Are goods from abroad still coming in this country?

[Cerdic]

The ability of China to advance in quality is quite incredible.

For example, at work a few years ago we had a few of the new Chinese MGs turn up. They were a bit shoddy, noisy engines, flaky interiors etc. The latest ones are so much better. If they keep on improving at the same rate in ten years they will be up there with the Germans and Japanese. If I were Toyota and VW I'd be a bit worried...

 

[LarryDuff]

If you live like me in the part of the UK Thai NI then the answer is no. Loads of empty shelves in supermarkets and online retailers saying not deliveries to NI.
Thanks Boris.

 

[Brains]

Unlikely.

The UK produces more food than it consumes. Currently, instead of scoffing it all ourselves we export a little over half of it. Profit before strategic reslience.

If there were a food emergency of that scale we could simply cease exporting it and eat it within our own shores. If that were to happen there would still still he a surplus.

So while I would normally nod sagely at your writings, on this occasion I must respectfully disagree. There simply would be no food riots because, ultimately, in the event that food ceased to cross international boundaries we would still have more than we could eat produced within our own shores.

Realigning domestic distribution networks would be far more problematic than the actual availability of stuff to eat.

Not as simple as that;
We import around 48% of what we eat

Take a stapel like rice for example - zero production in the UK, we eat over 150,000 tonnes of rice each year
Salad vegetables: We grow a lot, we import even more
Durum wheat, the stuff that makes pasta, we import around 100,000 tonnes each year
Potatoes - We import over 100,000 tonnes each year

So as long as you remove rice and pasta and ration potatoes from the national shopping basket, we should be fine.

As you say, if we were to live on what we grow, the biggest issue will be domestic redistribution, it will also take several years to work out what we need and what we can grow (and to train the British palate not to have strawberries in Winter or apples in the Summer)

 

[Brains]

If you live like me in the part of the UK Thai NI then the answer is no. Loads of empty shelves in supermarkets and online retailers saying not deliveries to NI.
Thanks Boris.

To be fair to the voters in NI, they were told this would happen and therefore the majority voted against it.

The solution, which a minority percentage of the NI population may not be happy with, is to import all you need from Eire.

There are some that will object, but one has to realise that source of power in Belfast has moved from London to Dublin.

 

[Moodyman]

If you live like me in the part of the UK Thai NI then the answer is no. Loads of empty shelves in supermarkets and online retailers saying not deliveries to NI.
Thanks Boris.

I heard Sainsbury's in NI have been selling Spar items as they couldn't get groceries from their normal channels.

Just imagine that, selling a rival's products because you don't want empty shelves.

 

[LarryDuff]

I don't give a damn where my food comes from to be honest but Boris royally shafted us.

 

[oldworld]

Unlikely.

The UK produces more food than it consumes. Currently, instead of scoffing it all ourselves we export a little over half of it. Profit before strategic reslience.

If there were a food emergency of that scale we could simply cease exporting it and eat it within our own shores. If that were to happen there would still still he a surplus.

So while I would normally nod sagely at your writings, on this occasion I must respectfully disagree. There simply would be no food riots because, ultimately, in the event that food ceased to cross international boundaries we would still have more than we could eat produced within our own shores.

Realigning domestic distribution networks would be far more problematic than the actual availability of stuff to eat.

Where did you get this info from? I did a search 'Can the UK feed itself'. To varying degrees the results were that the UK isn't able to feed itself. Were you referring to converting imported raw materials into food? That may give a different result?
I hope Mudsticks comes along soon to shine a light on this.

 

[Brains]

I don't give a damn where my food comes from to be honest but Boris royally shafted us.

Boris is just the fall guy puppet in the front row.
(Still, I'm sure at some point he will be had up for treason)

It the shady English Nationalist figures in the background who really shafted the UK, the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and other members of the ERG cabal for example, but there are many more who are not elected members of any recognised political party

 

[Brains]

Where did you get this info from? I did a search 'Can the UK feed itself'. To varying degrees the results were that the UK isn't able to feed itself. Were you referring to converting imported raw materials into food? That may give a different result?
I hope Mudsticks comes along soon to shine a light on this.

I have worked in global shipping for the last 45 years, so directly been involved in shipping in large quantities of food stuff into the UK over the years, grains, potatoes, fuel (coal, crude, woodchips), minerals, bulk liquid (wine, orange juice, etc)

There are multiple sources of stats of agri imports, most of which are subscription based, but a fairly good free one is
https://www.statista.com/statistics/299358/durum-wheat-uk-imports-united-kingdom/

 

[oldworld]

I have worked in global shipping for the last 45 years, so directly been involved in shipping in large quantities of food stuff into the UK over the years, grains, potatoes, fuel (coal, crude, woodchips), minerals, bulk liquid (wine, orange juice, etc)

There are multiple sources of stats of agri imports, most of which are subscription based, but a fairly good free one is
https://www.statista.com/statistics/299358/durum-wheat-uk-imports-united-kingdom/

It mentions Durum wheat. Pardon my ignorance but is this wheat used for bread?

 

[Cerdic]

Durum wheat makes pasta...

 

[Brains]

It mentions Durum wheat. Pardon my ignorance but is this wheat used for bread?

Durum wheat makes pasta (not bread)

 

[snorri]

Supplies from China last year were always swift, at worst 7-10 working days,

Perhaps if a distributor in the UK was holding a stock of Chinese doors, then dellivery would be 7-10 days, but a container ship takes 30 days to come to the UK from China. I doubt if shower cabinet doors would be flown here?

 

[cheshirerob]

Perhaps if a distributor in the UK was holding a stock of Chinese doors, then dellivery would be 7-10 days, but a container ship takes 30 days to come to the UK from China. I doubt if shower cabinet doors would be flown here?

We personally have not experienced any supply chain issues from the far east. The containers have been flowing in as normal. There could be delays on the british logistics side with reduced staffing, but if the OP’s plumber ordered a shower door in September then it would have been here long ago. The only shortages/delays experienced last year were for plasters at british gypsum with their covid reduced output.

 

[lane]

My Cannondale Carbon Synapse was made in Taiwan - isn't that China?

Err well think that might depend who you ask......