The big Brexit thread - news, updates and discussion

[philosophical]

The vote was for the whole of the UK to leave the EU, which hasn’t happened.

 

[teuchter]

I'm quite pleased about the shortage of HGV drivers, because there are too many lorries on the roads. It's a good time to switch stuff to rail. Tesco apparently is having fewer problems than other supermarkets because it already shifts some of its goods by rail.

My understanding is that it's partly due to an overall increase in demand for deliveries and delivery drivers, rather than a shortage of drivers caused by drivers disappearing.

A good time for road haulage drivers to demand better pay and conditions. One of the road haulage industry's advantages over rail is that it doesn't have a unionised workforce with relatively high pay.

 

[ska invita]

ive often wondered what Alan Partridge think about Brexit...now we know

Alan Partridge vs Malcolm Tucker: The Great Big Brexit Grudge Match

Yes, Malcolm Tucker and Alan Partridge go head to head on Brexit. Churchill, Paul Hollywood, balloon animals... the HDP (heavy-duty politics) is all here!

www.bigissue.com

 

[The39thStep]

Thought provoking piece on how work patterns in some industries changed with EU labour

The end of EU migration will reshape the UK economy

The era of free movement transformed everything from the security and location of work to the prices in shops

t.co

The end of EU migration will reshape the UK economy

The era of free movement transformed everything from the security and location of work to the prices in shops

www.ft.com

 

[TopCat]

The vote was for the whole of the UK to leave the EU, which hasn’t happened.

Well many regard NI as a mere aberration in the history of that great island of Ireland and have never accepted it is part of the UK

 

[belboid]

The vote was for the whole of the UK to leave the EU, which hasn’t happened.

It has, you know. A bit got special arrangements, but it’s still legally not a member of the EU.

 

[editor]

Another great win for Brexit

Out! How Brexit sent one UK tennis kit firm to Romania

A company specialising in children’s sports clothing has relocated to avoid the costs and bureaucracy caused by leaving the EU

www.theguardian.com

 

[gosub]

Another great win for Brexit

Out! How Brexit sent one UK tennis kit firm to Romania

A company specialising in children’s sports clothing has relocated to avoid the costs and bureaucracy caused by leaving the EU

www.theguardian.com

"expanding a business with worldwide markets to its full potential from the UK these days can mean extra barriers because of Brexit, delays to shipping, and far higher costs to customers. "

How does that work? As far as I can tell trading with non EU rest of the world hasn't changed, whats changed is wanting to trade with EU now has the additional bureaucracy that those trading globally would already be familiar with

 

[philosophical]

It has, you know. A bit got special arrangements, but it’s still legally not a member of the EU.

I said what the vote was for.
No special arrangements were mentioned on the ballot paper.

 

[Pickman's model]

Another great win for Brexit

Out! How Brexit sent one UK tennis kit firm to Romania

A company specialising in children’s sports clothing has relocated to avoid the costs and bureaucracy caused by leaving the EU

www.theguardian.com

if only wimbledon would move abroad.

 

[philosophical]

Well many regard NI as a mere aberration in the history of that great island of Ireland and have never accepted it is part of the UK

Yet many decided to vote for something that damages Ireland.
Probably because those voters are cunts.

 

[Pickman's model]

Yet many decided to vote for something that damages Ireland.
Probably because those voters are cunts.

do you think it's as damaging to ireland as successive governments in dublin have been, including the current grand alliance between fianna fail and fine gael?

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

"expanding a business with worldwide markets to its full potential from the UK these days can mean extra barriers because of Brexit, delays to shipping, and far higher costs to customers. "

How does that work? As far as I can tell trading with non EU rest of the world hasn't changed, whats changed is wanting to trade with EU now has the additional bureaucracy that those trading globally would already be familiar with

Curious that out of the 27 EU nations they chose to set up shop in the one with the lowest staff wage rates, must be a coincidence.

 

[gosub]

if only wimbledon would move abroad.

Supporters were pretty pissed off when they moved to Milton Keynes

 

[Pickman's model]

Supporters were pretty pissed off when they moved to Milton Keynes

i was thinking more of the all england lawn tennis and croquet club

 

[belboid]

I said what the vote was for.
No special arrangements were mentioned on the ballot paper.

Lots of things weren’t mentioned in the ballot paper, but the fact remains that the six counties are not in the eu.

 

[belboid]

Yet many decided to vote for something that damages Ireland.
Probably because those voters are cunts.

It’s made a united ireland slightly more plausible which will benefit the Irish people. Unless you’re a cunt, of course.

 

[philosophical]

do you think it's as damaging to ireland as successive governments in dublin have been, including the current grand alliance between fianna fail and fine gael?

