So, the UK has officially shot itself in the foot...

[barbos]

This is a good example of why Brexit is doomed to fail. It's going to take years to un-pick the integration of commercial activities that was perfectly reasonable within the EU, but which cannot work with the UK outside the bloc.

http://https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2021/01/02/brexit-halts-sales-of-brooks-bicycle-saddles-made-in-england/

“Ongoing changes in the Brexit situation have made it necessary to temporarily suspend all new orders to the UK,” says a statement on the Brooks England website.

...

Brooks England was founded in 1866 and has been producing bicycle saddles from its factory in Smethwick, West Midlands, since 1882. It has been owned by an Italian company since 2002 and the made-in-England saddles are shipped to Italy for worldwide distribution, including back into the U.K.

So this product is made in England, by an Italian company, and can now be sold direct to consumers in the EU, but not in the UK where it is manufactured.

What a clusterfuck.

I disagree, clusterfuck is shipping crap to Italy and then back to GB.
Now they will have distribution center in GB.

 

[bigfield]

This is a good example of why Brexit is doomed to fail. It's going to take years to un-pick the integration of commercial activities that was perfectly reasonable within the EU, but which cannot work with the UK outside the bloc.

http://https://www.forbes.com/sites...es-of-brooks-bicycle-saddles-made-in-england/

“Ongoing changes in the Brexit situation have made it necessary to temporarily suspend all new orders to the UK,” says a statement on the Brooks England website.

...

Brooks England was founded in 1866 and has been producing bicycle saddles from its factory in Smethwick, West Midlands, since 1882. It has been owned by an Italian company since 2002 and the made-in-England saddles are shipped to Italy for worldwide distribution, including back into the U.K.

So this product is made in England, by an Italian company, and can now be sold direct to consumers in the EU, but not in the UK where it is manufactured.

What a clusterfuck.

I disagree, clusterfuck is shipping crap to Italy and then back to GB.
Now they will have distribution center in GB.

One of two things is likely to happen, depending on the volumes that they are selling to the UK:
1. They build a UK distribution centre, and pass on the additional overhead costs to the UK consumers and retailers.
2. They continue to ship UK orders from Italy, and pass on the additional shipping costs to the UK consumers and retailers.

Lather, rinse and repeat for every business supplying goods to the UK from the EU.

 

[bilby]

This is a good example of why Brexit is doomed to fail. It's going to take years to un-pick the integration of commercial activities that was perfectly reasonable within the EU, but which cannot work with the UK outside the bloc.

http://https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2021/01/02/brexit-halts-sales-of-brooks-bicycle-saddles-made-in-england/

“Ongoing changes in the Brexit situation have made it necessary to temporarily suspend all new orders to the UK,” says a statement on the Brooks England website.

...

Brooks England was founded in 1866 and has been producing bicycle saddles from its factory in Smethwick, West Midlands, since 1882. It has been owned by an Italian company since 2002 and the made-in-England saddles are shipped to Italy for worldwide distribution, including back into the U.K.

So this product is made in England, by an Italian company, and can now be sold direct to consumers in the EU, but not in the UK where it is manufactured.

What a clusterfuck.

I disagree, clusterfuck is shipping crap to Italy and then back to GB.
Now they will have distribution center in GB.

How is saving money on distribution a clusterfuck?

Having a distribution centre at a different location from manufacturing, and keeping the two roles totally separate, is so commonplace as to be totally unremarkable.

 

[TomC]

I think the UK is going to be fine. People are flexible and there is no comparison point of what would have happened if there wasn't a brexit. And EU isn't doing so well either.

We'll survive. But the point is brexit was meant to make things better. Since 2016 the pound has already been devalued. £100 in Euros, 22nd June 2016 = 130.5 Euros. £100 in Euros, January 2020 = 112.6 Euros.

This deal means that we have swapped free access for what we import (goods), for no access for what we export (services). The main issue has always been the UKs (really, England's) inability to accept that we're not a superpower any more. Britain's view is that it somehow is the EU's equal. It is not; it is a bit-player. The sheer economic power of the EU will mean that in practice the EU will do what it wants and the UK will have to lump it. Same when we go begging for deals with other large countries. For example, we can secure a relatively quick trade deal with the US, so long as we bend over. And we will.

