7 ms·

UK shops fear gaps on shelves as new Brexit import rules hit

17 points by underscore_ku 5y ago

ktzar 5y ago
I'm amazed that, one year in, there's still no clear benefit from the new situation. I'm a fervent remainer, but expected to see a few positives in commerce, or at least stop seeing the ridiculous cookie banners on every website... I'm amazed that there's no widespread feeling of anger with the government and the people who brought us into this.
- nivenkos 5y ago
  Wages are going up - https://www.cityam.com/booming-uk-tech-sector-now-accounts-for-one-in-eight-jobs-and-theyre-much-better-paid/ https://www.cityam.com/booming-uk-tech-sector-now-accounts-f... I voted Remain but can see some benefits in helping to improve wages and strengthen trade unions by limiting the availability of mass unskilled labour which harms the economy (aside from business owners), see https://theconversation.com/the-return-of-the-hand-car-wash-and-the-uks-productivity-puzzle-39594 https://theconversation.com/the-return-of-the-hand-car-wash-... for example.
  - deedree 5y ago
    How is your first link related to the brexit? Your second link doesn’t mention brexit either and is from 2015. Not trying to bash you here. But I was honestly wondering if there were any upsides to leaving Europe. With this you’re practically adding to that there’s none.
  - anothernewdude 5y ago
    Frankly tech salaries in the UK have no where else to go but up. One of the worst paid countries for tech in the western world.
    - nivenkos 5y ago
      The EU is even worse sadly. I'm a dual-citizen and have worked in both.
  - NotSammyHagar 5y ago
    On the other hand, many businesses were absolutely dependent on those large pools of cheaper labor and the willingness of people to do those jobs, and can't or won't pay for lorry drivers, grocery store workers, food processing (harvesting food, working in the slaughterhouse) etc, so those businesses are struggling. And now It's much harder to sell those things that those workers made and the EU. What if no one wants to do those jobs who's from the UK?
    - Silhouette 5y ago
      There are some big downsides to reducing free movement of labour. I don't think we fully understand how much the current situation has resulted from them yet though. While Brexit is surely a major factor here, obviously we also have the pandemic that has a particularly severe effect on some of the same industries. There are other significant factors in specific industries, such as the terrible conditions for lorry drivers in the UK compared to elsewhere in Europe. There's also the bizarre own goal of the government pushing ahead with its IR35 agenda at a time like this, which again hits some of the same industries particularly hard. It's going to be difficult to discuss these industries rationally and consider potential changes that could be made without some reasonably objective way to evaluate all of the relevant factors and how much they are contributing to the current situation in any given industry. As with almost anything to do with Brexit or the pandemic, it seems unlikely there are any simple and universally "right" answers.
    - nivenkos 5y ago
      People will do any job if it pays enough. The issue with the EU free movement was lots of eastern European labourers undercutting UK salaries and driving up rental prices by living 6+ to a house, etc. I find it ironic that Americans criticise Brexit when they themselves benefit massively from the extreme restrictions on immigration (compare Tech salaries in the US and Europe for example!).
- usrbinbash 5y ago
  > I'm amazed that there's no widespread feeling of anger with the government and the people who brought us into this. Thing is, "The people who brought the UK into this" are, at the end of the day, not the politicians, but the voters.
  - EForEndeavour 5y ago
    Referendum votes were the proximate cause, sure, but isn't that kind of like blaming the metal atoms in a bullet for the death of a shooting victim? You're not wrong, but focusing entirely on "the voters" is willfully ignoring the bigger picture in ways that just might be important.
    - usrbinbash 5y ago
      The metal atoms do not have free will, and they cannot obtain, integrate or act on information. I am lucky enough to live in a country where I have the opportunity and freedom to vote as I see fit. And because of that, me, and no one else, is responsible for how I vote. With great power comes great responsibility.
      - EForEndeavour 5y ago
        Free will doesn't imply immunity to being influenced and/or predicted.
- Silhouette 5y ago
  I'm amazed that, one year in, there's still no clear benefit from the new situation. I don't think you should be amazed. One thing that was always clear about Brexit was that many of the potential costs would be felt quickly, because they would result from the immediate loss of benefits of EU membership, but many of the potential benefits would not be felt for years after the vote, because it would need several years to hammer out the exit arrangements and whatever future relationship the EU and UK were going to have, then probably several more years for the UK to start making significant new trade deals or major changes to its domestic legislation that it wasn't free to make as an EU member, and then several more years for people and businesses to respond to any new incentives and opportunities that were created. Personally I've always been quite ambivalent about Brexit. I think there were going to be some big pros and some big cons whether we remained or left, and how any new relationships were handled was probably going to matter more to our future success than whether we were "in" or "out". However I can certainly understand why some people who weren't exactly fans of the EU still voted to remain because they didn't want the costs of a long period of change without really knowing what was waiting at the end.
pibefision 5y ago
Vote better next time.
- sys_64738 5y ago
  I don't think there will be a next time.
  - akmarinov 5y ago
    I mean, the Scottish referendum is coming up fairly soon
    - sys_64738 5y ago
      I'm not following. Didn't that already occur?
      - sofixa 5y ago
        It did, but the situation has changed drastically since (Brexit). It's like voting to preserve a marriage, and then having your spouse move across the world, start smoking ans binge drinking and say "but you already agreed to stay with me!".
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]

