Scrutable

JQH wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 4:15 pm And that's assuming they get harvested at all rather than rot in the fields because Priti Patel has sent all the Lithuanian pickers home.

Oh oh oh I think I know the answer to this one.

Is it "all the elderly leave voters with numerous co-morbidities, from South East Northumberland are going to spend their summers living in Kent, 12-to-a-caravan, for the privledge of spending 14 hours a day pulling snadgers out of the hard ground for sub-minimum wage?"

Sort of a sh.t Land Girls thing. #knewexactlywhatwewerevotingfor.

Little waster wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 6:22 pm

JQH wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 4:15 pm And that's assuming they get harvested at all rather than rot in the fields because Priti Patel has sent all the Lithuanian pickers home.

Oh oh oh I think I know the answer to this one.

Is it "all the elderly leave voters with numerous co-morbidities, from South East Northumberland are going to spend their summers living in Kent, 12-to-a-caravan, for the privledge of spending 14 hours a day pulling snadgers out of the hard ground for sub-minimum wage?"

Sort of a sh.t Land Girls thing. #knewexactlywhatwewerevotingfor.

Almost. The dole office in Washington will be directing the former Nissan workers to piece work rates at the potato fields.

So Boris is threatening to send out the Navy to defend our waters from invading fishing boats - Cod War 4? The other 3 went so well for us...

Johanna Harris pointed out that the arts is with four times as much to the UK economy as fish, do presumably they get four times as many gunboats?

Although they'd probably all be deployed to guard the Elgin Marbles.

FlammableFlower wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 10:26 pm So Boris is threatening to send out the Navy to defend our waters from invading fishing boats - Cod War 4? The other 3 went so well for us...

Maybe the French (especially) fishermen are being played as a potential distraction from the impending border cockup. If Boris can provoke them early enough, they'll do the usual blockade of the channel ports and it will look like that's what's causing all the channel mayhem. On the other hand, if they have enough savvy they'll wait until it's totally obvious that there's already mayhem, Boris's fault not theirs, and then put the boot in.

TimW wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 11:54 pm

FlammableFlower wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 10:26 pm So Boris is threatening to send out the Navy to defend our waters from invading fishing boats - Cod War 4? The other 3 went so well for us...

Maybe the French (especially) fishermen are being played as a potential distraction from the impending border cockup. If Boris can provoke them early enough, they'll do the usual blockade of the channel ports and it will look like that's what's causing all the channel mayhem. On the other hand, if they have enough savvy they'll wait until it's totally obvious that there's already mayhem, Boris's fault not theirs, and then put the boot in.

This is it. If there's one thing we enjoy more over here than urinating in public and driving drunk on a Sunday afternoon, it's winding up les rosbifs. A comedian was commenting on France Inter this week that there is so much potential for hilarity here that they really don't know where to start.

I've just seen a reassuring Torygraph headline. There's nothing to worry about after all.
Government preparing to launch app to help lorry drivers avoid major disruption in Kent

TimW wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 9:54 am I've just seen a reassuring Torygraph headline. There's nothing to worry about after all.
Government preparing to launch app to help lorry drivers avoid major disruption in Kent

Is it called “Weighs”?

Breaking news: today's fake deadline turns out to be fake.

TimW wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 12:02 pm Breaking news: today's fake deadline turns out to be fake.

Introducing a new term: Long Brexit.

TimW wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 12:02 pm Breaking news: today's fake deadline turns out to be fake.

Yes and no.

They are going to keep talking. It seems reasonable to assume that at some point there will be a free trade agreement between the EU and UK. The question is when and under what terms. Could be within the next few months, could be when we next get a Labour government. But whatever happens they'll keep talking because neither party wants to take responsibility for the negotiations ending.

But the deadline that has been missed is the chance that a UK EU free trade agreement can be ratified and implemented before 31 December.

If the UK and EU can reach some kind of agreement before 31 December then fudges can be made and bits could be implemented on 1 January. But not all of what has been agreed already, and business won't be able to plan. So there would still be disruption (just less than full on no deal).

Overall, everyone needs to get used to the notion that discussions about the EU and UK will go on for ever. Every time the EU changes policy there will be discussions in the UK as to whether the UK should align its self or not, the consequences of either, and discussions with between the two. Similarly, every policy change by the UK will involve fraught discussions about what the EU reaction will be and talks between the two. There won't be a definitive end to UK EU negotiations.

Woodchopper wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 1:31 pm But the deadline that has been missed is the chance that a UK EU free trade agreement can be ratified and implemented before 31 December.

If the UK and EU can reach some kind of agreement before 31 December then fudges can be made and bits could be implemented on 1 January. But not all of what has been agreed already, and business won't be able to plan. So there would still be disruption (just less than full on no deal).