The biggest long term loss is international power and influence. The UK, along with France and Germany, was one of the big three EU nations with the power to dictate the direction of the bloc, and the right to opt out of conditions that other member states were expected to comply with as a requirement for membership.

While a member of the EU, the UK could also veto EU proposals that they didn't like.

When, in the perhaps distant future, the UK rejoins the EU, it will do so as a member state with power more like that of Italy or Spain than France or Germany.

And as an independent nation outside the EU, the UK's ability to negotiate treaties and trade agreements with any other nation in the world has taken a massive blow, not least by their having demonstrated their untrustworthiness and willingness to consider unilaterally breaking international law when that is seen in Westminster as expedient.

Brexit, like the Suez crisis, has revealed to the world how powerless the UK has become; And like the Suez crisis, that harm to the nation's international standing and reputation is irreversible.

Oh, and in the short term, food and other essentials will become scarce, and expensive.

All of which seems to more than offset any advantages that might arise from hearing fewer Polish accents in the high street.

I have too much trouble keeping up with the insanity in my own country. I can't keep up with the British insanity.
But that's the way it looks to me.

I remember when the EU was first proposed. It made sense to me. The EU was economically and geo-politically comparable to Russia, the USA, China. While no single European country was anything remotely comparable.

But, EU clearly has issues. Then again, so did the British colonies. Thirteen disparate states forced together by the will of the wealthy elite. I hope Europe does a better job of ironing out their differences than the Union and the Confederation did.
Tom

 

[bilby]

 

[fromderinside]

No. No. No. This is a disaster. I said "shoot Blighty in the foot", not "Blow Big Ben out to sea". Now we have to find Tommy's derrière and drag it all the way back to London Town.

 

[J842P]

But, EU clearly has issues. Then again, so did the British colonies. Thirteen disparate states forced together by the will of the wealthy elite. I hope Europe does a better job of ironing out their differences than the Union and the Confederation did.
Tom

I mean, you had nowhere near the same level of disparity between the British colonies in North America and the European nations that make up the EU. For starters, they were all British.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I think the UK is going to be fine. People are flexible and there is no comparison point of what would have happened if there wasn't a brexit. And EU isn't doing so well either.

We'll survive. But the point is brexit was meant to make things better.

Indeed. Brexit wasn't about maintaining a status quo, which honestly is still the best the UK can hope for. It was about reaping the huge economic benefits when you weren't giving all that money away to the EU anymore, and they'd have the EU by the balls for economic trade. The UK could steam roller ahead on its own vision of the future, which was like almost entirely the same as the other EU nations.

Lots of promise, and almost immediately after the vote, there were massive walk backs. The Brexit agreement is made, where as Britain has not established a 'by the balls' trade deal.

 

[TomC]

But, EU clearly has issues. Then again, so did the British colonies. Thirteen disparate states forced together by the will of the wealthy elite. I hope Europe does a better job of ironing out their differences than the Union and the Confederation did.
Tom

I mean, you had nowhere near the same level of disparity between the British colonies in North America and the European nations that make up the EU. For starters, they were all British.

And nevertheless, the disparities resulted in a bloody and destructive invasion of the Confederate States.
Imagine if the EU response to Brexit had been a massive military campaign to "bring sense to the British government"?
Tom

 

[bilby]

But, EU clearly has issues. Then again, so did the British colonies. Thirteen disparate states forced together by the will of the wealthy elite. I hope Europe does a better job of ironing out their differences than the Union and the Confederation did.
Tom

I mean, you had nowhere near the same level of disparity between the British colonies in North America and the European nations that make up the EU. For starters, they were all British.

And nevertheless, the disparities resulted in a bloody and destructive invasion of the Confederate States.
Imagine if the EU response to Brexit had been a massive military campaign to "bring sense to the British government"?
Tom

Oh, come on.

Who would believe that the European powers would ever engage in a massive war against each other?

If you're going to go wild, why not imagine it happening twice in twenty years?

 

[TomC]

And nevertheless, the disparities resulted in a bloody and destructive invasion of the Confederate States.
Imagine if the EU response to Brexit had been a massive military campaign to "bring sense to the British government"?
Tom

Oh, come on.

