Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister

[unclebulgaria67]

Boris's face when being interviewed today..  When project fear becomes project reality !

 

UK as an independent country will have to invest hundreds of billions to upgrade all of the important infrastructure  that is required. This will take a very long time.  The new nuclear power station being built in Somerset will not be generating any power until 2026 at the earliest and that is very optimistic as only about a third of the site has been built.

 

Some of the protections the UK had as part of being in the EU are no longer there.  EU  countries will look after their own interests in regard to energy supplies, with no obligations to the UK, as they are no longer part of the EU club.

[unclebulgaria67]

2 hard interviews.  Laura Kuensberg BBC and Beth Rigby Sky News.  Held on his visit to the US.

[unclebulgaria67]

A generator may be a worthwhile purchase, if there is any left in stock !

 

Candles and wind up torches will also be very popular purchases.

[unclebulgaria67]

I am getting prepared for no gas and electric.

 

60 cans of baked beans, sauna suits and elastic bands.

 

At least I would stay warm, even if the beans are cold

 

There has been talk for years that energy supplies during the Winter have been close to not meeting demand and there would be blackouts.  Hopefully this Winter won't be when they have to trigger emergency measures including closing down major users of power and having blackouts for periods.

[unclebulgaria67]

Not surpising some people opt to move to the South of France.  

 

I can see many more Brits looking across the channel and being a bit jealous of our French neighbours.  Economic outlook for France is looking a lot healthier than the UK, good level of growth and low inflation.

 

Economic forecast for France

EC.EUROPA.EU

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The latest macroeconomic forecast of the European Commission for France.

 

[unclebulgaria67]

UK should not need food banks.

 

Biggest issue affecting UK household finances is the cost of housing.

 

In my area in the south west, it costs about £1000 a month for a 2 bedroom house. 

 

OK If there are 2 people in work earning above national minimum wage.  But if one of them is not able to work for any period or they are self employed with no work coming in, they may struggle to cover rent and also be able to pay for basic living costs.

 

If people are in employment, where the earnings are not going to be reliable, as soon as they start struggling they need to be making a claim for Universal Credit. This may provide benefit entitlement which will help towards living costs, during any period where earnings are reduced.

 

Use a benefits calculator website such as Turn2us or Entitledto, to check the level of earnings where claiming Universal Credit might be required to provide support during a downturn in earnings.

[unclebulgaria67]

Population of Northern Ireland is about 2 million and the population of the rest of the UK is about 65 million.

 

Any Government that makes a decision to break an international agreement to support a small percentage of a population, when the consequences could be runious to the majority, is clearly not thinking clearly. It would not be in the interests of Northern Ireland either, who would suffer more issues than they currently face.

 

I wonder whether Government are more concerned about the DUP losing support and a majority of people in Northern Ireland wanting to strengthen relationship with Dublin.  

 

There is a game being played and it has nothing to do with goods being delayed at the border in Belfast.

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Game is to support DUP, try to make EU plus Irish Government less popular and therefore hopefully stop move towards a united Ireland.

 

If after Brexit, it is more attractive for Northern Ireland to trade with Ireland, the trading links with rest of UK will start to reduce.  This then leads to more people supporting a united Ireland.

 

Can you remember during Brexit debate, the remain campaign stated they believed Brexit could lead to a united Ireland ? This was labelled as project fear.

[unclebulgaria67]

Is it time for Labour to review their position on the UK relationship with the EU ?  Why not look to negotiate full single market access similar to Norway, with some free movement allowed. 

 

Boris's Brexit deal is flawed.  Labour should be looking to go into the next election with proposals to improve the way UK trades with the EU.

[unclebulgaria67]

#let's take back control

 

Are the Government really in control of the country ?

 

Once the EU are not involved, the UK Government take full responsibility for any problems. They cannot blame anyone else for the current state of crisis.

 

As soon as Boris's Government decided to end free movement, leaving the EU single market, they should have drawn up a list of essential workers, where there was going to be a shortage.  And they should have then planned to provide x amount of work visas to migrants per year to cover a shortfall.

 

Of course we should be training our own people to do the essential jobs, but that takes a very long time. 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Really surprises me HB. Senior Civil Servants and Government advisors would have provided many reports to Ministers, so they could agree to the actions required.

