This ‘shortage’ of certain foodstuffs..

This reminds me of a guy I used to work with. A bit of an oddball. Obsessed with having meetings to discuss everything, matter how insignificant or how inconvenient it might be for everyone else. It was a running joke in the office every time this guy called a meeting out of the blue that the subject of the meeting was likely to be meeting schedules for the next week.

 

It's improved the quality of banter on the BBS?

 

Because British farms where paid not to grow anything.

Now that land takes time for the soil to be fit to grow as its been left for years.

There is plenty of greenbelt to get fit for farming.

Longterm this will be fine, it's a minor blip.

 

Referenda are a really bad idea, Parliamentary Government works much better, no party could have got a big enough majority to get something like Brexit through. Remember, the only reason Cameron called the referendum was to silence the ERG (that went well), ie it was entirely for party unity and screw the country...

 

What has Brexit to do with regional supply differences? Contracts with large retail chains obviously exist but tend to be relatively short term and can only be honoured if the produce actually exists. Droughts and floods impact supply and demand. Suppliers forced to sell below cost as happened with eggs and poultry due to heating and feed costs mean they either renegotiate or go out of business at which point the retailers has to look elsewhere for supply at higher prices. Both these scenario are happening. Or are you saying wholesale prices have remained static and the supermarkets have put huge price increases in place to massively increase profit margins?
And...where have I spent the last couple of years denying issues caused by Brexit. The difference is that I don't go round blaming Brexit for anything and everything. There is no doubt it has been the sole cause of some issues and contributed in part to others.
Basically in this instance you are blaming Brexit for the climate and weather in Southern Europe.

 

No I'm blaming brexit for the fact that the UK is at the back of the queue for goods that are in short supply because we are no longer in a trading block.

 

Definitely much better in theory than in practice, especially on such monumental decisions as membership of the EU. I like to think that I belong to the more enlightened end of the intellectual spectrum (most of the time!) but hand on heart, I can't say that I fully understood all the implications of what staying or leaving would have entailed. So putting that decision into the hands of the average bloke on the street was never likely to end well. However, you can make that argument about democracy in general. While denying Sun and Mail readers a vote would probably lead to much better election results, it's hardly ethical!

 

“Referendums are a device of dictators and demagogues.” Margaret Thatcher.

 

That is fair comment but it still does not explain why what IS in the UK is so unevenly distributed with some areas having empty shelves and others seemingly unaffected. The media do not help though as panic buying often creates shortages where there are none. Someone suggested stocking their freezer with lettuce tomatoes and cucumbers. Good luck with that since they do not freeze. Well they do but you end up with a green soggy slime when you defrost them