control of the waters if we fancy being slapped with killer tariffs. To say nothing of the red tape described above, the fact that the biggest fishing companies here aren’t even British owned and that the average British palate doesn’t extend beyond cod and haddock.

[katzenjammer]

‘Welcome to the brexit, sir’

https://twitter.com/OwenAdamsYT1/status/1348256421331275776

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

I'd love to be able to laugh at all this but I know this Brexit crap is going to fuck us over somehow, and we're not even in the UK. Couldn't let us get one century out, could they.

Still:
https://twitter.com/KilburnHerald/status/1346839690083766279/photo/1

[evilcommiedictator]

Just checking in lads, it's going really well yeah?

[pancreas]

I had the last aubergine in Waitrose. Had to go to the Chinese supermarket to get the other one.

[Zetetic]

"If you’re applying from Northern Ireland, from March 2021 you’ll have the choice of a standard GHIC with a union flag or one with a plain background."

[Huxleys Babkins]

Another fuck-headed fish fucker fucked

[chveik]

learn to code you thick cunt

[dissolute ocelot]

Apparently the crazy Brussels bureaucrats have decided to legalize yellow mealworms for human consumption. They were banned in most of the EU until now, but were never banned in Britain because the British government (and some other fun-loving northern Europeans) didn't take seriously an EU law that said you can't just decide to eat random animals (beasties your grandparents ate were considered OK). I'm unsure if this counts as an argument for EU membership or not, but I think it proves the EU was not unfairly infringing our liberties.

BTW, my parcel from France arrived after 5 days, the sender hadn't put a customs declaration on it, and there were no customs labels or fees to pay. A nice Tintin stamp too.

[lipsink]

Another fuck-headed fish fucker fucked

"Cod I Borrow A Feeling?"

[lipsink]

I know it's like shooting fish in a barrel (hurt hurt) but honestly, look (and listen) to the fucking state of him:

https://twitter.com/jude5456/status/1349405272662552582

He just seems like he can't be fucked with this anymore. Rowley Birkin QC made more sense.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Downing Street has said Boris Johnson maintains confidence in the fisheries minister after she admitted not reading the post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels when it was agreed because she was busy organising a nativity trail.

[jobotic]

Of course he does.

Now look, they'e delivered Brexit. They're heroes.

It really is up to the little people that didn't go to Eton to sort out the repercussions. And stop whining.

[evilcommiedictator]

Apologies from subway, which is still going under lockdown?

[olliebean]

"Sandwich artist," FFS.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Still waiting for three orders, from China, the US and Hong Kong. The order from China departed less than 12 hours after I placed the order. That was on 20th December and no-one knows where it is at the moment.

Anyone who claims to be a patriot and still supports these useless cunts needs a punch in the fucking tits.

That must be an international courier thing then. I've been ordering bits and bobs from Aliexpress and it seems to be coming through, with it's usual "very quick or takes fucking weeks" standard.

Although I think they must have their own sorting UK side, I've ordered stuff from multiple sellers before and I've ended up with a single bag addressed to me stuffed with individual parcels addressed to me.

[DrGreggles]

"Sandwich artist," FFS.

[lipsink]

Farage now isn't even talking about Brexit. He posted a video on New Years Day saying it's done and now to move on to some other shit (keeping the union together) Basically he's trying to avoid taking any responsibility for all the fucking shit that's happening now. And he'll probably get away with it as our media won't ask him about Brexit will they?

[NoSleep]

"Sandwich artist," FFS.

DocDaneeka?

[rack and peanut]

And even better, for those who love actual fallout, neonicotinoids which are a type of pesticide which have been heavily linked to massive decline in bees, have been re-approved for use in the UK
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/09/pesticide-believed-kill-bees-authorised-use-england-eu-farmers

Petition here:

http://chng.it/5cVGkPCStY

[jobotic]

Farage now isn't even talking about Brexit. He posted a video on New Years Day saying it's done and now to move on to some other shit (keeping the union together) Basically he's trying to avoid taking any responsibility for all the fucking shit that's happening now. And he'll probably get away with it as our media won't ask him about Brexit will they?

Thought he'd moved on to a new enemy - cyclists.

[idunnosomename]

I know it's like shooting fish in a barrel (hurt hurt) but honestly, look (and listen) to the fucking state of him:

https://twitter.com/jude5456/status/1349405272662552582

He just seems like he can't be fucked with this anymore. Rowley Birkin QC made more sense.

get a load of this

https://twitter.com/matthewchampion/status/1349709690691837952?s=19

Desolation.

[Fambo Number Mive]

I think Jacob Rees-Mogg should be made to stand down from Parliament and not come back until he has surveyed every fish in the English Channel on who they preferred to be eaten by. He can spend his days on a yacht calling out questions to passing fish.

[Cold Meat Platter]

I think Jacob Rees-Mogg should be made to stand down from Parliament and not come back

This is sufficient.