Monthly Archives: July 2022

A British wholesaler who supplies the UK retail market is moving his business to the South of France in order to mitigate Brexit redtape, which he says has cost his business 150,000.

Daniel Lambert Wines, which was been operating for 30 years, imports around 2m bottles of wine to the UK each year to supply retailers including M&S, Waitrose and around 300 independent retailers across the UK. However owner Daniel Lambert is moving his family to Montpellier in France, in order to set up the business there so that he can import wines from the EU to his own company which is based in South Wales.

He told The Guardian that this was in line with the UK governments own suggestions and was the only way to get around the incredibly complicated process and paperwork for importing alcoholfrom the EU to the UK after Brexit.

Being based in France will give the company a French economic operators registration (EORI) number which is required to export into Britain as well as the UK EORI that his British-based company needs for importing.

What Im doing will enable me to import and export into and out of the EU within the company itself, so that we mitigate all of the cost of importing into the UK, he told the paper.

Around 70% of the companys wines are sourced in France, along with Spain, Portugal, Austria and Germany. It also imports some wine from the US, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

Lambert said that although business had boomed during the pandemic with revenues up 500,000, as UK retailers swapped nights out for drinking better quality wine and more cocktails at home, Brexit red tape had cost the company somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000.

He also noted that there had been a contraction in the number of hauliers prepared to import alcohol to the UK, due to the additional complexities involved.

The premiums that are now being paid to move alcohol, particularly across the border, are quite incredible. Brokers have found themselves doing pretty much what they like in terms of charging, because so few are willing to do it, he said.

Until Brexit, the UK was part of the EU-wide EMCS system, a customs database that kept shipping relatively simple and minimised the need for regulatory checks and procedures. However this changed when the UK left the EU at the end of the Brexit transition period, leaving British importers and European businesses facing many more hurdles and costs.

Lambert has previously spoken out before about the level of paperwork involved in the new post-Brexit import system, taking to Twitter to vent his frustration over the bureaucracy, cost and preparations involved, a post that was seen by more than 5.5million people.

He said that each consignment needs around 200 pages of paperwork as each wine needs paperwork detailing a commodity code, depending on the variety of grape, the type of wine, the alcohol strength, the size of the container it is being imported in and whether it comes from a protected designation of origin, as well as information about the origin and the destination of the cargo.

We were a pretty good little business, we were doing quite well, until Brexit came along, he told The Guardian.

Read the rest here:

UK wine supplier moves business to France to mitigate Brexit costs - The Drinks Business

They are trying to hide the failure of Brexit behind policy stunts. This observation about the fiasco of the Conservative partys leadership contest came from an economist friend and neatly sums it up.

Liz Truss, who voted Remain but is now an ardent Brexiter, cannot admit to herself that she was right first time, and that the trade deals she goes on about that are supposed to have made up for our crass departure from the European Union do not amount to a hill of beans.

Sunak, who was always a Brexiter, must surely have learned from his time as chancellor that the Treasurys hostility to Brexit was right all along. He is an intelligent man but, like Truss, is fantasising about Brexit opportunities that the Treasury and other Whitehall departments know are chimerical.

Whichever contender succeeds the worst prime minister in living memory will have to come to terms with two fundamental consequences of Brexit. One is that the Office for Budget Responsibilitys estimate of a 4% annual loss to gross domestic product not only makes the country poorer but severely limits their tax-cutting ambitions hers now, his later. Foolishly losing tens of billions of potential tax revenues through Brexit is not a good start to either of their ambitions.

The second is the devaluation of the pound by up to 12%, which the financial markets attribute to, yes, Brexit. This has not only made the country poorer but has also severely aggravated the inflation problem the government and Bank of England now face with price growth running significantly higher than in most other European and G7 nations.

Because they are not facing up to the consequences of Brexit, the leadership contenders have resorted to promising major tax cuts Stunt Truss; and to a Thatcherite approach to the public finances Stunt Sunak.

This tax-cut business is holy writ among rightwing Tories, and a classic illustration of the cloud cuckoo land in which they reside. They may not have noticed, but most UK citizens are not only suffering from a severe squeeze on real incomes, but are also only too aware of the dilapidated state of so much of our infrastructure and public services.