 

I suspect Ministsrs were told they needed to provide xxxxx number of migration visas to HGV drivers, as the UK was going to face a shortage.  Because Brexit was about controlling migration, they never agreed to a visa scheme for drivers and gambled on UK citizens being trained to ensure there were enough. Then Covid hit and the training/testing could not take place, with many foreign drivers returning to the countries of origin, making the situation worse.

[unclebulgaria67]

UK is really embarrasing at the moment. 

 

Being run by a clown, no wonder it has become a circus !

 

Wonder what the name of the UK circus would be  ?

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Brexit deal that Boris agreed is proving to be a disaster.

 

Analysis: Boris Johnson's Brexit choices are making Britain's fuel and food shortages worse

WWW.CNN.COM

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Rising energy bills, higher prices and a critical shortage of workers leading to food and fuel supply constraints are threatening to stall...

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Keir Starmer too nice to be leader of Labour Party ?

 

Labour have better people on their backbenches than in shadow cabinet, but same could be said about the Tories.

 

Agree that Labour will have to remove those who don't appeal enough to voters across the UK. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

At some stage UK Government will realise that the economy needs more migrant labour than they ideally wanted to satisfy some Brexit supporters. 

 

It is not a case of UK citizens not wanting to do some types of work e.g. farming.  I have come across many young people wanting to pursue jobs in farming, but they live in towns and cities, without their own vehicles to commute to remote farms. If Government wants young people to go into farming, they need to build affordable accommodation to rent close to where the farms are. Or they provide transport options for people living in towns/cities to commute to farms.

 

Government will come to realise that providing all of the resources required to have UK citizens taking up all of the jobs required by UK employers, would be a very expensive investment to make.  And more importantly, businesses may not have the newly trained people available to them, when they actually need them.

 

 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Higher wages and costs in the UK will mean companies will struggle to export.  So companies then start to reduce the number of staff, companies close etc etc. 

 

All for people being paid a competitive wage, but employers needs to be able to sell their products for a competitive price.

[unclebulgaria67]

Christmas to be cancelled ? This would be a Brexit dividend for many as they don't have to go mad spending money they cannot really afford to squander.

 

And not having Christmas sweets available will save money e.g dental bills, having to buy new clothes that fit.

 

Makers of Quality Street warn staff and delivery shortages could hamper Christmas supplies - Bristol Live

WWW.BRISTOLPOST.CO.UK

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Nestle says it is 'working hard' to avoid disruption

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Really good industry website explaining current issues with shipping/logistics industry.

 

It's all going 'tits-up' at UK box ports and, despite what Boris says, we can't fix it - The Loadstar

THELOADSTAR.COM

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The UK’s main container ports are overwhelmed with unclaimed imports and starting to refuse the restitution of empty boxes...

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Really funny if you like to laugh at how ridiculous the UK situation has been recently.

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

HB. If container ships destined for UK ports start diverting to EU ports and then deliver the goods via road to the UK, because the EU is in a better position, this would be highly embarrassing to Boris Johnsons Government.

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

 

Starting to think the argument with the EU is a distraction tactic, to divert attention away from news that this government is a disaster.

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes I believe Cummings. There are few agreements the current Government would not break 

[unclebulgaria67]

Thought this might happen. Relaxation of movement of workers who cross borders on a temporary basis.

 

 Government relaxes rules on foreign HGV drivers to save Christmas https://mol.im/a/10095069 via http://dailym.ai/android

[unclebulgaria67]

I wonder whether part of the UK issue with current NI protocol, is that it is enabling a better trading environment between Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

 

 Northern Irish businesses have anticipated import/export issues with Great Britain, so now trade with Ireland or via Ireland.

 

Apparently reports are that some Northern Irish businesses have seen an increase in trade. It is only businesses that mostly sell British fresh produce that have been affected by border controls  and even then, they could swap to local produce.

 

Agree that UK Government are using argument with EU as a convenient distraction, but also there must be a worry about increased risk of a united Ireland, as a indirect consequence of Brexit.

[unclebulgaria67]

Very funny video.  If UK needs someone funny to be PM, there are better choices.  How about Frankie Boyle ?  Would make PMQ's more entertaining.