-
Council reveals plan to help Worcester ditch car for foot or bike
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 6 04:33:48 2023
MORE people in the city will be encouraged to ditch the car for walking and cycling.
Worcester City Council said it will be trying to support more people to travel by foot or bike including cycle share schemes for residents and visitors and extra cycle parking at parks and community centres.
The council said it would also be working with schools to encourage more students to walk and cycle.
The boost for active travel is to help meet a national target to see half of all journeys in towns and cities made by bike or foot by 2030.
Councillor Lynn Denham, chair of the city council’s health and wellbeing committee, said travelling by foot, bike or scooter would boost fitness and cut congestion and harmful pollution.
“Helping people to walk and cycle more, or take up another form of active travel, can only be a good thing,” she said.
“It increases their health and well-being, reduces pollution and congestion, and helps Worcester edge closer to becoming a carbon-neutral city.
“I hope the committee will give its support to this important new plan.”
The council will also be driving home the benefits of switching at its big showpieces like the Worcester Show and Victorian Christmas Fayre and other events.
The council said it would also be leading by example and encouraging more of its staff to walk or cycle to and from work and while out and about.
This includes improving bike storage facilities at the council’s offices, offering training on cycling safely, allowing staff to borrow e-bikes for journeys between council premises, and promoting a scheme that allows employees to spread the cost of
buying a new bike.
Worcestershire is among one of only four counties in the country to have the worst possible ‘zero’ rating from Active Travel England, which offers councils a share of £200m to build walking and cycling routes and make other improvements.
Because of its poor rating, Worcestershire County Council was not even allowed to bid this time around and as a result received no money.
The work will be discussed by the council’s health and wellbeing committee at a meeting in the Guildhall on June 12.
Councillor Lynn Denham, chair of the city council’s health and wellbeing committee, said travelling by foot, bike or scooter would boost fitness and cut congestion and harmful pollution.
“Helping people to walk and cycle more, or take up another form of active travel, can only be a good thing,” she said.
“It increases their health and well-being, reduces pollution and congestion, and helps Worcester edge closer to becoming a carbon-neutral city.
“I hope the committee will give its support to this important new plan.”
The council will also be driving home the benefits of switching at its big showpieces like the Worcester Show and Victorian Christmas Fayre and other events.
The council said it would also be leading by example and encouraging more of its staff to walk or cycle to and from work and while out and about.
This includes improving bike storage facilities at the council’s offices, offering training on cycling safely, allowing staff to borrow e-bikes for journeys between council premises, and promoting a scheme that allows employees to spread the cost of
buying a new bike.
https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/23567777.council-reveals-plan-help-worcester-ditch-car-foot-bike/
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 6 14:46:18 2023
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 6 07:07:33 2023
QUOTE: Councillor Lynn Denham, chair of the city council’s health and wellbeing committee, said travelling by foot, bike or scooter would boost fitness and cut congestion and harmful pollution. ENDS
Watch out for the fist shaking Mr Toads on their way to the UKIP funeral ceremonies.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 6 15:32:02 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
QUOTE: Councillor Lynn Denham, chair of the city council’s health and wellbeing committee, said travelling by foot, bike or scooter would boost fitness and cut congestion and harmful pollution. ENDS
Watch out for the fist shaking Mr Toads on their way to the UKIP funeral ceremonies.
Like it or loathe it, UKIP is the only political party ever to see its raison-d’être come to fruition.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 6 09:44:27 2023
-
From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 6 17:32:33 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 6 13:29:11 2023
-
From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 6 23:08:54 2023
On 06/06/2023 05:44 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com...
...pretending to answer himself, said:
On Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 3:07:35 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
QUOTE: Councillor Lynn Denham, chair of the city council’s health and wellbeing committee, said travelling by foot, bike or scooter would boost fitness and cut congestion and harmful pollution. ENDS
Watch out for the fist shaking Mr Toads on their way to the UKIP funeral ceremonies.
Here is the man in charge when it got no seats and was wound up.
You're the one who is wound up.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 6 22:07:21 2023
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 6 21:16:53 2023
brextard
Particularly dense variety of Brexit voter with zero capacity for rational independent thought and a sub-zero grasp of English grammar. Often found polluting sensible online discussions with an endless stream of repetitive drivel.
Brextard: “we had r vote get over it snowflake,,, out means out so shut up” Normal human: oh dear, he’s gone full brextard.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 7 08:22:20 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
brextard
Particularly dense variety of Brexit voter with zero capacity for
rational independent thought and a sub-zero grasp of English grammar.
Often found polluting sensible online discussions with an endless stream
of repetitive drivel.
Brextard: “we had r vote get over it snowflake,,, out means out so shut up”
Normal human: oh dear, he’s gone full brextard.
Still fighting the battles of 2016?
<
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn9IyFLDtjk>
(Safe)
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 7 01:32:03 2023
On Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 5:16:55 AM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
brextard
Particularly dense variety of Brexit voter with zero capacity for rational independent thought and a sub-zero grasp of English grammar. Often found polluting sensible online discussions with an endless stream of repetitive drivel.
Brextard: “we had r vote get over it snowflake,,, out means out so shut up”
Normal human: oh dear, he’s gone full brextard.
King of the swivels admits he failed.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyAbp9EXgAAFT7E?format=jpg&name=900x900
Promised to bugger off if that happened.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 7 09:36:03 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 7 10:52:39 2023
On Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 9:32:05 AM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
On Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 5:16:55 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
brextard
Particularly dense variety of Brexit voter with zero capacity for rational independent thought and a sub-zero grasp of English grammar. Often found polluting sensible online discussions with an endless stream of repetitive drivel.
Brextard: “we had r vote get over it snowflake,,, out means out so shut up”
Normal human: oh dear, he’s gone full brextard.
King of the swivels admits he failed.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyAbp9EXgAAFT7E?format=jpg&name=900x900
Promised to bugger off if that happened.
Needless to say - he has broken that promise along with all the ones offering cheaper food and energy.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 7 21:22:44 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 9:32:05 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
On Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 5:16:55 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote: >>> brextard
Particularly dense variety of Brexit voter with zero capacity for
rational independent thought and a sub-zero grasp of English grammar.
Often found polluting sensible online discussions with an endless
stream of repetitive drivel.
Brextard: “we had r vote get over it snowflake,,, out means out so shut up”
Normal human: oh dear, he’s gone full brextard.
King of the swivels admits he failed.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyAbp9EXgAAFT7E?format=jpg&name=900x900
Promised to bugger off if that happened.
Needless to say - he has broken that promise along with all the ones
offering cheaper food and energy.
The breaching of the Nova Kakhovka dam has f*****d the irrigation systems
that farmers relied on. Besides the agricultural land lost to flooding,
this will ruin Ukraine’s ability to supply grain to Africa.
Food prices will soar due to this one event.
If the Zaporizhya nuclear power plant does a Chernobyl, food prices will skyrocket.
These disasters will not be fixed for years to come.
None of which has anything to do with Brexit, UKIP, gammon swivels, Nigel Farage, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Audi drivers, SUVs, Mr Arsehole, ‘close passes’, or indeed any of your bêtes-noir.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Thu Jun 8 00:37:22 2023
-
From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Thu Jun 8 08:05:32 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
All serial liars.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyFYxWvX0AIX19f?format=jpg&name=small
So you’re willing to blame people for not seeing the direct effects of a major war that was six years in the future. Get real:
The breaching of the Nova Kakhovka dam has f*****d the irrigation systems covering a huge area that farmers relied on. Besides the agricultural land
lost to flooding, this will ruin Ukraine’s ability to supply grain to
Africa.
Food prices will soar due to this one event.
If the Zaporizhya nuclear power plant does a Chernobyl, food prices will skyrocket.
These disasters will not be fixed for years to come.
None of which has anything to do with Brexit, UKIP, Nigel Farage, Liz
Truss, Boris Johnson, gammon swivels, Audi drivers, SUVs, Mr Arsehole,
‘close passes’, rollover accidents, ‘must-get-in-fronters’, pavement parkers, or indeed any of your bêtes-noir.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Thu Jun 8 05:17:43 2023
-
From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Thu Jun 8 12:47:32 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Since the Brextards caused the GBP to crash by 20% "on day one", prices
of everything rose instead of this total lie.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyGYPbEXwAA3o_f?format=jpg&name=medium
They continue to rocket due to those morons.
So you’re willing to blame people for not seeing the direct effects of a major war that was six years in the future. Get real:
The breaching of the Nova Kakhovka dam has f*****d the irrigation systems covering a huge area that farmers relied on. Besides the agricultural land
lost to flooding, this will ruin Ukraine’s ability to supply grain to
Africa.
Food prices will soar due to this one event.
If the Zaporizhya nuclear power plant does a Chernobyl, food prices will skyrocket.
These disasters will not be fixed for years to come.
None of which has anything to do with Brexit, UKIP, Nigel Farage, Liz
Truss, Boris Johnson, gammon swivels, Audi drivers, SUVs, Mr Arsehole,
‘close passes’, rollover accidents, ‘must-get-in-fronters’, pavement parkers, or indeed any of your bêtes-noir.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Thu Jun 8 06:55:40 2023
-
From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Thu Jun 8 14:54:09 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Thu Jun 8 10:05:04 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Thu Jun 8 11:40:46 2023
-
From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Thu Jun 8 18:47:18 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Does she include the tripling of the national debt since 2010?
Never mind the thousands of businesses that Brexit has destroyed.
You mean businesses that stuck their heads in the sand, and refused to
adapt their business models to the changes that were coming.
In Germany, one bicycle company found a way to deal with the issues, and
sells their bicycles here cheaper than before Brexit!
British businesses needed to get off their rear ends, but preferred to moan about Brexit. Tough titty.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyHwX0wWAA0SP-B?format=jpg&name=medium
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Thu Jun 8 12:05:45 2023
British households have paid £7bn since Brexit to cover the extra cost of trade barriers on food imports from the EU, according to researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE).
The university’s latest report estimating the impact of leaving the bloc on UK food prices found that trade barriers were consistently hampering imports, pushing up bills by an average £250.
The cost of food in the UK had rocketed by 25% since 2019, the researchers calculated, but if the post-Brexit trade restrictions were not in place then this increase would be only 17% – nearly a third lower.
Adding up the impact on all British households suggested they had paid an extra £6.95bn as a consequence, they said.
“Between December 2019 and March 2023 food prices rose by almost 25%. This analysis suggests that in the absence of Brexit this figure would be 8 percentage points (30%) lower,” the report found.
Last year, the LSE centre for economic performance said that leaving the EU added an average of £210 to household food bills over the two years to the end of 2021, at a cost of £5.8bn.
The UK has the highest food inflation rate in the industrialised world, according to recent inflation data.
In the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, the consumer prices index measure of inflation fell to 8.7% in April from 10.1% in March, but food inflation over the past year remained elevated at 19%.
Brexit trade barriers include extra paperwork to validate goods and veterinary checks on livestock.
Nikhil Datta, one of the report’s authors, said it was possible food costs would continue to spiral.
“Not everything has been instituted at the border. For instance, not all veterinary checks are being carried out,” he said.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Thu Jun 8 18:35:56 2023
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Thu Jun 8 21:25:23 2023
The obvious answer is to buy produce from places other than the EU.
We had a superb arrangement with Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada, but joining the EU screwed that right up.
PS: What was the bill for supporting inefficient French farmers, for all
those decades?
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
British households have paid £7bn since Brexit to cover the extra cost of trade barriers on food imports from the EU, according to researchers at
the London School of Economics (LSE).
The university’s latest report estimating the impact of leaving the bloc
on UK food prices found that trade barriers were consistently hampering imports, pushing up bills by an average £250.
The cost of food in the UK had rocketed by 25% since 2019, the
researchers calculated, but if the post-Brexit trade restrictions were
not in place then this increase would be only 17% – nearly a third lower.
Adding up the impact on all British households suggested they had paid an extra £6.95bn as a consequence, they said.
“Between December 2019 and March 2023 food prices rose by almost 25%.
This analysis suggests that in the absence of Brexit this figure would be
8 percentage points (30%) lower,” the report found.
Last year, the LSE centre for economic performance said that leaving the
EU added an average of £210 to household food bills over the two years to the end of 2021, at a cost of £5.8bn.
The UK has the highest food inflation rate in the industrialised world, according to recent inflation data.
In the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, the
consumer prices index measure of inflation fell to 8.7% in April from
10.1% in March, but food inflation over the past year remained elevated at 19%.
Brexit trade barriers include extra paperwork to validate goods and veterinary checks on livestock.
Nikhil Datta, one of the report’s authors, said it was possible food
costs would continue to spiral.
“Not everything has been instituted at the border. For instance, not all veterinary checks are being carried out,” he said.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Fri Jun 9 01:27:01 2023
The impact of the vote to leave the European Union continues to be felt, with food inflation soaring to 17.2% and an expert from the Bank of England is in no doubt over what’s to blame.
Overall inflation on food and drink at supermarkets continued to rise in March to 17.2%, up from 16.5% the month before, inflation figures from Which? have found.
The analysis also revealed that the prices of cheddar cheese, white bread and porridge oats are up by as much as 80%.
Supermarket food and drink prices continued to rise in March, costing on average 17.2% more than in March 2022. However, some items rose far more than that.
Which? states: “Cheddar cheese, for example, increased by an average 28.3% across all the supermarkets in the three months to March 2023, compared to the same period the year before. But the worst example in our basket, Dragon Welsh Mature Cheddar 180g
at Asda, went from £1 to £1.80 – an increase of 80% year on year.
“The cost of porridge oats went up by an average of 35.5% but the worst example was at Ocado where Quaker Oat So Simple Protein Porridge Pot Original 49g went from 94p to £1.56 – an increase of 65.5%.
“When we looked at large sliced white bread we found average increases of 22.8%. The Bakery at Asda Soft White Medium Sliced Bread 800g, however, went from 56p to 94p (an increase of 67%).”
The current cause of soaring food inflation, which has seen prices reach a 45 year high, can be put down to Brexit, a Bank of England expert has said.
Policy maker Catherine Mann, an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee, said that the costly red tape following Brexit had significantly impacted exporters from the EU who had stopped participating in that ‘traded marketplace’.
“The smaller exporters which provided additional supply, additional competitive pricing, what we have observed is those smaller exporters from the EU into the UK really have exited from participating in that traded marketplace,” she said previously.
“It gets too expensive to get over the red tape and so forth, so that’s an important ingredient.”
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Fri Jun 9 11:34:42 2023
When reading the report below, keep in mind that the Eurozone has just
moved into a recession, variously caused by high food and fuel prices
combined with sluggish consumer spending and rising interest rates.
Had we stayed in the EU, we would be as badly off as the EU, with only commissar diktat to tell us what to do.
The UK has avoided a doom-monger-predicted recession and so are better
placed economically.
If trade with Europe is sluggish, it’s because they aren’t spending but saving instead.
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
The impact of the vote to leave the European Union continues to be felt,
with food inflation soaring to 17.2% and an expert from the Bank of
England is in no doubt over what’s to blame.
Overall inflation on food and drink at supermarkets continued to rise in March to 17.2%, up from 16.5% the month before, inflation figures from Which? have found.
The analysis also revealed that the prices of cheddar cheese, white bread
and porridge oats are up by as much as 80%.
Supermarket food and drink prices continued to rise in March, costing on average 17.2% more than in March 2022. However, some items rose far more than that.
Which? states: “Cheddar cheese, for example, increased by an average
28.3% across all the supermarkets in the three months to March 2023,
compared to the same period the year before. But the worst example in our basket, Dragon Welsh Mature Cheddar 180g at Asda, went from £1 to £1.80 – an increase of 80% year on year.
“The cost of porridge oats went up by an average of 35.5% but the worst example was at Ocado where Quaker Oat So Simple Protein Porridge Pot
Original 49g went from 94p to £1.56 – an increase of 65.5%.
“When we looked at large sliced white bread we found average increases of 22.8%. The Bakery at Asda Soft White Medium Sliced Bread 800g, however,
went from 56p to 94p (an increase of 67%).”
The current cause of soaring food inflation, which has seen prices reach
a 45 year high, can be put down to Brexit, a Bank of England expert has said.
Policy maker Catherine Mann, an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee, said that the costly red tape following Brexit had
significantly impacted exporters from the EU who had stopped
participating in that ‘traded marketplace’.
“The smaller exporters which provided additional supply, additional competitive pricing, what we have observed is those smaller exporters
from the EU into the UK really have exited from participating in that
traded marketplace,” she said previously.
“It gets too expensive to get over the red tape and so forth, so that’s an important ingredient.”
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Fri Jun 9 06:58:36 2023
New research by the London School of Economics (LSE) has revealed that British households have incurred a £7 billion ($8 billion) cost since Brexit due to trade barriers affecting food imports from the EU.
The LSE's latest report on the impact of leaving the EU indicates that trade barriers have consistently hindered imports, resulting in an average increase of £250 ($308) in household bills alone.
While the researchers calculated that the cost of food in the UK has surged by 25% since 2019, they believe this increase would have been reduced by nearly a third, reaching only 17%, if the post-Brexit trade restrictions hadn’t been in place.
Largely, these restrictions involve additional paperwork to verify goods and veterinary checks on livestock.
Recent inflation data from the Office for National Statistics indicates that the UK has the highest food inflation rate among industrialized nations.
Although the consumer prices index measure of inflation decreased to 8.7% in April from 10.1% in March, food inflation has remained high at 19% over the past year.
Nikhil Datta, one of the authors of the report, expressed concern that food costs may continue to rise.
“Not everything has been instituted at the border,” said Datta. “For instance, not all veterinary checks are being carried out.
“It could be that there will be no adjustment in prices when they do take effect because businesses have already accounted for the extra costs. Or the extra barriers, when they come into effect, do increase prices and householders will face a further
increase in their food costs.”
Another recent report by the Centre for European Reform discovered Brexit has cost the UK £33 billion ($40 billion) in lost trade and investment already, confirming the economic damage is worse than previously feared.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson dismissed criticism from notable eurosceptic politicians regarding Brexit last week, stating that Britain's departure from the European Union had not been a failure.
EVEN FARAGE SAYS IT IS.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Fri Jun 9 14:30:31 2023
Food price inflation has helped to push the Eurozone into recession,
currently thought to last up to two years. The ECB has been criticised for constantly getting its forecasts wrong and so wrong-footing businesses.
