How is Brexit affecting us?

HugalHugal Shipmate
edited January 2021 in Hell
I thought it might be best to have a separate thread in Hell on how Brexit is affecting us going forward good or bad, then we can rant if needed.
I will start
A friend of ours works in computers for education. Their supplier has said they no longer deliver to the UK
Not massive I know but an early sign
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Comments

  • EigonEigon Shipmate
    Our bookshop has had some difficulty in getting parcels into Europe over the Christmas period, and the prices are going to go up.
  • DafydDafyd Hell Host
    My sister-in-law has a job in Germany. My brother doesn't.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    edited January 2021
    My friend said this -

    “My friend said -

    “We have not felt the effects of Brexit yet. The first small breeze of discontent here, the first little flurry of withdrawal there, of many small, similar decisions in little companies, have not yet grown to a storm: we have been sheltered by the Christmas and Epiphany period from this wind's rising.

    When it comes, it may sweep over empty ports, not ports choked with lorries. The effect - a lack of supply - will be the same. We shunned the stranger at our gates. We set no place at the feast. Now the stranger will shun us, and our tables will be the emptier for their absence. Today is Epiphany. We do not celebrate this day as our cousins do. But many epiphanies of our own await us in the days to come.”

    Personally I am searching for affordable medical insurance for when we next go to Germany to visit my son and family. My EU medical card (EHIC) runs out before then.
  • I think I mentioned this rather poignant case on the Purg thread:
    https://theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/05/mother-fears-son-could-die-as-brexit-stops-medical-cannabis-medicine-supply

    Nice one, *Bozzie*. First of many? I hope not.
    :angry:
  • According to the NHS app on my mobile phone, when the EHIC expires you will be offered a British 'Global Health Insurance Card' (GHIC) which will be recognised in the countries of the EU but not in the rest of the EEA, or anywhere elsedespite its name. So we lose something that works quite well, and it is replaced by something that is not so good, and will, of course, not be available to foreigners. A metaphor for Brexit, perhaps.
  • NI are experiencing issues with food imports: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jan/06/northern-ireland-facing-food-supply-disruption-over-brexit-mps-told

    Someone has started a list (via reports on social media) of UK companies that are unable to ship to the EU, and companies in the EU that are unable to ship to the UK because theyare unwilling to bear the costs of signing up as tax collectors for the HMRC:

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yPEK0G_H8qN47ZNDaiyHBkIkmKgN7FWVmOKdLVTVMh8/edit?fbclid=IwAR2QfIj4aiHfErUA-Q42P_y7ay7KHwDGgqrr9XHg35B56HysDC6aINhmc34
  • The devil is indeed in the detail.

    It will be some while, I expect, before the full ramifications of this shitshow are known, which gives the *government* time to invent any number of specious excuses.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Purgatory Host, Circus Host
    Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the Channel, M&S had exactly zero fresh products delivered when I went there yesterday. I fear their continental operation is not going to survive. I also fear it's a sign that things are going to suck mightily for British producers who export their goods to Europe.
  • Hmm. M&S have been around for a while - I wonder if they'll perhaps come up with some Spiffing Wheeze whereby they send stuff from (say) Ireland direct to France, missing out *England* entirely?

    Not that that's a viable option for small businesses, I know.
    :disappointed:
  • Our local, small but beautifully formed supermarket has had NO frozen peas for days, reports Mrs RR. I like tinned peas. They are British peas. Time to stock up, I fear.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    edited January 2021
    RockyRoger wrote: »
    Our local, small but beautifully formed supermarket has had NO frozen peas for days, reports Mrs RR. I like tinned peas. They are British peas. Time to stock up, I fear.

    No, the time to stock up was last June when I suggested it. That way you could slowly make up a stash without any effect on the supplies for others. In fact, I only buy when supplies are plentiful.

    I was pretty much laughed at.

    https://forums.shipoffools.com/discussion/2647/brexit-prepping/p1

    I have improved my stash since June and it now includes a full extra freezer. I’ll send you some frozen peas! 😜
  • What? They're going to try to persuade the Republic to take back control?
    :open_mouth:

    You couldn't make it up.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    What? They're going to try to persuade the Republic to take back control?
    :open_mouth:

    You couldn't make it up.

    Nothing so principled. They're moving their registered office so they can keep their .eu domain.

  • Not noticed anything yet but it's early days
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    What? They're going to try to persuade the Republic to take back control?
    :open_mouth:

    You couldn't make it up.

    Nothing so principled. They're moving their registered office so they can keep their .eu domain.

    Yes, of course.

    Does that mean Niggly Fartrage will no longer be soiling our pure English air with his rantings and ravings?
  • No. It's to all intents and purposes an accommodation address, but the irony is fairly exquisite nonetheless.
  • Yes, it is indeed...
    :grimace:

    BTW, I think I must be suffering from Post-Brexshit Brain Fatigue, as the Leave.EU mob is *led* (ostensibly) by one Arron Banks.

