What is Brexit?

There are 12 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 3,684 times. The latest Post (December 27, 2025 at 8:35 PM) was by Rice.

1st Official Post

    This seems like a problem the hell-for-leather Brexiteers never foresaw. The article makes a Covid reference but doesn’t explain its immediate effect on long-haul drivers: Did a lot of them die of Covid?

    I like the idea of training Afghan refugees with experience driving large vehicles. They are already in the country and will welcome permanent jobs. Relying on temporary labor from the EU can get the UK past this immediate problem but invites it to reoccur when the temporary visas expire.

    • Official Post

    Just spotted this on Facebook from a truck driver (ex)

    Quote from richietog

    This is Brexit


    jobs.jpg

    Great red-faced anger photos, SpaceNut ! Now I understand the slang meeting of “gammon.”

    Apparently the shortage of drivers is a problem shared by EU countries. Today’s Telegraph says “The total European shortfall of HGV drivers is now more than 400,000. For example, even in Poland it’s 124,000 drivers, in the UK it’s 60,000, and in Germany it’s about the same as the UK but forecast to rise to 185,000 drivers by 2027.”

    The Telegraph’s Iain Duncan Smith’s conclusion concerning the UK shortage? “Don’t blame Brexit for driver shortages – our brainless bureaucracy is the real culprit.

    “The reality is that, all over Europe, when countries locked down many drivers went home and many more were furloughed, then retired. This was made worse as all testing of new drivers was stopped, something which could have been avoided, particularly if the authorities had used avilable Covid PCR or lateral-flow tests to allow prospective drivers to qualify. To give you a sense of how chronically stupid the bureaucratic thinking was, the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency also stopped motorcycle testing – even though those being tested were all alone on their bikes.

    “What we now see are the aftershocks of lockdown decision-making beginning to buffet us. There has clearly been little forward thinking or planning.

    “The Confederation of British Industry, which quickly blamed Brexit for the current shortages, instead should recognise that industry leaders themselves must shoulder a significant measure of blame. I recall before Brexit, when as Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions I questioned why hauliers did so little to invest in their industry by training drivers, particularly when the shortages were already becoming known, the hauliers responded that British people wouldn’t do the job. In response, my department bought a number of places on courses to test their theory, and found that they were filled by applicants in days, and well over three-quarters subsequently passed. The hauliers' theory was wrong: there were plenty of people with drivers licences who would have loved to train but couldn’t afford the cost of the course. The reality was that cheaper drivers from overseas led to short-term decisions….”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/09/26/dont-blame-brexit-driver-shortages-brainless-bureaucracy-real/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1496633&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Edi_New_Sub&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Edi_New_Sub20210927&utm_campaign=DM1496633