Brexit Fallout

I’m very concerned about the shortages of medicines. I’m hoping our government can maintain the needed supplies.

Got it.

There is an alternative explanation

This failure to take responsibility for their failed project is now endemic. The latest trade figures show that the percentage of UK trade done with the EU is now higher than before the referendum, at about 53.3%. Cue for many to declare that this showed Project Fear disproven and Brexit justified once again (see, for example, many of the responses to this Tweet). But it means nothing of the sort. The explanation is that growth in trade with non-EU countries has been weaker than with the EU. This is the exact opposite of the central Brexiter proposition about trade, which is that the EU has a declining share of world economic growth and so, ‘unshackled from the corpse’ of the ‘EU protectionist racket’, the UK would re-orientate towards the fast-growing areas of the world.

chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/brexit-has-embedded-dishonesty-in.html

maddyone

I didn’t vote for Brexit, I voted remain. However if a deal with Canada means we have to accept beef that has hormones then I won’t be eating any Canadian beef. The Canadians can keep it!

That was always one of the arguments when looking at Brexit and imported beef/meat amongst millions of other arguments

EU =hormone free

MaizieD

Got it.

There is an alternative explanation

This failure to take responsibility for their failed project is now endemic. The latest trade figures show that the percentage of UK trade done with the EU is now higher than before the referendum, at about 53.3%. Cue for many to declare that this showed Project Fear disproven and Brexit justified once again (see, for example, many of the responses to this Tweet). But it means nothing of the sort. The explanation is that growth in trade with non-EU countries has been weaker than with the EU. This is the exact opposite of the central Brexiter proposition about trade, which is that the EU has a declining share of world economic growth and so, ‘unshackled from the corpse’ of the ‘EU protectionist racket’, the UK would re-orientate towards the fast-growing areas of the world.

chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/brexit-has-embedded-dishonesty-in.html

Yes our failure to negotiate any trade deal of worth has been abysmal.

GrannyGravy13

facts4eu.org has an interesting article complete with graphs showing U.K. exports since referendum.

This pro-brexit organisation has produced charts which ostensibly show that, since the referendum, our exports to the EU have risen 39% and our exports to the rest of the world have risen by 57%.

But a commentator on this report from facts4eu,org points out that when inflation is taken into account , our exports both to EU and elsewhere have actually FALLEN.

"However, is this like the 32 page report produced by Catherine McBride at the IEA last October. This thorough report is based on a more realistic time period of 2019 (the year before the UK left the EU) to 2022, not from 2016 when nothing changed for the first few years whilst our politicians trade to decide what Brexit was. The IEA report "Has Brexit Really Harmed UK Trade?" uses 31 pages to show how trade has grown since 2019. But it's only on page 13 that inflation is taken into account and shows UK exports to the EU down 7.2% and UK exports to Non EU down 9.8%."

facts4eu.org/news/2024_jan_brexit_exports#comments

Yes Whitewave, the food standards, no hormones, no antibiotics etc, was one of the reasons I voted remain. I’d rather have no trade agreement than accept food produced to inferior standards. Anyway, as I said, I won’t be eating Canadian or American meat, if we ever have a trade deal with them. I don’t eat much meat anyway, but I cook roasts and barbecues for my family at the weekends and I’m not feeding it to them either.

maddyone

Yes Whitewave, the food standards, no hormones, no antibiotics etc, was one of the reasons I voted remain. I’d rather have no trade agreement than accept food produced to inferior standards. Anyway, as I said, I won’t be eating Canadian or American meat, if we ever have a trade deal with them. I don’t eat much meat anyway, but I cook roasts and barbecues for my family at the weekends and I’m not feeding it to them either.

Couldn't agree more.. I definitely won't be buying meat from US or Canada because of the reasons you have given.. Also of course because of transport fromsuch a distance..

What is the point of importing beef and cheese when our own farmers are fully capable? It goes against all sustainable practices and I simply don’t get it.

