Back in early September I looked at what was going on with Covid and Brexit and thought: Uh-oh, Double Whammy Doomsday is approaching. So, I went online and ordered large quantities of long shelf-life non-perishable foodstuffs and toiletries - tea, coffee, pasta, tinned tomatoes, olive oil, flour, yeast, bog roll, toothpaste, that kind of thing. (Oh, and I now have a substantial "cellar" of cheap plonk )

It didn't cost a fortune (less than I've saved on pubs since March!) and of course I hope there isn't major disruption; but there almost certainly will be now. Never mind a probable no-deal Brexit, or even a cobbled together last-minute deal, with Kent turned into a lorry park either way; look at what happened in the early days of Covid alone: panic buying and empty supermarket shelves, and no home delivery slots pretty much anywhere unless you could prove you qualified as a special case. Throw in Brexit on top and, well...

The thing is, we just don't know what ramifications there may be in the disruption of supply chains - some shortages may be really surprising, just because one particular ingredient or component becomes unavailable, with the just-in-time delivery system almost certainly collapsing - so in all seriousness I would recommend that everyone who can afford it try to get in early before the shortages and the panic-buying set in for real. Buying online you're not contributing to the emptying of shelves, and you don't even have to leave home and expose yourself to any of those heroic mask-deniers in the shops. Then later, when it all kicks off, you can go out on the streets selling toilet rolls for a fiver a go.

Maybe not that last one.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brexit-Loo-Roll/dp/B073PK436S

What Amazon already sold out of toilet paper. It's okay have no need for it

I'd buy this one, only I know it would cause severe irritation.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boris-Johnson- ... B07WSQ9CLC

There's an interesting piece on populism in today's Grauniad.

This quote is particularly pertinent to this thread:

Populists are also vulnerable if their grand promises end up as unglamorous policies. From 1 January, Brexit will start being less about coming up with clever nationalistic catchphrases, and more about laying on enough temporary toilets for thousands of lorry drivers queueing for customs checks in Kent. I don’t think these are the “colossal new investments in infrastructure” that Johnson envisaged in his 2019 election victory speech.

There's an interesting piece on populism in today's Grauniad.

This quote is particularly pertinent to this thread:

Populists are also vulnerable if their grand promises end up as unglamorous policies. From 1 January, Brexit will start being less about coming up with clever nationalistic catchphrases, and more about laying on enough temporary toilets for thousands of lorry drivers queueing for customs checks in Kent. I don’t think these are the “colossal new investments in infrastructure” that Johnson envisaged in his 2019 election victory speech.

This is the problem with politics these days, they can say anything they want during an election, then have 5 years to not deliver and make new promises then tell everyone they kept those so here's some new ones you should vote them in for, rinse and repeat.

The political class have completely lost touch with the population now, something has to give in the next couple of years.

So, the blame game begins. On Marr last week Gove said his biggest worry was that UK companies wouldn’t be prepared for the possible new customs entry requirements. In response the Road Hauliers Association has said they can’t prepare because they don’t yet know what’s required. Meanwhile Gove’s minister in the Lords, Lord Agnew, told a Treasury Select Committee this week there is no trader readiness, and some have their ‘heads in the sand’. This despite the fact the government has yet to recruit huge numbers of extra customs staff and develop an IT system capable of handling 200 million extra transactions a year, and has 10 weeks to do it!

You couldn’t make it up.

Addendum. Just read in the Grauniad that the EU Commission is refusing to allow UK passport holders to use the airport fast track system after Jan. 1st. Will add an average of one extra hour to exit the airport!

So, the blame game begins. On Marr last week Gove said his biggest worry was that UK companies wouldn’t be prepared for the possible new customs entry requirements. In response the Road Hauliers Association has said they can’t prepare because they don’t yet know what’s required. Meanwhile Gove’s minister in the Lords, Lord Agnew, told a Treasury Select Committee this week there is no trader readiness, and some have their ‘heads in the sand’. This despite the fact the government has yet to recruit huge numbers of extra customs staff and develop an IT system capable of handling 200 million extra transactions a year, and has 10 weeks to do it!

You couldn’t make it up.

Addendum. Just read in the Grauniad that the EU Commission is refusing to allow UK passport holders to use the airport fast track system after Jan. 1st. Will add an average of one extra hour to exit the airport!

I also read that this morning. Indeed, why should they make an exception for us? We'll be out of Europe and just another non-EU country, which is exactly what the Brexiters wanted. Despite Johnson's glibly arrogant claim, we can't have our cake and eat it.

The chickens are starting to come home to roost.

Addendum. Just read in the Grauniad that the EU Commission is refusing to allow UK passport holders to use the airport fast track system after Jan. 1st. Will add an average of one extra hour to exit the airport!

