EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

Unless you're already spending most of your money on groceries.

Living wage for all.

Worth noting that those onions are the equivalent of Tesco value onions. Maybe not quite like for like.

This is probably a fairer comparison. Sainsbury's are 85p a kilo for normal brown onions, Coop.ch are £1.82 per kilo. Both prices for a 1kg bag.

https://www.coopathome.ch/de/supermarkt/fr%C3%BCchte-gem%C3%BCse/kr%C3%A4uter-gew%C3%BCrze/zwiebeln-knoblauch/zwiebel-gelb/p/3090393

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-onions-1kg

Edit: Cheapest possible onions at Sainsburys are 55p per kilo and £1.09 at Coop.

At the time there was dispensation for farm labourers from outside the EU. The conditions were shit, and the sleep conditions were converted portacabins at best and no privacy.

This wiki has a list of european countries by minimum wage adjusted for PPP

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_minimum_wage

I always felt the Migros budget range was better than that when I lived in CH, maybe they’re rose-tinted onions!

The East Neuk is nice enough.

Generally, food in Switzerland is between 1/3 to 1/2 more expensive than here, is what I found. People earn up to double what is normal here. Possibly not farm workers though.

Possibly not farm workers though

I found myself drinking home made cherry brandy with a Swiss dairy worker a couple of years ago. A memorable conversation for several reasons, but from what I remember he was earning about £13ph sticking suckers on udders all day. He was from not far from St Gallen if memory serves me right.

That was a hangover and a half I can tell you.

Local brexiter already appeared in FB wall of a friend with "Why do locals not take these jobs?".

He's not volunteering either ;)

Luxembourg, food coop stuff grown here, organically by people on a minimum wage of 23k euros is 60-100% more expensive than the supermarket stuff. 30-40% more than the supermarket organic sections.

In the 80s?

But another factor here is mechanisation. One slave hour doesn’t equal one living wage hour. The more highly paid farm labourer will most likely be provided with better kit and there will be some efficiencies in the longer run once the farms settle into this new regime, invests accordingly, and each labourer works more efficiently.
My inkling is that currently some people are treated horribly, but only for a negligible benefit for the rest of us. The economic cost of improving the human suffering could turn out to be a lot less than you’d think.

The economic cost of improving the human suffering could turn out to be a lot less than you’d think.

There's a brand in France that was set up to pay farmers a proper amount for their goods instead of what supermarket buying consortiums do by absolutely bleeding them .

Been a huge success and expanding products as people are happy to pay a premium and ensure the people they buy from can live a decent life.

Would be nice to think that the farm owners then pass this on to employees but you never know...

My Dad works at a rural Citizens Advice Bureau in his retirement. Mistreated veg/fruit pickers account for a notable percentage of his caseload. Sure, my Dad has led a sheltered and privileged life to some extent but discovering that so many people in the UK have no money, no rights and few prospects felt like a gut punch to him. It pretty much changed his world view tbh.

France also has laws about how much local produce must be sourced so even with the buying power of the supermarkets, they're often obliged to buy locally which gives the farmers coops a bit more negotiating power.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/23/uk-making-impossible-demands-over-europol-database-in-eu-talks

The cherry picking continues, even though there is nobody to pick them in the UK and they have to fly people in*

I still don't know if it is a case of the England exceptionalism championship negotiations or hard brexit excuse setup.

*I know cherries aren't ripe yet, yes :)

It’s a piss-take, I know that much...

The sort of piss-take when the joke is on us... :/

When did she apply and how long did it take?

I need a new passport but have been putting off applying.

Apparently you shouldn't apply at the moment:

It is taking longer than usual to process applications because of coronavirus (COVID-19). Do not apply unless you need a passport urgently for compassionate reasons, for example if a family member has died, or for government business.

Right-wing fantasy continues apace:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/13/uk-eu-trade-deal-with-tariffs-impossible-in-six-months-say-diplomats

Sorry just seen the question, it took about 3 weeks.