They did, and many people made the argument that some prices are worth paying. I would rather pay a bit more for my strawberries than pay less and import cheap labour from abroad, house them like sardines in a shipping container, charge them half their wages for the privilege then sell them all their food from the on-site shop just so they can send a couple of quid back to their families. It's industrial, international exploitation and the middle classes having cheap strawberries isn't a price worth paying. Local people doing the job at good rates is what should be incentivised.
Is Brexit a major cause of the current food shortgages in the UK?
- Thread starter Redwurzel
- Start date
ThePrisoner
Well-known member
You say tomato, I say turnip
Let's call the whole thing Brexit
Let's call the whole thing Brexit
The Ruthsayer
Well-known member
Exactly. Perhaps why Corbyn was for Brexit? Numerous articles from the LSE showing that under FoM the poorest 15 percent were adversely affected, unlike those who sat snugly and smugly in the median.
I suppose simple supply and demand. Those who claim that the poorest would have a slice of a larger pie are simply rehearsing a discredited version of the neo-liberal ‘trickle down’ approach, displaying the arithmetic acuity of Diane Abbott.
Way_Out_West
Well-known member
Fresh fruit and veg is just for the "middle classes" now?
Redwurzel
Well-known member
In June 2016 - no one if there would be free movement of goods and services between the UK and the EU states, if the UK left. We seem to have restricted movement at present (if the stories are true about 77 hours to give through French and UK customs with tomatoes), there are no tariffs but there are significant non taiff barriers in place, for tomatoes.
Higher prices food prices are happening all around the World, what is probably happening is the UK has added inflation due to restricted movements. UK inflation is around 10.1% and German inflation is around 9.2%. Incomes are rising for the bottom segment in the UK as competition for labour increases and imported supply of goods is restricted. In the tomatoes example UK tomato producers need more workers for the extra tomatoes they will be selling at a higher price (in the UK) or will say in 12 months time when the producers adjust to the new conditions.
Higher prices food prices are happening all around the World, what is probably happening is the UK has added inflation due to restricted movements. UK inflation is around 10.1% and German inflation is around 9.2%. Incomes are rising for the bottom segment in the UK as competition for labour increases and imported supply of goods is restricted. In the tomatoes example UK tomato producers need more workers for the extra tomatoes they will be selling at a higher price (in the UK) or will say in 12 months time when the producers adjust to the new conditions.
StanleySmith
Active member
Brexit certainly hasn’t helped…but I was staying in a rural part of France in October and was shocked how many everyday food items were out of stock or rationed to one per household!
Chester
New member
Utter nonsense. I live an hour south of Tarragona, and a) the weather this winter has been no different from prior years, and b) there are the usual copious amounts of tomatoes in the stores here.
Chester
New member
None at all in Spanish food manufacturing. I live in a resort town (Salou), and the only challenges are with the British hospitality industry. They now no longer have free access to Brits wanting to ´work the season´ due to the 90 in 180-day rule.
TeaCider
Well-known member
It's not utter nonsense though, is it?
British growers are reducing production because of rising costs and unprofitable margins.
There are numerous reports that the agricultural yield is significantly down in Spain right now, all of the products that are currently undergoing shortages in the UK, Ireland and other countries are primarily imports.
The Spanish domestic market is clearly going to be given priority over foreign.
Your location is absolutely nowhere near the primary tomato growing regions of Spain either, so not sure why that would matter.
Brexit has absolutely made the situation more difficult for the UK, as it has many things, but there were no shortages last January and the same Brexit imposed issues were in place.
Redwurzel
Well-known member
Its seems a mixed picture - Grapes seem to come from South Africa now and I paid 99p for a punnet at LIDL so they are not expensive. Just paid a £1 for a pack of six British apples which again to me seems cheap. I remember my granny saying a shilling for an apple in the 1970s, saying how expensive things were in 1975 - as shilling is 5p and today that would be around 60p for just one apple. My guess is that prices will rise though as cheap fruit pickers, lorry drivers, shop workers in the UK become rarer and non tariff barriers on imported EU fruit and veg push up costs.
Redwurzel
Well-known member
Evidence from the majority of the board living in Spain is that weather and labour shortages in Spain are not major factors in restricting tomato/pepper supply which points to decisons made by Spainish exporters to reduce supply to the UK possibly because of increased costs and time involved to do that. What that be fair to say?
chickenrunner
Well-known member
Bit of advice. Forget supermarkets go to the greengrocers they've got plenty of fruit and veg, including tomatoes. Why? Cos' they're willing (have to) pay increased prices that the supermarkets won't. Better quality too.
Unravel_Morrison
Well-known member
I can't talk about food and drink but there are big issues in exports and imports in my experience. GB hasn't actually implemented Brexit rules in the main, so the 'problems' you are looking for aren't there. Firstly they aren't problems; they are part of the new system and secondly GB Customs don't carry out any new checks yet.
The reason is that the Customs checks just aren't ready yet; we can't cope with the checks Brexit requires. At the moment, if you voted for Brexit (which was your right), the Tories shafted you. When we left the EU their countries made arrangements to deal with us as a third country fully. We did not.
