OT. The futures Bright, the Futures Brexit!!!

[swaledale]

Nice bloke, Lindsay Hoyle...much prefer to spend time with him than Bercow...but as a ‘Speaker’...no contest...Bercow every time, imo.
Could always bring back Betty Boothroyd...best of the bunch, again imo, and still only 92.

On the subject of being ‘banned from parliament for being a lying bully’...now is not the time...but hardly unprecedented actions are they.

Nail on the head rA! No idea what Thicky is posting, but suspect it doesn't recognise that the EU being a united front against Putin is making the UK look rather small isolated and dependant upon the goodwill of the USA!

Also isn't it mazing that the good ole BBC is now being lauded, you know that institution which for all its faults, and it has many but then which human endeavour does not? Is one of the UK's most influential examples of "soft power" in the world and is considered to be the most trustworthy news source overseas. Still I'm guessing AF will be more concerned that there are too many BAME news presenters than whether the BBC is trusted overseas and a brilliant ambassador ( and export) for the UK!

[Andy_Faber]

Still I'm guessing AF will be more concerned that there are too many BAME news presenters than whether the BBC is trusted overseas and a brilliant ambassador ( and export) for the UK!

You've really got yourself in a tizz about that haven't you, there's definitely something abut you and the issue of race that we don't know about

[Andy_Faber]

An amusing anecdote (to me anyway, sorry rA) I’ve just collected some items from Screwfix. I don’t count, but I’d estimate I’ve shopped in Screwfix maybe 500 times. For the first time today I was asked to show photo I’d by one overzealous rule follower. I asked her why , her answer: Brexit

[ramAnag]

You've really got yourself in a tizz about that haven't you, there's definitely something abut you and the issue of race that we don't know about

I’m not getting embroiled in your tit for tat spat with Swale, but that really is an astonishing comment from you, of all people, AF.

As regards the Screwfix thing. Yep...we can all laugh at the silliness of it...but isn’t it just symptomatic of the way in which so many rule changes since Brexit have begun to cost us all time and money...and to think we were told that the EU was the source of all the bureaucracy and red tape.

[Geoff Parkstone]

also, please note, you need to be over 16 to screw, so perhaps its a legal requirement under the 1885 Act

[Trickytreesreds]

An amusing anecdote (to me anyway, sorry rA) I’ve just collected some items from Screwfix. I don’t count, but I’d estimate I’ve shopped in Screwfix maybe 500 times. For the first time today I was asked to show photo I’d by one overzealous rule follower. I asked her why , her answer: Brexit

That's OK, it won't be long before you're showing your papers in the EUSSR anyway.

[MadAmster]

An amusing anecdote (to me anyway, sorry rA) I’ve just collected some items from Screwfix. I don’t count, but I’d estimate I’ve shopped in Screwfix maybe 500 times. For the first time today I was asked to show photo I’d by one overzealous rule follower. I asked her why , her answer: Brexit

Photo ID. My trip back to blighty was with my 29 year old pilot son. Thursday in Ladbrokes he was asked for ID, Saturday at the bar inside the Vi-tality Stadium he was carded again.

Can't believe I had to edit the stadium name to avoid the swear filter ....

[swaledale]

The impact of Brexit on the UK economy will be worse than that caused by the pandemic, according to the chairman of the UK fiscal watchdog.

Richard Hughes said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had assumed leaving the EU would “reduce our long run GDP by around 4%”, adding in comments to the BBC: “We think that the effect of the pandemic will reduce that (GDP) output by a further 2%.”

[swaledale]

U.K. trade in goods took a 12.6 billion pound ($16.7 billion) hit from Brexit in October as imports and exports fell behind equivalent countries.

The Center of European Reform said Brexit had lowered goods traded by the U.K. by 15.7% from where it otherwise would have been. The “cost of Brexit” has hovered between 11% and 16% since the U.K. formally left the European Union’s single market and customs union in January.

EU membership was replaced by a tariff-free trade deal but requires border checks and paperwork on standards and rules of origin, which has become a severe impediment for Britain’s exporting and importing companies.

Source Bloomberg

[swaledale]

Now you know how Brexit would supposedly stop UK workers being replaced by cheaper foreign labour? Tel that to the 800 UK workers disgracefully sacked by P & O today! And note that due to EU employment law, the French and other EU workers haven't been sacked!!

[Trickytreesreds]

If someone is made redundant, then the job no longer exists.
This is illegal and the government needs to tell this Dubai compnay to do one.

[Ramshank72]

Now you know how Brexit would supposedly stop UK workers being replaced by cheaper foreign labour? Tel that to the 800 UK workers disgracefully sacked by P & O today! And note that due to EU employment law, the French and other EU workers haven't been sacked!!

I just read the BBC report on this, and you have to read between the lines, but it seems they've made them redundant without consulting? I guess the non-UK workers they'll be replaced with are cheaper, nothing new sadly. The report I read is very emotive but I think the crux of the issue is the lack of proper process, likely to invoke fines, reputation damage, and a fair few tribunal claims. Brexit might have contributed to some higher costs for this industry, but this appears to be some very stupid (feel free to insert a more suitable word!) behaviour by the company both legally and ethically rather than a Brexit issue.

[Andy_Faber]

I just read the BBC report on this, and you have to read between the lines, but it seems they've made them redundant without consulting? I guess the non-UK workers they'll be replaced with are cheaper, nothing new sadly. The report I read is very emotive but I think the crux of the issue is the lack of proper process, likely to invoke fines, reputation damage, and a fair few tribunal claims. Brexit might have contributed to some higher costs for this industry, but this appears to be some very stupid (feel free to insert a more suitable word!) behaviour by the company both legally and ethically rather than a Brexit issue.

thats how I see it too.

Although we as usual don't know the full story, UK employment law still works on the basis that a person isn't 'redundant', a job role is, and it looks very much like these jobs still exist and the owners just want a cheaper workforce. They've probably done a cost benefit anaylsis of taking this course and getting a fine

[ramAnag]

On the subject of Brexit, rather than the ethically challenged behaviour of P&O...well it is the Brexit thread.
So...we have the trade figures as provided above...we have the ‘protection’ for British workers as exemplified by P&O...we have the impact of bureaucracy and red tape as far as exports and delayed imports are concerned...we have the worsening situation in Northern Ireland, largely but temporarily forgotten because of Putin’s behaviour...we stand in awe of the Poles (who the Brexiteers wanted rid of) and their ability to deal with a major European refugee crisis while we tie ourselves in knots of yet more red tape...and we are increasingly separate and peripheral, in terms of our European neighbours, during the biggest military crisis in Europe for the last 77 years.
Thanks Nigel...thanks Boris and thanks to the blinkered Brexiteers...perhaps you could give us a ‘plus’ from Brexit. Won’t hold my breath...but I’m guessing we’ll just hear the same old ‘no one said there wouldn’t be teething problems’ yet again.

[Geoff Parkstone]

I've just got a new shiny blue passport....but even that is disappointingly cheap and unimpressive in build quality