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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Beginning to panic about skyrocketing inflation as a result of a no deal Brexit...

176 replies

ManagingLife · 03/08/2019 15:28

I appreciate this has been done to death on here, judging by the amount of threads on MN about Brexit.

However, I scroll past these threads as I was very much undecided with the vote, though went with remain in the end, and had a degree of faith in the powers that be regardless. That feeling has now turned to utter disbelief at the state of how things are being 'run', if you can call it that at all.

Despite being a low income earner and a tenant, I am a saver and scrimper. I can't afford to cut back any further - I have goals to reach and children to feed, clothe and nurture (I am a newly single parent).

The Bank of England's most recent forecast of the immediate aftermath in the event of a no deal Brexit has left me horrified... I fear destitution is likely if a no deal happens.

Should I start bulk buying and drawing out cash, etc? Or AIBU and hysterical?!?

OP posts:
TheElementsSong · 03/08/2019 19:28

Brexit Bingo

Y2K
WWII
Armageddon/Mad Max
Zombies
Obesity crisis
Scaremongering
Hysterical
Toughen up
Locally-grown
Eat something else
Not going to starve
Panic
Posh elite
Apricots/avocados/asparagus/foie gras/Tomatoes/lettuce
FIIIIIIIIINNNEEE
Crystal Ball
Echo chamber

Justanotherlurker · 03/08/2019 19:37

Looks like the critical thinkers have turned up

TheElementsSong is here to tell everyone how they are wrong by citing Guardian CIF articles..

ScaryBunnyPainting · 03/08/2019 19:39

YANBU OP. Slow and steady prepping now is what you need. Observe what you eat and use in a week and try to discover where they are from, where they are manufactured and if you can grow or make an alternative or if you can store long term.

If it turns out you don’t need to use them in an emergency fashion then all the better.
Aim for 3 days of food in the house that doesn’t need to be cooked, make sure to include things like formula and pet food. And then work up slowly from there.

Graphista · 03/08/2019 19:41

Here we go again!
Posted before but DEFINITELY seems to need repeating.

BREXIT FAQ

1 why do you think it necessary? The U.K. Govt won't allow it all to go to hell in a handcart?

We are not as a country self sufficient. The govt has failed to organised increased production either by farmers or manufacturers and haven't even helped supermarkets arrange extra warehousing. At this point they are however starting to stockpile themselves and are refreshing training for police and armed forces in case of unrest.

2 But surely it won't affect uk products

many if not most uk products require ingredients/raw materials from outside the uk. Also, again as we're not self sufficient that means more people using U.K. Products who previously would have bought non uk alternatives. This means less uk made food to go around and probably higher prices.

3 stockpiling means you'll be responsible for empty shelves

no you'd be confusing stockpiling with panic buying. People buying and storing a little extra than they'd normally buy now means this frees up warehouse space for supermarkets and allows them to adjust their buying rates appropriately.

4 there was all this over the Millenium bug too and it was all hype

No - IT and telecoms people worked for YEARS in advance to prevent that issue from happening.

5 we managed before we were in the eu the population was much smaller, our productivity was higher per capita, and we still traded with Europe under established terms of the time.

6 we managed during WWII, people just pulled together

No there was at least a years planning by the government including rationing, plus crime rates soared and people did die from hunger/malnutrition related illness.

7 but if it proves unnecessary or govt finally pull their finger out won't you have wasted your money?

No. It will mean a reduced grocery bill for a while as I won't need to buy those long life products. Some better off mners have said they'll happily donate to food banks anything they're unlikely to use. Also if the "only" thing that happens is slight price rises perhaps due to £ falling initially then those of us on tight budgets won't be immediately in the shit!

8 well we all need to lose weight anyway we'll just diet

You still need nutrition for basic bodily functions & health. Obesity is more complex than simply "eat less", also children, the elderly and sick need calories and nutrition to grow and to stay healthy. And not everyone's fat! My dd is over 6' and barely more than a size 8 due to her disability she has a high metabolism. She needs the calories AND she needs to consume a certain amount of fat to protect her joints. Diabetics need a stable diet to manage their condition as do people with a variety of other conditions, some people need to take medication with certain types of foods, there's those with allergies to consider etc

Also hungry people get pissed off! Before they get to a point where they're too weak to fight they'll get angry! That's what will likely lead to the civil unrest. That and people fearful for loved ones who are diabetics etc.

9 grow stuff in the garden, we can grow stuff in this country too

March/April is a low harvest time. Google the "hungry gap" even if you were to plant stuff now it won't be ready for ages and even that only works

if you know what you're doing
can invest in the raw materials necessary
HAVE a garden or somewhere to grow stuff
The weather does what it's supposed to - no unusually warm or cold spells, or too much/too little rain!

Graphista · 03/08/2019 19:47

"I am still waiting for all the doom and gloom predictions from the referendum to come to fruition."

Oh ffs you do get that

WE HAVE NOT LEFT YET

Don't you?

NOBODY knows what's going to happen, but even the supposedly confident leavers in power have made certain contingency plans. Ask yourself if they're SO confident then WHY do they have to do this?