Who would believe that the European powers would ever engage in a massive war against each other?

If you're going to go wild, why not imagine it happening twice in twenty years?

I get the sarcasm part. But this still makes me a bit afraid for the future.

The big problem, in terms of WWIII, is the USA. A united EU might have been a bit of a bulwark against the USA starting such a disaster.
But if GB is dependent on the goodwill of the White House, which is kinda given in the Brexit world, it won't be the EU against the next idiot in the White House. It'll be the rest of the EU against the idiot in the White House and GB.

I'm not expecting any such thing in the immediate future. Biden was VP when Obama defused the huge threat of the U.S. attacking Iran. But in the long term, there's no reason to be confident that some other politicians won't make war in the Middle East into a political football, the way TeaParty politicians have in the last few years.

The U.S. has very unstable leadership. We've made that clear in the last few election cycles. Clinton>Bush>Obama>Trump>Biden> ????
Who knows what will happen in the next few years?
Tom

 

[TSwizzle]

France getting a bit tetchy about vaccine distribution;

Emmanuel Macron has said Europe will not block or ban exports of coronavirus vaccines but that they should be “controlled”, accusing AstraZeneca of a lack of transparency after the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company said it could not fulfil the whole of its contract with the EU.

Teh Gruaniad

 

[bilby]

Oh dear. What a shame. Never mind.

 

[Rhea]

Clothes to flowers: What Brexit changed for us
Three months since the end of the transition period, bosses share their stories of how trade has changed.

The UK's new trading relationship with the European Union (EU) might only be a few months old.

But some businesses are struggling to adjust to the new trading landscape outside of the customs union and single market.

Firms across four different sectors share their stories of rising costs, extra paperwork and packages that never arrive.

What are the new rules?
New rules have come into force for those in the UK either importing from, or exporting to, Europe.
Exactly what licenses are needed or what duties must be paid depends on what is being exported, its value, where the product originates from and to which country it is being sent, according to government guidance.
From 1 January, the UK government introduced a rule that VAT must be collected at the point of sale rather than the point of import.
This essentially means that overseas retailers sending goods to the UK are expected to register for UK VAT and account for it to HMRC if the sale value is less than €150 (£135).

One customer in the Netherlands was asked to pay an additional €100 (£88) on their order, Ben says, for "government fees", with no further explanation from customs agents. Ben adds that the firm is not an "inexperienced" exporter, having shipped goods to Japan and the US. He says the lack of clarity on why certain charges are being raised is "frustrating".

The next step? "To get some kind of operation going in Europe - moving stock to dispatch from there because this just isn't sustainable," he says. "I just hope this doesn't put off any other young person who wants to start a small business today."

This guy is optimistic, at least...

"For couriers, I have to supply customers' contact details - and often have to write to them in French and German to get those, which is a bit of a drama we never had to deal with before."

Deliveries into Italy, for example, have never arrived and others have been returned due to customers not paying the new charges. "It has impacted us certainly from the mental point of view. It's a lot of additional stress and you're continually on deadlines, trying to get good reviews from customers and make sure things get delivered."

Martyn points out that he is able to deliver car parts to the US in less than 24 hours - and no tariffs are applicable on those under $700.

"I will muddle on through in the best possible way I can and maybe it'll push me to think outside the box a bit. "Perhaps in the long-run it might be good for us, but we're going through the pain barrier."

 

[bilby]

This guy is optimistic, at least...

"For couriers, I have to supply customers' contact details - and often have to write to them in French and German to get those, which is a bit of a drama we never had to deal with before."

Deliveries into Italy, for example, have never arrived and others have been returned due to customers not paying the new charges. "It has impacted us certainly from the mental point of view. It's a lot of additional stress and you're continually on deadlines, trying to get good reviews from customers and make sure things get delivered."

Martyn points out that he is able to deliver car parts to the US in less than 24 hours - and no tariffs are applicable on those under $700.

"I will muddle on through in the best possible way I can and maybe it'll push me to think outside the box a bit. "Perhaps in the long-run it might be good for us, but we're going through the pain barrier."

That doesn't sound optimistic to me. That sounds like typical English 'putting on a brave face'. Which is often mistaken for optimism by foreigners whose use of circumlocution is less ingrained.