And given that SM/CU was never on the table, even if Frost and Barnier had shaken hands on a deal at the end of October, there would still have been a ton of disruption, because of the need for declarations and the IT systems not being ready.

Indeed, a conspiracy-level cynic might argue that the level 5 disruption due to an undeniable no-deal situation is easier to blame on the EU than the level 3 disruption that would have resulted from a deal.

All this while COVID, Christmas, and the northern hemisphere winter are still things:

sTeamTraen wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 2:16 pm

Woodchopper wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 1:31 pm But the deadline that has been missed is the chance that a UK EU free trade agreement can be ratified and implemented before 31 December.

If the UK and EU can reach some kind of agreement before 31 December then fudges can be made and bits could be implemented on 1 January. But not all of what has been agreed already, and business won't be able to plan. So there would still be disruption (just less than full on no deal).

And given that SM/CU was never on the table, even if Frost and Barnier had shaken hands on a deal at the end of October, there would still have been a ton of disruption, because of the need for declarations and the IT systems not being ready.

Indeed, a conspiracy-level cynic might argue that the level 5 disruption due to an undeniable no-deal situation is easier to blame on the EU than the level 3 disruption that would have resulted from a deal.

All this while COVID, Christmas, and the northern hemisphere winter are still things:

I think that's probably part of the calculations.

Deal will bring economic disruption and condemnation from the Express and ERG that the government has sold out. Whereas no-deal will bring about economic disruption but applause from the Express etc as its all the fault of Johnny foreigner.

I predict that in a few days, we will all be able to look back to this post and pinpoint the exact moment when Brexit-related panic buying started. (Source)

I’ve had a stockpile for the last three f.cking years.

We used some of our first Brexit Stockpile earlier in the year, but we've been slowly replenishing it in the last couple of months

Also painkillers etc

headshot wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 5:57 pm I’ve had a stockpile for the last three f.cking years.

snap - though we've started to try and cycle through it more, as we realised some tins are already best before now...

Don't tins last, like, forever! ?

I'm sure they used to, before all these 'use by' dates.

Opti wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 6:52 pm Don't tins last, like, forever! ?

I'm sure they used to, before all these 'use by' dates.

Tins do go off, but they normally start bulging

I've got some flour that needs eating. Nothing a few dozen pancakes won't solve.

Opti wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 6:52 pm Don't tins last, like, forever! ?

I'm sure they used to, before all these 'use by' dates.

Well that’s the genius of Brexit, once we’ve all escaped the nanny state Eurocrats we can do away with all this business-killing socialist red tape nonsense about food poisoning and not putting lead in baby milk and stuff.

Opti wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 6:52 pm Don't tins last, like, forever! ?

I'm sure they used to, before all these 'use by' dates.

My parents had a stockpile of tins stored in a non-working freezer (long story) - some of the tins were quite old - when I had to clear it out after they died it was not pleasant...

I may be more sensitive than most about BBE dates as a result.

Spent the afternoon sorting out the Brexit stash cupboard and top-up order placed this evening (cunningly interspersed with Christmas food items to make it look like a normal order for this time of year).

Anything getting close-ish to its BBE date, which we know we're not going to use, gets added to the local foodbank collection. Stuff that's already out of date we eat, and it's all been ok so far.

sTeamTraen wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 5:47 pm I predict that in a few days, we will all be able to look back to this post and pinpoint the exact moment when Brexit-related panic buying started. (Source)


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Is anyone else starting to getting the slightest premonition that this Brexit malarkey might not turn out to be all sunny uplands?

Foolish I know, as the Brexiteers have solemnly promised us in the event of no deal, there will still probably be “adequate food*” and given their track record on predictions why would anyone harbour the slightest doubt?

*not sure why they didn’t think to put that on the side of a bus?

Grumble wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 7:15 pm

Opti wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 6:52 pm Don't tins last, like, forever! ?

I'm sure they used to, before all these 'use by' dates.

Tins do go off, but they normally start bulging

All processed/packaged food has a big margin on its keepability. The "Best before end" date is just the date after which, if you write to them to say "I opened this today and it wasn't very nice", they won't send you a bumper package of replacements. Unless it actually says "Use by" I'm happy to add another 50% to the lifetime. So if I know that a can of something like tomatoes has 2 years of BBE on it when I buy it, it should be absolutely fine after 3 years --- longer if it's been kept in a dark place undisturbed. Ditto anything dry in a packet --- the absolute worst that can happen is it goes a bit stale.

Since we moved to a smaller place than before we have a lot less food in stock anyway, and we like to think that we don't eat a lot of ultra-processed food (although we do, because the definition of ultra-processed starts a surprisingly long way before you get to Frosties and Coca-Cola), but some store cupboard ingredients still run over a bit.