EU referendum, brexit and the aftermath

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/19/liz-truss-defends-uk-plans-for-post-brexit-trade-deal-with-australia

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She's not the sharpest tool in the box... I fear this may go ahead to make Boris look good. Perhaps a conservative rebellion sees it off, but they will have the same problem with undercutting agrifood standards in a USA deal.

"This [the UK] is a country that grew successful and prosperous on free trade on exporting around the world.”

Mostly bullets; some opium.

Jokes aside, it's always confused me that food origins wasn't a bigger part of the Brexit debate. If opening up trade deals with countries around the world, while creating friction in trade with the EU, means that we're getting our food from further afield, isn't that a bad thing, both for food security and for the environment? I mean, we probably already eat quite a lot of New Zealand lamb and Brazilian beef, but I can't think of a reason why we want to exacerbate that sort of import.

Mostly bullets; some opium

Bit unfair. There was tea, tobacco, sugar and people too.

Environmentally it is complex, as some countries rely on human labour more than machines ran on fossil fuels.

Pesticides and other food safety standards are definitely lower in some countries compared to EU / current UK standards.

The UK has loads of unfarmed land in private hands that's neither a public nature reserve nor building land.

Scotland is running a community buy scheme for such land.

Of course a lot of that land is part of the "it's free real estate!" history of the UK, a progressive land tax may free some of it up for farming / grazing / nature.

So that can mean more local food (we also needs to earn more quorn and less animal food) but pigs can fly unfortunately when it comes to land tax...

Getting to announce a free trade deal with Australia = immediate political capital which feeds your Nationalist rhetoric (called, for maximum irony, Global Britain). Also pays back Tate and Lyle.

Farms going bust at a faster rate/when they would not have before= minor point in the papers which, if you control the media, will never be a problem.

The sheep and beef farmers of the UK were heavily subsidised by CAP. Pig farmers were not ironically.

Yes- they’re all fucked anyway, this just pours (a little more) petrol on the fire.

The issue of how the UK subsidises sheep and cattle farming is probably as much a social issue as it is economic as alluded to by @JWestland.

Minford stated in his Brexit testimony that manufacturers of all stripes, including agriculture would have to go the way of mining to reap the rewards of Brexit. His model does require supply chains to be able to instantly switch to the cheapest available version of every physical product and admits to no cost for transport, customs etc, but it seems to be the one we are pursuing.

Farmers will be “transitioned” to Air b’n’b as their primary source of revenue.

Northern Ireland farmers may escape the rout, as goods will have to be checked. So I doubt the cheaper food stuff can just come here?

But I am not sure how that works, as already seeing plenty of far away food in Tesco. Spar is getting mostly IRE/EU foods, but some fruits come from far.

And what does that mean for trade?

I mean, if all we get here is hassle with materials import from GB, ROI not yet having caught up with production and not really any crumbs from the trade deals, then it's Limbo V2 on top of "constitutional status new Ireland/stay with UK" Limbo V1.

Because the manufacturers here are saying that the special NI status can attract companies but not if getting raw materials is an issue.

His model does require supply chains to be able to instantly switch to the cheapest available version of every physical product

LOL yeah we see with Covid how well that can work if there are any snags, FFS. He's an xenophobic arsehole anyway, bitching about how immigrants just cost money etc.

Until Red Wall voters give a single shit about NI the reality is no one in government cares.

Holy Fuck.

https://twitter.com/DarranMarshall/status/1395293039741050880?s=19

That Frost’s a piece of work.

Fucking unelected bureaucrats !

Ha! Yeah, tell me about it. Ridiculous!

Do you have any more info on the polish citizenship for nazi hunters? I always thought it was a right by blood and had to be unbroken so my dad would have to apply.

Farmers will be “transitioned” to Air b’n’b as their primary source of revenue.

One of my best friends left London as she fell in love with a Herefordshire sheep farmer.

My brother is currently helping her setup a glamping site on the farm

I can 100% see all the Yorkshire sheep farmers setting up Yurts after slaughtering their flocks, putting the collie’s down and burying them behind the new shower block.

I live on a working beef farm, and two of my brothers run a pig and beef farm. No way they are turning them into a glamping site. The area we live in already has plenty of them, and the land we have is just not suitable for things like that, so guess we\they will just keep plodding along, making no money and getting poorer by the year...

Had you considered Cyber?

wow I take up glamping and this happens?! @Mickie_Cricket

Could always sell to some rich but naive yuppies.

Lol’d