 

[Rhea]

This guy is optimistic, at least...

"For couriers, I have to supply customers' contact details - and often have to write to them in French and German to get those, which is a bit of a drama we never had to deal with before."

Deliveries into Italy, for example, have never arrived and others have been returned due to customers not paying the new charges. "It has impacted us certainly from the mental point of view. It's a lot of additional stress and you're continually on deadlines, trying to get good reviews from customers and make sure things get delivered."

Martyn points out that he is able to deliver car parts to the US in less than 24 hours - and no tariffs are applicable on those under $700.

"I will muddle on through in the best possible way I can and maybe it'll push me to think outside the box a bit. "Perhaps in the long-run it might be good for us, but we're going through the pain barrier."

That doesn't sound optimistic to me. That sounds like typical English 'putting on a brave face'. Which is often mistaken for optimism by foreigners whose use of circumlocution is less ingrained.

I appreciate the translation. I would not have known that.
So mmm, business people not feeling it, I guess.

 

[bilby]

EU imports from all sources fell about 17% in January 2021, compared to January 2020.

Imports to the EU from the UK fell by over 40% in the same timeframe. Suggesting that Brexit has had a rather larger impact than Covid. And Covid is widely recognised to have been economically disastrous.

 

[Rhea]

Do you expect the UK will act on these results? I'm not familiar enough with the legislative system to know if they can do anything about their situation now...

 

[bilby]

Do you expect the UK will act on these results? I'm not familiar enough with the legislative system to know if they can do anything about their situation now...

It's not really a matter of legislation, but of face. The Conservative party has a massive majority in the commons, so they can't really be pressured into anything, unless they decide to admit their terrible mistake - which is just not going to happen.

There's also the problem that Brexit was able to be invoked unilaterally, but to rejoin the EU would require the approval of all of the EU members, and would probably require the UK to meet a number of prerequisites for membership that didn't apply to her before Brexit. The UK had a lot of special powers and opt-outs as a key founder member of the EU, all of which are now gone. To join the EU as a new member would likely require them to also adopt the euro, join the Schengen agreement, and accept a significant loss of privileges that they enjoyed before they left.

Brexit was a truly irreversible act, which is why it was only possible after a clear supermajority in a properly constituted referendum, based on a detailed parliamentary act that had undergone full scrutiny by both MPs and civil servants before being presented to the people. Oh, wait. Sorry, I will read that again. Brexit was a truly irreversible act, started by an advisory referendum that asked a completely open question with zero detail, whose result was acted upon by the unilateral actions of various Prime Ministers, such that it had become politically impossible to avoid the fact long before the actual implications or any of the details were known or knowable to anybody. Some of those details are still unknown today.

World history is replete with massive blunders by national governments. But none are as ill conceived, as poorly planned, nor executed despite such widespread and well understood warnings of disaster, as Brexit.

All of this began as a plan to silence internal dissent within the Conservative party. Well, the Conservatives aren't likely to lose power in Westminster any time soon, so as long as they're happy with the complete collapse of the British economy, the likely dissolution of the United Kingdom, the horrific poverty and suffering of the people, the final elimination of Britain as a world power, and the terrifying rise of extreme nationalism that has moved the ruling Conservative party so far right that their platform is now identical of that of the fascist fringe parties of the 1970s, they could say it was quite a success. And indeed, they do.

 

[Patooka]

This was depressingly predictable:

Brexit protesters in Northern Ireland set cars alight, attack police

Cars have been set alight, 20 police officers have been injured and masked people have pelted a police van with petrol bombs in further disorder in pro-British parts of Northern Ireland amid rising post-Brexit tensions in the region.

And of course the DUP is involved:

Other political parties blamed the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster on Saturday for stoking up tensions with their staunch opposition to the new trading arrangements.

"By their words and actions they have sent a very dangerous message to young people in loyalist areas," Gerry Kelly, a lawmaker from the pro-Irish Sinn Fein party, which shares power in the devolved government with the DUP, said in a statement.

I've got the sense that Boris isn't up to the task of handling Brexit properly. If Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP decides to protest against Brexit as well, this could turn into one motherfucker of a fucking shitshow.