EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

So, no jobs and no farms.

I'd better take up golf again.

That's a point, we could turn all arable land that is currently farmed into golf-course.

A national, thousands of holes challenge that puts the UK firmly on the map as a Nation-State scale amusement park, staffed by extra's from Mary Poppins.

Ah that bit about the WTO was in that article but I guess I didn’t acknowledge that bit properly, that makes sense. So we literally can’t just say, “Anything with an EU stamp gets a free pass”.

Remember the Findus horse lasagne? That happened by accident, one supply chain inadvertently crossing into another it was not supposed to so do.

Now imagine if you've got a load of meat that in the EU has to be turned into animal feed, but it's worth much, much more as human-suitable. You can't sell it anywhere in the EU - that might come back on you and put you out of business.

But - you could sell it to the UK, they won't even check it. Boom! That villa in Spain is much closer if you do this a couple of times per month.

I totally get that aside from the now addressed WTO issue, doing what I suggested wouldn’t be in the interests of Brexiteers, but I was thinking it was a possibility to minimise any potential border issues to keep food coming in, but since the WTO thing has been brought up I understand that wouldn’t work.

I want a villa in Spain. I should open an abbatoir in the EU is what you’re saying?

There will be much more demand within the UK for locally slaughtered meat and you won't have to employ someone with EU-level skills/qualifications.

Who is going to rear animals if they can't sell them?

Could see a change in cattle rearing. A calf needs a lot of soya/barley/rapeseedcake to get to slaughterweight in the current system. Slower grass and winter sileage-fed could be cheaper. Destroys farmers cashflow during the changeover.

This depressed me today:
Via Caroline Cadwalladr

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Could our farmers ever compete with the massive agri-businesses of the US, though?

They might choose to sell to a higher echelon, pushing the quality argument, but I don't know how well the average Friesian compares to an Aberdeen Angus.

Who knows?
The unwanted (castrated) Holstein Friesian male calves aren't worth raising to slaughterweight so were the live exports protestors pretty much stopped in the '90s. Who eats veal these days? I guess they go to petfood?
Aberdeen Angus has the cachet to command a premium, even at (US owned) Costco.

As a student I worked in the Meat Depot of Bishops Supermarket chain, (about 50-60 supermarkets, was bought by Budgens).
This was late '70s into early '80s.
They imported 'Frozen Beef Shin' from Botswana. This was cut into about inch long rounds on a bandsaw and packed on shrunkwrapped polystyrene trays. The variation in length of the individual 'beef shins' meant that the thrifty consumers who frequented Bishops were actually eating virtually every antelope from the gazelle to the eland. Long before the EEC became the EU, of course, but an indication of what our pre-EU Food Standards were.

I think meat is a good example but there will be loads of things where suddenly quality/ingredients could be changed without any warning/ checks. Medicines, kids toys, fertilizer, cleaning chemicals...

I want a villa in Spain. I should open an abbatoir in the EU is what you’re saying?

You'd probably make a lot more with an ABBA tour than with an abattoir.

(Not that I'd want to egg you on to inflict horrendous cruelty.)

It's only because they crossed the streams.

@mespilus @hms great insights, thank you

Edit: you too @christianSpaceman

hmmmmm eland

USDA
https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/beef/shields-and-marbling-pictures

The standard appears to be no more than a visual grading.
There appears to be no restriction upon the breed of cow/bull nor what they are fed nor how they are raised.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/07/30/theresa-mays-impossible-choice

My wife and I went as the two weirdo killers that do "bomb surprise"

Registration of new nurses from the EU since Brexit

https://www.health.org.uk/news/uk-public-support-recruitment-eu-nurses-post-brexit-including-leave-voters

My wife and I went as the two weirdo killers that do "bomb surprise"

Nice. Strong look.

Confused everyone. She was the balding ginger one.

That did also coincide with a new language test for overseas nurses. I've not really seen anywhere trying to unpick what effect that had.