Public services need to be paid for. The truth that dare not speak its name in rightwing circles and the modern Tory party is dominated by the rightwing tail that wags the dog is that improvements to public services require tax increases, not decreases. There has been much fuss recently about our historically high levels of taxation, but in those European countries not least Scandinavia whose public services we in Britain tend to admire, public spending and taxation are much higher as a proportion of gross domestic product.

Sunaks obsession with his putative Thatcherite credentials is worrying. But is he paying enough attention to the social implications of the budget cuts now affecting the public sector? Many experts think the industrial troubles on the railways are only the start. Even former Treasury permanent secretary Lord Macpherson recently observed that although public expenditure must be controlled it is worth remembering the 1931 Invergordon mutiny. He points out that HMG is currently seeking much bigger real pay cuts than those that caused such social disturbance all those years ago.

When Jack Kennedy was running to be US president (in 1960) he said: I do not run for the office with any expectation that it is an empty or an easy job. He was running because it was the centre of action, and in a free society the chief responsibility of the president is to set before the people the unfinished business of the country.

Sunak and Truss are not standing to be president, but whoever wins will face almighty problems at home and abroad. So far one could be forgiven for thinking they were vying to host a game show. What they should be doing is facing up to unfinished business, recently described by Spains El Pais as time to sow the seeds of reversal of Brexit.

Of course the immediate problem is that our candidates feel obliged to pay obeisance to the pro-Brexit prejudices of so many of their members. For Truss, this is no problem. She has developed a loathing for the European Union that has not been lost on Brussels and Dublin. It is not just the economic damage of Brexit that needs to be repaired. For obvious geopolitical reasons, we need to get as close as we can to the EU.

Frankly, I think Truss is beyond the pale. One must hope that Sunak wins, and is then able to make a serious assessment of where the countrys interests lie. This would involve learning the lesson of the failure of Brexit, and recognising that the Thatcher miracle was not all it was cracked up to be.

The rest is here:

Tax-cut stunts cant cover up the disaster that is Brexit - The Guardian

This is Ian Dunts Week, a subscriber-only newsletter from i. If youd like to get this direct to your inbox, every single week,you can sign up here.

Hello, its another week of morbid horror Im afraid, watching two people who have no business being anywhere near the top of politics somehow competing to be prime minister. Whoever wins, we lose etc etc.

I reached a point of almost complete existential collapse watching the last TV debate and decided that was it for me. No more of that. Anymore than three and you feel like the political version of that bloke who ate McDonalds for a month.

Anyway column below, god help us all, and some recommendations after that.

Brexit squats over everything, barely mentioned, but casting its grim shadow across us. The further we get into this Tory leadership debate, the clearer it becomes. It has broken the partys epistemological system. It is no longer able to process information about the world on a rational basis. So now it does so through myth-making and fantasy. Its the opium dream version of political campaigning, but without the pleasure or the relaxation.

The only moment Brexits consequences were addressed in the BBC debate between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss on Monday came when the presenter asked about the queues to get into France. Were they the result of Brexit? And suddenly these two figures, who for the previous hour had been tearing strips out of each other, were joined in spiritual union. No, they both said stridently, firmly, and in unison.

Never mind the fact that the queues were exactly as predicted. The full evidential refutation of their previous assurances was taking place right in front of their eyes and it didnt even cause them to hesitate.

That one word no revealed the basic dynamic of the leadership race. Its the triumph of wish-thought over empirical thought. And that is a result of Brexit itself. For half a decade, we were consumed by a project which prioritised mythical national glory over practical disadvantage. And even though its now ostensibly over, the mental scarring remains.

Brexit long ago stopped being about European membership, or free trade deals, or even the Northern Irish Protocol. Those debates still happen of course, and they still mutilate peoples economic life and sense of identity, but they are not the central fixation. It is much broader than that. It is about the triumph of the will the idea that anything can happen if you just wish for it hard enough. The idea that faith destroys all barriers. If you just believe, truly believe, it will be real. It is the transubstantiation of political discourse.

Peoples voting records have never mattered too much to the Brexiters. They were always open to converts. Theresa May voted Remain but was enthusiastically embraced in 2016. That love affair was dented by her disastrous 2017 election campaign but it only really ended when she unveiled the backstop solution to the Irish issue. That was a cold hard dose of reality and therefore a betrayal of the core Brexit proposition that only fantasy can be allowed to permeate. And so, from one day to the next, she went back to being considered a Remainer.