    Nothing to do, directly at least, with the egregious Fartrage, AFAICT, though I'm open to correction.
  • Next announcement DPD the courier service, is pausing EU services. The linked statement lists the additional costs leading to this move.
  • Alan Cresswell Alan Cresswell Admin, 8th Day Host
    It might relate to the courier issues, and certainly relates to additional strain of coronavirus. We produce and supply some specialist scientific instruments, one of which was sold a few years ago to a scientist based part time at a university in southern England and part time at a museum in Norway. He's currently in Norway with said instrument, but his research group in England have need of it ... and, it can't be shipped (also at present he can't travel and bring it as luggage). I expect the UK-EU deal might be particularly vague in relation to nations, such as Norway, on the periphery of the EU who aren't in the EU but are in the Single Market and Customs Union. [We'll probably ship one of our own instruments down as a loan ... not being able to do field work they're not in great use at the moment anyway]
  • If you live in Mersham it currently seems to be having an effect...
  • Ah - the effect of the infamous, unwanted, and unfinished, Farage-Garage.

    There will be more to come - one is planned for just inland of Dover, so the lost truckers who fail to find that particular F-G may well end up going over the White Cliffs...
    :flushed:

    Once more, the Evil Daemon inside my head wants to know how many of the locals affected by the F-Gs voted Leave. This is, remember, True-Blue Kent.
    :naughty:
  • chrisstileschrisstiles Hell Host
    edited January 2021
    It's been pointed out that the rollover of the EU-Japan trade deal into a UK-Japan trade deal has an important caveat to it:

    "The quota available to Japanese importers for British products will be the entirety of any unutilised EU quota in that year."

    So essentially the overall quota has been kept the same, but EU imports get preferential treatment -- should they expand to fill the quota, the amount available for UK imports goes down.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    edited January 2021
    Well, well. Once again, the devil is in the detail.

    (BTW, what do we export to Japan? Hopefully, some sort of special Widget, the secret of which is known only to *English* widget-makers, but which is essential to the well-being of the Japanese people).

  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Brexit is having no affect on "us" in Canada? Isn't the title a bit mislabeled?
  • BroJamesBroJames Purgatory Host
    I suppose it limits your participation to, “Not at all,” and expressions of sympathy or (seeing were in Hell) derision. But the thread is not mislabelled because it doesn’t apply to everyone.
  • Well, not yet, perhaps, but who knows? Still, point taken.

    Maybe the thread title could be changed to *What are the effects of Brexit?*, as that would cover other countries apart from the UK. It is quite likely, for instance, that some EU states will be adversely affected.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Maybe then its just presumptuous. As a Canadian I see cases of both residents of the UK and the US considering themselves to be the "us" that occupies this site. Probably inevitable given their populations.
  • Alan Cresswell Alan Cresswell Admin, 8th Day Host
    (BTW, what do we export to Japan? Hopefully, some sort of special Widget, the secret of which is known only to *English* widget-makers, but which is essential to the well-being of the Japanese people).
    Whisky is much loved in Japan, though they also have their own distilleries (with some single malts that are excellent). Japan had been a big customer of UK nuclear technology (one of only three nations to purchase MAGNOX reactors - the others being Italy and N Korea), with a policy of recycling fuel being a big contract with Sellafield (exporting spent fuel to the UK, importing MOX fuel and equivalent nuclear waste) and since 2011 a lot of expertise on decommissioning. And, an aging population in Japan creates a big market for pharmaceuticals, and thanks largely to EU membership the UK has a substantial pharmaceutical industry ... though now we've lost the EMA that's an industry that's likely to be relocating to other parts of Europe.

  • Ah - so no secret special Widgets, then.

    I didn't know we exported whisky to Japan, though I have heard of the existence of Japanese single malts.
  • The title does in fact apply to anybody with a small business who can't afford the what, 1000 pound fee? to be authorized to collect and forward taxes. Or at least that's what I read on a small bookseller's site, who were waving bye-bye to their business in the UK. I'm sure it's going to hurt their bottom line.
  • Ah - so no secret special Widgets, then.

    I didn't know we exported whisky to Japan, though I have heard of the existence of Japanese single malts.

    IIRC, the majority of Scotch produced is exported to Japan (in the form of blends). I suspect that will continue unimpeded which is very good news for that industry but it's a small part of the UK economy!
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    Caissa wrote: »
    Maybe then its just presumptuous. As a Canadian I see cases of both residents of the UK and the US considering themselves to be the "us" that occupies this site. Probably inevitable given their populations.

    Oh, boo hoo.
  • Caissa wrote: »
    Brexit is having no affect on "us" in Canada? Isn't the title a bit mislabeled?

    Not all threads are for all Shippies. If this one isn't about you, move on.
  • Caissa wrote: »
    Maybe then its just presumptuous. As a Canadian I see cases of both residents of the UK and the US considering themselves to be the "us" that occupies this site. Probably inevitable given their populations.

    It's increasingly prevalent standard UK English. The BBC is always asking "What we know about..." or "How did we get here?" I could rant about this for a long time, but here I think you could just be glad you're not directly impacted.
  • Alan Cresswell Alan Cresswell Admin, 8th Day Host
    Ah - so no secret special Widgets, then.