Try looking at the profitability of dairy and beef farming in the UK ronib, that will give you the answer you are looking for.

ronib

What is the point of importing beef and cheese when our own farmers are fully capable? It goes against all sustainable practices and I simply don’t get it.

It shows the measure of our post Brexit weakness that the UK is willing to accept lowered standards in imported beef because our Brexit government is so desperate to get trade deals that they will agree any lowered standards in order to secure one.

Yet we were told that being 'independent' meant that we could insist on higher standards.

It's all very well insisting that one would never eat imported hormone fed beef, but how would you know that a processed food dish didn't contain it. Or food in a restaurant?

The US (who we have failed to get a trade deal from) made it clear that one of the terms for a potential deal was that foodstuffs wouldn't be labelled as from the USA.

And although many of us are able to buy proven British foodstuffs, and would not routinely use processed foods, how about those whose financial circumstances gave them no choice but to buy the cheapest on offer; the foodstuffs most likely to contain cheap imported, lower standards contents. So it's OK for the poor to eat hormone treated beef?

We don't produce enough meat, cheese, or anything else to feed the whole population, ronib.

In my 50's/60's childhood, ronib we ate NewZealand lamb, cheese and butter, Argentinian beef and goodness knows what else...

The only difference I’ve noticed personally have been negative - being unable to send gifts to relatives , longer waits at border controls, price increases, nephew being unable to study here without huge costs, the useless Tory ministers only appointed because of their slavish adherence to the Brexit cult - I could go on…

The general thrust of a sustainable life style should include grow your own and remove long haul transportation as part of net zero targets. Also buy less too.

Goodness, ronib. I've been accused of naive optimism on another thread, but I think you're well ahead of me in those stakes

Maizie D do you mean you don’t believe in climate change? Global warming? Net Zero? Labour has a plan to spend £28 billion sorting this out. What do you advise them to do?

We were talking about trade deals, not global warming.

Perhaps you should start another thread.

I think it’s ridiculous to have such disjointed thinking in government although on Gnet okay! Trade deals do have environmental consequences .

Of course they do, ronib and the stupidest thing we've done is to make it more difficult to trade with our closest market.

Yes

MaizieD

The US (who we have failed to get a trade deal from) made it clear that one of the terms for a potential deal was that foodstuffs wouldn't be labelled as from the USA.

How would this actually work in practice?

If other foodstuffs were labelled with their country-of=origin of, say, meat products... wouldn't it be fairly obvious that those that weren't were most likely from the USA - or would the USA insist that we stop labelling ALL our packaging? In which case... well, so much for sovereignty, eh?

And how far off being finalised is this trade deal? Now that we're no longer in Europe, Biden has little interest, and Trump, well - who knows what he would demand? He would make sure that the USA's interests were not compromised, committed as he is to making it 'Great Again'.

Rees-Mogg was right when he said that the benefits of Brexit might take up to 50 years to materialise. He simply forgot to mention that the disadvantages might become apparent sooner.

And, I wonder if meat from he USA and Canada would find its way into the Food Halls of Harrods, etc?

USA aren't showing any interest in a deal with us< Dickens, so it's a bit academic, really. Perhaps they might have insisted that we don't label anything with its country of origin...

MaizieD

USA aren't showing any interest in a deal with us< Dickens, so it's a bit academic, really. Perhaps they might have insisted that we don't label anything with its country of origin...

Well, of course, they are rather occupied at the moment anyway with more pressing matters.

I recall the first trade deal the Tories announced was with the Faroe Islands! Most of the other deals trumpeted by the Tories are carbon copies of deals we already had as members of the EU. The Canada deal looks to be far off and the USA deal dead in the water. We left a very important trading community which has damaged our standing.

Grantanow

I recall the first trade deal the Tories announced was with the Faroe Islands! Most of the other deals trumpeted by the Tories are carbon copies of deals we already had as members of the EU. The Canada deal looks to be far off and the USA deal dead in the water. We left a very important trading community which has damaged our standing.

We'll need to whacking great trade deals to compensate for what we have lost.

So far, not so good.

There will never be any trade deal good enough to compensate for what we have lost.