You’re out of Europe, so hand over your ham sandwiches
Packs of frozen Brazil chicken legs. European rules ban the import of meat, fish and dairy products from outside the EU.
What you need to know:
- Exporters will have their goods checked (if not confiscated as above) at EU borders, with duties paid immediately.
The European Investment Bank has in the past lent billions of pounds to depressed parts of the United Kingdom, but we are out of the bank now, so that assistance is ended.
You could consider it comic, officious, even malicious, but an incident on the Dutch border last week demonstrated the painful negativity of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.
European rules ban the import of meat, fish and dairy products from outside the EU.
In a scene filmed by a Dutch TV network, a truck driver from Britain was asked if his foil-wrapped lunch snacks contained meat.
When the driver said they were ham sandwiches, the official said, “Okay, so we take them all.”
Rule-taker
Surprised, the driver asked if he could keep the bread, to which the protector of Dutch sovereignty replied, “No, everything will be confiscated. Welcome to Brexit, sir.”
Time will tell how difficult British companies will find trading with Europe but it is clear already that this country’s new role is that of a rule-taker.
Exporters will have their goods checked (if not confiscated as above) at EU borders, with duties paid immediately.
It has been estimated that more than 200 million customs declarations costing £7 billion will have to be completed.
The bureaucracy is mind-boggling; the physical congestion, as already demonstrated at Dover during Christmas, is a constant threat.
Right to study free
Britons will need visas to stay in European countries for longer than three months, and some 15,000 students per year have lost their right to study free in European universities.
The European Investment Bank has in the past lent billions of pounds to depressed parts of the United Kingdom, but we are out of the bank now, so that assistance is ended.
We are no longer members of Europol and have lost automatic access to the EU security database. The same goes for the European Emissions Trading Scheme, which is fundamental to the economics of wind farms and nuclear power stations.
Triumphant Brexiters frequently proclaim that we have “taken back control” of our country.
Others may think we have handed control to our erstwhile partners over the Channel.
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It was supposed to be jokey banter, but spin bowler Azeem Rafiq said talk in the dressing room at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club was racist.
Language addressed to him and to other non-white players included such expressions as “Paki” and “elephant washer” and he was referred to as “Raffa the Kaffir”.
Drinking culture
In a complaint to the Leeds Employment Tribunal, Rafiq said there was an attempt to enforce a drinking culture on Pakistani players and some were told to “Go back where you came from”.
He said he received no assistance from the club at a difficult time when his wife gave birth to a stillborn baby.
Rafiq, 29, played professionally for Yorkshire in two spells between 2008 and 2018.
His legal complaint against the club claims discrimination and harassment on the grounds of race.
Rafiq said, “I hope this claim will give me the closure I need and that the recommendations of the Tribunal will bring change to future generations in cricket.”
The club said it took the allegations extremely seriously and had launched an extensive investigation.
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Scarcely a day passes without a new problem arising from the coronavirus pandemic, especially now that we spend so much time at home under lockdown rules.
The latest is a threat to our eyesight.
A survey of 2,000 people found that at least 50 per cent watched television more since Covid-19 struck, and 38 per cent of the 1,000 believed their eyesight had worsened.
Respondents reported difficulty reading, as well as suffering from headaches and migraines and experiencing blurred vision.
Eye strain
The charity Fight for Sight said even simple screen breaks can help prevent eye strain and it recommended that people learn the 20-20-20 rule.
This involves looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
The majority of opticians are open during lockdown and specialists urged anyone with problems to secure an appointment.
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Stories from the world of work:
An efficiency expert gave an example of how his system worked.
“When my wife prepared breakfast, she made at least 10 trips between the fridge, the stove and the table, carrying one item at a time. I told her, ‘You’re wasting time. Why don’t you carry several things at once?’
“My intervention worked. It used to take her 20 minutes to make breakfast. Now I do it in 10.”
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A newly promoted executive decided to stamp his authority on the office by displaying a sign that said, “I’m the Boss.”
A few days later, an underling took a phone message and called out to the boss:
“Your wife rang, she wants her sign back.”