The UK is not in recession and doesn’t give tuppence for what the EU does about it.
The EU: home of ignorant dreamers…
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
New research by the London School of Economics (LSE) has revealed that British households have incurred a £7 billion ($8 billion) cost since
Brexit due to trade barriers affecting food imports from the EU.
The LSE's latest report on the impact of leaving the EU indicates that
trade barriers have consistently hindered imports, resulting in an
average increase of £250 ($308) in household bills alone.
While the researchers calculated that the cost of food in the UK has
surged by 25% since 2019, they believe this increase would have been
reduced by nearly a third, reaching only 17%, if the post-Brexit trade restrictions hadn’t been in place.
Largely, these restrictions involve additional paperwork to verify goods
and veterinary checks on livestock.
Recent inflation data from the Office for National Statistics indicates
that the UK has the highest food inflation rate among industrialized nations.
Although the consumer prices index measure of inflation decreased to 8.7%
in April from 10.1% in March, food inflation has remained high at 19% over the past year.
Nikhil Datta, one of the authors of the report, expressed concern that
food costs may continue to rise.
“Not everything has been instituted at the border,” said Datta. “For instance, not all veterinary checks are being carried out.
“It could be that there will be no adjustment in prices when they do take effect because businesses have already accounted for the extra costs. Or
the extra barriers, when they come into effect, do increase prices and householders will face a further increase in their food costs.”
Another recent report by the Centre for European Reform discovered Brexit
has cost the UK £33 billion ($40 billion) in lost trade and investment already, confirming the economic damage is worse than previously feared.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson dismissed criticism from
notable eurosceptic politicians regarding Brexit last week, stating that Britain's departure from the European Union had not been a failure.
EVEN FARAGE SAYS IT IS.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Fri Jun 9 08:37:29 2023
Leaving the European Union (EU) added an average of £210 to household food bills over the two years to the end of 2021, costing UK consumers a total of £5.8 billion, new research from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of
Economics finds.
And since low-income households spend a greater share of their income on food than richer families, these Brexit-driven price rises had a proportionately greater impact on the poorest people.
A previous report by CEP researchers found that leaving the EU increased the price of food products by six per cent.
The latest study - Non-tariff barriers and consumer prices: Evidence from Brexit - confirms that food prices increased by six per cent and finds that for the poorest households, this feeds through into a Brexit-induced rise in the overall cost of living
of 1.1 per cent - 52 per cent more than the 0.7 per cent rise felt in the top 10 per cent of households.
The authors also look in depth at the mechanisms behind the price rises. The EU is, the researchers point out, a “deep” trading bloc. It goes far beyond the elimination of tariffs within its borders: it also minimises non-tariff barriers (NTB) to
trade through, for example, mutual recognition of standards.
While the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which came into force in January 2021, ensures that trade between the UK and the EU remains tariff-free, it lacks the depth of the EU. This means there are now, post-Brexit, more NTBs between the UK and the EU.
These include new comprehensive customs checks, rules of origin requirements and sanitary and phytosanitary measures for trade in animals and plants.
The authors find that it is these NTBs that have affected prices. The rise in consumer prices was driven only by products with high NTBs and there was no significant rise in prices for products with low NTBS – suggesting that EU exporters and/or UK
importers face higher costs due to these new barriers and between 50 per cent and 88 per cent of these costs have been passed on to consumers.
The changes have benefitted domestic producers of food, who now have less competition from European imports. But the gains to domestic firms are outstripped by the loss to domestic consumers by more than £1 billion. Additionally, unlike regular tariffs,
NTBs do not generate any revenue for the government.
Richard Davies, an associate of CEP’s growth programme and a professor at Bristol University and study co-author, said: “The UK inflation rate rose above 11 per cent in 2022, the highest rate in 40 years. Many factors, affecting both supply and
demand for goods and services, are involved. One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU.
“In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border. Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these onto
consumers. Over the two years to the end of 2021, Brexit increased food prices by around six per cent overall.”
Nikhil Datta, an associate of CEP’s labour markets programme and an assistant professor of economics at Warwick University and study co-author, said: “The policy implications are stark: non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that
should be a first-order concern, at least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices.
“We calculate that Brexit caused a loss of £210 for the average household, or £5.84 billion overall, when looking at its impact on the food market alone. Since poorer households spend a larger fraction of their income on food, they are hit harder.”
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Fri Jun 9 12:00:20 2023
Brexit added £210 to household food bills across the 24 months to the end of 2021, new research suggests.
Analysts from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics said extra checks and requirements on goods crossing the border has increased food prices by 6% overall, burning a £5.8bn hole in consumers' pockets.
The rising costs have likely hit poorer people harder, as those on low incomes tend to spend a greater share of their pay packets on food, the CEP found.
While the UK did not officially leave the EU until the start of 2021, the researchers said suppliers likely priced in the predicted disruption.
Although the Trade and Cooperation Agreement ensured trade between the UK and EU remained tariff free, the deal lacked "depth", with "non-tariff barriers" such as new customs checks impacting the price of moving goods.
It appears either EU exporters or UK importers, or both, are facing higher costs as a result of these new barriers, the CEP said, with between 50% and 88% of this burden passed on to consumers.
Data yesterday showed food inflation has reached a new high of 12.4%, driven by an increase in the cost of meat, dairy, eggs and coffee in particular.
Richard Davies, a professor at the University of Bristol and co-author of the study, said: "One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU."
He added: "In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border.
"Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these onto consumers. Over the two years to the end of 2021, Brexit increased food prices by around 6% overall."
Nikhil Datta, a fellow co-author on the CEP research, said the findings had "stark" policy implications.
"Non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that should be a first-order concern, at least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices," he said.
The research comes amid growing calls for a new approach to Brexit after a series of bleak assessments about the impact it is having on the UK's finances.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has quashed reports of a closer alignment with the EU, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also ruled out a return to freedom of movement or a Swiss-style arrangement if he becomes PM.
During Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs) yesterday, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford branded the UK's departure from the European Union the "elephant in the room that neither the Tories or Labour are willing to confront".
He accused Sir Keir of trying to "out Brexit" the Conservatives, adding: "When will the prime minister finally see reality and admit that Brexit is a significant long-term cause of the UK economic crisis."
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Fri Jun 9 18:49:39 2023
Just think - if you can - how much worse it would have been had we stayed
in the EU, what with them being in a two-year recession and with sluggish industrial activity.
We aren’t in a recession…🤭
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Leaving the European Union (EU) added an average of £210 to household
food bills over the two years to the end of 2021, costing UK consumers a total of £5.8 billion, new research from the Centre for Economic
Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics finds.
And since low-income households spend a greater share of their income on
food than richer families, these Brexit-driven price rises had a proportionately greater impact on the poorest people.
A previous report by CEP researchers found that leaving the EU increased
the price of food products by six per cent.
The latest study - Non-tariff barriers and consumer prices: Evidence from Brexit - confirms that food prices increased by six per cent and finds
that for the poorest households, this feeds through into a Brexit-induced rise in the overall cost of living of 1.1 per cent - 52 per cent more
than the 0.7 per cent rise felt in the top 10 per cent of households.
The authors also look in depth at the mechanisms behind the price rises.
The EU is, the researchers point out, a “deep” trading bloc. It goes far beyond the elimination of tariffs within its borders: it also minimises non-tariff barriers (NTB) to trade through, for example, mutual recognition of standards.
While the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which came into force in
January 2021, ensures that trade between the UK and the EU remains tariff-free, it lacks the depth of the EU. This means there are now, post-Brexit, more NTBs between the UK and the EU. These include new comprehensive customs checks, rules of origin requirements and sanitary
and phytosanitary measures for trade in animals and plants.
The authors find that it is these NTBs that have affected prices. The
rise in consumer prices was driven only by products with high NTBs and
there was no significant rise in prices for products with low NTBS – suggesting that EU exporters and/or UK importers face higher costs due to these new barriers and between 50 per cent and 88 per cent of these costs have been passed on to consumers.
The changes have benefitted domestic producers of food, who now have less competition from European imports. But the gains to domestic firms are outstripped by the loss to domestic consumers by more than £1 billion. Additionally, unlike regular tariffs, NTBs do not generate any revenue for the government.
Richard Davies, an associate of CEP’s growth programme and a professor at Bristol University and study co-author, said: “The UK inflation rate rose above 11 per cent in 2022, the highest rate in 40 years. Many factors, affecting both supply and demand for goods and services, are involved.
One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff
barriers for trade with the EU.
“In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and
steps are required before goods can cross the border. Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these onto consumers. Over the two years to the
end of 2021, Brexit increased food prices by around six per cent overall.”
Nikhil Datta, an associate of CEP’s labour markets programme and an assistant professor of economics at Warwick University and study
co-author, said: “The policy implications are stark: non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that should be a first-order
concern, at least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices.
“We calculate that Brexit caused a loss of £210 for the average
household, or £5.84 billion overall, when looking at its impact on the
food market alone. Since poorer households spend a larger fraction of
their income on food, they are hit harder.”
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sat Jun 10 07:48:00 2023
The Eurozone is in trouble, having entered a recession that is expected to
last for two years. Food and fuel prices combine with increasing interest rates, sluggish industrial activity, and consumer spending that is falling
in favour of savings have brought this about. None of this was due to
Brexit.
The UK is not in recession, perhaps due to Brexit.
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Brexit added £210 to household food bills across the 24 months to the end
of 2021, new research suggests.
Analysts from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London
School of Economics said extra checks and requirements on goods crossing
the border has increased food prices by 6% overall, burning a £5.8bn hole
in consumers' pockets.
The rising costs have likely hit poorer people harder, as those on low incomes tend to spend a greater share of their pay packets on food, the CEP found.
While the UK did not officially leave the EU until the start of 2021, the researchers said suppliers likely priced in the predicted disruption.
Although the Trade and Cooperation Agreement ensured trade between the UK
and EU remained tariff free, the deal lacked "depth", with "non-tariff barriers" such as new customs checks impacting the price of moving goods.
It appears either EU exporters or UK importers, or both, are facing
higher costs as a result of these new barriers, the CEP said, with
between 50% and 88% of this burden passed on to consumers.
Data yesterday showed food inflation has reached a new high of 12.4%,
driven by an increase in the cost of meat, dairy, eggs and coffee in particular.
Richard Davies, a professor at the University of Bristol and co-author of
the study, said: "One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU."
He added: "In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship
with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms
and steps are required before goods can cross the border.
"Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these onto consumers. Over
the two years to the end of 2021, Brexit increased food prices by around 6% overall."
Nikhil Datta, a fellow co-author on the CEP research, said the findings
had "stark" policy implications.
"Non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that should be
a first-order concern, at least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices," he said.
The research comes amid growing calls for a new approach to Brexit after
a series of bleak assessments about the impact it is having on the UK's finances.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has quashed reports of a closer alignment with
the EU, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also ruled out a return
to freedom of movement or a Swiss-style arrangement if he becomes PM.
During Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs) yesterday, SNP Westminster leader
Ian Blackford branded the UK's departure from the European Union the "elephant in the room that neither the Tories or Labour are willing to confront".
He accused Sir Keir of trying to "out Brexit" the Conservatives, adding: "When will the prime minister finally see reality and admit that Brexit
is a significant long-term cause of the UK economic crisis."
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 02:47:03 2023
Trade barriers related to Brexit have added £250 to the cost of food for every UK household since December 2019, according to a new report from the London School of Economics (LSE).
LSE’s research – entitled ‘Brexit and consumer food prices’ – found that prices rose by 25% from January 2021 until March of this year, as £6.95bn was added to food costs as a result of the additional trade barriers.
If these obstacles were not in place costs would have only gone up by 17%, according to LSE.
Barriers
The Guardian reports that these barriers include extra paperwork to validate goods and veterinary checks on livestock.
Nikhil Datta, one of the report’s authors, said it was possible food costs would continue to spiral.
“Not everything has been instituted at the border. For instance, not all veterinary checks are being carried out,” he commented.
Food prices still soaring
The IMF has urged the UK government to lower non-tariff trade barriers to reduce inflation, as previously covered in the IOE&IT Daily Update.
Although the base rate of inflation fell to 8.7% in April, food price rises are running even higher at more than 17%, prompting chancellor Jeremy Hunt to ask food producers to do more to “ease the pressure on consumers”.
He also raised the prospect that the government could impose tough new pricing rules, depending on the results of an ongoing investigation by the Competition and Market Authority.
Industry sources rejected Treasury claims and told the Times that they had absorbed 80% of the cost increases they had faced from pricier energy, transport and labour.
Migration supplies workers
With the government’s latest figures for net migration up 20% to a record level of 606,000, Sky reports that businesses are making use of the new post-Brexit migration system to bring in skilled migrants such as IT professionals, nurses and accountants.
Since January 2021, the new system has made it easier for workers outside of Europe to enter the UK, even though the fees for businesses are high.
While the number of European migrants has fallen in recent years, this has been more than offset by a big rise in migrants from countries such as India, South Africa and Ghana.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sat Jun 10 10:40:12 2023
Isn’t it strange, therefore, that businesses in the EU, seem to be far less affected by exactly the same set of rules?
There is a manufacturer of bicycles in Germany that exports to the UK
without problems, and even manages to sell their machines here at
pre-Brexit prices!
Now, as the arrangements are the same for both sides, why is it that the UK businesses are snivelling and whining and going bust, while the EU get on
with things?
BTW, it was you yourself that posted the article regarding the German
bicycle manufacturer.
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Trade barriers related to Brexit have added £250 to the cost of food for every UK household since December 2019, according to a new report from
the London School of Economics (LSE).
LSE’s research – entitled ‘Brexit and consumer food prices’ – found that
prices rose by 25% from January 2021 until March of this year, as £6.95bn was added to food costs as a result of the additional trade barriers.
If these obstacles were not in place costs would have only gone up by
17%, according to LSE.
Barriers
The Guardian reports that these barriers include extra paperwork to
validate goods and veterinary checks on livestock.
Nikhil Datta, one of the report’s authors, said it was possible food
costs would continue to spiral.
“Not everything has been instituted at the border. For instance, not all veterinary checks are being carried out,” he commented.
Food prices still soaring
The IMF has urged the UK government to lower non-tariff trade barriers to reduce inflation, as previously covered in the IOE&IT Daily Update.
Although the base rate of inflation fell to 8.7% in April, food price
rises are running even higher at more than 17%, prompting chancellor
Jeremy Hunt to ask food producers to do more to “ease the pressure on consumers”.
He also raised the prospect that the government could impose tough new pricing rules, depending on the results of an ongoing investigation by
the Competition and Market Authority.
Industry sources rejected Treasury claims and told the Times that they
had absorbed 80% of the cost increases they had faced from pricier
energy, transport and labour.
Migration supplies workers
With the government’s latest figures for net migration up 20% to a record level of 606,000, Sky reports that businesses are making use of the new post-Brexit migration system to bring in skilled migrants such as IT professionals, nurses and accountants.
Since January 2021, the new system has made it easier for workers outside
of Europe to enter the UK, even though the fees for businesses are high.
While the number of European migrants has fallen in recent years, this
has been more than offset by a big rise in migrants from countries such
as India, South Africa and Ghana.
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 05:11:49 2023
Most voters think Brexit is to blame for widespread shortages of fruit and vegetables on supermarket shelves, a poll for The Independent has found.
The majority of the public (57 per cent) said Britain’s exit from the EU was behind the lack of fresh produce, according to the Savanta survey.
Only one in three (36 per cent) said Brexit was not to blame. The poll also discovered 57 per cent had been affected by shortages while 40 per cent were unaffected.
Unusual weather which has hurt crops in Spain and north Africa has been blamed for UK shelves being short of tomatoes and other fresh produce.
But farming campaigners and food experts have pointed to Brexit for the particularly acute shortage in Britain – describing the idea of Spanish weather being solely to blame as “absolute nonsense”.
It comes as The Independent revealed that millions of pupils face missing out on fresh fruit and vegetables after the food shortages hit school meals.
School meal providers say items such as lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers are among the items off the menu due to “extreme shortages” and “unviable costs”, with ministers now working with schools to try to minimise the impact.
In an email sent to primary schools, meals provider Caterlink, which provides more than a million meals a week to 1,300 schools, said certain fresh goods would not be available for two weeks from 1 March.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sat Jun 10 13:00:46 2023
The obvious answer is to buy produce from places other than the EU.
We had a superb arrangement with Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada, but joining the EU screwed that right up.
PS: What was the bill for supporting inefficient French farmers, for all
those decades?
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Most voters think Brexit is to blame for widespread shortages of fruit
and vegetables on supermarket shelves, a poll for The Independent has found.
The majority of the public (57 per cent) said Britain’s exit from the EU was behind the lack of fresh produce, according to the Savanta survey.
Only one in three (36 per cent) said Brexit was not to blame. The poll
also discovered 57 per cent had been affected by shortages while 40 per
cent were unaffected.
Unusual weather which has hurt crops in Spain and north Africa has been blamed for UK shelves being short of tomatoes and other fresh produce.
But farming campaigners and food experts have pointed to Brexit for the particularly acute shortage in Britain – describing the idea of Spanish weather being solely to blame as “absolute nonsense”.
It comes as The Independent revealed that millions of pupils face missing
out on fresh fruit and vegetables after the food shortages hit school meals.
School meal providers say items such as lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers
are among the items off the menu due to “extreme shortages” and “unviable
costs”, with ministers now working with schools to try to minimise the impact.
In an email sent to primary schools, meals provider Caterlink, which
provides more than a million meals a week to 1,300 schools, said certain fresh goods would not be available for two weeks from 1 March.
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 08:32:02 2023
Britain's departure from the European Union has accounted for about a third of the increase in food bills for households since 2019, equivalent to about 250 pounds ($316), researchers from the London School of Economics and other universities said.
Britain has been battling inflation for over a year, partly driven by its highest rate of food price growth since 1977, with food prices up more than 19% over the last year.
Although London and Brussels have an agreement allowing largely tariff-free trade in goods, barriers to exports and imports in the form of paperwork, known as non-tariff barriers, have caused delays and higher costs.
The Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) study compared price changes for food products imported from the European Union with prices of food from further afield.
Before Brexit these products had similar price trends but after Brexit, there was a relative increase for products more exposed to imports from the EU, it said, and that has continued into 2023.