    I didn't know we exported whisky to Japan, though I have heard of the existence of Japanese single malts.

    IIRC, the majority of Scotch produced is exported to Japan (in the form of blends).
    The majority produced is consumed domestically (within the UK, but would include all those bottles bought as gifts/souvenirs by visitors which I don't think get counted in export figures). Japan is fourth largest export market by volume (60m bottles worth £147m in 2019) and is a market that's growing by more than 10% per year. The largest export market is still the US (127m bottles worth £1069 in 2019) but is almost static and may be falling with the 25% tariff Trump imposed in his hissy fit over subsidies to aircraft manufacture. The US imports high value product compared to the other markets where cheaper products are a much larger proportion of the exported goods.

    All figures courtesy of Scotch Whisky Association.
  • I have seen a few instances of people finding the problems (like prices for products or shipping going up substantially). And fishermen in Cornwall who suddenly realise that they can catch fish, but not sell it.

    I suspect we will see empty ports. And businesses going bust or moving. Either way, it will further trash our economy.
  • jay_emmjay_emm Kerygmania Host
    I've not really noticed anything directly (except that the supermarkets are looking very like they did last Jan, emptying)

    Does the £1000 taxtortion, change things for non EU businesses (needing to register for both?)
  • Jane RJane R Shipmate
    The US company that my daughter ordered some (highly expensive but historically accurate) shoes from last year - which she hasn't received yet - has just announced that they have suspended shipping to the UK because of Brexit. So much for Global Britain.

    Meanwhile, back at the ranch, several things I wanted to order from Amazon UK are no longer available because they are shipped by suppliers in the EU. I daresay I'd notice other effects, if we weren't in lockdown.
  • Thanks @Alan Cresswell

    I was guilty of conflating one specific distillery; https://www.balblair.com/

    I higher recommend the tour and the whisky even more.

    AFZ
  • The title does in fact apply to anybody with a small business who can't afford the what, 1000 pound fee? to be authorized to collect and forward taxes. Or at least that's what I read on a small bookseller's site, who were waving bye-bye to their business in the UK. I'm sure it's going to hurt their bottom line.

    What happened before Brexit? I assume someone would have had to pay tax somewhere in the transaction?
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    I can’t get filters for my fishpond 🤔
  • It was all rolled in with EU paperwork and regulations, rather than being a separate lot of bureaucracy. I think that books had minimal import duties.
  • It's also apparently a change coming into the EU sometime soon, where businesses pay upfront to trade with the EU which includes a licence for VAT. The UK Treasury in its infinite wisdom (cough) decided to mirror it early without thinking through the consequences.

    I've seen people saying no bicycle or musical instrument spare parts as the small companies involved in supply are stopping trade with the UK rather than pay.
  • Black CatBlack Cat Shipmate Posts: 32
    As a long-time British resident of France, I have had to apply for a "carte de séjour" - foreign resident's permit - which I haven't needed for a long while. It makes me feel old to think I've been here long enough to see something like this abolished and then reinstated! I could get French nationality as the spouse of a French national but haven't, and said spouse can only apply for British nationality after living in the UK for 3 years... but I came over here so we could be together... I note that when it comes to paying tax they don't care about your nationality :smile:

    In the short term we're still waiting to see how/when we can send over all the Christmas presents that were in the wrong country because family members were unable to come for Christmas as planned. I've also read (but wonder if it's true) that it will be forbidden to bring fresh cream and sausages into France now. I have tried to make a Brexit trifle but it's not the same... and how can we get a cream tea fix!!!

    Regarding the question of "us" and "we", in France I sometimes feel like reacting to statements by government, on the news etc about "les français" when they mean "people living in France". It depends on how foreign I'm feeling at the time.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    My dog food has almost doubled in price from £26 to £42 for a 15Kg bag. I’m glad I stockpiled 3 bags.

    I’ll have to look for a different brand. Luckily she has iron guts.

    🤔
  • Caissa wrote: »
    Brexit is having no affect on "us" in Canada? Isn't the title a bit mislabeled?

    It seems to me that there is a general global de-volving from a sense that "we're all in this together" to an isolationist "me first" ...

    "Brexit" is a singular instance, a sign of what's happening ...
  • Ricardus wrote: »
    The title does in fact apply to anybody with a small business who can't afford the what, 1000 pound fee? to be authorized to collect and forward taxes. Or at least that's what I read on a small bookseller's site, who were waving bye-bye to their business in the UK. I'm sure it's going to hurt their bottom line.

    What happened before Brexit? I assume someone would have had to pay tax somewhere in the transaction?

    Before Brexit there was a "reverse VAT" system under which no VAT was charged on cross-border invoices and the corresponding net amount was declared in a EU portal by both parties, leaving the Member States to sort out the offsetting between countries. So far as I can tell, so far the change affects goods and not services, which I occassionally provide from the EU to the UK.

    The difference for me is that now I don't need to charge or declare VAT on invoices made out to the UK, as it's a third country.
  • I am still having problems getting bratwurst
  • Offer the problems up to Jesus, and buy Proper English Sausages.
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