Truss, on the other hand, has absorbed the Brexit instruction. Its like meeting an old school friend and finding out theyve become a Scientologist. Her eyes are open and wild with the newfound possibilities. Its why the old Brexit guard from Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg on the front benches to Steve Baker on the backbenches have thrown in their lot with her. They get that reassuring whiff of political Bacchanalia.

Its hard to tell if she really believes in this stuff or merely pretends to. Perhaps, deep down, she is still that radical young Lib Dem who wanted to get rid of the royal family, or the sensible centre-right Remainer who wanted to stay in the EU, and now she merely notes down whatever nonsense the Tory party base has ordered so she can warm it up in the microwave. Or perhaps she is now of the true faith, transfixed by the wondrous new worlds revealed in the Conservatives hallucinatory adventure. It doesnt matter. All that matters is that she promises to deliver on it.

Sunak is more interesting. Sometimes his eyes reveal a sense of frustration and bafflement, breaking out across the rictus Lotus-salesman grin. Occasionally, as in Mondays TV debate, it boils over into hectoring indignation. None of this makes sense. His political education taught him that this was the way you did things: hone your presentational skills, plant yourself in a Cameron/Osborne mould, speak to the Conservative instinct for sound money, show that you are electable. And yet its not working.

Its possible that, in his quieter moments, he has flickers of self doubt. After all, he campaigned for Brexit. He believed in it. He wrote preposterous papers crammed full of absolute drivel about free ports. He is the Brexit hipster in this contest, the one who was into it before it was cool. And yet, it has done something unexpected. It has changed the parameters and the incentives of political debate. And now the culture he helped create is swallowing him whole. Hes like a man who tried to light an incense stick and ended up burning down his house.

Despite his impeccable Brexit voting record, he oozes the old politics of managerialism, professionalism and restraint. He is not quite willing to give up on the idea of objective reality. He is a reminder of the bad old days, before that transcendent moment of national epiphany in 2016.

The rest of us are just trapped here, watching a Tory debate on tax cuts with no relevance to the problems we face, be it the cost-of-living, inflation, the lack of a growth strategy, decaying public services, the war in Europe, the climate crisis or the grotesque inequalities the country labours under.

This is what happens when you commit to a system-level idea grounded in nationalist fantasy and then reject any evidence of the damage it does. The debate over Brexit can pass, but the radicalising effect it had on people does not.

It has mangled and redefined the fundamental psychological assumptions of the governing party. And now were lost in a terrible psychedelia, tripping out on Tory hallucinations while the world burns around us.

For some reason this latest Marvel release got middling reviews upon its release. Thats more a symptom of a pent-up desire for a backlash and the critics growing tired of the relentless arrival of more Marvel films. Which is fine if youre not into it, dont go see it. But of all the films to have a backlash over, this was the wrong pick.

Love and Thunder is a joyous riot of utter nonsense. Within the opening couple of minutes a bloke is killing a sun god in front of giggling flower deities. And then later on Russell Crowe pops up as Zeus, playing him as a flamboyant Greek waiter in a skirt. If thats not a good night out at the movies then I have no idea what is.

Lizzos debut, Cuz I Love You, was one of the best pop albums Id heard in years. Eleven tracks on it and every one of them a banger. Youd just sit there and think: she cant possibly sustain this over a whole album. But she did. The new offering, Special, isnt anywhere near as good. But slightly below par Lizzo is still miles ahead of everyone else. An expertly structured cacophony of funk, disco, rap and pop. Itll cheer you up if you need it, and itll provide the soundtrack to a good mood if you dont.

Ive been rereading this comic series ahead of the new Netflix TV show, which starts next month. I cant really assess it objectively it was the kind of thing I read when a highly susceptible teenager and its strange fantastic world completely owned me. It still reads beautifully now. Its a comic for people who dont read comics. And it has at its heart a love for those who dont quite fit in.

It is ultimately a moral book, even if that is sometimes hard to parse when youre looking at a drawing of a bloke with teeth in his eye sockets and a talking raven. There are three possible entry points to the story: Overture, which is both a prologue and an epilogue because thats how Sandman rolls, Preludes and Nocturnes, which is the official start, and Season of Mists, which I think is the best entry point. If you want my advice, try the latter, then go to Overture and carry on from there if you like it.

This is Ian Dunts Week, a subscriber-only newsletter from i. If youd like to get this direct to your inbox, every single week,you can sign up here.

