Nervous Brits stockpile food with 'Brexit box' during uncertainty
https://www.euronews.com/2019/01/14/nerv...ncertainty
INTRO: An increasing number of British people are stockpiling food ahead of Brexit in fear that the UK will crash out of the European Union with no-deal, leading to shortages of food and medicine. Manufacturer Emergency Food Storage said around 600 people have purchased a €331 "Brexit box" since it launched the product in December. The box includes 60 freeze-dried meals, 48 portions of meat, a water filter and firestarter. The company said the box has a 25-year lifespan. "I think people are concerned with the Brexit outcome, it's a bit of a chaotic situation", James Blake, managing director of the firm, told Euronews....
MORE: https://www.euronews.com/2019/01/14/nerv...ncertainty
NFU: Britain can’t feed itself without the help of non-UK labour
https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-sto...-1-5851580
INTRO: The head of a national farming union has warned Britain will not be able to feed itself without the help of seasonal non-UK labour after Brexit. NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick said Scotland and the UK are “getting thrown into a meltdown situation as far as labour is concerned”, regardless of a deal or no-deal scenario.
In a blog post on the union’s website, he lamented a shortage in workers last year despite the UK government implementing the pilot Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme. The scheme will allow temporary visas for up to 2,500 non-EU nationals during the transition period due to end in 2020.
McCornick said: “Unquestionably, the obvious sectors that will feel it first will be fruit, veg and horticulture, requiring approximately 10,000 people per year in Scotland alone. It is much bigger than that, though. The largest manufacturing sector in the UK is food processing and a big part of their labour is non-UK - more than 50% in the red meat sector; more than 90% of vets in approved meat establishments; upwards of 30% of the permanent staff in the dairy sector, and 40% of staff in egg production (both temporary and permanent). Huge numbers of lorries on our roads are driven by non-UK drivers (60,000 approx) and the retail sector requires large numbers of non-UK staff within their supply chains, both shop front and behind doors. Already the uncertainty around Brexit is causing a shortfall, leaving fruit and veg unharvested in Scotland last year.”
He added: “When we established a priority list immediately after the Brexit vote, labour requirements sat alongside the need for trade, policy and support. We cannot feed our nation without this labour.”
MORE: https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-sto...-1-5851580
https://www.euronews.com/2019/01/14/nerv...ncertainty
INTRO: An increasing number of British people are stockpiling food ahead of Brexit in fear that the UK will crash out of the European Union with no-deal, leading to shortages of food and medicine. Manufacturer Emergency Food Storage said around 600 people have purchased a €331 "Brexit box" since it launched the product in December. The box includes 60 freeze-dried meals, 48 portions of meat, a water filter and firestarter. The company said the box has a 25-year lifespan. "I think people are concerned with the Brexit outcome, it's a bit of a chaotic situation", James Blake, managing director of the firm, told Euronews....
MORE: https://www.euronews.com/2019/01/14/nerv...ncertainty
NFU: Britain can’t feed itself without the help of non-UK labour
https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-sto...-1-5851580
INTRO: The head of a national farming union has warned Britain will not be able to feed itself without the help of seasonal non-UK labour after Brexit. NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick said Scotland and the UK are “getting thrown into a meltdown situation as far as labour is concerned”, regardless of a deal or no-deal scenario.
In a blog post on the union’s website, he lamented a shortage in workers last year despite the UK government implementing the pilot Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme. The scheme will allow temporary visas for up to 2,500 non-EU nationals during the transition period due to end in 2020.
McCornick said: “Unquestionably, the obvious sectors that will feel it first will be fruit, veg and horticulture, requiring approximately 10,000 people per year in Scotland alone. It is much bigger than that, though. The largest manufacturing sector in the UK is food processing and a big part of their labour is non-UK - more than 50% in the red meat sector; more than 90% of vets in approved meat establishments; upwards of 30% of the permanent staff in the dairy sector, and 40% of staff in egg production (both temporary and permanent). Huge numbers of lorries on our roads are driven by non-UK drivers (60,000 approx) and the retail sector requires large numbers of non-UK staff within their supply chains, both shop front and behind doors. Already the uncertainty around Brexit is causing a shortfall, leaving fruit and veg unharvested in Scotland last year.”
He added: “When we established a priority list immediately after the Brexit vote, labour requirements sat alongside the need for trade, policy and support. We cannot feed our nation without this labour.”
MORE: https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-sto...-1-5851580