The study found that between January 2022 and March 2023, the price of food products that were exposed to Brexit increased by approximately 3.5 percentage points more than those that were not.
When considering the impact on food prices since December 2019, just before Britain formally left the EU, they estimated the cost of Brexit to UK households at 6.95 billion pounds ($8.77 billion), or 250 pounds per household.
Between December 2019 and March 2023, it said UK food prices rose by almost 25 percentage points.
"Our analysis suggests that, in the absence of Brexit, this figure would be 8 percentage points (30%) lower," the CEP said.
Products with high non-tariff barriers, such as meat and cheese imported from the EU, saw price increases about 10 percentage points higher than similar products that were not exposed to Brexit since January 2021, when Britain's trade and cooperation (
TCA) agreement with the EU started.
Last week Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said Britain's departure from the European Union had not been a failure, rebuffing criticism from prominent eurosceptic politicians about how Brexit had been implemented.
Overall British consumer price inflation hit a more-than 40-year high of 11.1% in October, according to official data. It had slowed to 8.7% in April.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sat Jun 10 15:57:15 2023
The obvious answer is to buy produce from places other than the EU.
We had a superb arrangement with Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada, but joining the EU screwed that right up.
PS: What was the bill for supporting inefficient French farmers, for all
those decades?
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Britain's departure from the European Union has accounted for about a
third of the increase in food bills for households since 2019, equivalent
to about 250 pounds ($316), researchers from the London School of
Economics and other universities said.
Britain has been battling inflation for over a year, partly driven by its highest rate of food price growth since 1977, with food prices up more
than 19% over the last year.
Although London and Brussels have an agreement allowing largely
tariff-free trade in goods, barriers to exports and imports in the form
of paperwork, known as non-tariff barriers, have caused delays and higher costs.
The Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) study compared price changes
for food products imported from the European Union with prices of food from further afield.
Before Brexit these products had similar price trends but after Brexit,
there was a relative increase for products more exposed to imports from
the EU, it said, and that has continued into 2023.
The study found that between January 2022 and March 2023, the price of
food products that were exposed to Brexit increased by approximately 3.5 percentage points more than those that were not.
When considering the impact on food prices since December 2019, just
before Britain formally left the EU, they estimated the cost of Brexit to
UK households at 6.95 billion pounds ($8.77 billion), or 250 pounds per household.
Between December 2019 and March 2023, it said UK food prices rose by
almost 25 percentage points.
"Our analysis suggests that, in the absence of Brexit, this figure would
be 8 percentage points (30%) lower," the CEP said.
Products with high non-tariff barriers, such as meat and cheese imported
from the EU, saw price increases about 10 percentage points higher than similar products that were not exposed to Brexit since January 2021, when Britain's trade and cooperation (TCA) agreement with the EU started.
Last week Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said Britain's
departure from the European Union had not been a failure, rebuffing
criticism from prominent eurosceptic politicians about how Brexit had been implemented.
Overall British consumer price inflation hit a more-than 40-year high of 11.1% in October, according to official data. It had slowed to 8.7% in April.
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 10:01:24 2023
A storm broke out on Twitter this week when users posted images of supermarket shelves in the likes of Spain and France laden with fruit and veg compared to the empty fresh produce aisles in Britain. So severe are the shortages in the UK that some
supermarkets have been forced to impose limits on the amount of salad products consumers can buy. Brexiteers took offence to the posts, claiming ‘Remoaners are at it again’ and are ‘ridiculously blaming Brexit.’
‘Blame it on Brexit’ is a popular snipe made by many a Leave voter to mockingly suggest Remainers blame everything that is going wrong in Britain on our departure from the EU. The trouble is that many of the country’s woes, such as lagging behind
our peers in trade and investment, is the blame of Brexit, as economists have warned.
And none more so than our bare supermarket shelves.
Here’s how.
1- Morocco restricts it exports to the UK, post-Brexit
In October 2019, Britain signed a trade deal with Morocco. However, the agreement is not as valuable to Moroccans as the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, which came into force in 2000. The deal set up a free trade area between Morocco and the 27 EU
countries. Hence the EU is Morocco’s largest trade partner and the country prioritises sending its surplus tomatoes to EU countries. Post-Brexit, Morocco made the decision to restrict supplies to Britain to in an attempt to control prices.
2- Labour shortages
But we’ve got loads of polytunnels in sunny Kent which supply the supermarkets with produce, so why would we need to import tomatoes anyway, is another popular argument made by Brexit defenders. While fields of polytunnels might be a common sight in
southern regions of England, they are not working to capacity because many EU workers have gone home. Why have they gone home? Before Brexit, free movement legislation meant that citizens from the EU had the right to live and work in the UK without
requiring permission. This all changed on January 1, 2020, when free movement ended, meaning workers from the EU now face more restrictive immigration rules. A major report from ReWAGE and the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford in May 2022,
showed that the end of free movement has exacerbated the recruiting issues many UK employers face.
3- Spanish growers blame associated Brexit costs and red tape
Spain is the UK’s biggest foreign supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables. But additional paperwork and costs post Brexit has made the UK a less desirable market, some fruit and vegetable producers in Spain claim. Alfonso Galvez, general secretary of
the Murcia brand of Asaja, Spain’s largest farming association, says the current shortages in the UK may have more to do with logistics and bureaucracy than the weather, which some growers – and much of the media – are pinning the shortages on.
“There have been logistics and transport problems when it comes to export, such as a shortage of lorry drivers to service the UK market, and the problems we’ve seen with the queues to get into the country through Eurotunnel,” said Galvez. “On top
of that, you’ve got the costs of all this bureaucracy and all these waits, which mean that perhaps the UK market isn’t so attractive,” he added.
4- Greenhouses too expensive to heat because of high energy costs
In October 2021, the UK’s biggest tomato supplier shut its greenhouses due to soaring gas prices. Phil Pearson, group development director and head grower at APS Group – which supplies around 40% of Britain’s tomatoes – said: “I am really very
worried for the future of UK food production in 2022.”
There will be “empty shelves” Pearson warned, as the company’s energy costs had increased between six to seven fold. “The result of the gas prices mean, as an industry, we’re going to have less British tomatoes next year,” he added.
Fast-forward 18 months and energy prices have rocketed further. But how is this related to Brexit? During the EU referendum campaign, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove promised cheaper household gas bills, if Britons backed Brexit. Energy prices might also
be at record highs in Europe, but the countries in the EU’s internal energy market trade efficiently with one another via linked auctions that balance prices across the EU. In theory, having no ties to auctions from Europe, Britain could enjoy cheaper
prices than elsewhere, if energy was cheap. However it isn’t, so the UK is exposed to higher prices.
This week, Liz Webster of Save British Food called for an urgent return of free trade with Europe to keep supermarket shelves in Britain stocked. Talking to LBC, Webster said tomato growers in glass houses in the UK have shut down, as a “result of
energy costs that are higher than the rest of Europe.”
5- Supply chain inefficiency
Supply chain inefficiency post-Brexit has been attributed to the shortages of tomatoes and other fruit and vegetables.
Ksenija Simovic, a senior policy adviser at Copa-Cogeca, a group which represents farmers and farming co-operatives in the EU, said Brexit certainly hadn’t helped Britain and its supply chain issues. According to Simovic, if there is a shortage of
supply then the produce that is available is simply more likely to remain within the Single Market.
“It doesn’t help that the UK is out of the EU and single market, but I don’t think this is the primary reason the UK is having shortages,” she said.
Bring on the turnips
Meanwhile, as experts warn supermarket stocks ‘may be low for a month,’ the environment secretary Therese Coffey has come up with a solution – people should eat more homegrown food like turnips so we are less reliant on imported products.
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 10:33:13 2023
Food prices have risen by 6% since the UK left the European Union, according to recent research from the London School of Economics (LSE) and other universities.
The findings were put together by researchers at LSE, Bocconi University in Milan, University College London, and University of Oxford, and supported and published by the UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) research initiative.
According to the report, the primary reason behind the jump in prices is the increased trade barriers between the EU and UK, as well as the ongoing impact of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) – the agreement between the two parties which
establishes arrangements for future co-operation across a range of areas including trade, road haulage and fisheries.
By comparing the price change of food imported from the European Union between the end of 2019 and 2021 with those imported to the UK from elsewhere, the authors found food from the EU bloc had become the most costly.
Products with high EU import shares – foods like fresh pork, tomatoes, and jam – were more affected than those with low EU import shares such as tuna and
exotic fruits such as pineapple.
The price of food imported from the EU increased the fastest in January 2021, when the EU- UK trade agreement, the TCA, came into play.
While the TCA does not place any tariffs on goods moving through Britain and the EU, regular food-safety inspections, delays at customs and extra paperwork have caused long waits between Dover and Calais and therefore are bringing additional costs to
producers.
The report explains: “Firms could change the partner countries from which they are importing, or purchase domestically, but assuming they were operating in the most efficient manner initially, any change is going to incur extra costs. These costs may
then be passed on to consumers, increasing consumer prices.”
Researchers did not see a similar impact on non-food imports, suggesting that perishable food items in particular “are more vulnerable to border delays”.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sat Jun 10 17:30:09 2023
“I am really very worried for the future of UK food production in 2022.”
How did that work out?
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
A storm broke out on Twitter this week when users posted images of supermarket shelves in the likes of Spain and France laden with fruit and
veg compared to the empty fresh produce aisles in Britain. So severe are
the shortages in the UK that some supermarkets have been forced to impose limits on the amount of salad products consumers can buy. Brexiteers took offence to the posts, claiming ‘Remoaners are at it again’ and are ‘ridiculously blaming Brexit.’
‘Blame it on Brexit’ is a popular snipe made by many a Leave voter to mockingly suggest Remainers blame everything that is going wrong in
Britain on our departure from the EU. The trouble is that many of the country’s woes, such as lagging behind our peers in trade and investment, is the blame of Brexit, as economists have warned.
And none more so than our bare supermarket shelves.
Here’s how.
1- Morocco restricts it exports to the UK, post-Brexit
In October 2019, Britain signed a trade deal with Morocco. However, the agreement is not as valuable to Moroccans as the EU-Morocco Association Agreement, which came into force in 2000. The deal set up a free trade
area between Morocco and the 27 EU countries. Hence the EU is Morocco’s largest trade partner and the country prioritises sending its surplus tomatoes to EU countries. Post-Brexit, Morocco made the decision to
restrict supplies to Britain to in an attempt to control prices.
2- Labour shortages
But we’ve got loads of polytunnels in sunny Kent which supply the supermarkets with produce, so why would we need to import tomatoes
anyway, is another popular argument made by Brexit defenders. While
fields of polytunnels might be a common sight in southern regions of
England, they are not working to capacity because many EU workers have
gone home. Why have they gone home? Before Brexit, free movement
legislation meant that citizens from the EU had the right to live and
work in the UK without requiring permission. This all changed on January
1, 2020, when free movement ended, meaning workers from the EU now face
more restrictive immigration rules. A major report from ReWAGE and the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford in May 2022, showed
that the end of free movement has exacerbated the recruiting issues many UK employers face.
3- Spanish growers blame associated Brexit costs and red tape
Spain is the UK’s biggest foreign supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables. But additional paperwork and costs post Brexit has made the UK a less desirable market, some fruit and vegetable producers in Spain claim.
Alfonso Galvez, general secretary of the Murcia brand of Asaja, Spain’s largest farming association, says the current shortages in the UK may
have more to do with logistics and bureaucracy than the weather, which
some growers – and much of the media – are pinning the shortages on.
“There have been logistics and transport problems when it comes to
export, such as a shortage of lorry drivers to service the UK market, and
the problems we’ve seen with the queues to get into the country through Eurotunnel,” said Galvez. “On top of that, you’ve got the costs of all this bureaucracy and all these waits, which mean that perhaps the UK
market isn’t so attractive,” he added.
4- Greenhouses too expensive to heat because of high energy costs
In October 2021, the UK’s biggest tomato supplier shut its greenhouses
due to soaring gas prices. Phil Pearson, group development director and
head grower at APS Group – which supplies around 40% of Britain’s tomatoes – said: “I am really very worried for the future of UK food production in 2022.”
There will be “empty shelves” Pearson warned, as the company’s energy costs had increased between six to seven fold. “The result of the gas prices mean, as an industry, we’re going to have less British tomatoes
next year,” he added.
Fast-forward 18 months and energy prices have rocketed further. But how
is this related to Brexit? During the EU referendum campaign, Boris
Johnson and Michael Gove promised cheaper household gas bills, if Britons backed Brexit. Energy prices might also be at record highs in Europe, but
the countries in the EU’s internal energy market trade efficiently with
one another via linked auctions that balance prices across the EU. In
theory, having no ties to auctions from Europe, Britain could enjoy
cheaper prices than elsewhere, if energy was cheap. However it isn’t, so the UK is exposed to higher prices.
This week, Liz Webster of Save British Food called for an urgent return
of free trade with Europe to keep supermarket shelves in Britain stocked. Talking to LBC, Webster said tomato growers in glass houses in the UK
have shut down, as a “result of energy costs that are higher than the rest of Europe.”
5- Supply chain inefficiency
Supply chain inefficiency post-Brexit has been attributed to the
shortages of tomatoes and other fruit and vegetables.
Ksenija Simovic, a senior policy adviser at Copa-Cogeca, a group which represents farmers and farming co-operatives in the EU, said Brexit
certainly hadn’t helped Britain and its supply chain issues. According to Simovic, if there is a shortage of supply then the produce that is
available is simply more likely to remain within the Single Market.
“It doesn’t help that the UK is out of the EU and single market, but I don’t think this is the primary reason the UK is having shortages,” she said.
Bring on the turnips
Meanwhile, as experts warn supermarket stocks ‘may be low for a month,’ the environment secretary Therese Coffey has come up with a solution – people should eat more homegrown food like turnips so we are less reliant
on imported products.
--
Spike
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sat Jun 10 17:42:12 2023
Germany has seen an 18.7% increase in food prices year-on-year, according
to figures for September 2022 released by the country’s Federal Statistical Office.
The price of edible fats and oils like butter and sunflower oil saw the sharpest increase, having risen by 49%.
Other household staples have also seen dramatic increases. Dairy products
and eggs were nearly 30% more expensive, and the price of meat and
meat-based products was up 19.5%. Meanwhile the price of bread and cereal
items have risen by an average of 18.5%.
Looking at monthly comparisons, the figures showed that consumers paid 1.8% more for food in September than in August 2022. Vegetables in particular
were nearly 4% dearer month-on-month, while dairy products had increased by 2.2%.
General inflation in Germany has reached a peak of 10%, which is the
highest level the country has seen since its reunification in 1990,
according to Dr Georg Thiel, President of the Federal Statistical Office. Rising energy and food costs, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, have both contributed to the overall increase in rates, he said.
He commented: “Enormous price rises for energy products still are the main reason for the high inflation. But we also see price increases for many
other goods, especially food.”
Thiel also blames the end of the country’s fuel discount period and the €9 monthly transport ticket for the acceleration of inflation. He added:
“These temporary measures of the second relief package had a downward
effect on overall inflation from June to August 2022.”
In comparison to other countries in Europe however, Germany is not the
hardest hit by food inflation. According to recent estimates from Trading Economics, Turkey currently holds the highest grocery inflation rate year-on-year for September at around 93%. Hungary and Moldova follow behind
at just over 37% – a record increase for both countries.
The increasing cost of food has forced many consumers to adjust their
everyday diets and spending. In the UK, where grocery inflation stands at nearly 14%, a recent report found more shoppers are inclined to purchase cheaper processed foods, which can be less nutritious and made with lower-quality ingredients. They are also buying vegetables and fruit.
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Food prices have risen by 6% since the UK left the European Union,
according to recent research from the London School of Economics (LSE)
and other universities.
The findings were put together by researchers at LSE, Bocconi University
in Milan, University College London, and University of Oxford, and
supported and published by the UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) research initiative.
According to the report, the primary reason behind the jump in prices is
the increased trade barriers between the EU and UK, as well as the
ongoing impact of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) – the
agreement between the two parties which establishes arrangements for
future co-operation across a range of areas including trade, road haulage and fisheries.
By comparing the price change of food imported from the European Union between the end of 2019 and 2021 with those imported to the UK from elsewhere, the authors found food from the EU bloc had become the most costly.
Products with high EU import shares – foods like fresh pork, tomatoes, and jam – were more affected than those with low EU import shares such as tuna and
exotic fruits such as pineapple.
The price of food imported from the EU increased the fastest in January
2021, when the EU- UK trade agreement, the TCA, came into play.
While the TCA does not place any tariffs on goods moving through Britain
and the EU, regular food-safety inspections, delays at customs and extra paperwork have caused long waits between Dover and Calais and therefore
are bringing additional costs to producers.
The report explains: “Firms could change the partner countries from which they are importing, or purchase domestically, but assuming they were operating in the most efficient manner initially, any change is going to incur extra costs. These costs may then be passed on to consumers,
increasing consumer prices.”
Researchers did not see a similar impact on non-food imports, suggesting
that perishable food items in particular “are more vulnerable to border delays”.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 10:48:12 2023
Your Brexit bill: The staggering cost of ‘Leave’ for every British household.
Brexit red tape has cost each household £250 in higher food bills alone since the UK left the EU, according to new research.
The analysis suggests that food price rises would have been 8 percentage points lower – nearly a third – without Brexit, at 17 per cent, rather than the actual rise of almost 25 per cent.
Annual food price inflation in the UK is near historic highs, with some basic goods rising by up to 46 per cent in a year, official figures show, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis.
The overall extra cost of Brexit red tape to UK households is £6.95 billion, according to the experts at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, who looked at the effect of trade barriers on food prices.
Non-tariff barriers in force since Brexit include customs checks, rules-of-origin requirements and health paperwork for animals and plants.
A previous version of paper, Non-tariff barriers and consumer prices: evidence from Brexit, found that leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020 added an average of £210 to household food bills over the two years to the end of 2021. Now that figure
has risen further.
Between January last year and March this year, the price of food products that were more exposed to Brexit because the UK imported them in high volumes from the EU before the referendum increased by about 3.5 percentage points more than those that were
not, the research found.
The report authors blame these changes entirely on products with high non-tariff barriers.