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Brexit squats over the Tory leadership contest, unaddressed yet mangling reality around it - iNews

Red Wall regions that voted most heavily for Brexit, now export even more heavily to the EU, a new report has revealed.

The Annual Regional Manufacturing Outlook published by Make Uk, which represents manufacturers in the U.K., and business consulting firm BDO examined the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the economies of each UK region.

It analysed both the most recent official data and Make UK's quarterly data on a wide range of indicators, including orders, employment, and investment intentions.

The report found that in 2021, the EU remained the most dominant market for UK goods, with an overall average of 49 percent exports to the bloc.

Red Wall regions that saw the largest increase in EU exports were Wales (+2 percent, the Northeast (+2 percent), the East Midlands (+3 percent) and the East of England (+2 percent).

View original post here:

Brexit: They'll be lucky House of Lords erupts in laughter as bill heckled - Express

The warning has come from the Together Association campaign group, which has raised more than 300,000 signatures on a petition to scrap VAT on energy billsaimed at achieving Net Zero climate change goals. It follows Mr Sunak and Ms Truss locking horns this week over the future of taxation in the UK with fears that tax increases are fuelling the cost-of-living crisis. It comes amid reports that Mr Sunak is set to bow to pressure and reverse his opposition to removing VAT from energy bills.

Together Associations Axe the Tax campaign has come amid fears that by November this year the average household fuel bill is set to rise to well above 3,000.

It has hit the heart of a central issue in the Tory leadership contest, with the candidates all offering to look at Net Zero goals which are already unpopular with Tory members and voters.

In April a Techne UK poll for Express.co.uk revealed that seven in 10 voters opposed the Green Levy on fuel bills.

Alan Miller, co-founder of the Together Association, said: The cost-of-living crisis, which is largely a cost of lockdown, is hitting businesses and families harshly.

Whoever becomes Prime Minister needs to take swift action to eliminate VAT and green taxes on fuel and energy.

They risk facing a challenge on the scale seen with Brexit if this is not addressed. We cannot have this situation continue and get worse as we go into autumn.

That is why we at the Together Association are demanding the new Prime Minister commits to Axe the Tax.

So far from the final two only Ms Truss has said she will suspend the Green Levy requirements in a means of bringing down fuel bills.

Others including Penny Mordaunt, who went out of the contest in the MP voting rounds, had also pledged to remove VAT from energy bills using Brexit freedoms. Now Mr Sunak is set to follow suit.

The Together Association has five aims which it wants the new Prime Minister to agree to or face protests:

READ MORE:Truss to pull rug from under unions and forge new emergency law

Without a reduction in green taxes, fuel tax and a cap on energy, they will have no choice but to make staff redundant, putting even more pressure on the treasury. Now is the time to pause, allow these businesses to recover and adapt to higher costs"

Bernie Spofforth, chief executive of IP Patents Global Manufacturing, said: It's not too late, we can and we must take a different path, one that allows businesses to continue to operate, employees to remain employed and parents to provide for their children. We must act now to afford individuals and businesses the freedom required to mount an urgent recovery.

This situation is unsustainable and unacceptable.

Read more:

Axe green taxes! New PM faces a Brexit-style revolution if they fail to cut energy bills - Express

What makes a good citizen? Or more specifically, what makes a good French citizen?

In theory, you need look no further than me - a recent graduate of Frances compulsory four days of formation civique, or civic training, designed to get immigrants to better understand the values of the Republic and French society.

These training days, delivered in French, now await any Brit like myself who has migrated to France since the UK fully left the EU - and who is looking to stay long-term.

As one of the many bureaucratic hoops that immigrants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland have to jump through, the civic training days teach you all about French culture, values, history and practical things like how the social security system and other state institutions work. Essentially, how to be a good resident in your new home.

The whole process is a good idea in principle. Even though Ive visited France several times in the past and speak the language of Molire, it can be very disorientating to pitch up in a foreign land where you have a limited network and understanding of what its like to actually live there.

So in theory, the civic training is a bit of a lifeline as you drown amid a sea of forms to fill in, try in vain to work out which social benefits you might be entitled to, and generally attempt to establish yourself in the country.

In practice though, I found the days a bit hit and miss, especially from a UK perspective.

Lets start with one of the trainings main focuses: French and wider European values. Despite the current British governments apparent desire to distance itself as much as possible from anything remotely European, the truth is we havent diverged from EU principles that much since we Brexited over two years ago.

