3 ms·

Political aspects of Brexit aside, I had no idea Britain's food and fuel situation was so dire in the event of a Hard Brexit. I would have assumed they were mor

Political aspects of Brexit aside, I had no idea Britain's food and fuel situation was so dire in the event of a Hard Brexit. I would have assumed they were more self-sufficient - the near-doomsday predictions coming from civil service is really sobering. It sucks that the US is contributing to this problem right now (in many ways, really). Can they disentangle themselves from this even if they manage to get the government to move in this direction? Is starting the process of exiting the EU something that can be taken back, given that it seems to not be a realistic option? I've seen differing opinions on this.

docdeek 8y ago
Britain is a new food importer but that’s not entirely unusual in Europe. Sweden and Finland are both somewhere around the British level of food self-sufficiency, and even big European countries like Germany are net importers (though not to the same extent as the UK). Some graphs here (a little dated): http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/a_map_of_farmers_in_the_u_s_and_world_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/0...
pjc50 8y ago
> Is starting the process of exiting the EU something that can be taken back, given that it seems to not be a realistic option? Yes, if the UK government was willing to be realistic about it. It would probably have to come with a few concessions, such as an agreement not to Article 50 again for a period of time.
smacktoward 8y ago
Britain has been dependent on food imports for a long time, ever since the late 19th century. That’s why the U-boat threat in both World Wars was so dangerous — Germany came within an inch or two of sinking enough ships containing food and other vital import goods to starve the country out.
- sgt101 8y ago
  This is typical of high density population centres - remember that Germany was starved out by the Royal Navy's blockade in 1918.

docdeek 8y ago

Britain is a new food importer but that’s not entirely unusual in Europe. Sweden and Finland are both somewhere around the British level of food self-sufficiency, and even big European countries like Germany are net importers (though not to the same extent as the UK). Some graphs here (a little dated): http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/06/a_map_of_farmers_in_the_u_s_and_world_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/0...

pjc50 8y ago

> Is starting the process of exiting the EU something that can be taken back, given that it seems to not be a realistic option? Yes, if the UK government was willing to be realistic about it. It would probably have to come with a few concessions, such as an agreement not to Article 50 again for a period of time.

smacktoward 8y ago

Britain has been dependent on food imports for a long time, ever since the late 19th century. That’s why the U-boat threat in both World Wars was so dangerous — Germany came within an inch or two of sinking enough ships containing food and other vital import goods to starve the country out.

sgt101 8y ago
This is typical of high density population centres - remember that Germany was starved out by the Royal Navy's blockade in 1918.