Prices of products such as meat and cheese imported from the EU have increased by about 10 percentage points more than similar products not exposed to Brexit since January 2021, when the trade and cooperation (TCA) agreement began, the study says.
The price rises of products more exposed to Brexit are not linked to other factors such as Covid lockdowns or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The fact that the results are driven entirely by products with high non-tariff barriers imported from the EU offers strong evidence that Brexit is the driving force behind these effects,” the researchers say.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sat Jun 10 19:09:01 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Your Brexit bill: The staggering cost of ‘Leave’ for every British household.
Brexit red tape has cost each household £250 in higher food bills alone since the UK left the EU, according to new research.
The analysis suggests that food price rises would have been 8 percentage points lower – nearly a third – without Brexit, at 17 per cent, rather than the actual rise of almost 25 per cent.
Fascinating that you seem to think that a 17 percent food-price inflation
rate is acceptable!
Still, it’s much the same in the EU - was that due to Brexit too?
Annual food price inflation in the UK is near historic highs, with some
basic goods rising by up to 46 per cent in a year, official figures show, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis.
The overall extra cost of Brexit red tape to UK households is £6.95
billion, according to the experts at the Centre for Economic Performance
at the London School of Economics, who looked at the effect of trade
barriers on food prices.
Non-tariff barriers in force since Brexit include customs checks, rules-of-origin requirements and health paperwork for animals and plants.
A previous version of paper, Non-tariff barriers and consumer prices: evidence from Brexit, found that leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020 added an average of £210 to household food bills over the two years
to the end of 2021. Now that figure has risen further.
Between January last year and March this year, the price of food products that were more exposed to Brexit because the UK imported them in high
volumes from the EU before the referendum increased by about 3.5
percentage points more than those that were not, the research found.
The report authors blame these changes entirely on products with high non-tariff barriers.
Prices of products such as meat and cheese imported from the EU have increased by about 10 percentage points more than similar products not exposed to Brexit since January 2021, when the trade and cooperation
(TCA) agreement began, the study says.
The price rises of products more exposed to Brexit are not linked to
other factors such as Covid lockdowns or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The fact that the results are driven entirely by products with high non-tariff barriers imported from the EU offers strong evidence that
Brexit is the driving force behind these effects,” the researchers say.
--
Spike
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
Simon Mason on Sat Jun 10 19:49:06 2023
Simon Mason <
swldxer2022@gmail.com> wrote:
Adding up the impact on all British households suggested they had paid an extra £6.95bn as a consequence, they said. “Between December 2019 and March 2023 food prices rose by almost 25%. This analysis suggests that in
the absence of Brexit this figure would be 8 percentage points (30%) lower,” the report found.
So what accounts for the state the Germans are in, with soaring food and
energy prices?
--
Spike
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From
Simon Mason@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 12:16:13 2023
Adding up the impact on all British households suggested they had paid an extra £6.95bn as a consequence, they said. “Between December 2019 and March 2023 food prices rose by almost 25%. This analysis suggests that in the absence of Brexit this figure
would be 8 percentage points (30%) lower,” the report found.
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From
Simon Mason@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 13:00:09 2023
Leaving the European Union (EU) added an average of £210 to household food bills over the two years to the end of 2021, costing UK consumers a total of £5.8 billion, new research from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of
Economics finds.
And since low-income households spend a greater share of their income on food than richer families, these Brexit-driven price rises had a proportionately greater impact on the poorest people.
A previous report by CEP researchers found that leaving the EU increased the price of food products by six per cent.
The latest study - Non-tariff barriers and consumer prices: Evidence from Brexit - confirms that food prices increased by six per cent and finds that for the poorest households, this feeds through into a Brexit-induced rise in the overall cost of living
of 1.1 per cent - 52 per cent more than the 0.7 per cent rise felt in the top 10 per cent of households.
The authors also look in depth at the mechanisms behind the price rises. The EU is, the researchers point out, a “deep” trading bloc. It goes far beyond the elimination of tariffs within its borders: it also minimises non-tariff barriers (NTB) to
trade through, for example, mutual recognition of standards.
While the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which came into force in January 2021, ensures that trade between the UK and the EU remains tariff-free, it lacks the depth of the EU. This means there are now, post-Brexit, more NTBs between the UK and the EU.
These include new comprehensive customs checks, rules of origin requirements and sanitary and phytosanitary measures for trade in animals and plants.
The authors find that it is these NTBs that have affected prices. The rise in consumer prices was driven only by products with high NTBs and there was no significant rise in prices for products with low NTBS – suggesting that EU exporters and/or UK
importers face higher costs due to these new barriers and between 50 per cent and 88 per cent of these costs have been passed on to consumers.
The changes have benefitted domestic producers of food, who now have less competition from European imports. But the gains to domestic firms are outstripped by the loss to domestic consumers by more than £1 billion. Additionally, unlike regular tariffs,
NTBs do not generate any revenue for the government.
Richard Davies, an associate of CEP’s growth programme and a professor at Bristol University and study co-author, said: “The UK inflation rate rose above 11 per cent in 2022, the highest rate in 40 years. Many factors, affecting both supply and
demand for goods and services, are involved. One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU.
“In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border. Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these onto
consumers. Over the two years to the end of 2021, Brexit increased food prices by around six per cent overall.”
Nikhil Datta, an associate of CEP’s labour markets programme and an assistant professor of economics at Warwick University and study co-author, said: “The policy implications are stark: non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that
should be a first-order concern, at least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices.
“We calculate that Brexit caused a loss of £210 for the average household, or £5.84 billion overall, when looking at its impact on the food market alone. Since poorer households spend a larger fraction of their income on food, they are hit harder.”
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From
Simon Mason@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 13:02:25 2023
Britain has the highest inflation rate in the G7, as the only nation in the group of advanced economies with a reading in double digits after last month’s shock increase.
With the UK appearing to be an international outlier, some economists have suggested Brexit is having an impact.
International comparisons
On a headline basis, inflation is higher in the UK than elsewhere. In the eurozone, annual inflation slowed to 8.5% in February, down from a peak of 10.6% in October, while US inflation eased to 6% last month, a fall from a high of 9.1% last summer.
Inflation cost of living
However, it is not an entirely uniform picture. Inflation rose in France and Germany last month, while the rate for the EU27 dipped slightly from 10% to 9.9%. In the eurozone, analysts had forecast a bigger fall from 8.6% in January to 8.2%. However,
pressure from rising food prices – the same culprit for the UK’s shock rise – led to an unexpectedly small decrease.
In both the UK and the eurozone, core inflation – used by central bankers because it excludes energy and food, providing a clearer picture of underlying pressures – rose by more than expected: from 5.8% in January to 6.2% in February for the UK, and
from 5.3% to 5.6% for the eurozone.
There are also features of an economy which can cause inflation to rise, or fall, at times that may not be replicated in other nations. The Ofgem price cap in the UK is one example, leading to cliff edges for energy price changes. Economists expect the
UK inflation rate to fall sharply in April for this reason, as it is compared against the huge 54% jump in the Ofgem cap 12 months earlier.
While inflation can bob around from month to month – belying an overall trend, and making it harder to isolate Brexit as a driving force – there are still reasons why the UK could be worse off than other nations.
Brexit has added to delivery times and costs for UK imports, a factor likely to be passed on to consumers in the shops.
Part of the inflation shock in February was due to the rising cost of cucumbers, tomatoes and salad, as prices rose amid severe shortages and rationing across the UK last month. Experts had blamed shortages on unseasonably cold weather in southern Spain
and Morocco affecting harvests, although others pointed to Brexit, given the lack of empty shelves in EU nations.
Justin King, the former Sainsbury’s chief executive, said the UK food sector had been “significantly disrupted” by leaving the EU, while producers in the bloc warned Britain had slipped down the pecking order for deliveries when supplies are tight.
Research from the London School of Economics shows Brexit had added almost £6bn to UK food bills in the two years to the end of 2021.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
Simon Mason on Sat Jun 10 21:57:49 2023
When reading this report, keep in mind that the Eurozone is in recession,
which is expected to last some two years.
This has come about because the ECB has failed in its predictions and has
got forecasts of inflation wrong, thus wrong footing businesses that relied
on its forecasts.
The UK is not in recession.
Simon Mason <
swldxer2022@gmail.com> wrote:
Britain has the highest inflation rate in the G7, as the only nation in
the group of advanced economies with a reading in double digits after
last month’s shock increase.
With the UK appearing to be an international outlier, some economists
have suggested Brexit is having an impact.
International comparisons
On a headline basis, inflation is higher in the UK than elsewhere. In the eurozone, annual inflation slowed to 8.5% in February, down from a peak
of 10.6% in October, while US inflation eased to 6% last month, a fall
from a high of 9.1% last summer.
Inflation cost of living
However, it is not an entirely uniform picture. Inflation rose in France
and Germany last month, while the rate for the EU27 dipped slightly from
10% to 9.9%. In the eurozone, analysts had forecast a bigger fall from
8.6% in January to 8.2%. However, pressure from rising food prices – the same culprit for the UK’s shock rise – led to an unexpectedly small decrease.
In both the UK and the eurozone, core inflation – used by central bankers because it excludes energy and food, providing a clearer picture of underlying pressures – rose by more than expected: from 5.8% in January
to 6.2% in February for the UK, and from 5.3% to 5.6% for the eurozone.
There are also features of an economy which can cause inflation to rise,
or fall, at times that may not be replicated in other nations. The Ofgem price cap in the UK is one example, leading to cliff edges for energy
price changes. Economists expect the UK inflation rate to fall sharply in April for this reason, as it is compared against the huge 54% jump in the Ofgem cap 12 months earlier.
While inflation can bob around from month to month – belying an overall trend, and making it harder to isolate Brexit as a driving force – there are still reasons why the UK could be worse off than other nations.
Brexit has added to delivery times and costs for UK imports, a factor
likely to be passed on to consumers in the shops.
Part of the inflation shock in February was due to the rising cost of cucumbers, tomatoes and salad, as prices rose amid severe shortages and rationing across the UK last month. Experts had blamed shortages on unseasonably cold weather in southern Spain and Morocco affecting
harvests, although others pointed to Brexit, given the lack of empty shelves in EU nations.
Justin King, the former Sainsbury’s chief executive, said the UK food sector had been “significantly disrupted” by leaving the EU, while producers in the bloc warned Britain had slipped down the pecking order
for deliveries when supplies are tight.
Research from the London School of Economics shows Brexit had added
almost £6bn to UK food bills in the two years to the end of 2021.
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 10 22:37:44 2023
Soaring food and non-alcoholic drink prices are driving record-high UK inflation and puting intense pressure on household budgets.
More expensive bread, cereals and chocolate all caused the average price of food and non-alcoholic drink to increase 19.2% in the year to March.
This is the sharpest 12-month increase since August 1977, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Separate figures from Which? show meat, yoghurt and vegetables doubled in price in the year to March.
Brexit has "made the situation worse for UK manufacturers", according to the Food and Drink Federation, and been blamed for adding hundreds of pounds to the average UK household shopping bill.
NFU president Ms Batters says that while the UK was still in the European Union, it was the "preferred country to work in" for seasonal labour, but now we're out and freedom of movement has ended, the lack of EU workers has been a "huge, huge issue".
The government is introducing visa schemes instead, but these are for shorter periods than before and higher overall living costs in the UK mean Europeans aren't travelling in big numbers.
Labour shortages led to £16m being wasted in unpicked fruit and vegetables last year, Ms Batters adds.
And the amount of people unemployed in the UK who could take the jobs instead don't match numbers currently needed within food supply chains.
Other issues around post-Brexit border controls, packaging and trade deals with non-EU countries have also added to supply chain problems.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sun Jun 11 08:25:06 2023
[AND THIS IS IN THE EU!]
Germany has seen an 18.7% increase in food prices year-on-year, according
to figures for September 2022 released by the country’s Federal Statistical Office.
The price of edible fats and oils like butter and sunflower oil saw the sharpest increase, having risen by 49%.
Other household staples have also seen dramatic increases. Dairy products
and eggs were nearly 30% more expensive, and the price of meat and
meat-based products was up 19.5%. Meanwhile the price of bread and cereal
items have risen by an average of 18.5%.
Looking at monthly comparisons, the figures showed that consumers paid 1.8% more for food in September than in August 2022. Vegetables in particular
were nearly 4% dearer month-on-month, while dairy products had increased by 2.2%.
General inflation in Germany has reached a peak of 10%, which is the
highest level the country has seen since its reunification in 1990,
according to Dr Georg Thiel, President of the Federal Statistical Office. Rising energy and food costs, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, have both contributed to the overall increase in rates, he said.
He commented: “Enormous price rises for energy products still are the main reason for the high inflation. But we also see price increases for many
other goods, especially food.”
Thiel also blames the end of the country’s fuel discount period and the €9 monthly transport ticket for the acceleration of inflation. He added:
“These temporary measures of the second relief package had a downward
effect on overall inflation from June to August 2022.”
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Soaring food and non-alcoholic drink prices are driving record-high UK inflation and puting intense pressure on household budgets.
More expensive bread, cereals and chocolate all caused the average price
of food and non-alcoholic drink to increase 19.2% in the year to March.
This is the sharpest 12-month increase since August 1977, according to
the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Separate figures from Which? show meat, yoghurt and vegetables doubled in price in the year to March.
Brexit has "made the situation worse for UK manufacturers", according to
the Food and Drink Federation, and been blamed for adding hundreds of
pounds to the average UK household shopping bill.
NFU president Ms Batters says that while the UK was still in the European Union, it was the "preferred country to work in" for seasonal labour, but
now we're out and freedom of movement has ended, the lack of EU workers
has been a "huge, huge issue".
The government is introducing visa schemes instead, but these are for
shorter periods than before and higher overall living costs in the UK
mean Europeans aren't travelling in big numbers.
Labour shortages led to £16m being wasted in unpicked fruit and
vegetables last year, Ms Batters adds.
And the amount of people unemployed in the UK who could take the jobs
instead don't match numbers currently needed within food supply chains.
Other issues around post-Brexit border controls, packaging and trade
deals with non-EU countries have also added to supply chain problems.
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
Spike on Sun Jun 11 08:30:21 2023
Spike <
Aero.Spike@mail.invalid> wrote:
[AND THIS IS IN THE EU!]
[AND NOTHING TO DO WITH BREXIT!!]
Germany has seen an 18.7% increase in food prices year-on-year, according
to figures for September 2022 released by the country’s Federal Statistical Office.
The price of edible fats and oils like butter and sunflower oil saw the sharpest increase, having risen by 49%.
Other household staples have also seen dramatic increases. Dairy products
and eggs were nearly 30% more expensive, and the price of meat and
meat-based products was up 19.5%. Meanwhile the price of bread and cereal items have risen by an average of 18.5%.
Looking at monthly comparisons, the figures showed that consumers paid 1.8% more for food in September than in August 2022. Vegetables in particular
were nearly 4% dearer month-on-month, while dairy products had increased by 2.2%.
General inflation in Germany has reached a peak of 10%, which is the highest level the country has seen since its reunification in 1990,
according to Dr Georg Thiel, President of the Federal Statistical Office. Rising energy and food costs, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, have both contributed to the overall increase in rates, he said.
He commented: “Enormous price rises for energy products still are the main reason for the high inflation. But we also see price increases for many
other goods, especially food.”
Thiel also blames the end of the country’s fuel discount period and the €9
monthly transport ticket for the acceleration of inflation. He added: “These temporary measures of the second relief package had a downward effect on overall inflation from June to August 2022.”
swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Soaring food and non-alcoholic drink prices are driving record-high UK
inflation and puting intense pressure on household budgets.
More expensive bread, cereals and chocolate all caused the average price
of food and non-alcoholic drink to increase 19.2% in the year to March.
This is the sharpest 12-month increase since August 1977, according to
the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Separate figures from Which? show meat, yoghurt and vegetables doubled in
price in the year to March.
Brexit has "made the situation worse for UK manufacturers", according to
the Food and Drink Federation, and been blamed for adding hundreds of
pounds to the average UK household shopping bill.
NFU president Ms Batters says that while the UK was still in the European
Union, it was the "preferred country to work in" for seasonal labour, but
now we're out and freedom of movement has ended, the lack of EU workers
has been a "huge, huge issue".
The government is introducing visa schemes instead, but these are for
shorter periods than before and higher overall living costs in the UK
mean Europeans aren't travelling in big numbers.
Labour shortages led to £16m being wasted in unpicked fruit and
vegetables last year, Ms Batters adds.
And the amount of people unemployed in the UK who could take the jobs
instead don't match numbers currently needed within food supply chains.
Other issues around post-Brexit border controls, packaging and trade
deals with non-EU countries have also added to supply chain problems.
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sun Jun 11 02:34:12 2023
Two thirds of voters including a large number of Leavers say leaving the EU is contributing to rising supermarket prices and high inflation.
This included 42% of leave voters, while 39% disagreed, according to i newspaper and BMG Research pollsters.
A majority (63%) believes Brexit has had a negative impact on food prices in the supermarket and the broader cost of living (60%).
According to the survey, more Tory voters believe Brexit has had a negative impact on food prices (48%) and inflation (42%) than those who think leaving the EU has made no difference (34% and 40% respectively).
However, the government intends to push ahead with the introduction of full border controls and customs checks for EU food imports from 31 October, following a delay last year to help ease the cost of living.
Robert Struthers, head of polling at BMG, told i: “Nigel Farage said Brexit has failed, and it appears the public largely agrees.
“In not a single policy area do we find more of the public saying our EU exit has had a positive than negative impact.
“And on the issue that is probably hitting most Britons the hardest in the pockets at the moment, the cost of the food at the supermarket, the impact is the worst of any of the areas listed.
“As many as six in 10 say the effect of Brexit has been negative here, with only one in 10 positive.”
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sun Jun 11 13:26:22 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Two thirds of voters including a large number of Leavers say leaving the
EU is contributing to rising supermarket prices and high inflation.
This included 42% of leave voters, while 39% disagreed, according to i newspaper and BMG Research pollsters.
MRDA, especially so if the questions were suitably phrased.
A majority (63%) believes Brexit has had a negative impact on food prices
in the supermarket and the broader cost of living (60%).
Amazing how the report totally avoids mention of COVID and the Ukraine war, both of which have affected everything.
Funny, that, innit.
According to the survey, more Tory voters believe Brexit has had a
negative impact on food prices (48%) and inflation (42%) than those who
think leaving the EU has made no difference (34% and 40% respectively).