When learning about the importance of freedom, democracy and equality, I couldnt help but feel it was a bit redundant, because these are still clearly the hallmarks of modern British values too.

Theres no doubt that the UK has a huge way to go in some of these areas, be it womens rights or stamping out institutional racism, but the same could be said for lots of EU countries. Some of which have far worse records than the UK in certain areas.

Thats not to say learning about European values isnt necessary. Its important that people arriving from countries which might not be as liberal when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights or freedom of religion for example, know that France is - by and large - a free and tolerant country.

But for someone who comes from a place which at its core has a very similar set of values and culture to France (as much as people on both sides of the Channel might hate to admit it), it doesnt seem necessary.

Despite this, I quite enjoyed the more cultural aspects of my civic training days, including the mini history and geography lessons we had (there were no free samples of French cheese and wine to try, unfortunately).

Some of my classmates were surprised to find out that France isnt limited to lHexagone we know and love, but also has territory in the Americas and Africa.

I was proud of my ability to reel off various modern and historical French figures who have shaped the countrys past and present, including literary giants like Voltaire and Victor Hugo (a big thanks to my French A Level teachers).

And I was marginally disappointed when we only briefly glanced at the lyrics to La Marseillaise rather than singing it all together - one of my party tricks is that I know the first verse off by heart (which might be a damning indictment of what Im like at parties).

As strange as it might sound, another positive about the training was the homework they gave us at the end of one session - namely, setting ourselves three targets that would help us integrate into life in France. We then had to report back next session to share our experiences with the group and offer each other advice.

One of my targets was changing my UK driving licence to a French one. However, I soon found out that I was in the uniquely lucky situation that because it was issued before Brexit, it still counts as an EU licence for as long as it remains valid.

A nice side effect of the civic training was being able to meet other people in the same boat as me, from a variety of different places, including other European nations like Ukraine and various countries in Africa and the Middle East. I even exchanged numbers with a guy from Tunisia and have since met up with him for a drink, which is obviously handy when starting out in a new place.

So whats my verdict? All in all, theres definitely value in European countries making their migrants go through some sort of civic training.

Its a good idea to introduce foreigners to how local systems work, be it the numbers to call in an emergency, child benefit schemes or public healthcare. Theres lots Id have totally missed had it not been for those four days.

In fact, learning about things like that is so useful that its a wonder other EU citizens dont have to go through some sort of civic training when moving to France. Being part of the bloc, they are exempt.

But its not like the EU is even remotely uniform when it comes to the operations of the state.

Paradoxically though, it was these practical lessons that were also the least enjoyable - I much preferred hearing about Frances history, culture and values, possibly thanks to the comfort that exists in familiarity.

And because, ultimately, Im still a sucker for the idyllic image of France, where the wine flows and the accordions are aplenty.

Or perhaps its because, despite recent political events, I know Im still a good European citizen at heart.

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Im a post-Brexit expat who took a training course to learn how to be French - heres how I got on - Euronews

A total of 22 groups back the National Rejoin March which is set to take place on September 10 in London. Campaigners want a referendum on Britain rejoining the European Union or re-entering the bloc's single market.

The aim of the march is to unite supporters of the EU and show that there is strength in numbers.

Co-organiser Peter Corr said: "The Brexit [Express readers] were sold was a lie. We can see that now.

"So let's get our country back on track and rejoin at least the single market."

He claimed Britain is worse off after Brexit with stagnant wages, high inflation made worse by the UK's exit from the EU and housing which is still difficult to obtain.

Mr Corr added that key, traditional industries such as fishing, farming and logistics are being "crippled".

He said the backers of the march include people who had voted to leave the EU in 2016, but have since changed their minds.

Official partners listed on the march website include UK Rejoin the EU Ltd, Stay European, 16 Million Rising Radio, Grassroots for Europe, EUnite, Catharine Kingcome, Bremain in Spain, Sputnik Rat and Leeds for Europe.

Express.co.ukreaders reacted with fury to news of the march.

READ MORE ABOUT FEARS OVER PRINCE HARRY'S APPEARANCE

Fellow reader virginiapinkn added: "[W]e were born to be independent... another 5 years and they'll wonder what all the fuss was about... by then, it will have ceased to be of any importance whatsoever."

Exlancslad wrote: "The UK is much better being an independent nation not just another state in the EU."

