I don't like living in England....

[Jdsk]

"State of bathing water"
https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water/ ... ng-water-4
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ty-in-2020

And it took an FoI request, but see what's happening to our rivers and flood defences:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ent-agency

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -chemicals

Jonathan

[Oldjohnw]

So much for Global Britain.

Our railways, our power, our water, our real estate and soon our supermarkets foreign owned, not all by benevolent owners.

Britain is not so much open for business as up for sale.

[merseymouth]

Well Oldjohnw, you're right about that! Around here Arriva run the buses, so being a German the operate in a certain pattern?
Yes, like U-Boat "Wolf Packs"! MM

[Jdsk]

Interesting views on local food above.

But it still has to be picked. For some reasons newspapers are reporting today on the expected shortage of labour.

This might have been triggered by the Select Committee's report:

"The UK’s new immigration policy and the food supply chain":
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1 ... lications/

That page also links to the Government's response.

"Fruit farming on ‘brink of collapse’... "
https://metro.co.uk/2021/06/12/fruit-fa ... -14759484/

Letter from Logistics UK to the Minister:
https://mobile.twitter.com/ITVJoel/stat ... 6606714880
includes:

Jonathan

[pwa]

So much for Global Britain.

Our railways, our power, our water, our real estate and soon our supermarkets foreign owned, not all by benevolent owners.

Britain is not so much open for business as up for sale.

It was sold long ago. US retail giant Wallmart bought Asda a good few years back, but is currently selling it to a UK based outfit financed by huge debt. Ownership being repatriated but with big questions over the business model employed.

[Tangled Metal]

There were plenty of slightly xenophobic Hollywood films in the 80s and 90s about us firms being bought out by or sold out to foreign companies. A lot were Japanese companies of course. I think it's just the nature of global economies that exist these days.

Of course ownership by foreign companies isn't by default a bad thing if its keeping jobs here, investing in Britain, etc, etc, etc. As to paying taxes in UK that's not even guaranteed to happen with UK based companies either. There's more than enough loopholes to exploit.

Personally I don't see why foreign ownership of companies is as big a deal considering most are PLCs and probably owned by foreign investors even if they were British domiciled. If you don't like the system I think you're too late to the party, you should have thought about it in the boom times when most of you were part of the era that made it. Isn't that right Sid?

[Oldjohnw]

So much for Global Britain.

Our railways, our power, our water, our real estate and soon our supermarkets foreign owned, not all by benevolent owners.

Britain is not so much open for business as up for sale.

It was sold long ago. US retail giant Wallmart bought Asda a good few years back, but is currently selling it to a UK based outfit financed by huge debt. Ownership being repatriated but with big questions over the business model employed.

Morrison’s now up for grabs, which was what I was thinking of.

[Oldjohnw]

There were plenty of slightly xenophobic Hollywood films in the 80s and 90s about us firms being bought out by or sold out to foreign companies. A lot were Japanese companies of course. I think it's just the nature of global economies that exist these days.

Of course ownership by foreign companies isn't by default a bad thing if its keeping jobs here, investing in Britain, etc, etc, etc. As to paying taxes in UK that's not even guaranteed to happen with UK based companies either. There's more than enough loopholes to exploit.

Personally I don't see why foreign ownership of companies is as big a deal considering most are PLCs and probably owned by foreign investors even if they were British domiciled. If you don't like the system I think you're too late to the party, you should have thought about it in the boom times when most of you were part of the era that made it. Isn't that right Sid?

My post wasn’t primarily just about “firms” but infrastructure: electricity, gas, water, telecoms, railways. And not merely some overseas shareholders but governments and sovereign wealth. I never bought such shares in the boom times because I did think about it. These firms being sold off were not about keeping jobs or investing in Britain but about people owning shares which then almost always get sold on, often, and often tragically, to venture capitalists in the case of a commercial company and broken up for spare parts: asset stripped.

[Ben@Forest]

There were plenty of slightly xenophobic Hollywood films in the 80s and 90s about us firms being bought out by or sold out to foreign companies. A lot were Japanese companies of course.

Around that time l knew (well still know in a Christmas card way) a British woman who was with, and later married, an American. She said that there was unease in the USA about companies being sold to British concerns.

According to the ONS 1.1% of British firms are foreign-owned and have 13.4% of UK company assets. I can see the call now though, 'British firms for British workers!'

https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustry ... s/july2020

[Jdsk]

Interesting views on local food above.

But it still has to be picked. For some reasons newspapers are reporting today on the expected shortage of labour.

This might have been triggered by the Select Committee's report:

"The UK’s new immigration policy and the food supply chain":
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1 ... lications/

That page also links to the Government's response.

"Fruit farming on ‘brink of collapse’... "
https://metro.co.uk/2021/06/12/fruit-fa ... -14759484/

Letter from Logistics UK to the Minister:
https://mobile.twitter.com/ITVJoel/stat ... 6606714880
includes:

Screenshot 2021-06-24 at 20.03.12.png

And one to the Prime Minister from a large number of associations involved in the supply of food, includes:

"We firmly believe that intervention from the Prime Minister / Cabinet Office is the only way that we will be able to avert critical supply chains failing at an unprecedented and unimaginable level. Supermarkets are already reporting that they are not receiving their expected food stocks and, as a result, there is considerable wastage."

https://www.rha.uk.net/Portals/0/News/P ... 163949-737

Jonathan

[pwa]

Two people I know have been retraining to drive HGVs, seeing the shortage of drivers as an opportunity to move up from driving non-HGV delivery vans. One would hope that this shortage will sort itself, and it should if wages are adequate. The only question is, how long will that take.

[Ben@Forest]

Two people I know have been retraining to drive HGVs, seeing the shortage of drivers as an opportunity to move up from driving non-HGV delivery vans. One would hope that this shortage will sort itself, and it should if wages are adequate. The only question is, how long will that take.

'We are recruiting' signs have been a feature on the back of transport firms' HGVs for years. I know a 28 year old woman who has just passed her Class 2 licence.

But l think some people get fed up with the life quickly. I know someone who trained, worked at it and then left, the hours are long ( you can work and wait for many hours as well as the prescribed driving hours). He was offered plenty of work but it didn't suit him in the end.

[Jdsk]

And the facilities are often disgraceful.

I suspect that there will be shortages for a long time to come unless the restrictions on foreign workers are changed.

Jonathan

[merseymouth]

Well, If you think that the shortage of HGV drivers will be rectified by increasing the number of migrant workers then you are in dreamland?
My first job was in road haulage, office junior, but I know quite well that drivers back in the early 1960's had things far worse than the current industry suffers!
Better vehicles, better loading/unloading facilities, no handball, no sheeting, no roping, communications like my generation could never imagine, in short a softer job.
It's good to see an increase in lasses taking up the life, but I know for certain that driving an AEC "Mammoth Major" 8 legger would test all but a very select drivers of either sex! That is not a criticism of anyone in particular, but I know for certain that the wagons of that era were not easy drive. IGICB MM

[Jdsk]

Well, If you think that the shortage of HGV drivers will be rectified by increasing the number of migrant workers then you are in dreamland?

As you'll see from the letter the industry thinks that there are many changes needed. Decreasing the restrictions on foreign workers is one of them.

Jonathan