However, the government intends to push ahead with the introduction of
full border controls and customs checks for EU food imports from 31
October, following a delay last year to help ease the cost of living.
Robert Struthers, head of polling at BMG, told i: “Nigel Farage said
Brexit has failed, and it appears the public largely agrees.
“In not a single policy area do we find more of the public saying our EU exit has had a positive than negative impact.
“And on the issue that is probably hitting most Britons the hardest in
the pockets at the moment, the cost of the food at the supermarket, the impact is the worst of any of the areas listed.
“As many as six in 10 say the effect of Brexit has been negative here,
with only one in 10 positive.”
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Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sun Jun 11 06:53:06 2023
Brits woke up to yet more grim news on inflation Tuesday, with new data showing prices in UK stores are rising at a record pace. It’s the latest sign of a seemingly intractable cost-of-living crisis that has Prime Minster Rishi Sunak considering
drastic measures, including price controls, to keep inflation in check.
The cost of store items, known as shop price inflation, rose 9% through the year to May, a fresh high for an index that dates back to 2005, according to the British Retail Consortium. Food inflation dipped slightly to 15.4% in May, but that’s still the
second-highest rate on record.
Lower energy and commodity costs helped reduce prices of some staples, including butter, milk, fruit and fish. But chocolate and coffee prices are rising as global commodity prices soar, British Retail Consortium CEO Helen Dickinson said.
The slight drop in food prices will give cold comfort to consumers, and piles the pressure on Sunak, who has promised to halve inflation this year as one of his five pledges to voters.
The British public “are still wincing when their total comes up at the checkout… a weekly shop that cost £100 last year is now clocking in at £115,” Laura Suter, head of personal finance at stockbroker AJ Bell wrote in a note.
Poor households are being hit the hardest because they spend more of their disposable income on food. More people are using food banks in the United Kingdom than ever before, eclipsing even the peak of the pandemic.
The Trussell Trust, the UK’s biggest food bank network, handed out close to 3 million emergency food parcels over the 12 months to March 2023 — a 37% increase on the previous year.
Even the Bank of England, tasked with keeping inflation at 2%, has been caught off guard by stubbornly high food prices, which seem to have barely responded to 12 successive interest rate hikes.
Food prices have contributed to keeping inflation “higher than we expected it to be,” Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told a Treasury committee hearing last week. “We have a lot to learn about operating monetary policy in a world of big
shocks,” he admitted.
Price controls anyone?
The United Kingdom’s inflation problem is now so dire that Sunak is considering asking retailers to cap the price of essential food items, in a throwback to the 1970s. Back then, governments in the United States and United Kingdom imposed wage and
price controls to tame inflation, although the policies weren’t very effective at bringing inflation down and were later dropped.
Economists say that capping prices encourages companies to produce less of a product, while making it more attractive to consumers. Supply goes down, and demand goes up, with shortages being the inevitable result.
Price controls distort markets and should only be used “in extreme circumstances,” Neal Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note Tuesday. “The current food price shock does not warrant such an intervention,” he added.
The Sunday Telegraph was first to report the government’s proposal, which was quickly rejected by retailers.
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium said controls would not make a “jot of difference” to high food prices, which are the result of soaring energy, transport and labor costs.
A view of the facade of the Bank of England in central London on November 5, 2020. - The Bank of England on November 5, 2020 unveiled an extra £150 billion in cash stimulus and forecast a deeper coronavirus-induced recession for the UK as England begins
a second lockdown. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Bank of England hikes interest rates for 12th time in battle with inflation
“As commodity prices drop, many of the costs keeping inflation high are now arising from the muddle of new regulation coming from government,” Opie added in a statement. These include tighter rules on recycling and full border controls on food
imports from the European Union, due to be implemented by the end of this year.
According to a government spokesperson, any price caps would not be mandatory. “Any scheme to help bring down food prices for consumers would be voluntary and at retailers’ discretion,” the spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNN.
Sunak and Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt “have been meeting with the food sector to see what more can be done,” the spokesperson added.
For Sunak, the pressure is on — particularly ahead of a general election widely expected to be held next year. Inflation was hovering above 10% when he made the promise to halve it in January. It dropped back to 8.7% in April, still well above his
target. The Bank of England expects it to fall to “around 5%” by the end of this year, leaving little margin for error.
The Brexit effect
According to Opie of the British Retail Consortium, the government should focus on “cutting red tape” rather than “recreating 1970s-style price controls.”
At the top of the list of burdensome regulations are those introduced as a result of the country’s exit from the European Union, which is its main source of food imports.
An aerial photograph taken on August 22, 2022 shows the Ever Alot container ship docked by stopped container loading cranes at the empty UK's largest freight port, in Felixstowe, during a dock workers eight-day strike over pay. - Workers at Britain's
biggest container port, Felixstowe, began on August 21, 2022 an eight-day strike over pay, in the latest industrial action as decades-high inflation intensifies the country's cost-of-living crisis. Nearly 2,000 unionised employees at the port in eastern
England, including crane drivers, machine operators and stevedores, started their walkout Sunday morning in the first strike at Felixstowe since 1989. (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
UK joins trans-Pacific trade bloc in a deal likely to boost GDP by less than 0.1%
Brexit is responsible for about a third of UK food price inflation since 2019, according to researchers at the London School of Economics.
New regulatory checks and other border controls added nearly £7 billion ($8.7 billion) to Britain’s domestic grocery bill between December 2019 and March 2023, or £250 ($310) per household, economists at the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance
wrote in a recent paper.
Food prices rose by almost 25 percentage points over this period. “Our analysis suggests that in the absence of Brexit this figure would be 8 percentage points (30%) lower,” the researchers wrote.
Imports of meat and cheese from the European Union were now subject to high “non-tariff barriers.”
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
All on Sun Jun 11 14:31:51 2023
AT A GLANCE
Plenary – January I 2023
Question time: Food price inflation in Europe
Food prices in the EU have risen dramatically over the past two years. The chain of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather
events and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have led to severe
shortages in the agri-food chain, resulting in higher consumer prices. The latest European Parliament Eurobarometer survey shows that the cost of
living continues to be the main concern for European citizens. During the January I plenary session, Members of the European Parliament will have the opportunity to question the European Commission on measures taken to
contain food price inflation.
Background
Eurostat expects annual inflation to dip to 9.2 % for the euro area in
December 2022, down from 10.2 % in November. After energy, 'food, alcohol
and tobacco' are the second main contributors to inflation, their prices
rising by almost 14 % compared with the same period the previous year.
Despite inflation affecting countries differently across the EU (with the highest rates in the Baltic States), lower-income households in all Member States are the worst hit. According to the European Parliament's autumn
2022 Eurobarometer survey, 'the rising cost of living' is the main concern
for European citizens (93 %), followed by 'poverty and social exclusion'
(82 %). Although headline inflation is showing signs of easing, high food
and energy prices will continue to affect European consumers' purchasing
power.
Drivers of food inflation
The main drivers of food inflation have been rising energy costs, affecting
the entire agri-food chain (from farmers to processing facilities to
transport) and reduced supply of key agricultural inputs such as
fertilisers and animal feed, which constitute the highest input cost for farmers.
The successive waves of the pandemic, and the measures adopted to contain
them, resulted in labour shortages and logistics bottlenecks in the agricultural industry. Concerns over food availability also led to export restrictions in several countries. When the easing of restrictions led to economic recovery in 2021, global supply chains struggled to meet the surge
in demand for energy and other commodities. Being dependent on imports to
cover its needs, the EU began to face soaring energy prices from the summer
of 2021. This increase in energy costs had a direct impact on European
farmers, but also on the feed and fertiliser industries that provide many
of their inputs. As a result, annual inflation rose to 5.2 % in the EU in November 2021 (4.9 % in the euro area), and to 27.5 % for energy and 2.2 %
for food, alcohol and tobacco.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 exacerbated many of the factors responsible for food inflation in the EU, driving prices further
up, and putting global food security at risk. Russia has deliberately
targeted agricultural production facilities in Ukraine, and Moscow's
blockade of Black Sea routes virtually halted Ukraine's agricultural
exports (about 80 % were seaborne) until the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain initiative and EU Solidarity Lanes allowed for their safe transport. The consequences of the war on food commodity markets have been severe. As two
of the world's leading producers of agricultural products, the combined
exports of Ukraine and Russia previously represented 34 % of the global
total for wheat, 27 % for barley and 56 % for sunflower oil. More
critically still for the European livestock sector, Ukraine exported 15 %
of all maize (11 million tonnes annually to the EU) and 61 % of sunflower
cake, which are important inputs in animal feed. Russia and Belarus were
also among the world's top exporters of fertilisers, central to food and
feed production, and highly sensitive to gas prices. Finally, Moscow's weaponisation of oil and gas supplies to Europe has caused an additional
surge in energy prices. These were reflected in the agri-sector's producer costs, until the EU's diversification and energy-saving measures helped
offset the disruption.
Although global food security considerations have prevented EU and international sanctions from targeting the Russian and Belarusian
agricultural sectors (except for Belarusian potash, an important source of revenue for the government), Russia's export restrictions on grain,
oilseeds and fertilisers have put additional strain on world supplies,
leading to higher prices.
EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
Author: Antonio Albaladejo Román, Members' Research Service PE 739.298 – January 2023
EN
EPRS Question time: Food price inflation in Europe
Finally, the extreme weather events experienced in Europe during 2022
became an additional catalyst in the inflationary spiral affecting food and energy prices. The severe drought that hit parts of Europe during the
summer of 2022 led to pasture failures in several countries (80 % of EU
animal feed consumption comes from forage and roughage) and an estimated reduction in maize, soybean and sunflower crops of 16 %, 15 % and 12 % respectively, all important products in animal nutrition. This
weather-induced supply shock hit the EU livestock sector in particular
(already affected by bird flu and African swine fever) resulting in reduced meat and dairy output in 2022.
The combined effect of these factors pushed up annual inflation in the euro area for food, alcohol and tobacco, from 2.2 % in November 2021 to 13.6 %
in November 2022. Basic staples, such as bread, meat, cooking oils and
dairy products, saw the steepest increases in price, affecting low-income households the most.
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sun Jun 11 08:46:33 2023
Essentially, if the pound falls in value — as many experts, including the Bank of England, predict will happen in a no-deal Brexit — this will push up prices for British consumers because we import so many products from abroad.
SPOT ON!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyWleqSWIAA9Wn-?format=jpg&name=900x900
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
All on Sun Jun 11 15:55:04 2023
Two days ago:
At time of writing the GBP/USD exchange rate was at around $1.2533, which
was up roughly 0.7% from that morning’s opening figures.
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sun Jun 11 09:10:35 2023
On Sunday, June 11, 2023 at 4:46:35 PM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
Essentially, if the pound falls in value — as many experts, including the Bank of England, predict will happen in a no-deal Brexit — this will push up prices for British consumers because we import so many products from abroad.
How did Farage and his cronies make so much money on betting on a crashing GBP?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Du70VR5WsAAdLLp?format=jpg&name=large
The tosser claims he is a "patriot" as well - he's just a grifting twat.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
All on Sun Jun 11 19:01:24 2023
The £ is still at $1:25, so where’s this collapse?
Does anyone remember the ‘parity parties’ (£1=$1) of the 1980s that were ready to go ahead?
They never happened…
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sun Jun 11 12:06:22 2023
-
From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sun Jun 11 21:33:27 2023
On 09/06/2023 04:37 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
Leaving the European Union (EU) added an average of £210 to household food bills...
Per annum?
Per month?
Per week?
Per diem?
Surely not per hour?
PS: You forgot to credit the website whose content you copied and pasted.
That's plagiarism.
Naughty behaviour indeed.
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sun Jun 11 21:35:43 2023
On 09/06/2023 08:00 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
Brexit added £210 to household food bills across the 24 months to the end of 2021, new research suggests.
Analysts from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics said extra checks and requirements on goods crossing the border has increased food prices by 6% overall, burning a £5.8bn hole in consumers' pockets.
The rising costs have likely hit poorer people harder, as those on low incomes tend to spend a greater share of their pay packets on food, the CEP found.
While the UK did not officially leave the EU until the start of 2021, the researchers said suppliers likely priced in the predicted disruption.
Although the Trade and Cooperation Agreement ensured trade between the UK and EU remained tariff free, the deal lacked "depth", with "non-tariff barriers" such as new customs checks impacting the price of moving goods.
It appears either EU exporters or UK importers, or both, are facing higher costs as a result of these new barriers, the CEP said, with between 50% and 88% of this burden passed on to consumers.
Data yesterday showed food inflation has reached a new high of 12.4%, driven by an increase in the cost of meat, dairy, eggs and coffee in particular.
Richard Davies, a professor at the University of Bristol and co-author of the study, said: "One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU."
He added: "In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border.
"Firms faced higher costs and passed most of these onto consumers. Over the two years to the end of 2021, Brexit increased food prices by around 6% overall."
Nikhil Datta, a fellow co-author on the CEP research, said the findings had "stark" policy implications.
"Non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that should be a first-order concern, at least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices," he said.
The research comes amid growing calls for a new approach to Brexit after a series of bleak assessments about the impact it is having on the UK's finances.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has quashed reports of a closer alignment with the EU, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also ruled out a return to freedom of movement or a Swiss-style arrangement if he becomes PM.
During Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs) yesterday, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford branded the UK's departure from the European Union the "elephant in the room that neither the Tories or Labour are willing to confront".
He accused Sir Keir of trying to "out Brexit" the Conservatives, adding: "When will the prime minister finally see reality and admit that Brexit is a significant long-term cause of the UK economic crisis."
Let's get back on-topic.
What was the price increase on new imported chav-bikes?
PS: Why do you keep posting the same quoted (but uncredited) content
over and over and over again...?
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Sun Jun 11 21:37:38 2023
On 10/06/2023 04:32 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote [AGAIN!]:
Britain's departure from the European Union has accounted for about a third of the increase in food bills for households since 2019, equivalent to about 250 pounds ($316), [ ... ]
B O R I N G and T E D I O U S!
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
Spike on Sun Jun 11 21:39:42 2023
On 11/06/2023 08:01 pm, Spike wrote:
The £ is still at $1:25, so where’s this collapse?
Does anyone remember the ‘parity parties’ (£1=$1) of the 1980s that were ready to go ahead?
They never happened…
It was 1976, actually (under Wilson).
It didn't quite happen because Wilson borrowed from the IMF.
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sun Jun 11 13:57:49 2023
At 10 p.m. on June 23, 2016, Sky News projected the words “IN OR OUT” across the top of a London building as an orchestral score ratcheted up the tension. “In or out—it is too late to change your mind,” declared Adam Boulton, the veteran anchor,
seated in a makeshift studio across from Big Ben. “The polls have closed in the U.K.’s historic referendum on EU membership.” Election nights are major productions for British broadcasters, but Brexit was bigger, with Sky viewers watching
worldwide.
After the dramatic intro, Boulton jumped straight in with a huge exclusive, declaring he had “breaking news.” Nigel Farage, the global face of the Brexit campaign, had given Sky what sounded like a concession. His photo and a statement filled the
screen, as Faisal Islam, Sky’s political editor, read Farage’s words aloud: “It’s been an extraordinary referendum campaign, turnout looks to be exceptionally high and [it] looks like Remain will edge it. UKIP and I are going nowhere and the
party will only continue to grow stronger in the future.”
In the next segment, Boulton delivered another exclusive. Joe Twyman, head of political research for YouGov, one of the U.K.’s most prominent polling firms, appeared on set with the results of an online exit poll conducted for Sky. He explained that
the firm had been tracking the same voters—and they had moved farther into the Remain camp that day. Based on that, Twyman said, “We now expect that the United Kingdom will remain part of the European Union. It’s 52 percent Remain, 48 percent Leave,
so it’s still close and it’s still too early to know definitely—but, based on the figures that we’re seeing, based on the trends that have occurred, and based on historical precedent—we think that Remain are in the strongest position.” As in
past elections, Twyman added, voters had embraced the status quo on Election Day.
Just four minutes after the polls had closed, and with meaningful vote counts still more than two hours away, Sky had aired a concession from the world’s most prominent Brexit backer, buttressed by data from YouGov. In a few hours these “scoops”
would prove spectacularly wrong, but in the meantime they spawned worldwide headlines, including from Bloomberg News and virtually everyone else. This one, which ran atop the U.K.’s leading news site, the Mail Online, was typical. Referring to Farage's
UK Independence Party, it read:
The news pushed the U.K.’s currency up—herding investors toward a cliff hours ahead of one of the largest crashes for any major currency since the birth of the modern global financial system. Trillions of dollars in asset values would be wiped off
the books, but not just yet.
At 10:52 p.m., the pound rose above $1.50 and reached its highest mark in six months. A few minutes later, Ed Conway, the Sky News economics editor, appeared before a giant screen showing the spike. The pound had been tracking polls for months, Conway
explained. Whether they were on couches in London or at trading desks in Chicago, people watching Sky or reading headlines sparked by its coverage had every reason to think Remain would prevail. But not quite everyone.
Behind the scenes, a small group of people had a secret—and billions of dollars were at stake. Hedge funds aiming to win big from trades that day had hired YouGov and at least five other polling companies, including Farage's favorite pollster. Their
services, on the day and in the days leading up to the vote, varied, but pollsters sold hedge funds critical, advance information, including data that would have been illegal for them to give the public. Some hedge funds gained confidence, through
private exit polls, that most Britons had voted to leave the EU, or that the vote was far closer than the public believed—knowledge pollsters provided while voting was still underway and hours ahead of official tallies. These hedge funds were in the
perfect position to earn fortunes by short selling the British pound. Others learned the likely outcome of public, potentially market-moving polls before they were published, offering surefire trades.
Hedge fund managers, of course, try to beat the market by getting the best information they can. For exit polling data, that’s a tricky business. Pollsters have always sold surveys to private clients, but U.K. law restricts them from releasing exit-
poll data before voting ends. While some of the practices discovered by Bloomberg fall into a gray area, the law is clear: It would have been a violation if, prior to the polls closing, “any section of the public” had gotten the same data the
pollsters sold privately to hedge funds.
One person with questions still to answer is Farage, a former commodities broker who also went to work for a London currency trading company after he moved into politics. He twice told the world on election night that Leave had likely lost, when he had
information suggesting his side had actually won. He also has changed his story about who told him what regarding that very valuable piece of information.