Man in oz said: "Some people in Britain obviously want [Brexit] to fail. They can see that the best way to achieve that is to go back to the EU, which is failing before your very eyes."

OtherExpress.co.ukreaders stood by their Leave vote, arguing that rejoining the bloc would be undemocratic after a majority voted Leave in the 2016 referendum.

Milton keynes mum wrote: "I voted out and would do so again. Never wanted to be in the EC, not the EEC, nor the EU. Glad we are out."

Tabjunklies insisted: "Brexit is done, people need to get over it and accept the vote."

L65 added: "NO, NO, NO! There was a democratic vote and the majority voted to leave. We must stick by that otherwise democracy is dead in this country."

AllTorque commented: "When they gather 17.4 million followers, force a referendum and win it we will listen, you know democracy. Otherwise it is just obtuse noise."

Go here to read the rest:

'Tough, we've LEFT' Rejoiners told to 'get used to' Brexit over plot to drag UK back in EU - Express

Thousands of Eurostar passengers faced travel bedlam on Sunday after multiple services were delayed or cancelled.

Temporary line closures between Paris and Lille forced Eurostar to scrap two trains on Sunday night, leaving would-be travellers packed into an overflowing departure lounge at Pariss Gare du Nord.

Furious passengers slammed the disgraceful delays as they scrambled to get tickets on outbound trains.

The delay is the latest issue to beset holidaymakers to France, after drivers catching the ferry or Eurotunnel trains to France endured bumper-to-bumper gridlock and lengthy delays.

Many Eurostar passengers faced severe delays on Sunday night as the provider cancelled two trains from Paris to London.

Subsequent services were delayed by up to four hours as stranded passengers desperately attempted to rebook. At the other end of the line, travellers at St Pancras also reported lengthy queues.

Travellers took to social media to vent their fury.

Train cancelled this evening and the next one not available until tomorrow night. Disgraceful, wrote one user.

Yikes, the Eurostar disaster is real, wrote another.

20.00 train cancelled and passengers moved to 20.30; 20.30 train delayed until 22.30 if they cancel this one, where will they put us all?

Images from Gare Du Nord show weary travellers lying on the floor of the station while awaiting updates.

In a video posted to Twitter, user Daniel Robinson expressed fears he would be stuck at Gare du Nord until Monday.

Three hours delay, possibly four, possibly going to have to stay overnight, this is just bedlam, he said.

The Eurostar chaos followed a weekend of hell for drivers at Dover and nearby Folkestone in Kent.

Over the weekend, cross-channel ferry passengers at the Port of Dover faced queues of up to 11 hours.

More than 30,000 cars passed through the port on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, serviced by between six and nine ticket booths.

Eurotunnel ticket-holders faced an equally dire situation: the AA branded Folkestone the new hotspot of holiday hell after the gridlock trapped thousands of would-be holidaymakers in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

British Foreign Minister Liz Truss attributed the travel nightmare to French passport control staff shortages.

However, French Transport Minister Clement Beaune tweeted that his country was "not responsible" for the extra passport checks required after Brexit.

British passport holders now need to have their passports stamped before they board the ferry or Eurotunnel train.

Chaos had subsided as of Monday morning. However, the traffic is likely to build again next weekend, said Toby Howe, the senior highway manager at Kent county council.

(Next weekend) is the second busiest getaway weekend of the summer holidays, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

As weve just found out the weekend just gone, traffic numbers travelling across the Channel were back to pre-pandemic levels and with the increased checks it is slower to get through, so it takes very little to cause those tailbacks.

Its a very vulnerable situation, it takes very little to cause further issues.

Here is the original post:

Brexit, Eurostar cancellations and Dover delays: Whats behind the French and UK travel chaos? - Euronews

Organisations in Derry which play a vital role in supporting communities should not have to pay the price of the damaging and destructive Tory/DUP Brexit, Sinn Fin Councillor John McGowan has said.

Councillor McGowan was commenting ahead of tabling a motion at the Councils monthly meeting calling for the replacement of vital European funding lost as a result of Brexit.

A huge number of groups and organisations throughout this constituency relied onfunding previously provided by the EU, he said.

The European Social Fund financed employability programmes which help young people and people with disabilities to get back into work while the European Regional Development Fund assists the growth of small businesses and the transition to a zero carbon economy.

