People needed urgently (Debate)

Fri 17 May, 09:22

The biggest threat to the UKs housing plans is the NIMBY mentality of local councils up and down the country!!

Thu 16 May, 10:34

Today I'm reading in my weekly finance journal, "Skills shortages threaten UK/s major housing and infrastructure plans".  

I turn on the morning news and Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission tells us that what we need is a long term plan - we need a trained workforce.  He means builders I think.  There is too much chopping and changing, no planning.  How many times have we heard that.

Is the choice between importing more people and trying to get our economy going again or reducing investment, public services and expectations?

Congratulations to the BBC on tracking down the "Scorpion"!  A real people smuggler.   Not a boat pilot such as we have cluttering up our prisons at the moment.

Tue 14 May, 21:40

Yes, Alice, I know and agree that we tried. Just not enough. 🫤

We have to change to proportional representation.

Tue 14 May, 07:36

We certainly tried to Rosemary.  And millions of us marched in the streets of London.  We were labelled traitors and citizens of nowhere.  

Now we need to point out to those that will not hear that our farmers are packing up shop, our diet is restricted at best and inedible at worst and we need to do something about it now.  Not tomorrow.  We have no political representation.

Mon 13 May, 20:10

All very well having intellectual debates, worthy and genuine as they are, but how predictable. 

We should have stood up to the debacle of Brexit, from the moment it was devised by a very slippery politician by the name of Cameron. He’s personally done ok, hasn’t he.

It was utterly ridiculous from the start, and there has been no evidence to prove that it was the right thing to have done.

We let it happen. More fool us.

Sun 12 May, 15:20 (last edited on Sun 12 May, 17:08)

I agree with you Alex.

There is some widely reported data showing how the average 5 year old British child is now significantly shorter than their neighbours in other north European countries. The situation also appears to be getting worse. 

Moreover the UK has one of the highest average per capita consumption of processed food (as % of total individuals' food consumed) across Western Europe.

According to Henry Dimbleby (the former UK government food advisor) bad diet is amplified by the UK's substantial income inequalities, children of poor families eat 1/3 less fruit and vegetables and 75% less oily fish. 

I'm not qualified to say what the long-term effects of such a poor (and declining) UK diet are likely to be, but its reasonable to assume they are not very good.

The trends Alice identifies (of UK farmers leaving the agricultural) sector can probably only exacerbate the situation. But as I said before - I'm not optimistic any of this will feature in any future government's policies.   

Fri 10 May, 23:07

The difficulty in many (less affluent) areas of fresh fruit & veg are of particular concern. The growing body of evidence surrounding the health problems created by the UK's typical diet of mainly ultra processed food creates yet more problems. 

Thu 9 May, 19:23 (last edited on Thu 9 May, 19:45)

Several outcomes are likely.

With less available labour and less support for agriculture, significantly more farmers will leave the sector. Those leaving are more likely to be family businesses and those in labour intensive sectors (e.g. horticulture). Some smaller or specialist food suppliers may also close.

There will be more large farms growing crops which need less labour (eg rape seed oil).

Some land will come out of agricultural use altogether.

Remaining agricultural workers will come from further away, on seasonal visas and increasingly via intermediaries. Some of those workers may find some of their wages are withheld for work permits and flights to UK.

More food will be imported, but more of this will be frozen or processed overseas.

Food imports will tend to come from further away (eg from Thailand and Brazil). Those imports will mostly be added into commercial catering which is done to tight budgets (schools, hospitals, prisons etc).

More food on supermarket shelves will be processed, as well as being more profitable it will have a longer shelf life, so logistics delays will be less relevant. A few larger companies will strengthen their hold on the UK food system.

Some food prices will rise (more so in high income areas) whilst choice/quality of fresh produce will reduce (more so in lower income areas)

Politicians from all parties and most of the media will avoid talking about these issues. The majority of people will either not notice or get used to the new normal – only seeing a difference when they are on holiday in another country.

The UK market will be more vulnerable if there are shocks in a global food system.

Wed 8 May, 23:17

This is part of a much broader 'imported labour carrying out essential roles' issue. As a country we simply do not value roles such as social care & farm work anywhere near highly enough - until this point is accepted by politicians nothing meaningful will change.

Wed 8 May, 08:43

Are we going to accept it then and just loose our small producers?  The political parties are keeping very quiet on this subject.

Tue 7 May, 14:53

Unfortunately, this has been long predicted, but the government has done nothing to ensure food security:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/25/you-can-blame-the-weather-and-brexit-but-theres-more-to-the-uks-food-supply-crisis

Mon 6 May, 22:47

Have sector specific exemption from the minimum salary requirement when bringing in overseas labour.

Mon 6 May, 17:00

I've assumed that re-joining the world's largest free market won't happen.  So we are in a transition from importing labour to importing or manufacturing the finished product, food.

We will never be able to grow all our own food but the loss of agriculture is a loss to food security.  What do the political parties offer us?

Mon 6 May, 15:48 (last edited on Mon 6 May, 23:20)

If they'd have us back, which is pretty unlikely.    I'm reading Tim Shipman's latest - No Way Out - and the utter stupidity of the UK tactics (they didn't have strategy, they didn't have a goal, they didn't have a plan ...) makes me want to shoot someone.  

There's a saying from Enoch Powell: 'All political careers end in failure.'   Some of ours began in failure.   And they're still around (though hopefully not for long).  

Mon 6 May, 14:13

Rejoin the EU?

Mon 6 May, 13:43

"Guy's News" from Riverford Organic Farmers tells me this week that his suppliers are shutting up shop.  He talks of the "challenge of finding labour willing to cut cauliflowers in January mud and rain ... the loss of experienced growers ... the loss of the skilled, hard-working Eastern Europeans who have been the backbone of (this) industry for three decades."

This year one Riverford worker returned to Lithuania to grow veg of his own and another switched to an easier life as an MOT inspector.   He concludes "without a long-term workforce plan for UK farming, replacing the loss of these skilled workers will be near impossible".

The loss of agriculture is the loss of food security.   We are moving from a system of importing labour to importing food, particularly processed food.  What can we do to reverse this?