Bloomberg’s account is based in part on interviews over seven months with more than 30 knowledgeable current and former polling-company executives, consultants and traders, nearly all of whom spoke only on the condition they not be named because of
confidentiality agreements. Pollsters said they believed Brexit yielded one of the most profitable single days in the history of their industry. Some hedge funds that hired them cleared in the hundreds of millions of dollars, while their industry on the
whole was battered by the chaos Brexit wrought in global financial markets. Although confidentiality agreements have made it difficult to discover the identities of many of the hedge funds that bought exclusive or syndicated exit polls, at least a dozen
were involved, and potentially many more, Bloomberg found.
The private exit poll that appears to have had the most clients was conducted by Farage’s favorite pollster and friend, Damian Lyons-Lowe, whose company is called Survation. It was sold to multiple clients and correctly predicted Leave, according to
Farage and other sources familiar with the results. In an interview with Bloomberg, Farage said he learned of Survation’s results before making at least one of two public concessions that night, meaning there was a good chance he was feeding specious
sentiment into markets.
Survation wasn’t alone. As YouGov’s Twyman predicted a Remain victory on Sky, three of his colleagues were watching from inside the London office of a hedge fund. In addition to the public exit poll for Sky, YouGov earlier sold a private exit poll to
this fund, which provided data to traders that matched the results Twyman presented on television, effectively giving them an edge for betting on the rise in the pound sparked by his comments, according to sources familiar with the events. YouGov staff
code-named it “Operation Pomegranate.” It charged the hedge fund roughly $1 million, according to knowledgeable sources. Separately, YouGov gave Sky its poll for free. The hedge fund did extremely well, according to three sources familiar with the
situation.
Opinion polls published in the British press during the critical final days of the campaign helped voters make up their minds—about both whether to take part in the referendum and which side they were on. But the relationships between polling firms and
hedge funds in the lead-up to the vote, and on the day, created an inherent conflict. With one hand, pollsters fed the public information that affected the outcome and moved the markets. With the other, they sold data privately to clients betting on
market moves created by their public-facing polls.
Two years after the historic vote, the pound is back at $1.32, the bottom of the crash that morning. Inflation is up, and the Bank of England has said British households are poorer than they would have been otherwise. People remain divided, while the
government of Prime Minister Theresa May is deadlocked over how to move forward.
Those aren't the only unanswered questions. After the world asked how the nation’s leading pollsters could have been so wrong, British lawmakers launched an inquiry into whether misleading polls, in the referendum and other recent elections, were
distorting democracy. But even members of a House of Lords select committee that looked into the subject had no idea that the companies they were probing had essentially become tools for firms wagering on the nation’s mood and votes. The Lords’ final
report, released in April, made no mention of the relationships between pollsters and hedge funds.
George Foulkes, a Labour member of the upper House of Lords, was the driving force behind the select committee. On Monday, he called for lawmakers to initiate a Parliamentary inquiry into the “astonishing” practices revealed by Bloomberg. “The case
for statutory regulation of polling companies is now overwhelming,” Foulkes said.
In the U.S., national newspapers and broadcasters hire for-profit pollsters for elections. But the news organizations oversee the design and analysis of the polls and brand them in their own names, giving them greater confidence in the independence of
the data. By contrast, election polling in the British press is a brand-building affair for U.K. pollsters. Charging the press little, or even nothing, they use media polls as marketing tools to attract lucrative commercial clients. About 99 percent of
the more than 4 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) in annual industry revenue typically comes not from elections but from marketing-related research—such things as, “Do you prefer Coke or Pepsi?” As the Lords committee report explained, election polls
were “described by many of the witnesses as a ‘shop front’” for their commercial activities.
Polling firms found a way to tap deep-pocketed commercial clients for election polling during the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014. It all started when a pair of YouGov polls in the British press set off a national panic ahead of the
vote. YouGov had nationalists closing the gap, and then, days later, jumping ahead with fewer than two weeks left in the campaign. Nervous investors sent the British pound and bank stocks down sharply. Shocked government leaders responded, just days
before the vote, by promising a greater devolution of powers to the Scottish people if they stayed in the U.K., a pledge known as “The Vow.” Critics would later charge that misleading YouGov data, which proved fantastically off the vote, had shaped
the future of an entire country.
The phones in YouGov’s offices rang like mad in the days between the Scottish polls and the referendum. Hedge fund executives were among those on the line. If YouGov was conducting another poll before the vote, traders said, they’d be willing to pay
vast sums for a heads-up just 30 minutes to an hour before publication, according to two knowledgeable sources. Since news of the poll alone likely would move markets, the survey’s accuracy was meaningless; traders simply needed to know the results
before they became public. They offered YouGov several multiples more than the newspapers had paid to commission the polls in the first place, the two insiders recalled. YouGov rejected these offers, the insiders said. Survation, along with at least one
other pollster, saw other opportunities.
Survation organized and sold last-minute tracking polls and a syndicated exit poll for the Scottish referendum to some of the world’s biggest hedge funds, according to three knowledgeable sources. Clients included Brevan Howard Asset Management, then
managing about $37 billion, Tudor Investment Corp. and the Japanese firm Nomura Holdings Inc., according to one knowledgeable source. Brevan Howard even hired a second U.K. pollster, ICM Unlimited, and merged data from the two companies into its trading
decisions, the source said. Pollsters at Survation and ICM streamed results throughout the day of the vote, allowing their hedge fund clients to place bets while voters were still casting ballots. Brevan Howard, Tudor and Nomura declined to comment for
this story.
By early the next morning, it was clear that Scottish voters had rejected independence overwhelmingly. The YouGov poll that had sparked the most turmoil had missed the final mark by 6 points. Survation’s private exit poll, however, was accurate enough
that its clients had what they needed to profit, according to knowledgeable sources. A lucrative line of business was born for two industries.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 00:17:10 2023
On 11/06/2023 09:57 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
At 10 p.m. on June 23, 2016, Sky News projected the words “IN OR OUT” across the top of a London building as an orchestral score ratcheted up the tension. “In or out—it is too late to change your mind,” declared Adam Boulton, the veteran
anchor, seated in a makeshift studio across from Big Ben. “The polls have closed in the U.K.’s historic referendum on EU membership.” Election nights are major productions for British broadcasters, but Brexit was bigger, with Sky viewers watching
worldwide.
Did Boulton arrive at the makeshift studio on a chav-bike?
If not, what's it got to do with uk.rec.cycling?
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Sun Jun 11 23:20:45 2023
The cost of British food staples such as cheddar cheese, white bread and porridge oats have soared on a year ago, according to latest inflation figures from Which?
Overall inflation on food and drink at supermarkets continued to rise in March to 17.2 per cent, up from 16.5 per cent the month before, the watchdog found.
Cheddar cheese prices increased by an average 28.3 per cent across eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose – compared to a year ago.
However, one cheese, Dragon Welsh Mature Cheddar 180g at Asda, increased from £1 in the three months to the end of March last year to £1.80 across the same period this year – an 80 per cent hike year on year.
The consumer group analysed inflation on more than 26,000 food and drink products at the eight supermarkets, and also selected a basket of staple foods including cheddar cheese, sliced white bread, pork sausages, white potatoes and porridge oats to find
which of these everyday products had seen the biggest price hikes.
Porridge oats
The cost of porridge oats went up by an average of 35.5 per cent across all eight supermarkets compared to the same time last year.
However, the worst single example of inflation on porridge oats was at Ocado where Quaker Oat So Simple Protein Porridge Pot Original 49g went from 94p to £1.56 – an increase of 65.5 per cent.
Large 800g loaves of sliced white bread saw an average increase of 22.8 per cent, but The Bakery at Asda Soft White Medium Sliced Bread 800g increased by 67 per cent from 56p to 94p.
Average inflation in white potatoes was around 14 per cent, but a four pack of baking potatoes at Morrisons increased from 40p to 66p – a rise of 63.5 per cent.
Pork sausages increased by an average of 26.8 per cent across the supermarkets. However Asda’s Just Essentials budget range of eight sausages increased in price by 73.5 per cent from 81p to £1.40, while Tesco’s value Woodside Farms pack of eight
went from 80p to £1.39, a 73.3 per cent increase.
Brexit
According to Bank of England policy maker Catherine Mann, Britain leaving the European Union has helped fuel the highest food inflation in 45 years after causing an exodus of small EU exporters from the UK market.
Mann, an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee, said Brexit is an important driver of the accelerating food-price surge gripping UK households after tangling up EU firms in costly red tape.
In 2017, Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed Brexit would reduce food, wine and clothes costs by 20 per cent as he hit out at ‘Project Fear’ Remoaners.
He has still to comment on the latest figures.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 10:34:54 2023
This report manages to leave out three significant items:
- covid
- Ukraine
- the similarity with EU prices.
So read it with those points in mind.
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
The cost of British food staples such as cheddar cheese, white bread and porridge oats have soared on a year ago, according to latest inflation figures from Which?
Overall inflation on food and drink at supermarkets continued to rise in March to 17.2 per cent, up from 16.5 per cent the month before, the watchdog found.
Cheddar cheese prices increased by an average 28.3 per cent across eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose – compared to a year ago.
However, one cheese, Dragon Welsh Mature Cheddar 180g at Asda, increased
from £1 in the three months to the end of March last year to £1.80 across the same period this year – an 80 per cent hike year on year.
The consumer group analysed inflation on more than 26,000 food and drink products at the eight supermarkets, and also selected a basket of staple foods including cheddar cheese, sliced white bread, pork sausages, white potatoes and porridge oats to find which of these everyday products had
seen the biggest price hikes.
Porridge oats
The cost of porridge oats went up by an average of 35.5 per cent across
all eight supermarkets compared to the same time last year.
However, the worst single example of inflation on porridge oats was at
Ocado where Quaker Oat So Simple Protein Porridge Pot Original 49g went
from 94p to £1.56 – an increase of 65.5 per cent.
Large 800g loaves of sliced white bread saw an average increase of 22.8
per cent, but The Bakery at Asda Soft White Medium Sliced Bread 800g increased by 67 per cent from 56p to 94p.
Average inflation in white potatoes was around 14 per cent, but a four
pack of baking potatoes at Morrisons increased from 40p to 66p – a rise of 63.5 per cent.
Pork sausages increased by an average of 26.8 per cent across the supermarkets. However Asda’s Just Essentials budget range of eight
sausages increased in price by 73.5 per cent from 81p to £1.40, while Tesco’s value Woodside Farms pack of eight went from 80p to £1.39, a 73.3 per cent increase.
Brexit
According to Bank of England policy maker Catherine Mann, Britain leaving
the European Union has helped fuel the highest food inflation in 45 years after causing an exodus of small EU exporters from the UK market.
Mann, an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee, said Brexit is
an important driver of the accelerating food-price surge gripping UK households after tangling up EU firms in costly red tape.
In 2017, Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed Brexit would reduce food, wine and
clothes costs by 20 per cent as he hit out at ‘Project Fear’ Remoaners.
He has still to comment on the latest figures.
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Mon Jun 12 03:57:01 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Mon Jun 12 03:55:03 2023
There is also Brexit. A report last week by researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) found Brits had paid an extra £7bn since Brexit to cover the extra cost of trade barriers on food imports from the EU, primarily due to new trade barriers
such as extra paperwork and veterinary checks.
Meat and cheese were hit especially hard, given the high volumes imported from Europe. These products face some of the highest barriers at the border and, as a result, since January 2021, had seen price hikes of about 10% more than similar products not
exposed to Brexit, the researchers said. With the UK set to implement further checks this year, this is by no means the end of that dynamic.
Some commentators also blame Brexit for exacerbating the UK’s labour shortages, though the country is by no means unique in this respect. Hungary is experiencing the highest inflation rate in Europe (38.5%), in part driven by a 17% rise in average
gross wages in the year to March, according to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, after a record worker shortage last year.
Hungary and the UK also share another inflationary concern: currency. Hungary’s forint lost 11% of its value against the euro late last year, an extreme devaluation attributed to the country’s close proximity to the war in Ukraine and its high
dependence on Russian energy.
The pound has lost a more moderate 3% against the euro since last summer but, given the UK imports about 30% of its food from Europe, this is still a notable inflationary force, according to Thijs Geijer, an economist at ING Research. Geijer contrasts
the UK with Switzerland, where inflation is the lowest in Europe (5.4%) following an 18-month period in which the franc proved consistently strong against the euro.
In France, the government has loosely agreed with supermarkets to reduce prices of some products, but Leclerc president Michel-Édouard Leclerc said he saw no need to wait for political talks to cut prices as it is aiming to provide the lowest prices on
all, as opposed to specific, products
Alongside the macro economic factors, there is also the commercial, and one of those is gaining more attention than any: ‘greedflation’. The most notable difference between countries here is the approach of the respective institutions.
The Bank of England, for example, has been far quicker to warn of wage restraint than price restraint. In May, it simply suggested that some businesses had seen margins squeezed and would try to rebuild margins as their costs fall. By contrast, a study
by the European Central Bank pinpointed greedflation as an explanation for inflation in the eurozone hitting its highest level since the creation of the single currency. The eurozone’s central bank looked at the contribution of profits to inflation
over the last 25 years, concluding that while on average profits were responsible for one-third of the inflation rate, in 2022 profits contributed to two-thirds.
European countries have also been quicker to intervene recently as they strive to curb food inflation. In France, for example, where food inflation is at 15.9%, the government has made a loose agreement with supermarkets to reduce the price on a
selection of products “to the lowest possible level”.
Cut sales taxes
Hungary has implemented a firmer policy in which certain food items must be discounted by at least 10% compared with the lowest price in the past 30 days. Spain, Portugal and Italy are among those to cut sales taxes on food products to ease the burden on
shoppers.
The UK is now considering following the lead set by France in asking supermarkets to cap prices on a selection of items, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph last week. While the plans are still only at “the drawing board stage”, they have
already been given short shrift by supermarkets and MPs alike.
“This will not make a jot of difference to prices,” said Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC, who instead blamed the government’s “muddle of new regulation” for keeping prices high.
Independent experts tend to agree. “We believe [price caps] will not affect pricing strategies significantly,” said the Economist Intelligence Unit in a recent briefing. It argued that rather than supermarkets being the main inflictors of excess
profit, comparisons of food price indices across the supply chain “suggest that food producers have been raising prices more rapidly than retailers, generating substantial profits as commodity prices fall”.
It will take a brave Downing Street to implement any caps in the face of such evidence-backed resistance.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 14:30:03 2023
On 12/06/2023 07:20 am,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
The cost of British food staples such as cheddar cheese, white bread and porridge oats have soared on a year ago, according to latest inflation figures from Which?
Is that because they are delivered by chav-bike and circus-clown's trailer?
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 14:32:28 2023
On 12/06/2023 11:55 am,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
There is also Brexit. A report last week by researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) found Brits had paid an extra £7bn since Brexit to cover the extra cost of trade barriers on food imports from the EU, primarily due to new trade barriers
such as extra paperwork and veterinary checks.
Meat and cheese were hit especially hard, given the high volumes imported from Europe. These products face some of the highest barriers at the border and, as a result, since January 2021, had seen price hikes of about 10% more than similar products not
exposed to Brexit, the researchers said. With the UK set to implement further checks this year, this is by no means the end of that dynamic.
Some commentators also blame Brexit for exacerbating the UK’s labour shortages, though the country is by no means unique in this respect. Hungary is experiencing the highest inflation rate in Europe (38.5%), in part driven by a 17% rise in average
gross wages in the year to March, according to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, after a record worker shortage last year.
Hungary and the UK also share another inflationary concern: currency. Hungary’s forint lost 11% of its value against the euro late last year, an extreme devaluation attributed to the country’s close proximity to the war in Ukraine and its high
dependence on Russian energy.
The pound has lost a more moderate 3% against the euro since last summer but, given the UK imports about 30% of its food from Europe, this is still a notable inflationary force, according to Thijs Geijer, an economist at ING Research. Geijer contrasts
the UK with Switzerland, where inflation is the lowest in Europe (5.4%) following an 18-month period in which the franc proved consistently strong against the euro.
In France, the government has loosely agreed with supermarkets to reduce prices of some products, but Leclerc president Michel-Édouard Leclerc said he saw no need to wait for political talks to cut prices as it is aiming to provide the lowest prices
on all, as opposed to specific, products
Alongside the macro economic factors, there is also the commercial, and one of those is gaining more attention than any: ‘greedflation’. The most notable difference between countries here is the approach of the respective institutions.
The Bank of England, for example, has been far quicker to warn of wage restraint than price restraint. In May, it simply suggested that some businesses had seen margins squeezed and would try to rebuild margins as their costs fall. By contrast, a study
by the European Central Bank pinpointed greedflation as an explanation for inflation in the eurozone hitting its highest level since the creation of the single currency. The eurozone’s central bank looked at the contribution of profits to inflation
over the last 25 years, concluding that while on average profits were responsible for one-third of the inflation rate, in 2022 profits contributed to two-thirds.
European countries have also been quicker to intervene recently as they strive to curb food inflation. In France, for example, where food inflation is at 15.9%, the government has made a loose agreement with supermarkets to reduce the price on a
selection of products “to the lowest possible level”.
Cut sales taxes
Hungary has implemented a firmer policy in which certain food items must be discounted by at least 10% compared with the lowest price in the past 30 days. Spain, Portugal and Italy are among those to cut sales taxes on food products to ease the burden
on shoppers.
The UK is now considering following the lead set by France in asking supermarkets to cap prices on a selection of items, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph last week. While the plans are still only at “the drawing board stage”, they have
already been given short shrift by supermarkets and MPs alike.
“This will not make a jot of difference to prices,” said Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC, who instead blamed the government’s “muddle of new regulation” for keeping prices high.
Independent experts tend to agree. “We believe [price caps] will not affect pricing strategies significantly,” said the Economist Intelligence Unit in a recent briefing. It argued that rather than supermarkets being the main inflictors of excess
profit, comparisons of food price indices across the supply chain “suggest that food producers have been raising prices more rapidly than retailers, generating substantial profits as commodity prices fall”.
It will take a brave Downing Street to implement any caps in the face of such evidence-backed resistance.
Despite all the errors and omissions within the above, you did NOT write it.
