Mailwatch(ed) Forum

These trade deals look as though they will be highly detrimental to the farming community... but just think how many houses you can put on the previously-useful land.

And then watch the price of cheap imports from Australia suddenly shoot up.

Reports that Lord Frost has called for a Über on the grounds of Plan B...

I'm sure many knew this was coming:

https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/polic ... -system_en

Applicants will be able to apply via an official website and/or app for mobile devices prior to the start of operation of ETIAS and will have to pay a fee of €7.
The date from which travellers will be able to apply will be published on this web site.

Not in operation at the moment; meanwhile, doesn't wholesale inspection of goods between the EU and the UK start in ten days' time?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59761292

A dozen mild-mannered small business owners pop up on my screen from sectors ranging from chemicals, to financial services, to aerospace, catering and small gift box providers.

Having been shown the data from a British Chambers of Commerce survey of the impact of Brexit's first year I asked to chat to some of them to find out more.

The business owners I spoke to have pretty much the same reflection on different aspects of the reality of one year of trading outside the Single Market and Customs Union. It's clearly been challenging: "Frustrating. Scary. Huge drop in sales. Rendered uncompetitive in Europe."

When I put to them what ministers have suggested privately - that some sections of British business need to be as prepared as the best-prepared bigger businesses, it got a little testy.

"I found it astounding that they are telling us to get used to it," said Adrian Hanrahan, of Robinson's chemicals, who is dealing with a new set of UK regulations entirely duplicating EU requirements.

That anti-immigrant thing is going so well...

UK immigration rules to be eased as shortages of care workers worsen

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... ers-worsen

If only someone had warned them...

Anecdote time - over the last few years I've ordered some TV & radio hardware stuff from a Polish supplier, the weight of the shipments containing steel brackets & satellite dishes aren't insubstantial and have commanded an otherwise fair price for UPS shipment. My last order from them was in 2019, and the shipment cost was €43.

Checking the same site today, replicating the same order to be delivered to a UK address is now commands a shipment charge of over €188!

It's a shame I don't have an address across the border as, surprise surprise, selecting "Ireland" as the destination is only €37 today!

Sneaky forrins, negotiating lower tariffs on their steel. We're better off without them.

The UK steel industry is braced for an immediate slump in trade from New Year’s Day when European Union rivals will gain a 25% price advantage selling to the giant US market.

The EU and the US reached a Halloween agreement to remove tariffs on a quota of steel and aluminium imported from the bloc into the US from 1 January, but tariffs will remain on all UK steel and aluminium exports after government talks failed to secure a matching breakthrough...


https://amp.theguardian.com/business/20 ... -abolished

World-beating trade deals will be the easiest thing in the world to negotiate, or something.

Another Brexit victory

Britain’s small businesses should expect trade with the EU to be “permanently damaged” from 1 January, the refrigerated supply chain trade body has said, after new customs checks take effect that it says will make imports from the bloc “more expensive, less flexible and much slower”.

Amid growing public dismay at the negative impact of Brexit, the Cold Chain Federation said speciality food imports could face the same 70% decline that affected exports of food by small businesses this year after Britain quit the EU single market and customs union...

https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -food-body

The gammon will love that. No more French cheese or German sausage.

And so the width of our horizons grows steadily smaller.

Spoonman wrote: ↑Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:43 pm Anecdote time - over the last few years I've ordered some TV & radio hardware stuff from a Polish supplier, the weight of the shipments containing steel brackets & satellite dishes aren't insubstantial and have commanded an otherwise fair price for UPS shipment. My last order from them was in 2019, and the shipment cost was €43.

Checking the same site today, replicating the same order to be delivered to a UK address is now commands a shipment charge of over €188!

It's a shame I don't have an address across the border as, surprise surprise, selecting "Ireland" as the destination is only €37 today!

That’s just pulling a fast one. The sort of thing the ECJ is there to adjudicate on.

Brexiteers knew what they were voting for. We thought they were driven by racism, but they only wanted to make it easier for thousands of Indians to come and settle here.

Ministers are keen to ease immigration restrictions in a bid to make it easier for thousands of Indian citizens to live and work in the UK as part of forthcoming trade talks.

The potential offer will be under discussion when the international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, travels to Delhi this month, reports the Times. Relaxing immigration rules for Indian citizens is a key demand from Delhi...


https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... n-citizens

Is that the sound of Brexiteers' heads asploding that I can hear?

Fuck business

Higher costs, more paperwork and border delays have been "the only detectable impact so far" of Brexit for British businesses, according to a new report by MPs.

https://news.sky.com/story/amp/brexit-c ... s-12536678

New burdens include having to pay for help to complete customs declarations as well as fees due to the government and port when some goods are selected for physical inspection.

Traders also face tariffs if goods do not comply with "rules of origin" requirements. Britain's free trade agreement with the EU is on condition of certain products being traded having a minimum proportion of their "origin" in the exporting country rather than coming from somewhere else.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimated in 2019 that the extra administrative burden on businesses on UK-EU trade would add up to £15bn a year.

Blue passports!

I'm sure our newly-created Brexit Opportunities Minister will come up with something.

I thought it was only Labour that created non-jobs?

The new Brexit Opportunities Minister who did his best to convince us that hard Brexit was the only way to go, yet somehow remained unconvinced himself, to the extent that he spent a lot of money moving the HQ of his hedge fund management business to Dublin? That Brexit Opportunities Minister?

Ironically, moving to Dublin is one of the few Brexit opportunities.

Stephen Bush takes a brave decision to find the elusive Brexit bonus. Looked forward to reading it as he isn’t a Brexit loon and has no axe to grind. Loses his way pretty quickly.

Not exactly a lot of jobs in gene editing.

"Get those genes edited! We've got three lorries to fill and get sent out by lunchtime!"

Andy McDandy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:37 am Not exactly a lot of jobs in gene editing.

"Get those genes edited! We've got three lorries to fill and get sent out by lunchtime!"

Bush is not even attempting to balance the scales but just find something in the bag. Stephen hasn’t been himself lately, he’s also Tweeting Victor Meldrew gripes about dogs in offices.