This is one of the (many) things I shake my head over, regarding leaving the EU. This is a consequence of leaving the EU which nearly everyone expected from the referendum: the EU said it before and after the vote; 'Remainers' like me said this - even a fair few Brexiters did and accepted this as being an acceptable price to pay for leaving the EU. But there remained a core who genuinely thought we could still use fast-track queues and now there's this "quelle surprise" over the issue. They won, get over it.

Addendum. Just read in the Grauniad that the EU Commission is refusing to allow UK passport holders to use the airport fast track system after Jan. 1st. Will add an average of one extra hour to exit the airport!

This is one of the (many) things I shake my head over, regarding leaving the EU. This is a consequence of leaving the EU which nearly everyone expected from the referendum: the EU said it before and after the vote; 'Remainers' like me said this - even a fair few Brexiters did and accepted this as being an acceptable price to pay for leaving the EU. But there remained a core who genuinely thought we could still use fast-track queues and now there's this "quelle surprise" over the issue. They won, get over it.

Long waits at Airports never stopped people flipping to America for their holidays. I regularly wait a long time at the whim of Spanish Border control officials. Not a big deal really, it certainly won't force me to change my plans for the future. It was always to be expected and no surprise.

*not sure why flipping has automatically changed to flipping ?

Addendum. Just read in the Grauniad that the EU Commission is refusing to allow UK passport holders to use the airport fast track system after Jan. 1st. Will add an average of one extra hour to exit the airport!

This is one of the (many) things I shake my head over, regarding leaving the EU. This is a consequence of leaving the EU which nearly everyone expected from the referendum: the EU said it before and after the vote; 'Remainers' like me said this - even a fair few Brexiters did and accepted this as being an acceptable price to pay for leaving the EU. But there remained a core who genuinely thought we could still use fast-track queues and now there's this "quelle surprise" over the issue. They won, get over it.

Long waits at Airports never stopped people flipping to America for their holidays. I regularly wait a long time at the whim of Spanish Border control officials. Not a big deal really, it certainly won't force me to change my plans for the future. It was always to be expected and no surprise.

*not sure why flipping has automatically changed to flipping ?

#ucking hell!

Well, you may be right, but I think that people pretty much expect substantial passport queues for long-haul international flights. I'm not so sure it will go down so well when countless millions of Brits flying to and from EU countries for their totally unnecessary weekend city breaks and the like, used to breezing through passport control with barely a second thought (inevitably with some exceptions when things don't go so smoothly - it happens here too), suddenly find themselves in that usually much, much longer non-EU queue.

Brexit border software developers warn of delays

Essential post-Brexit freight software is unlikely to be ready on time for 1 January, those building it have warned.

A delay could hinder efforts to get products on to shop shelves and might push up prices.

The Association of Freight Software Suppliers (AFSS) said its members could not guarantee delivery because officials had failed to give it details and direction for the project.

No, really? I thought it was all oven-ready ages ago. Or did Boris actually mean that the oven was ready for Britain to stick its head in?

Brexit border software developers warn of delays

Essential post-Brexit freight software is unlikely to be ready on time for 1 January, those building it have warned.

A delay could hinder efforts to get products on to shop shelves and might push up prices.

The Association of Freight Software Suppliers (AFSS) said its members could not guarantee delivery because officials had failed to give it details and direction for the project.

No, really? I thought it was all oven-ready ages ago. Or did Boris actually mean that the oven was ready for Britain to stick its head in?

The oven is ready but the electric and gas has been disconnected.

Interesting suggestion in today’s William Keegan column in the Observer. Reckons all the delays over Brexit have been caused by Johnson/Cummings waiting to see if the orange one gets re-elected, the idea being that a Trump re-election would stiffen resolve for a no-deal brexit. This despite reports that Trumps people couldn’t give a toss about a UK trade deal, and Trump couldn’t sustain concentration long enough to force anything through himself. Sounds probable.

Interesting suggestion in today’s William Keegan column in the Observer. Reckons all the delays over Brexit have been caused by Johnson/Cummings waiting to see if the orange one gets re-elected, the idea being that a Trump re-election would stiffen resolve for a no-deal brexit. This despite reports that Trumps people couldn’t give a toss about a UK trade deal, and Trump couldn’t sustain concentration long enough to force anything through himself. Sounds probable.

Yes, I read that - and yes, the idea of that supposed "special relationship" is just a sad, self-deluding relic of when Britain actually was still a significant world nation - roughly up to a few years after the end of WWII, I'd say. To Trump, I think that Britain is pretty much Nigel Farage and that's about it.

I can't resist updating my comment from a week or so ago: the chlorinated chickens are starting to come home to roost. I'm aware that HM Gov, in the form of the walking absurdity that goes by the name of Liz Truss, has just "pledged" not to allow such nasties, but does anyone still actually believe that kind of promise, or that we'll even be given a choice?