You have dishonestly plagiarised it from the work of someone rather more intelligent than you are, even if just as misguided.
And where do the chav-bikes come into it?
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 13:36:47 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Mon Jun 12 08:34:15 2023
Conclusions The number of households experiencing food insecurity and its severity is likely to increase because of expected sizeable increases in median food prices after Brexit. Higher increases are more likely than lower rises and towards the upper
limits, these would entail severe impacts. Research showing a low food budget leads to increasingly poor diet suggests that demand for health services in both the short and longer terms is likely to increase due to the effects of food insecurity on the
incidence and management of diet-sensitive conditions.
UK GOVT STUDY.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 15:55:57 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Conclusions The number of households experiencing food insecurity and its severity is likely to increase because of expected sizeable increases in median food prices after Brexit. Higher increases are more likely than
lower rises and towards the upper limits, these would entail severe
impacts. Research showing a low food budget leads to increasingly poor
diet suggests that demand for health services in both the short and
longer terms is likely to increase due to the effects of food insecurity
on the incidence and management of diet-sensitive conditions.
UK GOVT STUDY.
So, without the full impact of covid, and the Ukraine war two years ahead,
this report has passed its Sell By date:
Anticipated impacts of Brexit scenarios on UK food prices and implications
for policies on poverty and health: a structured expert judgement approach
Martine Jayne Barons et al.
BMJ Open. 2020.
--
Spike
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Mon Jun 12 09:19:07 2023
The average food bill for a UK household saw a £210 rise within the last two years as a result of Brexit, a recent study found.
According to the research by the London School of Economics, consumers paid £5.8 billion in additional grocery costs during the two years to the end of 2021.
Following Brexit, food prices rose by 6% and low-income households were hardest hit by these soaring costs, the study found.
“Many factors, affecting both supply and demand for goods and services, are involved. One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU,” study co-author and professor at the University of Bristol,
Richard Davies said.
“In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border.”
Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s former CEO Justin King claimed that rising inflation and soaring food prices “started with Brexit” in an interview on Sky News.
King said: “Well in excess of 40 per cent of our food comes from Europe, so it started with Brexit.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 17:37:53 2023
On 12/06/2023 04:34 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
Conclusions The number of households experiencing food insecurity and its severity is likely to increase because of expected sizeable increases in median food prices after Brexit. Higher increases are more likely than lower rises and towards the upper
limits, these would entail severe impacts. Research showing a low food budget leads to increasingly poor diet suggests that demand for health services in both the short and longer terms is likely to increase due to the effects of food insecurity on the
incidence and management of diet-sensitive conditions.
UK GOVT STUDY.
Question: How many people and/or households in the UK (or, for that
matter, anywhere in the First World) are in danger of under-nutrition
(let alone starvation)?
Answer: As near to zero as makes absolutely no difference in policy
terms. The only malnutrition danger in the western world is that of over-nutrition, as a stroll down any populated street soon shows you (especially in so-called deprived areas).
Now... where are the chav-bikes mentioned?
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 17:40:16 2023
On 12/06/2023 05:19 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
The average food bill for a UK household saw a £210 rise within the last two years as a result of Brexit, a recent biased study found.
According to the research by the London School of Economics, consumers paid £5.8 billion in additional grocery costs during the two years to the end of 2021.
That's a lot of extra food they bought between 2019 and 2021, isn't it?
Does red wine count as a grocery item? It certainly does for us.
Following Brexit, food prices rose by 6% and low-income households were hardest hit by these soaring costs, the study found.
What "study"? Who chaired it? You?
“Many factors, affecting both supply and demand for goods and services, are involved. One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU,” study co-author and professor at the University of Bristol,
Richard Davies said.
“In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border.”
Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s former CEO Justin King claimed that rising inflation and soaring food prices “started with Brexit” in an interview on Sky News.
King said: “Well in excess of 40 per cent of our food comes from Europe, so it started with Brexit.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Mon Jun 12 10:00:20 2023
Costly tomatoes, sausages, butter and mushrooms have contributed to an increase in Northern Ireland’s food price inflation as the agri-food sector adjusted to the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
That’s according to Ulster Bank’s Ulster Fry Index which looks at the price change in the key constituents of the iconic breakfast dish.
It climbed by 1.7% on the year and is expected to increase in the coming year as the true impact of supply issues related to Brexit are felt, the bank’s Chief Northern Ireland Economist Richard Ramsey said.
Tomatoes climbed by some 15% as the result of a poor harvest and a long winter while sausages were up 5% and butter 3.7%, thought to be as a result of supply issues related to Brexit.
Mr Ramsey said as the food chain grappled with Covid-19, it faced increased costs which have be passed down the chain to the consumer
However, while many items were in positive territory in this year’s index, others fell as the diverging effects of Brexit, the pandemic and inclement weather.
The cost of eggs fell 7% as a result of oversupply due to restrictions on the hospitality sector while milk, tea and margarine also fell.
“This year’s rise in the Index follows two consecutive years of falls, but the long-term trend is very much upwards,” he said. “The Ulster Fry Index is 6.5 percent higher than it was five years ago and 23 percent higher than it was at the time of
the last recession in 2008.
“The Ulster Bank Ulster Fry Index is intended to be a way to engage consumers in economics and to help communicate what’s happening with indicators like inflation. It is also a way of highlighting the important role of our agri food sector, which
brings us our bacon, eggs, butter and much more, and to create understanding of how the economics of the agri-food sector work.”
While prices for consumers have risen, it’s unlikely farmers have been able to benefit.
Latest government figures showed farming incomes in Northern Ireland up 27% but because of the associated hike in the costs of fuel, fertilizer and other inputs, profit margins remain slim for many farmers.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
-
From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 21:20:14 2023
On 12/06/2023 06:00 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
Costly tomatoes, sausages, butter and mushrooms have contributed to an increase in Northern Ireland’s food price inflation as the agri-food sector adjusted to the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
That’s according to Ulster Bank’s Ulster Fry Index which looks at the price change in the key constituents of the iconic breakfast dish.
It climbed by 1.7% on the year and is expected to increase in the coming year as the true impact of supply issues related to Brexit are felt, the bank’s Chief Northern Ireland Economist Richard Ramsey said.
Only 1.7%?
That's less than the bank of England's *target* for inflation, which is 2%.
How about the prices of chav-cycles like yours?
Tomatoes climbed by some 15% as the result of a poor harvest and a long winter while sausages were up 5% and butter 3.7%, thought to be as a result of supply issues related to Brexit.
Mr Ramsey said as the food chain grappled with Covid-19, it faced increased costs which have be passed down the chain to the consumer
However, while many items were in positive territory in this year’s index, others fell as the diverging effects of Brexit, the pandemic and inclement weather.
The cost of eggs fell 7% as a result of oversupply due to restrictions on the hospitality sector while milk, tea and margarine also fell.
“This year’s rise in the Index follows two consecutive years of falls, but the long-term trend is very much upwards,” he said. “The Ulster Fry Index is 6.5 percent higher than it was five years ago and 23 percent higher than it was at the time
of the last recession in 2008.
“The Ulster Bank Ulster Fry Index is intended to be a way to engage consumers in economics and to help communicate what’s happening with indicators like inflation. It is also a way of highlighting the important role of our agri food sector, which
brings us our bacon, eggs, butter and much more, and to create understanding of how the economics of the agri-food sector work.”
While prices for consumers have risen, it’s unlikely farmers have been able to benefit.
Latest government figures showed farming incomes in Northern Ireland up 27% but because of the associated hike in the costs of fuel, fertilizer and other inputs, profit margins remain slim for many farmers.
So only trivial increases in prices and a 27% boost to incomes?
That has to be attributed to the UK being independent again, doesn't it?
Don't forget to try to work chav-bikes into your answer.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Mon Jun 12 13:27:22 2023
2022 was supposed to be a year of recovery. Instead, we find ourselves in December, staring into the eyes of another recession. The war in Ukraine has brought us here, that’s unambiguously clear. The Russian invasion unleashed a surge in the price of
energy which has trampled on the spending power of households and the profits of businesses. But in the background, the impact of Brexit is also being felt.
The evidence increasingly shows that our decision to leave the European Union has lifted the price of imported goods, flattened business investment and damaged trade. The government’s own forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR),
considers Brexit to be an economic “shock” but separating Brexit’s impact from that of Covid and the war in Ukraine is tricky.
Since 2018, John Springford at the Centre for European Reform (CER) has been modelling the economic performance of a UK that remained in the EU - using data from countries like the US, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Australia, whose performance was
similar to the UK’s before Brexit. The difference in performance between his “doppelgänger UK economy” and the real thing is stark. Mr Springford’s latest update estimates that Brexit reduced Britain’s GDP by 5.5% by the second quarter of 2022.
Put another way, between April and June economic output was £33 billion lower than it would have been had the UK voted to stay in the EU, costing the government around £12 billion in lost tax revenues. In the year to the end of June 2022, Mr
Springford estimates the tax loss at around £40 billion.
'I think we can be pretty clear that the hit from Brexit is significant,' Mr Springford says
“There can be no doubt that the UK economy is significantly smaller as a result of Brexit,” Mr Springford says.
“In March 2022, when he was chancellor, Rishi Sunak tacitly accepted the OBR’s projection that the economy would be around 4% smaller, and as a result raised tax by £46 billion to ensure public services would be funded.
"According to my analysis, almost all of those tax rises wouldn’t have been needed if Britain had remained in the EU.” Mr Springford’s doppelgänger model suggests Brexit has had other negative impacts, lowering both business investment and goods
trade. Although, trade in services is largely the same.
“I’m reasonably confident in the [GDP] number,” Springford insists.
“There are always errors around estimates so we shouldn’t say it’s absolute gospel but we are comparing the UK to lots of other countries who have similar economies to the UK and they are not seeing the slowdown we have seen in the UK”. The UK
voted to leave the EU in 2016 and officially left on 31st January 2020. Boris Johnson’s Conservative government decided to take the UK out of both the EU single market and the EU’s Customs Union and negotiated a fairly standard trade agreement with
basic access for goods. The government prioritised greater sovereignty, including the right to diverge from EU regulations and to set its own rules. Springford’s analysis suggests this political freedom was won at great economic cost.
Mr Springford urges the government to be transparent about the 'negative' impact of Brexit
“All reputable forecasters and analysts pretty much agree that Brexit has had a negative impact on the British economy,” Mr Springford says. “It was a consequence of the decision that the government took that they wanted to take back as much
control as possible and they were going to sacrifice some economic activity as a result of that and it’s best for the government to be open and straightforward about that decision”. Last week the government set out a series of post-Brexit changes,
designed to make the City more competitive against its global rivals. The “Edinburgh” reforms were presented as having been made possible by the (genuine) regulatory freedom leaving the EU secured.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Mon Jun 12 21:05:43 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
2022 was supposed to be a year of recovery. Instead, we find ourselves in December, staring into the eyes of another recession.
This is of course The Recession That Never Was.
The one in the Eurozone is quite real, though. Just ask your friends,
during your 7000-mile Grand Tour d’Europe.
The war in Ukraine has brought us here, that’s unambiguously clear. The Russian invasion unleashed a surge in the price of energy which has
trampled on the spending power of households and the profits of
businesses. But in the background, the impact of Brexit is also being felt.
So Brexit is a background item!
The evidence increasingly shows that our decision to leave the European
Union has lifted the price of imported goods, flattened business
investment and damaged trade. The government’s own forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), considers Brexit to be an economic “shock” but separating Brexit’s impact from that of Covid and the war in Ukraine is tricky.
Isn’t it just.
Since 2018, John Springford at the Centre for European Reform (CER) has
been modelling the economic performance of a UK that remained in the EU - using data from countries like the US, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Australia, whose performance was similar to the UK’s before Brexit. The difference in performance between his “doppelgänger UK economy” and the real thing is stark. Mr Springford’s latest update estimates that Brexit reduced Britain’s GDP by 5.5% by the second quarter of 2022. Put another way, between April and June economic output was £33 billion lower than it would have been had the UK voted to stay in the EU, costing the
government around £12 billion in lost tax revenues. In the year to the
end of June 2022, Mr Springford estimates the tax loss at around £40 billion.
'I think we can be pretty clear that the hit from Brexit is significant,'
Mr Springford says
Significant for a background item, of course.
“There can be no doubt that the UK economy is significantly smaller as a result of Brexit,” Mr Springford says.
“In March 2022, when he was chancellor, Rishi Sunak tacitly accepted the OBR’s projection that the economy would be around 4% smaller, and as a result raised tax by £46 billion to ensure public services would be funded.
"According to my analysis, almost all of those tax rises wouldn’t have
been needed if Britain had remained in the EU.” Mr Springford’s doppelgänger model suggests Brexit has had other negative impacts,
lowering both business investment and goods trade. Although, trade in services is largely the same.
“I’m reasonably confident in the [GDP] number,” Springford insists.
“There are always errors around estimates so we shouldn’t say it’s absolute gospel but we are comparing the UK to lots of other countries
who have similar economies to the UK and they are not seeing the slowdown
we have seen in the UK”. The UK voted to leave the EU in 2016 and officially left on 31st January 2020. Boris Johnson’s Conservative government decided to take the UK out of both the EU single market and
the EU’s Customs Union and negotiated a fairly standard trade agreement with basic access for goods. The government prioritised greater
sovereignty, including the right to diverge from EU regulations and to
set its own rules. Springford’s analysis suggests this political freedom was won at great economic cost.
Mr Springford urges the government to be transparent about the 'negative' impact of Brexit
“All reputable forecasters and analysts pretty much agree that Brexit has had a negative impact on the British economy,” Mr Springford says. “It was a consequence of the decision that the government took that they
wanted to take back as much control as possible and they were going to sacrifice some economic activity as a result of that and it’s best for
the government to be open and straightforward about that decision”. Last week the government set out a series of post-Brexit changes, designed to
make the City more competitive against its global rivals. The “Edinburgh” reforms were presented as having been made possible by the (genuine) regulatory freedom leaving the EU secured.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Mon Jun 12 23:21:42 2023
British consumers are now spending £210 more per year on food shopping because of the departure from the European Union, research has found.
Additional checks and requirements on goods crossing the border have increased food prices by 6 per cent overall, the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics has found.
Around £5.8 billion more per year is being spent every year, the report released on Thursday said, with the poorest likely to be spending a greater share of their pay cheque on food.
The centre found that while the UK did not leave the EU until the start of 2021, disruption has been in the works for a while.
It was noted in the report that the exit agreement lacked the nuance needed to smooth out the transition without consumers being out of pocket - despite trade still being tariff free.
It comes at a time when food inflation has reached a new high of 12.4 per cent - with meat, dairy and coffee being particularly affected.
University of Bristol professor Richard Davies, the co-author of the study, said: "One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU.
"In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border.
He added that firms are facing higher costs and these are being passed onto consumers.
Nikhil Datta, a fellow co-author, added: “Non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that should be a first-order concern, at least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices.”
Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have ruled out taking further steps towards a model more closely resembling EU membership - despite probing in the Commons this week from Scottish National Party’s leader in Westminster Ian Blackford.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 10:43:02 2023
Note that the similar rises in food prices across Europe have nothing to do with Brexit!
It is inconceivable that the inflation in one group is for different
reasons than the other, food being an international commodity.
Brexit is being used by Remoaners as a scapegoat for everything they don’t like, but there are no new tunes for their one-string fiddles so recycled ‘news’ items will have to do.
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
British consumers are now spending £210 more per year on food shopping because of the departure from the European Union, research has found.
Additional checks and requirements on goods crossing the border have increased food prices by 6 per cent overall, the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics has found.
Around £5.8 billion more per year is being spent every year, the report released on Thursday said, with the poorest likely to be spending a
greater share of their pay cheque on food.
The centre found that while the UK did not leave the EU until the start
of 2021, disruption has been in the works for a while.
It was noted in the report that the exit agreement lacked the nuance
needed to smooth out the transition without consumers being out of pocket
- despite trade still being tariff free.
It comes at a time when food inflation has reached a new high of 12.4 per cent - with meat, dairy and coffee being particularly affected.
University of Bristol professor Richard Davies, the co-author of the
study, said: "One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU.
"In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and
steps are required before goods can cross the border.
He added that firms are facing higher costs and these are being passed onto consumers.
Nikhil Datta, a fellow co-author, added: “Non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that should be a first-order concern, at
least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices.”
Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have ruled out taking further steps towards a model more closely resembling EU membership - despite probing
in the Commons this week from Scottish National Party’s leader in Westminster Ian Blackford.
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 13 03:56:38 2023
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 7:21:44 AM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote: QUOTE: British consumers are now spending £210 more per year on food shopping because of the departure from the European Union, research has found. ENDS
Don't forget the 20% crash in the value of the GBP in a few hours in 2016.
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 13:50:45 2023
On 13/06/2023 07:21 am,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
British consumers are now spending £210 more per year on food shopping because of the departure from the European Union, research has found.
That must be at least the fifth time that you have posted the same
plagiarised text, each time without acknowledging its source, thereby dishonestly claiming that you are intelligent enough to have written it.
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 07:05:56 2023
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 11:56:39 AM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 7:21:44 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote: QUOTE: British consumers are now spending £210 more per year on food shopping because of the departure from the European Union, research has found. ENDS
Don't forget the 20% crash in the value of the GBP in a few hours in 2016.
Wonder what caused the GBP to plummet in value on that particular date from which it has never recovered, adding £billions to imports?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyghkdlaUAEdXNW?format=jpg&name=900x900
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 14:17:05 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 11:56:39 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 7:21:44 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote: >> QUOTE: British consumers are now spending £210 more per year on food
shopping because of the departure from the European Union, research has found. ENDS
Don't forget the 20% crash in the value of the GBP in a few hours in 2016.
Wonder what caused the GBP to plummet in value on that particular date
from which it has never recovered, adding £billions to imports?
And earning billions in exports.
You don’t understand this finance stuff, do you?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyghkdlaUAEdXNW?format=jpg&name=900x900
--
Spike
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 14:49:53 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 07:22:24 2023
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 3:05:58 PM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 11:56:39 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 7:21:44 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote: QUOTE: British consumers are now spending £210 more per year on food shopping because of the departure from the European Union, research has found. ENDS
Don't forget the 20% crash in the value of the GBP in a few hours in 2016.
