Brexit Consequences

[Tennesseer]

Britain is short 100,000 truckers. The drivers it spurned don't want to come back.

LONDON — Faced with dry gas stations and bare grocery shelves, the British government is offering 5,000 temporary visas for foreign truck drivers to prevent a looming crisis ahead of Christmas.

But despite this potentially lucrative offer, many truckers who left the country after it exited the European Union say they have no plans to help solve a problem stoked in part by the consequences of Brexit.

Artur Jarzebski says he will not work in the United Kingdom because he no longer feels welcome in post-Brexit Britain.

"English society decided that the Polish people are not worth enough to stay in the U.K.," said Jarzebski, 42, a Polish trucker who spent a decade toiling long hours on British highways. "After Brexit, Polish drivers feel unwanted by the U.K. market."

The U.K. is facing the same supply chain problems as the U.S. and Europe. Older truckers are retiring and youngsters, perhaps reassessing their lives amid the Covid-19 pandemic, don't want to work the long hours or return to life on the road, which is lonely and not conducive to social relationships.

The virus made things worse, delaying tests for new drivers and making it more difficult to haul goods from one country to the next. But the U.K. is being squeezed by another factor: Brexit.

After the vote, an estimated 20,000 truckers went back to Europe and never returned.

The U.K. is currently around 100,000 truck drivers short, according to industry officials. In recent days, that's translated into winding lines outside gas stations because there aren't enough licensed drivers to deliver fuel from refineries. The issue has been compounded by panic-buying.

Some supermarket shelves are also empty, with a shortage of workers in the food processing sector, also partly down to Covid and the Brexit exodus, beginning to bite.

Complete article here:  link

[sesfw]

We were visiting Austria when the Brexit vote occurred.  The general feeling we got was .......... there is going to be problems down the road.

But trucking shortages are everywhere .. this would be a good way for truckers to visit another country.

[happyhoix]

I don’t blame the drivers. Why work someplace where people consider you an invasive species when you can work in a country that is less hostile to foreigners. 

Same issue we have with having people willing to do the back breaking job of picking produce - Americans certainly don’t want to do that job. 

[dondub]

Oct 2, 2021 17:50:31 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I don’t blame the drivers. Why work someplace where people consider you an invasive species when you can work in a country that is less hostile to foreigners. 

Same issue we have with having people willing to do the back breaking job of picking produce - Americans certainly don’t want to do that job. 

Hey! Wait! I pick produce all the time from my garden.😎

[Deleted]

Oct 2, 2021 18:27:53 GMT -5 dondub said:

Oct 2, 2021 17:50:31 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I don’t blame the drivers. Why work someplace where people consider you an invasive species when you can work in a country that is less hostile to foreigners. 

Same issue we have with having people willing to do the back breaking job of picking produce - Americans certainly don’t want to do that job. 

Hey! Wait! I pick produce all the time from my garden.😎

I seriously think some people will start to grow at least some produce themselves. Mister and I have talked about it, and we have enough room to do it. I’m not opposed to the idea, as long as I’m not the one that has to deal with bugs.  

If my Madear was still alive to teach me, I’d probably have started a garden already. She kept a vegetable garden until I was an adult and somebody stole all her tomatoes one year, which pissed her off majorly, to the point she didn’t even plant anything anymore.

I follow a man on FB that has long locs and a grill (gold teeth), but he is a vegetable garden guru. So, yeah, I can see vegetable gardens popping up in unexpected places, tended to by unexpected people.

[dondub]

Oct 2, 2021 18:55:34 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Oct 2, 2021 18:27:53 GMT -5 dondub said:

Hey! Wait! I pick produce all the time from my garden.😎

I seriously think some people will start to grow at least some produce themselves. Mister and I have talked about it, and we have enough room to do it. I’m not opposed to the idea, as long as I’m not the one that has to deal with bugs.  

If my Madear was still alive to teach me, I’d probably have started a garden already. She kept a vegetable garden until I was an adult and somebody stole all her tomatoes one year, which pissed her off majorly, to the point she didn’t even plant anything anymore.

