EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

shipped first to our logistics centre in Italy

Mind blown

I think we will discover that a number of brands have been stretching the boundaries of what ‘made in Britain’ means and will get embarrasingly caught out by this ‘deal’

@NickCJ - I work for a UK manufacturer of industrial equipment. Our products are badged as 'made in UK' but our factory just assembles lots of parts that are sourced from the Far East.

We had an email from our MD to say that Brexit is going to increase our net tariffs significantly and for the first quarter of 2021 they are going to absorb the cost. The bulk of the UK assembled products are sold to the EU. It would not surprise me one bit if the UK factory closes this year.

If we rewound ten years, we were sourcing from local companies and could have easily met the ROO, but modern business is all about cutting everything to the bone.

There are very few true 'made in Britain' manufacturing companies, they will all be facing increased costs this year.

If we rewound ten years, we were sourcing from local companies and could have easily met the ROO

I think this is what Brexiters think they can recreate but the toothpaste is well and truly out of the tube...

Oh look the rats are not prepared to own their victory.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/02/poll-predicts-a-uk-general-election-now-would-wipe-out-tory-majority

The survey forecasts that the Conservatives would cling on to just eight of the 43 red wall seats that they won at the last election – Bassetlaw, Bishop Auckland, Colne Valley, Dudley North, Great Grimsby, Penistone and Stocksbridge, Scunthorpe, and Sedgefield.

Remarkably that poll has the Conservatives and Labour neck and neck after 12 months of broad spectrum utter shitshow ....

That's what you get for being Tory enabling shit opposition

I don't think polls like that are very strong. It's early in the Parliament, when a sitting PM expects to be at their least popular because they will have wanted to get unpopular policies out of the way first. The pandemic obviously makes a difference, but I doubt it'll still be a major factor when election campaign time rolls around, the cards are re-shuffled, and some new way of manipulating people through election campaign strategy is devised.

I do still hope the Tories will get rid of Johnson this year, although it's a forlorn hope.

i don't get comments like this. the tories have a comfortable majority – what are the other parties supposed to do, exactly?

@Big_Ted - There is a massive amount of people in this country who think Johnson has been doing a good job. My wife occasionally shows me posts of people she is friends with on FB saying he has been doing an amazing job and he is the saviour of the country. It is frighteningly like some sort of cult, he cannot do anything wrong. Enormous parallels with Trump's Covid performance and election lies.

what are the other parties supposed to do, exactly?

Voting for that deal whilst simultaneously saying well guys, nothing to do with us, it's on the Tories

Total bullshit

damned if you do, damned if you don't. it's of little consequence. i find it hard to care to be honest.

Although I’d have thought that abstaining or a free vote would have been better (and even then it would have been spun as either fence sitting or disunity), it was passing whatever Labour did.

Or are you suggesting that if Labour voted against there would have been lots of Conservative voters suddenly deciding to switch across to Labour?

There’s no easy answers but Tory enablers doesn’t cover it, more about the above with many thinking “Boris is doing a good job in difficult circumstances” and/or he’s a canny negotiator who has given the EU a bloody nose (and even as the latter unravels, it won’t be down to Brave Boris, oh no)

There is a massive amount of people in this country who think Johnson has been doing a good job. My wife occasionally shows me posts of people she is friends with on FB saying he has been doing an amazing job and he is the saviour of the country.

Echoed by a certain demographic of ex-school friends that I havnt muted yet or re-appear for a week before I hit the "snooze for 30 days" again. Too busy blaming the average Joe for all of England's troubles.

Or are you suggesting that if Labour voted against there would have been lots of Conservative voters suddenly deciding to switch across to Labour?

And then Labour are responsible for no deal and the agony that comes with it. Tres Bon.

If Johnson is massively unpopular in 30 months time. Don't the Tories simple play the get a new leader trick and pretend it's it's new administration before winning the next election against tired old Starmer.

I was thinking more about Tory voters than Tory MPs, but it was definitely a rock and a hard place with no easy move.

But to interpret the Labour approach as being Tory enablers? Sorry, I don’t buy that - it’s been a Tory shitshow from the start, though the middle and to the end and implying otherwise let’s them off the hook

I thought Starmer dealt with that pretty well. Something along the lines of If you're voting against or abstaining but you actually want the vote to pass (i.e. you don't want no deal) then that's just grandstanding.

I suspect the main reason they've only just caught up was the massive deficit they started with.

I dont think any of the partys can come out this and say they have done a good job, SNP up here have made as much a hash of it as the Tories down south. I dont think any of them are fit for purpose personally.

But to interpret the Labour approach as being Tory enablers? Sorry, I don’t buy that

I agree. Labour’s position was all about minimising their loses rather than supporting the government.

@DoubtfulAce

If Johnson is massively unpopular in 30 months time

He'll be long gone by then. It turns out that the job can actually be quite difficult.

Superstar Components not shipping to the EU:

'We cannot currently accept orders from customers within Europe as we cannot ship with our mail providers due to complications caused by aspects of the Brexit agreement. Please do not place an order if you are in Europe as it will be placed on hold indefinitely until there is a resolution. We will update the website and via email once there is a resolution and orders can be placed again.'

Welcome to the glorious sunlit uplands of Brexit. They can't sell to the EU, but they can sell to the rest of the world. Which, of course, they could before Brexit. Well done Brexiteers, hope you feel proud.

But Europe needs us and our products more than we need their business!

#brexitlogic

No, no. It's everywhere else in the world which will be our trading partners in the path to the new sunlit uplands. Antigua. Bermuda. Algeria. Botswana. Kokomo. This is where our future lies.

I imagine that’s because their products don’t qualify for the FTA due to ROO.