Political relations between UK-EU

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hgblue said:
The usual suspects will be on here blaming Brexit ;).
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On the contrary the “usual suspects” will probably see this as not related to Brexit while the unusual suspects, a diminishing bunch, will make a cheap and irrelevant point. Any thoughts of your own about the actual impact of Brexit so far on small businesses and individuals buying stuff from the EU or posting sales from their eBay accounts?
 
journolud said:
On the contrary the “usual suspects” will probably see this as not related to Brexit while the unusual suspects, a diminishing bunch, will make a cheap and irrelevant point. Any thoughts of your own about the actual impact of Brexit so far on small businesses and individuals buying stuff from the EU or posting sales from their eBay accounts?
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Why would they when they can smugly look across the channel at the problems that the EU are having with their vaccine programmes and thank Brexit for the relative success of ours.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Ok, I didn't know that. I guess we both agree though that in the first instance this is a EU/AZ conversation.
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I’m not sure this actually happened mate (please don’t take offence at me calling you mate as it seems a little out of vogue on here lately!). I can’t find any source to say this occurred and wonder if people are getting confused with the Pfizer one maybe?

If anyone has a credible source, please do share
 
BobKowalski said:
The UK already has a blocking policy. We insisted on UK first, the EU didn‘t. In future they likely will. I don’t have an issue with a Govt prioritising the health of its own citizens, nor the EU doing similar.

It is in a sense short sighted as for this to work everyone needs the vaccine, but when push comes to shove, Govts are going to look after the people that elect them.

We’ve had supply issues which is why we have gone the one shot route and delayed the second shot needed for full immunity, again a sensible strategy when there are supply issues and the science says it isn’t a problem, but a EU first approach may impact us later if we hit supply or other snags.

Europe needs to beef up production and distribution, Sanofi have agreed to manufacture the Pfizer jab. Johnson and Johnson have their ‘one shot’ jab waiting in the wings. It’s a production and logistics problem which in time will be solved. The good news is we have several vaccines and the problems while difficult are not insurmountable.
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Surely the EU have made it impossible for us to have a joint ‘Europe first’ type policy by delaying? We pressed ahead and have been buying and buying whereas the EU needlessly delayed.
 
Ban-jani said:
Surely the EU have made it impossible for us to have a joint ‘Europe first’ type policy by delaying? We pressed ahead and have been buying and buying whereas the EU needlessly delayed.
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The EMA worked to a different criteria. You can call it ‘needless’ or ‘prudent’, it doesn‘t matter. The EMA has had reservations about the AZ data for over 65’s, the Swiss, a non EU country had the same reservations and delayed authorisation.

I have no idea who is right or who is wrong, but getting worked up over the EU ‘immorally blocking vaccines’ is a bit rich given we do the same and to be honest I can understand the sentiment behind doing so. A Govt looks after its citizens first and foremost, ie the people who can cast them out of office.

But this is a mainly a production and logistics problem which in time will be sorted. Turning it into some sort of morality sage is a bit OTT in my opinion. Everyone will do whatever it takes to protect their interests, be it the UK or the EU.
 
bluethrunthru said:
looks like it will be pie and mash only for the Cockerknees from now on

www.bbc.co.uk

Brexit: Lough Neagh eels can't be sold in Britain

Fishermen seek new buyers for 50 tonnes of eels, worth £500k, that can no longer be sold in London.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
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So Severn fishermen lose their market selling juvenile eels to stock Lough Neagh and the Lough Neagh fishermen lose a fifth of their export market - but as they won't get the lough restocked that's a nice balance in Brexit pain. Good for the eels though.
 
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hgblue said:
Beats whinging about ham sandwiches ;)
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I couldn’t resist...

‘Amazon has suspended sales of alcohol from its website in Northern Ireland and there may be many more delistings to come.
Even the world’s most successful retailer is struggling to make the new customs rules work post-Brexit.

www.itv.com

Amazon halts alcohol sales in Northern Ireland and may de-list more products | ITV News

The new customs arrangement with the EU means Amazon may have to pay the same tax twice to get alcohol to the EU.
www.itv.com www.itv.com
 
meltonblue said:
4m doses were imported from Germany and the Netherlands in December, AZ didn’t start producing in the UK fully until after that.
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Thanks for that, very much appreciated the extra info. I was able to find one article in FT (so reliable) on some of the early vaccines being imported due to, according to AZ, pre-paid capacity in Holland. It doesn’t really quote numbers imported and 4m was the total the UK received in 2020 but it absolutely might be the case it was all imported.

The German link is a bit of a red herring. The AZ vaccine was, as of 13th Jan, only produced in 3 sites currently. 2 in the UK and 1 in Holland. There is a plant in Germany (and 1 in Wales) that puts the vaccine into vials which is probably where that comes from.

What is certainly clear is any imported AZ vaccines were not initially destined for the EU (weren’t we still “part” of the EU then anyway?) they were always destined for the UK.
 
BobKowalski said:
I couldn’t resist...

‘Amazon has suspended sales of alcohol from its website in Northern Ireland and there may be many more delistings to come.
Even the world’s most successful retailer is struggling to make the new customs rules work post-Brexit.

www.itv.com

Amazon halts alcohol sales in Northern Ireland and may de-list more products | ITV News

The new customs arrangement with the EU means Amazon may have to pay the same tax twice to get alcohol to the EU.
www.itv.com www.itv.com
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A delivery driver told me if you buy booze off amazon then tell them you don't want it (after its arrived) they will rarely send someone to collect it.
 
Vic said:
So Severn fishermen lose their market selling juvenile eels to stock Lough Neagh and the Lough Neagh fishermen lose a fifth of their export market - but as they won't get the lock restocked that's a nice balance in Brexit pain. Good for the eels though.
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Does that mean the eels are ‘happy eels’?
 
metalblue said:
Thanks for that, very much appreciated the extra info. I was able to find one article in FT (so reliable) on some of the early vaccines being imported due to, according to AZ, pre-paid capacity in Holland. It doesn’t really quote numbers imported and 4m was the total the UK received in 2020 but it absolutely might be the case it was all imported.

The German link is a bit of a red herring. The AZ vaccine was, as of 13th Jan, only produced in 3 sites currently. 2 in the UK and 1 in Holland. There is a plant in Germany (and 1 in Wales) that puts the vaccine into vials which is probably where that comes from.

What is certainly clear is any imported AZ vaccines were not initially destined for the EU (weren’t we still “part” of the EU then anyway?) they were always destined for the UK.
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Correct, I’ve been to most of those plants myself as the company I work for has a lot of ties with them. A more reliable link would be the uk virus task force, they announced it. It was the first couple of weeks of December, can’t remember when exactly.

Where they were destined for, ultimately it’s up to AstraZeneca and how they choose to fulfil their contracts. Makes absolute sense those went to the UK though.
 
meltonblue said:
Correct, I’ve been to most of those plants myself as the company I work for has a lot of ties with them. A more reliable link would be the uk virus task force, they announced it. It was the first couple of weeks of December, can’t remember when exactly.

Where they were destined for, ultimately it’s up to AstraZeneca and how they choose to fulfil their contracts. Makes absolute sense those went to the UK though.
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Agreed. The problem AZ may have is the contract with the EU. The CEO maintains it was ‘best efforts’, but it seems the contract made it an ‘obligation‘ to supply.

That said, if the vaccines aren’t there, they aren’t there, you can’t magic them out of thin air. Just beef up production, sort out distribution and get on with it.

I suspect AZ will pay a price for this though.
 
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