Brexit/Politics/BBC/Falling out of Love!

When we catch up from the Covid pause in our economy we will be able to judge progress more quickly, Having our economy virtually closed down for 18 months has not helped,
On Newsnight last night the program did a piece on the lack of HGV drivers and blamed Brexit for the cause before a guest pointed out that it was remarkable that Newsnight had not mentioned the lost 40,000 HGV tests that were cancelled due to covid and that was the main reason for the HGV problem and that it was amiss of Newsnight not to even mention it,
However for most viewers it was typical of a very anti Brexit programme

 

Of course Brexit it is a significant factor. The government's own Operation Yellowhammer report is literally playing out in front of our very eyes right now, and that was published back in August 2019, way before Covid hit.

 

Is Brexit a significant factor in the shortages of HGV drivers in France, Germany,Poland, most of Europe, the USA and China who all have huge shortages of HGV drivers causing shortages in those countries? The one thing in common is covid and the fact that no drivers were trained while the pandemic was on, We cancelled 40,000 tests in the UK which is the main cause of the shortage not Brexit along with changes to the tax system which was tightened up for the self employed as a lot of the cheap EU drivers were

 

Yellowhammer is irrelevant it was a report on the implications of a no deal Brexit on the UK, Most of it never applied and was put in the bin as fake news much like the false reporting on the Pork situation that the media especially BBC blame on Brexit but is really caused by China cancelling huge pork supply contracts that farmers had geared up to meet over the last couple of years, There is as many pigs been butchered this year as in most previous years but they cannot cope with the over production caused by China that is now in the farms

 

The loss of ten to fifteen thousand HGV drivers leaving the UK has had an effect but coupled with a loss of the 40,000 who were due to be trained here in the UK and would be on the roads now has a bigger bearing on the shortage along with an industry that has not trained enough drivers year on year because it was cheaper to import them on low wages

 

Are these 40,000 actual booked tests, for trained drivers, that have been cancelled? Or is it, as I suspect, the notional number of tests that they would like to have done during that period. If so, that assumes that there would be 40,000 people who undertook the training during that period who couldn't get qualified for lack of testing. That seems highly unlikely to me, given the general reluctance of people to put themselves forward for this highly inhospitable job. I don't believe for one moment that 40,000 lorry drivers would have been trained since Brexit, Covid or no Covid.

 

Not sure, Got the figure from the BBC so probably inaccurate
The 40,000 is the number of tests which were booked and then cancelled, Not theoretical ones,

 

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhush were not to mention that.

 

The industry has always had to balance a lack of numbers with getting deliveries done, Brexit and Covid have just made the situation nearly untenable. But there is a major problem with enticing people into the industry, poor pay and working conditions one of the major reasons behind the lack of personnel. The 'test' scenario is just a bit of a smokescreen.

 

No of course not but you are completely ignoring the main issue. EU countries had the very same Covid but they aren't experiencing anything like the same supply problems that we are. Imagine what it would be like if we actually took back control, stopped and checked incoming lorries? Brexshters are fine with glossing over that.
I also see that people are making light of the 'empty shelves'. Of course whole shelves aren't empty (there have been rare occasions). The point is that there are gaps. Products that were very rarely out of stock are now noticeable by their absence. Of course we can buy alternatives. Doesn't help the business that is seeing a drop because they can't get their products to market.
Fck business eh? But then again you've no skin in the game, you ain't got a business.

 

You are wrong on most of your post, If you are in business then making assumptions is the fastest way to lose it

 

??? Nonsensical. Perhaps you would like to agree with the great brexshter chief of Next, Simon Adam Wolfson, who clearly doesn't think that Brexit is working for business.

 

He is not blaming Brexit he is blaming the government for not allowing what would be mass immigration to revert to a low wage hire them and fire them employment practice,

 

It's ironic that as you say a Brexiter is asking the PM to do what he and most Brexiters didn't want, to bring cheap foreign labour into the country.
In area's where labour markets have a shortage allow controlled numbers into the country on work permits, Germany did it for years with Turkish labour but not open borders or free movement and certainly not at the expense of driving wages down, the farmers will tell us that the price of the product will have to increase, that's always been the case.
If Boris allows unlimited numbers in he'll be accused of trying to get a low wage economy, he says its up to business to get their own house in order, if HGV wages are poor for anti social hours etc then pay wages that will attract the right people.

 

You are spot on Broncs and of course we do not know the effect of a million people coming off furlow will have at the end of this month, Not all will still have jobs to go to, We need to train our own in future and skill our own population instead of taking the unemployed from the EU and of course the more people you import then it fuels consumption that means more imported people are needed to satisfy it, a circle we must break with politicians turning a blind eye to it in the past