I follow a man on FB that has long locs and a grill (gold teeth), but he is a vegetable garden guru. So, yeah, I can see vegetable gardens popping up in unexpected places, tended to by unexpected people.

I’ve been wrangling a raised bed intensively planted organic garden for 37 years now. Plus we have fruit trees, berries and herbs in an edible landscape. It’s work, but rewarding. We dry, can, and freeze. And this year had so many plums we gave 150 Lbs. to food banks. Today I harvested lettuce, lemon cukes, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, a couple peppers, some more tomatillos to add to a stash we’ll be doing something with soon. Very stress relieving activity.

[kadee79]

Oct 2, 2021 18:55:34 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Oct 2, 2021 18:27:53 GMT -5 dondub said:

Hey! Wait! I pick produce all the time from my garden.😎

I seriously think some people will start to grow at least some produce themselves. Mister and I have talked about it, and we have enough room to do it. I’m not opposed to the idea, as long as I’m not the one that has to deal with bugs.  

If my Madear was still alive to teach me, I’d probably have started a garden already. She kept a vegetable garden until I was an adult and somebody stole all her tomatoes one year, which pissed her off majorly, to the point she didn’t even plant anything anymore.

I follow a man on FB that has long locs and a grill (gold teeth), but he is a vegetable garden guru. So, yeah, I can see vegetable gardens popping up in unexpected places, tended to by unexpected people.

Actually, the past couple of years there has been a shortage of some veggie seeds due to more people planting their own gardens with covid going on & many having lost their jobs due to it.  There has also been shortages of both canning jars & lids in some areas.  
Even me, with my several physical limitations now was able to plant some mater  & pepper plants.  I've also planted herbs in pots on the deck along with both radishes & short carrots.  I have a mater I'll need to pick tomorrow.  And the maters & peppers are in one of my flower beds...just between flowers.  The herbs I have planted are basil, sage, parsley & dill...the ones I use the most.
I used to have big gardens every year & both can & freeze too...but just can't physically do that any more.  

[Deleted]

Oct 2, 2021 20:27:30 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

Oct 2, 2021 18:55:34 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I seriously think some people will start to grow at least some produce themselves. Mister and I have talked about it, and we have enough room to do it. I’m not opposed to the idea, as long as I’m not the one that has to deal with bugs.  

If my Madear was still alive to teach me, I’d probably have started a garden already. She kept a vegetable garden until I was an adult and somebody stole all her tomatoes one year, which pissed her off majorly, to the point she didn’t even plant anything anymore.

I follow a man on FB that has long locs and a grill (gold teeth), but he is a vegetable garden guru. So, yeah, I can see vegetable gardens popping up in unexpected places, tended to by unexpected people.

Actually, the past couple of years there has been a shortage of some veggie seeds due to more people planting their own gardens with covid going on & many having lost their jobs due to it.  There has also been shortages of both canning jars & lids in some areas.  
Even me, with my several physical limitations now was able to plant some mater  & pepper plants.  I've also planted herbs in pots on the deck along with both radishes & short carrots.  I have a mater I'll need to pick tomorrow.  And the maters & peppers are in one of my flower beds...just between flowers.  The herbs I have planted are basil, sage, parsley & dill...the ones I use the most.
I used to have big gardens every year & both can & freeze too...but just can't physically do that any more.  

Seeds…. Mister is convinced that seeds are slowly disappearing from/for fruits and vegetables. I haven’t paid enough attention to be able to offer an opinion. 

He is not really the conspiracy theory type, and definitely not inclined to farm and/or garden, but something has sounded on his radar (idk what, exactly) to make him think we should consider learning to grow food ourselves. 

I’ve played at growing herbs last year and flowers this year, but I was just playing. Really, just because my Grandmother had a green thumb and grew plants, vegetables and flowers, and me trying to grow stuff reminds me of her. Except I’m not good at it. I have a black thumb. When Mister speaks of us learning to grow our own food, he doesn’t mean to just experiment and play around, he means learn to grow food to make sure we can eat no matter what, even though we can definitely afford to buy whatever groceries we want, so that’s not the issue and concern, and I’m not sure what to make of it.

