Cabbage pickers being offered £20 an hour in Lincolnshire.

[belton rover]

Good grief chaps.I thought the whole thing about some of the countries backbone workers getting a bit of extra dosh was a positive thing. Now it’s descended into a tit for tat over powdered milkshakes and cheap beer.

It’s your fault, Normal, for only mentioning shortages of products that our Glyn doesn’t care about. I bet he’s never heard of Diet Coke, either.

[Glyn_Wigley]

What food items have you missed out on during this truck driver crisis? Perhaps we could come up with a scenario that you do care about.

The most obvious one has been sprouts. I haven't seen a fresh one for at least a month in any supermarket and I suspect it's not going to be the only fresh veg that's going to disappear when the harvesttimes come.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Good grief chaps.I thought the whole thing about some of the countries backbone workers getting a bit of extra dosh was a positive thing. Now it’s descended into a tit for tat over powdered milkshakes and cheap beer.

It’s your fault, Normal, for only mentioning shortages of products that our Glyn doesn’t care about. I bet he’s never heard of Diet Coke, either.

Diabetics love diet pop.

And the pop shelves are getting emptier by the week too.

[normal rules]

What food items have you missed out on during this truck driver crisis? Perhaps we could come up with a scenario that you do care about.

The most obvious one has been sprouts. I haven't seen a fresh one for at least a month in any supermarket and I suspect it's not going to be the only fresh veg that's going to disappear when the harvesttimes come.

It’s not sprout season.

[belton rover]

What food items have you missed out on during this truck driver crisis? Perhaps we could come up with a scenario that you do care about.

The most obvious one has been sprouts. I haven't seen a fresh one for at least a month in any supermarket and I suspect it's not going to be the only fresh veg that's going to disappear when the harvesttimes come.

Thanks Glyn. Does this work for you?

Glyn. If you not having SPROUTS on your Sunday roast means that drivers in Britain might eventually be appreciated more by their employers and consumers, then I can live with that.

[Glyn_Wigley]

What food items have you missed out on during this truck driver crisis? Perhaps we could come up with a scenario that you do care about.

The most obvious one has been sprouts. I haven't seen a fresh one for at least a month in any supermarket and I suspect it's not going to be the only fresh veg that's going to disappear when the harvesttimes come.

It’s not sprout season.

They don't all come from the UK. And even in the UK they're grown year-round.

[Glyn_Wigley]

What food items have you missed out on during this truck driver crisis? Perhaps we could come up with a scenario that you do care about.

The most obvious one has been sprouts. I haven't seen a fresh one for at least a month in any supermarket and I suspect it's not going to be the only fresh veg that's going to disappear when the harvesttimes come.

Thanks Glyn. Does this work for you?

Glyn. If you not having SPROUTS on your Sunday roast means that drivers in Britain might eventually be appreciated more by their employers and consumers, then I can live with that.

The sprouts are for my missus.

[Bentley Bullet]

I only see one person having a go at lorry drivers earning more pay.

The thing is when they slip up with statements that ridicule what they claim to genuinely stand for the odd own goal often shows what they really stand for.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Whose had a go at lorry drivers earning more pay? I must have missed that one.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I only see one person having a go at lorry drivers earning more pay.

The thing is when they slip up with statements that ridicule what they claim to genuinely stand for the odd own goal often shows what they really stand for.

What in the name of holy f**k are you blathering on about.

I am ALL for lower paid workers getting a better deal.

This is not a sustainable way to do that and overall, on average, will lead to a WORSE outcome for the whole working class because lack of capacity in the haulage sector damages the economy as a whole. It's blindingly obvious why if you stop your usual spoiling for a fight and think about it.

[Bentley Bullet]

b*llocks

[Glyn_Wigley]

Only to someone with f**kall knowledge of economics.

[SydneyRover]

Only to someone with f**kall knowledge of economics.

[Bentley Bullet]

Only to someone with f**kall knowledge of economics.

I'd like to be all diplomatic and say you're a waste of space, my friend, but you're not my friend.

[SydneyRover]

did someone say diplodocus?

How serious is the shortage of lorry drivers?
By Reality Check team
BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/57810729

[Axholme Lion]

Plenty of fruit and veg at the grocers in Epworth. No food shortage i can see.

[wilts rover]

You can take fruit and veg to the grocers in Epworth with a wheelbarrow!

There is no shortage of food - as we are exporting less, £2billion less, just a shortage of people to pick it, process it and move it. Along with a shortage of police officers, nurses, care home staff, social care assistants etc

There is a labour shortage - as we were warned there would be. Whats the government plan to do anything about it?