The reason there are fewer shortages at the moment than otherwise may be true is literally because they didn't fully implement Brexit because they never thought they'd have to. Its a multi generational error carried out to appease racists.
The reason is that the Customs checks just aren't ready yet; we can't cope with the checks Brexit requires. At the moment, if you voted for Brexit (which was your right), the Tories shafted you. When we left the EU their countries made arrangements to deal with us as a third country fully. We did not.
The reason there are fewer shortages at the moment than otherwise may be true is literally because they didn't fully implement Brexit because they never thought they'd have to. Its a multi generational error carried out to appease racists.
ThePrisoner
Well-known member
The sh!tshow that is coming when import checks are fully implemented is going to make the last two years look like unicorn-populated sunlit uplands. When it happens everyone will deny ever supporting Brexit.
Randy
Well-known member
In one.
We haven't struggled with any supplies at work either. Only the broccoli costing £5 more a crate one week due to that inclement weather we had a few weeks ago. Back to standard prices now.
Could it be the supermarkets aren't stocking these items because they don't want to pay British prices even though the average Joe Public probably wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for home grown produce?
Redwurzel
Well-known member
The mystery continues:
We are told that leaving the EU customs paperwork changes have not implemented by the UK. If this is true the customs delays must be purely within EU States/customs?
Secondly we are told the long delays (77 hours quoted by one poster) are not issues, surely if you are a delivery company (for cost of driver) and supplier of perishable goods, its surely an issue. The cause may be leaving the EU and how its implemented, but the issue (in relation to increasing costs) is the delay and extra paperwork.
We told that some UK importers have not had any significant problems and its implied its the UK supermarkets not willing to increase prices they pay to suppliers, so suppliers do not supply. So in effect its like a suppliers strike - you don't pay me what I want so you don't get my labour or in this case my veg. I would hazard a guess some of the cost increases are due to leaving the EU, but not solely due to that e.g cost of fuel, rising wages everywhere etc. My thoughts if this trade dispute is true, the supermarkets are losing a lot of profit in the short term by not having some popular veg available. They have also increased the retail price of dairy products by up to 50% in the last 12 months, whats different about tomatoes. If I was a cynic I could even say the supermarkets are using Brexit in part to hide behind for current supply shortages due to trade disputes.
I worked for 9 years as a buyer/senior buyer/purchasing manager for two large European international electronics/telecoms manufacturers and buying and selling interests me. I ask these questions partly because of that. Also I like to explore biases the media have (both the pro EU and anti EU media). It also helps me to be more informed, in general.
We are told that leaving the EU customs paperwork changes have not implemented by the UK. If this is true the customs delays must be purely within EU States/customs?
Secondly we are told the long delays (77 hours quoted by one poster) are not issues, surely if you are a delivery company (for cost of driver) and supplier of perishable goods, its surely an issue. The cause may be leaving the EU and how its implemented, but the issue (in relation to increasing costs) is the delay and extra paperwork.
We told that some UK importers have not had any significant problems and its implied its the UK supermarkets not willing to increase prices they pay to suppliers, so suppliers do not supply. So in effect its like a suppliers strike - you don't pay me what I want so you don't get my labour or in this case my veg. I would hazard a guess some of the cost increases are due to leaving the EU, but not solely due to that e.g cost of fuel, rising wages everywhere etc. My thoughts if this trade dispute is true, the supermarkets are losing a lot of profit in the short term by not having some popular veg available. They have also increased the retail price of dairy products by up to 50% in the last 12 months, whats different about tomatoes. If I was a cynic I could even say the supermarkets are using Brexit in part to hide behind for current supply shortages due to trade disputes.
I worked for 9 years as a buyer/senior buyer/purchasing manager for two large European international electronics/telecoms manufacturers and buying and selling interests me. I ask these questions partly because of that. Also I like to explore biases the media have (both the pro EU and anti EU media). It also helps me to be more informed, in general.
SmallTown
Well-known member
They didn't though. Not one person campaigned for brexit on the platforn of increased food prices. When us leavers told brexitists that this would happen it was written off as project fear.
SmallTown
Well-known member
I don't think they will. As I've mentioned a lot on here. Look at the effort people are going to to deflect from brexit. I don't know their reasons but they are far to stubborn, far to embroiled in the cult of brexit to change. They'll find something else to blame. We'll all KNOW deep down how damaging brexit is but look at the people defending it on here. They don't use reason. They'll continue to deny
LaPennaBianca
Well-known member
This exactly.
The lies about wages increasing because of extra competition for jobs (failing to recognise that inflation has destroyed any chance of these roses meaning anything).
The UK is unable to reconfigure it's economy to take advantage of the freedoms provided by Brexit. That's a fact. There are too many vested interests and no political party able to command a majority to enact Trussonomics. Moreover, most who voted for Brexit don't want that anyway.
So now begins the long trudge back to a slightly worse position to the one we enjoyed in 2016, our national reputation wrecked.