17 points by underscore_ku 5y ago

I'm amazed that, one year in, there's still no clear benefit from the new situation. I'm a fervent remainer, but expected to see a few positives in commerce, or at least stop seeing the ridiculous cookie banners on every website... I'm amazed that there's no widespread feeling of anger with the government and the people who brought us into this.

nivenkos 5y ago
Wages are going up - https://www.cityam.com/booming-uk-tech-sector-now-accounts-for-one-in-eight-jobs-and-theyre-much-better-paid/ https://www.cityam.com/booming-uk-tech-sector-now-accounts-f... I voted Remain but can see some benefits in helping to improve wages and strengthen trade unions by limiting the availability of mass unskilled labour which harms the economy (aside from business owners), see https://theconversation.com/the-return-of-the-hand-car-wash-and-the-uks-productivity-puzzle-39594 https://theconversation.com/the-return-of-the-hand-car-wash-... for example.
- deedree 5y ago
  How is your first link related to the brexit? Your second link doesn’t mention brexit either and is from 2015. Not trying to bash you here. But I was honestly wondering if there were any upsides to leaving Europe. With this you’re practically adding to that there’s none.
- anothernewdude 5y ago
  Frankly tech salaries in the UK have no where else to go but up. One of the worst paid countries for tech in the western world.
  - nivenkos 5y ago
    The EU is even worse sadly. I'm a dual-citizen and have worked in both.
- NotSammyHagar 5y ago
  On the other hand, many businesses were absolutely dependent on those large pools of cheaper labor and the willingness of people to do those jobs, and can't or won't pay for lorry drivers, grocery store workers, food processing (harvesting food, working in the slaughterhouse) etc, so those businesses are struggling. And now It's much harder to sell those things that those workers made and the EU. What if no one wants to do those jobs who's from the UK?
  - Silhouette 5y ago
    There are some big downsides to reducing free movement of labour. I don't think we fully understand how much the current situation has resulted from them yet though. While Brexit is surely a major factor here, obviously we also have the pandemic that has a particularly severe effect on some of the same industries. There are other significant factors in specific industries, such as the terrible conditions for lorry drivers in the UK compared to elsewhere in Europe. There's also the bizarre own goal of the government pushing ahead with its IR35 agenda at a time like this, which again hits some of the same industries particularly hard. It's going to be difficult to discuss these industries rationally and consider potential changes that could be made without some reasonably objective way to evaluate all of the relevant factors and how much they are contributing to the current situation in any given industry. As with almost anything to do with Brexit or the pandemic, it seems unlikely there are any simple and universally "right" answers.
  - nivenkos 5y ago
    People will do any job if it pays enough. The issue with the EU free movement was lots of eastern European labourers undercutting UK salaries and driving up rental prices by living 6+ to a house, etc. I find it ironic that Americans criticise Brexit when they themselves benefit massively from the extreme restrictions on immigration (compare Tech salaries in the US and Europe for example!).
usrbinbash 5y ago
> I'm amazed that there's no widespread feeling of anger with the government and the people who brought us into this. Thing is, "The people who brought the UK into this" are, at the end of the day, not the politicians, but the voters.
- EForEndeavour 5y ago
  Referendum votes were the proximate cause, sure, but isn't that kind of like blaming the metal atoms in a bullet for the death of a shooting victim? You're not wrong, but focusing entirely on "the voters" is willfully ignoring the bigger picture in ways that just might be important.
  - usrbinbash 5y ago
    The metal atoms do not have free will, and they cannot obtain, integrate or act on information. I am lucky enough to live in a country where I have the opportunity and freedom to vote as I see fit. And because of that, me, and no one else, is responsible for how I vote. With great power comes great responsibility.
    - EForEndeavour 5y ago
      Free will doesn't imply immunity to being influenced and/or predicted.
Silhouette 5y ago
I'm amazed that, one year in, there's still no clear benefit from the new situation. I don't think you should be amazed. One thing that was always clear about Brexit was that many of the potential costs would be felt quickly, because they would result from the immediate loss of benefits of EU membership, but many of the potential benefits would not be felt for years after the vote, because it would need several years to hammer out the exit arrangements and whatever future relationship the EU and UK were going to have, then probably several more years for the UK to start making significant new trade deals or major changes to its domestic legislation that it wasn't free to make as an EU member, and then several more years for people and businesses to respond to any new incentives and opportunities that were created. Personally I've always been quite ambivalent about Brexit. I think there were going to be some big pros and some big cons whether we remained or left, and how any new relationships were handled was probably going to matter more to our future success than whether we were "in" or "out". However I can certainly understand why some people who weren't exactly fans of the EU still voted to remain because they didn't want the costs of a long period of change without really knowing what was waiting at the end.

pibefision 5y ago

Vote better next time.

sys_64738 5y ago
I don't think there will be a next time.
- akmarinov 5y ago
  I mean, the Scottish referendum is coming up fairly soon
  - sys_64738 5y ago
    I'm not following. Didn't that already occur?
    - sofixa 5y ago
      It did, but the situation has changed drastically since (Brexit). It's like voting to preserve a marriage, and then having your spouse move across the world, start smoking ans binge drinking and say "but you already agreed to stay with me!".
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]