[SydneyRover]

Everyone can work longer hours Wilts ................

[Axholme Lion]

You can take fruit and veg to the grocers in Epworth with a wheelbarrow!

There is no shortage of food - as we are exporting less, £2billion less, just a shortage of people to pick it, process it and move it. Along with a shortage of police officers, nurses, care home staff, social care assistants etc

There is a labour shortage - as we were warned there would be. Whats the government plan to do anything about it?

Well businesses can start by paying decent wages if they want people to work for them.

[Metalmicky]

Or perhaps the fit and unemployed could be persuaded to take a role.....?  .... or perhaps not

[normal rules]

The shelves were empty of bleach last night in our local supermarkets.
Perhaps the locals have taken to drinking it.

[rich1471]

Everyone can work longer hours Wilts ................

I'm doing 55-60 per week working in a kitchen ,fcuk working more and we are struggling to get food and toilet rolls have been out of stock for 3 weeks

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Paying more definitely is not the answer. It just gets passed on to consumers and then we get higher inflation then everyone else wants more money etc etc. Viscious circle that can spiral if not careful.

The answer is simply to train more people isn't it?  From discussions I've seen in the workplace a lot of European drivers weren't arsed about brexit it didn't impact them.  But covid did. They wanted to be near families etc.  It's them not returning where the brexit impact is felt and it's very easy for the government to fix that if they choose.

It shouldn't be impossible to train more British people. Equally the non financial aspects of the job are a real problem.  By that I mean poor managers, poor conditions and unsociable hours

[normal rules]

There is a shortage of hgv drivers across the Eu, it has nothing to with brexit. As 7 allude to bfyp, covid has hurt the haulage industry.

[SydneyRover]

scroll down till you get to 'reasons for shortages of drivers'

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-58334091

Some may find it fascinating.

[BillyStubbsTears]

In the long run, there is of course a simple solution to this specific problem. Train more British drivers.[1]

But as a very great man once said, in the long run we are all dead. The art of getting these decisions right is to get the long run situation you want without doing unacceptable damage in the short run.

Fortunately there is a very simple short term solution, which is what the supply chain trade is begging the Govt to apply. Temporarily allow European drivers to fill the shortfall. But of course that cannot happen, because it would require the Govt to admit that Brexit was a major factor in the supply chain dislocation. And the Govt cannot, as a matter of principle, admit that Brexit causes avoidable problems.

[1] There is a much deeper long term issue here, if we try to answer every staffing shortfall in every sector by training more UK workers. The question of if we have enough UK workers to fill all the gaps. In the haulage sector alone, it is estimated that we are 100,000 drivers short. But, pre-pandemic (and hopefully post-pandemic) there were "only" just over 1 million people looking for work.  We've already seen the irony of the arch-Brexiteer Tim Martin of Weatherspoons saying he wants more EU immigration because he can't fill bar jobs from the UK population. And there are huge shortfalls of required staff in many other sectors. NHS, social care, police, construction to name just a few. At some point, especially if the economy finally picks up, there simply aren't enough UK staff to service what the economy needs. Then you are back to requiring large economic migration to fill the gaps.

[SydneyRover]

Everyone can work longer hours Wilts ................

I'm doing 55-60 per week working in a kitchen ,fcuk working more and we are struggling to get food and toilet rolls have been out of stock for 3 weeks

It was a throw away line to Wilts aimed at the short termism and refusal of the government to grasp the nettle and deal with the labour shortages in many areas, I'm appalled that you have to work those hours Rich.

[normal rules]

My c + e licence expired when I was 45 and sadly I was not in a role that could justify the time and cost of having this renewed. Things is, I haven’t lost the ability to drive an artic. I did wonder how many other drivers fall into this category. Perhaps the govt should make some concessions for drivers wanting to return. Just with a drs certificate to say you are fit and well etc.

[Metalmicky]

My c + e licence expired when I was 45 and sadly I was not in a role that could justify the time and cost of having this renewed. Things is, I haven’t lost the ability to drive an artic. I did wonder how many other drivers fall into this category. Perhaps the govt should make some concessions for drivers wanting to return. Just with a drs certificate to say you are fit and well etc.

I assume that other EU drivers who drove HGV's in the UK (for UK firms) were subject to any tests/licence checks when they started driving over here...?   How stringent are these checks and/or tests?

Genuine questions - I have no idea how this was worked out.

[Axholme Lion]

We're massively overpopulated yet we're told there is a labour shortage. Maybe they could not bother putting up NI and cut benefits instead to encourage more people to get off their backsides and go to work?