You told me you have me in ignore because you regard me as contemptible.
Please keep me on your ignore.

 

[philosophical]

Lots of things weren’t mentioned in the ballot paper, but the fact remains that the six counties are not in the eu.

Where is the land border between the six counties and the EU then?

 

[philosophical]

It’s made a united ireland slightly more plausible which will benefit the Irish people. Unless you’re a cunt, of course.

Only cunts want to rewrite history to suggest the vote to leave was at the time framed as a vote for a United Ireland.

 

[belboid]

Only cunts want to rewrite history to suggest the vote to leave was at the time framed as a vote for a United Ireland.

No one said it was and only a cunt would say they did.

Where is the land border between the six counties and the EU then?

I see you’re attempting to gain the goalpost shifting award from *****

 

[philosophical]

No one said it was and only a cunt would say they did.

I see you’re attempting to gain the goalpost shifting award from *****

No I am not.
I have referenced the ballot paper and what was on it.
A goalpost fixed into the ground for all to see.
Your comment above ‘a bit got special arrangements’ suggests to me an attempt to alter goalposts much more than my revisiting the original vote.
It takes a particular kind of doublethink for anybody to now frame the vote to leave as a vote for a United Ireland.
And another kind of doublethink for anybody to suggest the six counties have left the EU along with the rest of the UK whilst there is no change to the land border on the island of Ireland.

 

[belboid]

No I am not.
I have referenced the ballot paper and what was on it.
A goalpost fixed into the ground for all to see.
Your comment above ‘a bit got special arrangements’ suggests to me an attempt to alter goalposts much more than my revisiting the original vote.
It takes a particular kind of doublethink for anybody to now frame the vote to leave as a vote for a United Ireland.
And another kind of doublethink for anybody to suggest the six counties have left the EU along with the rest of the UK whilst there is no change to the land border on the island of Ireland.

God you’re an idiot. Quite why you choose to rewrite what is plainly written is a mystery. Hey ho, you’ll never change even when fact after fact proves you wrong.

If there’s an Irish remake of The Bridge, I know the perfect role for you.

 

[Pickman's model]

God you’re an idiot. Quite why you choose to rewrite what is plainly written is a mystery. Hey ho, you’ll never change even when fact after fact proves you wrong.

If there’s an Irish remake of The Bridge, I know the perfect role for you.

ah yes in the opening episode

 

[philosophical]

God you’re an idiot. Quite why you choose to rewrite what is plainly written is a mystery. Hey ho, you’ll never change even when fact after fact proves you wrong.

If there’s an Irish remake of The Bridge, I know the perfect role for you.

You have not provided any facts (after facts) that the vote to leave as written on the ballot paper has been honoured.
You are reduced to personal abuse (‘god you’re an idiot’) because when challenged you struggle to provide a reasoned response.
I will ask you again.
If the whole of the UK has left the whole of the EU as voted for, how come there is a wide open land border in Ireland?

 

[belboid]

You have not provided any facts (after facts) that the vote to leave as written on the ballot paper has been honoured.
You are reduced to personal abuse (‘god you’re an idiot’) because when challenged you struggle to provide a reasoned response.
I will ask you again.
If the whole of the UK has left the whole of the EU as voted for, how come there is a wide open land border in Ireland?

The man calling everyone who disagrees with him a ‘cunt’ is complaining about personal abuse? Ohh the ironing.

Now kindly go fuck yourself.

 

[Pickman's model]

You told me you have me in ignore because you regard me as contemptible.
Please keep me on your ignore.

soz where did i say that?

 

[TopCat]

Yet many decided to vote for something that damages Ireland.
Probably because those voters are cunts.

Keep taking the tablets dear.

 

[philosophical]

The man calling everyone who disagrees with him a ‘cunt’ is complaining about personal abuse? Ohh the ironing.

Now kindly go fuck yourself.

I have not called everybody who disagrees with me a cunt.
You are struggling with reality.
Your exhortation that I go fuck myself is a smokescreen to divert from your inability to make a reasoned argument.
If the whole of the UK has left the whole of the EU as voted for on the ballot paper how has the land border on the island of Ireland between those two separate systems manifested itself?
It hasn’t, therefore ‘leave’ has not happened as voted for.
Now if only for entertainment purposes, if you wish to continue with the personal abuse could you make it more creative and original?

 

[ska invita]

Records mentioned already, books here, though in fact these new rules this month effect every thing sold to the EU and NI whatever the value

Post-Brexit charges hit retailers as presses call for government support on VAT

UK retailers say they are being impacted by post-Brexit costs as indie publishers call for the government to assist on VAT charges that have halted EU deliveries.

www.thebookseller.com

Post-Brexit charges hit retailers as presses call for government support on VAT​

UK retailers say they are being impacted by post-Brexit costs as indie publishers call for the government to assist on VAT charges that have halted EU deliveries.