Wonder what caused the GBP to plummet in value on that particular date from which it has never recovered, adding £billions to imports?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyghkdlaUAEdXNW?format=jpg&name=900x900
And why was Frogface laughing all the way to the bank?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FmxNZIsWAAYJgjv?format=jpg&name=small
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 13 08:22:54 2023
Another twat who shorted the GBP in 2016 gets his just deserts at last.
--------------------------------
Partners at Odey Asset Management said that founder Crispin Odey would leave the firm after 13 women accused him of sexual misconduct.
The high-profile financier and his firm have been at the centre of a growing crisis after the Financial Times reported on Thursday that 13 women alleged Odey had sexually assaulted or harassed them in various incidents over a 25-year period.
“Mr Crispin Odey is leaving the partnership. As from today, he will no longer have any economic or personal involvement in the partnership,” Peter Martin, chief executive, and Michael Ede, chief financial and operating officer, wrote in a statement
seen by the FT on Saturday.
They added that Odey Asset Management Group Limited, a holding company that is part of the group and majority owned by Odey, would also be removed as a member and that the partnership would now be owned and controlled by remaining partners.
OAM, which had $3.8bn of assets under management in 2022, said that it “has been investigating allegations concerning Mr Odey” but said it could not comment in detail for confidentiality reasons. It said that “further communications” with clients
would follow over the weekend.
Reached by phone at lunchtime on Saturday, Odey confirmed he had been notified of the firm’s decision but suggested he would fight it. “You have to have [a] willing buyer, willing seller,” he said. He did not provide additional comment.
A law firm representing Odey had previously said allegations made against him were “strenuously disputed”. Odey said this week that “none of the allegations have been stood up in a courtroom or an investigation”.
A former partner said of Odey: “The emperor now has no clothes and is losing his powers. It’s very nice not to be there anymore. They had to get rid of him. He’s clearly got to go. In the end the boss got shoved because he went too far.”
Odey has been an important figure in the City of London for more than three decades. Since establishing OAM in 1991, he has cultivated a reputation for taking high risk punts on the market, delivering enormous returns as well as vast losses.
He has also donated large sums to the UK’s Conservative party and the anti-immigration Ukip party, as well as anti-EU pressure groups. In 2022, Odey benefited from steep drops in the value of sterling after he bet against the pound. His flagship fund
returned 152 per cent in 2022.
Odey stepped down as co-chief executive of the firm in November 2020, but remained the majority owner. In the same month, Brook Asset Management was established and almost half of the firm’s funds, including those by star partners James Hanbury and
Oliver Kelton, were rebranded under the Brook name.
Several large financial institutions had already moved to cut ties with the firm in response to the FT’s reporting.
Exane, which is owned by French bank BNP Paribas, told OAM on Thursday that it was terminating the relationship. Goldman Sachs began unwinding its relationship, including with Brook Asset Management, on Friday.
The Financial Conduct Authority, which approves the management of financial services firms and is investigating OAM, has been notified of the planned change of control at the company, a person familiar with the situation said. The FCA declined to comment.
The last time Odey’s executive committee attempted to discipline him for his behaviour towards women, after he broke a “final written warning” prohibiting him from behaving inappropriately with female staff in 2021, he fired them.
According to the former partner, extracting Odey from the firm he founded will be complicated because of its “convoluted structure” with several holding companies within the group that are legally interconnected. Back office, legal, compliance and
marketing departments are shared.
“As we have said previously, the executive committee takes all allegations of misconduct extremely seriously. The firm has robust policies and procedures that have been followed at all times,” OAM’s statement added.
https://www.ft.com/content/c5529a44-cc41-464f-92d4-f81bc44c6687
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 16:52:31 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Another twat who shorted the GBP in 2016 gets his just deserts at last.
ROFL
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 10:02:30 2023
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 4:22:56 PM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
Another twat who shorted the GBP in 2016 gets his just deserts at last.
Brextards are so thick that they admire traitors such as this.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec6ySt-XgAUb-wu.png
Bow, scrape and tug forelock.
PATHETIC.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 17:33:30 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 13 10:49:46 2023
-
From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 19:07:56 2023
-
From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Tue Jun 13 12:35:18 2023
Since the Brexit vote in 2016, the exchange rate of the pound against other leading currencies has fallen significantly. This seems to reflect a generally negative outlook among international investors for the UK’s economic prospects outside the
European Union.
At the start of 2021, the pound was approximately 15% weaker relative to the euro than it was on the eve of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) in June 2016. Sterling was also 20% weaker than it was when the EU Referendum
Act received Royal Assent in December 2015.
Over the last five years, Brexit has been one of the key factors influencing exchange rate volatility and the value of the pound against other leading currencies. The effect of Brexit was particularly evident immediately after the referendum result, as
sterling experienced its largest fall within a single day in 30 years. There were two further substantial and sustained falls in 2017 and 2019, bringing the value of sterling to new lows against the euro and the dollar in August 2019.
This largely happened because expectations of increased trade frictions between the UK and its largest trade partner, as well as increased uncertainty and persistent political instability, led financial institutions to sell the pound. As more and more
organisations sold sterling-denominated assets, the value of the pound was driven down relative to other currencies.
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 22:00:26 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Since the Brexit vote in 2016, the exchange rate of the pound against
other leading currencies has fallen significantly. This seems to reflect
a generally negative outlook among international investors for the UK’s economic prospects outside the European Union.
At the start of 2021, the pound was approximately 15% weaker relative to
the euro than it was on the eve of the referendum on the UK’s membership
of the European Union (EU) in June 2016. Sterling was also 20% weaker
than it was when the EU Referendum Act received Royal Assent in December 2015.
Report dated 22 FEB 2021
What’s happened in the last 2+ years?
--
Spike
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 14 00:55:22 2023
On 13/06/2023 08:35 pm,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
At the start of 2021, the pound was approximately 15% weaker relative to the euro than it was on the eve of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) in June 2016...
...because sterling interest rates were in negative figures.
Holding sterling was a short-cut to losing the value of one's cash holdings.
The BoE was well aware of all of this, but chose, under moron Carney, to
cheat savers and pamper those who wished to live on borrowed money.
Carney was so wrong on every economic point that he probably commuted to Threadneedle Street by chav-bike.
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Tue Jun 13 22:13:13 2023
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 8:35:20 PM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
Since the Brexit vote in 2016, the exchange rate of the pound against other leading currencies has fallen significantly. This seems to reflect a generally negative outlook among international investors for the UK’s economic prospects outside the
European Union.
At the start of 2021, the pound was approximately 15% weaker relative to the euro than it was on the eve of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) in June 2016. Sterling was also 20% weaker than it was when the EU Referendum
Act received Royal Assent in December 2015.
Over the last five years, Brexit has been one of the key factors influencing exchange rate volatility and the value of the pound against other leading currencies. The effect of Brexit was particularly evident immediately after the referendum result, as
sterling experienced its largest fall within a single day in 30 years. There were two further substantial and sustained falls in 2017 and 2019, bringing the value of sterling to new lows against the euro and the dollar in August 2019.
This largely happened because expectations of increased trade frictions between the UK and its largest trade partner, as well as increased uncertainty and persistent political instability, led financial institutions to sell the pound. As more and more
organisations sold sterling-denominated assets, the value of the pound was driven down relative to other currencies.
This graph shows the devastating effect on the GBP which led to a few rich gammons making a shedload of money by betting on a tanking pound, while the rest of us ended up much poorer.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyjxSYjWAAEw1I9?format=jpg&name=medium
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 14 06:30:41 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 8:35:20 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
Since the Brexit vote in 2016, the exchange rate of the pound against
other leading currencies has fallen significantly. This seems to reflect
a generally negative outlook among international investors for the UK’s
economic prospects outside the European Union.
At the start of 2021, the pound was approximately 15% weaker relative to
the euro than it was on the eve of the referendum on the UK’s membership >> of the European Union (EU) in June 2016. Sterling was also 20% weaker
than it was when the EU Referendum Act received Royal Assent in December 2015.
Over the last five years, Brexit has been one of the key factors
influencing exchange rate volatility and the value of the pound against
other leading currencies. The effect of Brexit was particularly evident
immediately after the referendum result, as sterling experienced its
largest fall within a single day in 30 years. There were two further
substantial and sustained falls in 2017 and 2019, bringing the value of
sterling to new lows against the euro and the dollar in August 2019.
This largely happened because expectations of increased trade frictions
between the UK and its largest trade partner, as well as increased
uncertainty and persistent political instability, led financial
institutions to sell the pound. As more and more organisations sold
sterling-denominated assets, the value of the pound was driven down
relative to other currencies.
This graph shows the devastating effect on the GBP which led to a few
rich gammons making a shedload of money by betting on a tanking pound,
while the rest of us ended up much poorer.
There was nothing stopping you betting against the pound.
And in what way we’re you poorer? Was the pound in your pocket affected? (You’re probably too young to remember that one).
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyjxSYjWAAEw1I9?format=jpg&name=medium
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 14 03:17:25 2023
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 6:13:14 AM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
This graph shows the devastating effect on the GBP which led to a few rich gammons making a shedload of money by betting on a tanking pound, while the rest of us ended up much poorer.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyjxSYjWAAEw1I9?format=jpg&name=medium
Sad news if you have a mortgage.
QUOTE: Summers: Brexit was historic economic error which pushed up inflation
Brexit was a “historic economic error” which has hurt the UK economy and helped to drive up inflation, Larry Summers, the former US Treasury secretary has warned.
Summers told Radio 4’s Today programme that UK economic policy has been “substantially flawed for some years,” and singles out the exit from the European Union as a factor driving up costs.
Asked why inflation in the UK is significantly higher than in the US, Summers explains:
I think Brexit will be remembered as a historic economic error that reduced the competitiveness of the UK economy, put downward pressure on the pound and upwards pressure on prices, limited imports of goods and limited in some ways the supply of
labour.
All of which contributed to higher inflation.
[The US consumer prices index fell to 4.9% per year in April, while UK inflation was 8.7%.]
Summers adds that the Bank of England also blundered, saying:
I think that was reinforced by very ill-judged monetary policies that were substantially too expansionary for too long.
[A report last week showed that Britain’s departure from the European Union has accounted for about a third of the increase in food bills for households since 2019, equivalent to about £250.] ENDS
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 14 10:48:22 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 6:13:14 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
This graph shows the devastating effect on the GBP which led to a few
rich gammons making a shedload of money by betting on a tanking pound,
while the rest of us ended up much poorer.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyjxSYjWAAEw1I9?format=jpg&name=medium
Sad news if you have a mortgage.
QUOTE: Summers: Brexit was historic economic error which pushed up inflation
Brexit was a “historic economic error” which has hurt the UK economy and helped to drive up inflation, Larry Summers, the former US Treasury secretary has warned.
So what does the *former* US Treasury Secretary have to say about the
Eurozone being in a recession that’s expected to last two years, driven by sluggish industrial output and reduced consumer spending?
Is that due to Brexit?
Summers told Radio 4’s Today programme that UK economic policy has been “substantially flawed for some years,” and singles out the exit from the European Union as a factor driving up costs.
Asked why inflation in the UK is significantly higher than in the US, Summers explains:
I think Brexit will be remembered as a historic economic error that reduced the competitiveness of the UK economy, put downward pressure on
the pound and upwards pressure on prices, limited imports of goods and limited in some ways the supply of labour.
All of which contributed to higher inflation.
[The US consumer prices index fell to 4.9% per year in April, while UK inflation was 8.7%.]
Summers adds that the Bank of England also blundered, saying:
I think that was reinforced by very ill-judged monetary policies that were substantially too expansionary for too long.
[A report last week showed that Britain’s departure from the European
Union has accounted for about a third of the increase in food bills for households since 2019, equivalent to about £250.] ENDS
--
Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 14 03:51:10 2023
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 11:17:27 AM UTC+1,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 6:13:14 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
This graph shows the devastating effect on the GBP which led to a few rich gammons making a shedload of money by betting on a tanking pound, while the rest of us ended up much poorer.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyjxSYjWAAEw1I9?format=jpg&name=medium
Sad news if you have a mortgage.
Paid mine off ten years ago out of my £600000 pension pot - happy days, free from Truss/Kamakwaze disaster.
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
Spike on Wed Jun 14 14:23:23 2023
On 14/06/2023 07:30 am, Spike wrote:
swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 8:35:20 PM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote: >>> Since the Brexit vote in 2016, the exchange rate of the pound against
other leading currencies has fallen significantly. This seems to reflect >>> a generally negative outlook among international investors for the UK’s >>> economic prospects outside the European Union.
At the start of 2021, the pound was approximately 15% weaker relative to >>> the euro than it was on the eve of the referendum on the UK’s membership >>> of the European Union (EU) in June 2016. Sterling was also 20% weaker
than it was when the EU Referendum Act received Royal Assent in December 2015.
Over the last five years, Brexit has been one of the key factors
influencing exchange rate volatility and the value of the pound against
other leading currencies. The effect of Brexit was particularly evident
immediately after the referendum result, as sterling experienced its
largest fall within a single day in 30 years. There were two further
substantial and sustained falls in 2017 and 2019, bringing the value of
sterling to new lows against the euro and the dollar in August 2019.
This largely happened because expectations of increased trade frictions
between the UK and its largest trade partner, as well as increased
uncertainty and persistent political instability, led financial
institutions to sell the pound. As more and more organisations sold
sterling-denominated assets, the value of the pound was driven down
relative to other currencies.
This graph shows the devastating effect on the GBP which led to a few
rich gammons making a shedload of money by betting on a tanking pound,
while the rest of us ended up much poorer.
There was nothing stopping you betting against the pound.
And in what way we’re you poorer? Was the pound in your pocket affected? (You’re probably too young to remember that one).
No. Just too thick.
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 14 14:24:37 2023
On 14/06/2023 11:17 am,
swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 6:13:14 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
This graph shows the devastating effect on the GBP which led to a few rich gammons making a shedload of money by betting on a tanking pound, while the rest of us ended up much poorer.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyjxSYjWAAEw1I9?format=jpg&name=medium
Sad news if you have a mortgage.
QUOTE: Summers: Brexit was historic economic error which pushed up inflation
Brexit was a “historic economic error” which has hurt the UK economy and helped to drive up inflation, Larry Summers, the former US Treasury secretary has warned.
Summers told Radio 4’s Today programme that UK economic policy has been “substantially flawed for some years,” and singles out the exit from the European Union as a factor driving up costs.
Asked why inflation in the UK is significantly higher than in the US, Summers explains:
I think Brexit will be remembered as a historic economic error that reduced the competitiveness of the UK economy, put downward pressure on the pound and upwards pressure on prices, limited imports of goods and limited in some ways the supply of
labour.
All of which contributed to higher inflation.
[The US consumer prices index fell to 4.9% per year in April, while UK inflation was 8.7%.]
The USA has increased interest rates more than has the BoE.
Summers adds that the Bank of England also blundered, saying:
I think that was reinforced by very ill-judged monetary policies that were substantially too expansionary for too long.
A *lot* of us have been saying that for many years.
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From
JNugent@21:1/5 to
All on Wed Jun 14 14:25:49 2023
On 14/06/2023 11:51 am,
swldx...@gmail.com...
...pretending only to answer his own posts, said:
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 11:17:27 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
...pretending only to answer his own posts, said:
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 6:13:14 AM UTC+1, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
This graph shows the devastating effect on the GBP which led to a few rich gammons making a shedload of money by betting on a tanking pound, while the rest of us ended up much poorer.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyjxSYjWAAEw1I9?format=jpg&name=medium
Sad news if you have a mortgage.
Paid mine off ten years ago out of my £600000 pension pot - happy days, free from Truss/Kamakwaze disaster.
£600,000!
:-)
Ah... the old ones are the best.
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Wed Jun 14 08:30:24 2023
Brexit continues to affect the UK economy. The results in this report are updates to the original study of Bakker et al. (2022), showing that higher non-tariff barriers due to Brexit are affecting food price inflation and costing households in the UK.
While the original paper used data up to January 2022, this report updates the dataset through to March 2023. The methodology is otherwise identical so for more details please consult the original paper.
https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_NEW/publications/abstract.asp?index=10174
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From
Spike@21:1/5 to
swldx...@gmail.com on Wed Jun 14 15:43:03 2023
swldx...@gmail.com <
swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
Brexit continues to affect the UK economy. The results in this report are updates to the original study of Bakker et al. (2022), showing that
higher non-tariff barriers due to Brexit are affecting food price
inflation and costing households in the UK.
While the original paper used data up to January 2022, this report
updates the dataset through to March 2023. The methodology is otherwise identical so for more details please consult the original paper.
https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_NEW/publications/abstract.asp?index=10174
No mention of Brexit causing the EU’s rise in food price inflation…
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Spike
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From
swldxer1958@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Wed Jun 14 08:46:06 2023
Food inflation in Britain – already stubbornly high – could be about to get worse after new post-Brexit border controls come into effect from October.
The government this week published proposals to charge a flat-rate inspection fee of up to £43 on each consignment of food coming from the EU, which is likely to be passed onto the consumer.
Since the EU-UK trade deal came into force in January 2021, the UK government has not imposed full border checks on food imports from the bloc, but has announced its “firm intention” to phase in controls from the autumn.
Industry bodies argue the proposed charges, which range from £20 up to £43, will hit smaller firms and UK families at a time when they are already grappling with rampant food-price inflation.
UK food and drink price inflation hit a 45-year record of 19.2 per cent in March, and remained stubbornly high in April at 19.1 per cent as its European neighbours saw their rates ease considerably.
The disproportionately high inflation is in part down to post-Brexit border arrangements, despite Jacob Rees-Mogg promising in 2017 that Brexit would reduce the cost of food and wine by 20 per cent
Nichola Mallon, head of trade at Logistics UK, the haulage trade body, said the charge was “very concerning” given current price pressures. “It is too high and, if introduced, will add to inflationary pressures and is likely to lead to market
distortion in the movement of goods,” she said.
Shane Brennan, the director of the Cold Chain Federation, added that the proposals made little sense at a time when the government was actively discussing imposing price controls on UK supermarkets to keep down the cost of staple foods.
Speaking to the Financial Times, he said: “It is crazy that one week the government is holding a crisis meeting in Downing Street to discuss out-of-control food inflation and the next is willing to nod through a multimillion new import tax on EU food
imports.”
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