That has now been lost as a result of Brexit and the British Government has completely failed to honour its promise to replace this funding. In fact, the so-called Shared Prosperity Fund it created leaves the Northover 90m short of the 195m we received when we were in the EU.

That is potentially devastating for countless organisations that rely on this funding. They should not have to pay the price for the damaging and destructive Brexit imposed on us all by the DUP and the Tory Party.

We need to see this funding properly replaced. We need to hear what the Economy Minister is doing to address this issue and we need to see an Executive back up and running as the best way to bring some pressure to bear on the British Government to deliver on its commitments.

The full text of Councillor McGowan's motion reads: "That this Council commends the huge contribution of many organisations in this Council area which rely on support from the European Social Fund to maintain their services; recognises the uncertainty that these organisations now face as a result of Brexit and the ongoing failure of the British Government to provide adequate replacement funding; and calls on the Economy Minister to provide clarity over future arrangements and the British Treasury to replace the funding that has been lost."

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'Derry must not pay the price of Brexit destruction' - Derry Now

IN one of his final acts of vandalism, Tory Caligula, imbecile, fraud and clown Boris Johnson has steamrolled his post-Brexit trade deal with Australia through parliament without any debate or scrutiny. Johnson promised that any deal would be debated in parliament. This was another lie.

Farmers in the UK are going to be stiffed big time by the Tories. Many will be forced out of business. Food standards and animal welfare are lower in Australia. This is yet another sector of the economy that is going to be sacrificed because of Tory Brexit. A House of Commons committee found the deal would lower the price of a bottle of Australian wine by a few pence.

READ MORE:Truss accuses Sunak of 'Project Fear' and likens him to Gordon Brown in tense BBC debate

Thanks to the disaster of Brexit, millions of tonnes of fruit have been left to rot. All because the Tories have stopped EU workers from coming to do the work. This again was done to appease their incredibly stupid, culturally backward, provincial, racist, fanatical base. The Brexit prism is seen through the lens of empire nostalgia. The Tories have convinced these hayseeds that the British empire is about to be re-established.

Another direct consequence of the Tory Brexit are the two-day-long queues for lorries and holidaymakers trying to get to France. This scenario was set out in the UK Governments Project Yellowhammer papers in 2019. The Tories knew Brexit would cause these delays yet did nothing, lied and then attempted to blame the EU. Other scenarios set out by Yellowhammer include food and medical shortages as well as civil unrest.

The Tory Brexit disaster is not over. The worst is yet to come. The governments own Office for Budget Responsibility says it will do twice the damage to the economy that Covid-19 did. The EU has launched four court actions against the Tory government for breaches of the Northern Ireland Protocol. This was part of the oven-ready deal the Tories signed with the EU. This could lead to a trade war, making matters much worse.

READ MORE:Liz Truss trade union crackdown bid an 'egregious attack on workers'

The intellectually limited Liz Truss is likely to take over as Tory leader. She will be beholden to the ERG, the group of fanatical proto-fascist Brexiters who infest the Tory party. Labour have said there will be no reversal of Brexit. This means that the only way for Scotland to escape the madness created by Tory Brexit is through independence.

Alan HinnrichsDundee

THE Tory party membership hankers after the 70s life, but with the housing bubble wealth of today, and yet is rabidly pro-Brexit and pro-transportation to Rwanda.

Bear in mind that surveys after Brexit showed the main potential indirect benefits were a blue passport and a return to capital punishment. We should not be surprised that ships are now being proposed for detaining refugees, as criminals, ahead of their transportation elsewhere.

READ MORE:Boris Johnson says he wants to 'wipe away' his resignation

Whilst Brexit is essentially a 20th-century approach desired by those reminiscing over a Global Britain, it is apparently still not enough and the prison hulks of the 19th century are now being sought, presumably located in the Truss-proposed full-fat freeports.

Clearly there need to be warnings added to the signage at the rUK/Scotland Border, relatively simple yet pointed, such as Welcome to 21st-century Scotland together with the Gaelic equivalent, and for simplicity, Welcome to 19th-century rUK. Alternatively, You are now entering the 21st century, and You are now entering the 19th century.

There would be a huge row over this, but indyref2 would be greatly clarified, in terms of what century Yes2 or No2 gives Scotland. As for the freeport prison hulks, signage would simply refer to HMPS (add freeport name as required).

Stephen TingleGreater Glasgow

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The Tory Brexit disaster is far from over ... the worst is yet to come - The National