Following the UK’s exit from the European Union and the end of the transition arrangement, new rules kicked in this month requiring businesses to register for VAT, which is now applicable on all sales at the rate charged in the customers' country. Sellers may choose to charge the rate and complete the required submission on the One Stop Shop — a government system that removes the requirement for a business to have multiple VAT registrations in EU countries — or pass on the charge to the customer, to be paid before the product is received.

Trade bodies, including the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG), have called for greater practical guidance to assist publishers which feel “abandoned” by the government, while companies including The Folio Society and Comma Press have been forced to suspend direct sales to EU customers owing to increased costs.

Asked about the VAT change this week, Waterstones said deliveries to its European shops are “proving slow, costly and require significant levels of additional bureaucracy”, while other organisations are seeing a reduction in revenue, with customers turning away to avoid extra charges. There is also concern the change in VAT will adversely affect the independent publishing sector, with many choosing to use Amazon Marketplace to avoid more “red tape”.

Publishers spoken to by The Bookseller suggested a subsidy to assist small businesses to create platforms that are able to differentiate EU and rest of world purchases. Others, inlcuding Charco Press publisher Sam McDowell, are calling for one main channel for companies to deal with the VAT charge.

McDowell said: “The government could, and should, investigate setting up a centralised gateway to enable UK businesses to settle EU VAT charges. They could even charge a small fee for using the platform to help fund the cost of running it. This would still be far more manageable for small businesses than each of us engaging individually with EU-based intermediaries.

“This does not affect just publishing — any small business selling lower priced goods directly to EU customers is now grappling with this. Some will be unaware the changes have even taken place until their goods start getting returned and their customers start going elsewhere.”

McDowell is finding the changes impact direct sales to EU customers made through Charco’s website, which accounts for roughly 15% of the indie press’ total sales. As a short-term measure, the press is continuing to offer sales to EU customers, with the caveat they may be hit with an additional delivery charge.

“It is not the charging of VAT that is now required, we can do that. It is the settling of that VAT with the EU, and lack of any commercially viable option for small businesses to do so. This is why we have seen publisher after publisher over the last week simply halt sales to the EU,” he told The Bookseller.

McDowell is worried the situation may adversely affect independent publishing long term. “The current leading option is to use a larger marketplace to sell goods to the EU — like Amazon — and let them handle the VAT burden, for a fee,” he said. “So the situation as it stands is disadvantaging smaller, independent UK businesses while potentially benefiting big, international corporations.”

Sophie O’Neill, m.d. at Inpress, has also called on the government to provide a solution for small businesses which have orders under the €150 threshold, and may not be able to afford to register for the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS).

“We need a subsidy towards the cost of developing our websites to be able to sift EU sales from domestic and rest of world, charging the VAT, and a cheaper alternative to registering in the EU with the IOSS,” she said. “From the industry, we need to come together and petition government to fix this problem and to come up with a solution, particularly for all publishers from the smallest to the largest. We are talking to the Publishers Association, the IPG and Arts Council England regarding options and solutions, but government guidance has been completely non-existent.”

“For publishers in particular, the onus being on the vendor to charge the VAT is the problem. If this burden could be taken by the shipper or the distributor on behalf of the publisher it might be slightly more affordable – there would be a lot less businesses needing registration for IOSS. It would still be a finance and admin nightmare, but it would save us the extra investment currently being demanded from the IOSS.”

Simon Mackay, head of books at retailer AwesomeBooks, has been preparing to mitigate Brexit's extra costs for over a year. Much of his company's business involves shipping a large number of orders outside the UK, and the company had been able to negotiate favourable terms with its postal partners.

Speaking to The Bookseller, he said: “In terms of administration, you now have to register for VAT in one EU country and you can pay your VAT to the entire EU via that country. This is actually a simplification overall versus the past because you do not have to register in every EU country to make tax returns. We trade worldwide so are used to developing systems to comply with the rules of different countries, but for some they will really feel this added cost to their business.”

He added overall post prices had actually come down this month, but were still higher than before Brexit kicked in at the start of the year. However, despite developing a strategy to deal with the costs and extra administration, Mackay said the new rules were causing undeniable obstacles for the UK industry.

Mackay said: “Ultimately, being outside the customs union means more red tape, more forms to fill in and ultimately more cost. It has created barriers to ship items into the EU from the UK, whereas previously there were no barriers at all. This is true not only for bookselling but for all e-commerce from UK to Europe. This is a shame given e-commerce is one of the biggest success stories of the UK economy over the past 20 years”.