[chiver78]

I'm a little late to this, but there's a lot of supply chain issues besides just produce. I work in pharma, specifically QA involved in product release and distribution, and one of my biggest headaches the past few months is related to Brexit - everything related to packaging and processing, branding, documentation has to be changed, and it is affecting the supply chain to both Ireland and the UK (based on previous designations and regulatory bodies). it hasn't been fun.

[empress of self-improvement]

[/quote]Actually, the past couple of years there has been a shortage of some veggie seeds due to more people planting their own gardens with covid going on & many having lost their jobs due to it.  There has also been shortages of both canning jars & lids in some areas.  
Even me, with my several physical limitations now was able to plant some mater  & pepper plants.  I've also planted herbs in pots on the deck along with both radishes & short carrots.  I have a mater I'll need to pick tomorrow.  And the maters & peppers are in one of my flower beds...just between flowers.  The herbs I have planted are basil, sage, parsley & dill...the ones I use the most.
I used to have big gardens every year & both can & freeze too...but just can't physically do that any more.  [/quote]

Please tell me that a mater is a tomato and not a little red truck from Cars?

[steff]

The last 2 years we have done a "community" garden with 2 of hubby's friends from work.  It's almost 2 acres planted, the 3 of them do all the work & everything is split between our 3 families.  We didn't get as many canning tomatoes this year as I was hoping, but we got a lot more variety of veggies in general because the garden was so big.  I did get enough cherry tomatoes to make me happy.  But they screwed up the carrots & the brussel sprouts.  (they should have listened to me, but...men.)  There's talk now about buying a calf next year to fatten up & split 3 ways. There is a 4th work/hunting friend who has chickens, so we also well stocked in fresh eggs.  My neighbor has peach, apple & pear trees.  I trade peach cobblers & apple butter for being able to pick his trees.  They do nothing at all with the fruit, so I can pick every last piece if I wanted.  Everyone is typically good for at least 1 deer each which helps pack everyone's deep freezers.   They hunt to eat, not for sport. 

What started out as a small hobby garden 10 years ago for hubby has turned into a massive 3 family garden.  supplying not only those 3 families, but several others in trade for other fruits, veggies, nuts & eggs.  For me it also carries on the tradition of canning that I learned from my gramma.  I spent every summer canning, making pickles & jellies with my Mamaw.  I get all warm & fuzzy when I drag out all the canning equipment & her recipes each summer. 

[djAdvocate]

I am not doubting it, but what is the connection between Brexit and the trucking shortage?

[Tennesseer]

Oct 4, 2021 11:31:22 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

I am not doubting it, but what is the connection between Brexit and the trucking shortage?

I believe the article stated many of the truckers were not British citizens and they went back to their home countries because they could no longer work in the United Kingdom without a work Visa.

Prior to that, they could work anywhere within the EU as EU citizens. No longer possible now that the UK left the Union.

[Spellbound454]

Not really. There is a trucking shortage right across Europe.

We haven't invested enough in bringing local youngsters in to the industry and many of the workers are at the older end.

We can't just reach for the cheap Labour market ... We need to sort out pay and conditions and get the test centre running again (post Covid)

but you can't just pass an HGV licence and go on the road, there is a period of extra training....... so it will take some time. 

[swamp]

Oct 2, 2021 18:55:34 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Oct 2, 2021 18:27:53 GMT -5 dondub said:

Hey! Wait! I pick produce all the time from my garden.😎

I seriously think some people will start to grow at least some produce themselves. Mister and I have talked about it, and we have enough room to do it. I’m not opposed to the idea, as long as I’m not the one that has to deal with bugs.  

If my Madear was still alive to teach me, I’d probably have started a garden already. She kept a vegetable garden until I was an adult and somebody stole all her tomatoes one year, which pissed her off majorly, to the point she didn’t even plant anything anymore.

I follow a man on FB that has long locs and a grill (gold teeth), but he is a vegetable garden guru. So, yeah, I can see vegetable gardens popping up in unexpected places, tended to by unexpected people.

One of the best gardeners I know is a self described meat head jock I went to school with.