Brexit discussion thread XIV (Please read OP before posting)

In an ironic twist to the ‘boiled frog’ conspiracy theorists who are almost entirely of the pro Brexit persuasion, the temporary emergency powers introduced to manage massive tailbacks in Kent are being made permanent

its an admission that the ‘short term disruption’ during a transition period after Brexit is now going to be the long term normal

the Tories never had any intention of resolving these problems and instead are just going to pretend there is no problem while quietly enacting the legal framework for permanent congestion at the border

Rob, you need to stop taking such ridiculous headlines type meaning from every story. They have not 'fallen out', they have a disagreement. They will work together to resolve it. If the EU has unilaterally given itself a larger quota, then the agreement will be reviewed and they either will have to revert back to previous or a solution will be found.

Another negative of Brexit. Bad enough the UK wanted to screw themselves over, but the amount of hassle they have caused everyone else is awful.

And all this because essentially the UK is having a mid life crisis.

I'm not blaming Brexit, Rob was trying to shoehorn this into being an outcome of Brexit. I was merely stating that if his assertion was right, then it highlighted, yet again, that Brexit is nothing but a mess.

You wait till the supermarket shelves are empty,fruit and veg is rotting in the fields because there are no migrants to pick them and companies start closing down because they can't trade effectively with Europe.Then things will get seriously crazy across the water.

So what will change ? Starmer is clearly never going to be PM and it's unlikely that he'll be removed as Labour leader anytime soon.The UK has some of the worst Covid death figures anywhere in the world.Biden is clearly now going to give the Brits any help with the NI protocol.Where do you see the change happening ?

I've read the British Army has potentially 2,000 HGV drivers - 40% of those are with the Territorial Army. There's no way they can cover the shortfall of 100,000 drivers that the Road Haulage Association estimates.

All of that is true, and there is no doubt that the Army cannot, and never should even be being talked about, as a solution.

But you are looking at this through a rational lens. You need to see it through the Brexiteers POV. It doesn't matter whether it actually works, the PR spin, pics in the paper, blitz spirit, Dunkirk, etc etc will be wheeled out. Some companies won't suffer too badly, some items will remain easy to get and both of those will be used to claim that the fault lies with the supplier, retailer, customer and EU rather than Brexit.

Look at the recent example of the roaming charges. It was first argued that it was immaterial, then anybody that can afford to go away won't mind paying, that most people don't use their phones on holiday, and then onto that the companies will soon revert back since the customer has the power. At no point do they ever acknowledge that Brexit is the core reason why the companies can even consider it.

Despite massive costs, levelling of countryside to build truck parks, massive issues for fishermen, loss of FoM, the massive problems for touring musicians and the like, massive additional costs for duplication of standards, lack of truck drivers, lack of hospitality staff, lack of fruit pickers, the pound depreciating 15-20%, none of it is enough to shake the people from their belief that Brexit simply has to be done.

Yeah, but now they will be in army gear, and look really serious and invoke the spirit of WWII. Brexit is all about feelings, it has nothing to do with efficiency.

I can't wait for the outcry when things start running out.It reminds me of that witch Patel threatening to starve the Irish over Brexit.You won't find me shedding a tear for theirt Brexit stupidity.Now they'll know how their colonies felt for hundreds of years.

And yet food banks continue to increase massively and the Tories galloped to an 80 seat majority.

The UK has bought fully into the 'post-truth' world. People think that Trump was the leader of it, and perhaps he was, but the Tories have taken it to another level. Facts don't matter, outcomes don't matter. Feelings is all that matters. They have successfully replaced critical thinking with patriotism. Everything comes down to a binary choice between love the UK or get out.

Johnson loves the UK, so they say, and as such everything he does is by extension right and needs to be supported.

Food banks? They are for people that don't believe enough. Hell, you even had Raab posing for PR pics at a food bank as if it was something he should be applauded for!

When do we think these food shortages are going to start kicking in ?

How is throwing money at the problem going to suddenly materialise the 100,000 HGV drivers the Road Haulage Association say are needed?

“Money will be pulled from somewhere to ensure the shelves are stoked, no matter where the cash needs to come from - it would hardly be the first government to solve a short-term problem with long-term money after all.”

How soon would the boggo-standardo loaf of bread breach the £50 mark?

Asking for a Zimbabwean friend 😉

Joke aside, I get your sentiment, pixelburp. But we’re long through the looking glass of politics and governance in the common general interest, in the UK. It’s been next day-survival performative stuff for well over a year by now, with zero inkling of any strategic considerations.