"And a lot of what was predicted to happen in the interim HAS happened - massive devaluation of stirling, car manufacturing leaving, banking sector leaving, huge lack of inward investment in business and property." Also true!

Op go on the brexit prep threads and get organised at worst you'll need it and will be glad you have it, at best, you have a cheaper grocery bill for a few months.

Win win!

I think it is extremely foolish to ignore people like the governor of the Bank of England or research like the uni of Sussex's recent one which shows we'd be facing a likely 7% rise in food prices (that would be an extra £200 a year minimum for my household), which is just ONE study among many that have been done - to my knowledge NOT ONE sensible piece of research has shown we'll be better off! I'm not sure I can even recall one saying there'd be no change!

This WOULD mean many people going without food and other basics, we ALREADY have far too many families barely scraping by. There's already been a poster on this thread say they're skipping meals to save money! I already only eat one meal and one snack a day (health issues) so I don't see how I can cut back further.

"Disclaimer: I don't actually think we're all going to end up on the verge of starvation" many people in uk ALREADY ARE - or do they not matter?

Hungry people get scared, scared people get angry, angry people get aggressive!

There's also today been a leaked document appear, showing the govt recognises the potential for a breakdown in law and order within the first fortnight!

Graphista · 03/08/2019 19:47

I rather suspect those that come on such threads advising against preparing "just in case" are:

Lying that they're not doing so themselves

OR

Stand to profit from people not doing so

Lucky enough to think themselves in a position not to need to do so themselves (perhaps mistakenly if based purely on wealth - as a pp says, if there's nothing in the shops to buy your money is worthless!)

"That’s not to say it might not be tougher than now for a while" and how do you suggest people like me, who are JUST managing at the moment and "break even" each month with nothing left over are supposed to cope when "it's a bit tougher than now"? What about those ALREADY using food banks and charitable support? ALREADY going without food, heating etc?

Neolara - yep, I have family and friends in certain roles in the civil service where they would definitely be "in the know" and their own reactions and preparations and even outright comments are a big reason why I have no faith in this govt not royally fucking this up!!

"BILLION.....FUCKING BILLION.

(that's 1000 £2.1millions)" erm...did I miss us becoming the 51st state? A billion in U.K. Is 1million X 1million

Graphista · 03/08/2019 19:47

"When we had the bad snow last winter our local shops couldn't get deliveries and the shelves were noticeably emptier" posters also need to consider where they are re delivery routes etc.

I'm on west coast of Scotland and frequently on these threads point out that if even a minimal disruption due to a temporary weather issue can fuck up supplies for WEEKS as happened here, then a major disruption due to a huge political change is likely to be far worse!

We had local "corner shops" charging £15-20 for a loaf of bread - and people were paying it! If people think such price hikes can't/won't happen they're wrong.

"If there is a shortage of food its because crazy mn'ers are stockpiling it waiting for armageddon." Stockpiling the way we are DOES NOT cause shortages, currently a rise in sales is easily managed. You're confusing stockpiling with panic buying which DOES cause shortages. Again when the beast from the east struck, we had panic buying here too and the supermarkets brought in buying limitations to try and manage that.

"even if it did you wouldnt notice it much." Clearly another fortunate enough to have spare money each month. Again NOT TRUE for everyone!

"People seem to forget that it's not just us wanting to import things, but the EU countries need to export to us to to keep their economy stable. It's in their interests to continue to trade with us as well" we are a tiny market comparatively speaking, they can still sell to the rest of the eu AND the rest of the world. They really don't "need" us as much as we'd like!

On many a brexit prep thread this argument (as well as several others already commented on) has been posited, myself and other mners with family/friends or themselves living in other countries in the eu, working for the very companies that sell to us, telling us they have since the vote came through been investing in and working towards replacing their sales to us by sales to other countries.

"No one ever talks about that." Wrong very much discussed on other similar brexit threads as I've said.

BlamesFartsOnTheNeighbour · 03/08/2019 19:50

Oh so we have rationing to look forward to???

Well I for one look forward to the 2019 version of Woolton Pie.

Justanotherlurker · 03/08/2019 19:52

And as clock work here is Graphista

Who during the last couple of GE was saying any comment by Multinationals and Banks as Corbyn being bad for GDP was right wing propoganda.

Also this meme about the Millennium bug needs to be dispelled from all sides, yes it was overblown, no it didn't take years to overcome, the "fix" was sorted very quickly, rolling it out took a while because of the legacy systems, the "worry" about it failing was a nice headline to sell papers at the time.

I worked on fixing it for both the NHS and multinational banking, I even got paid triple figures for being on call new years eve, even though my bosses knew it was all fixed and tested.

Justanotherlurker · 03/08/2019 19:56

Neolara - yep, I have family and friends in certain roles in the civil service where they would definitely be "in the know" and their own reactions and preparations and even outright comments are a big reason why I have no faith in this govt not royally fucking this up!!

Really....

I have friends involved with central civil service, your friends and mine probably know each other, and non of them are stockpiling, I also have friends who are based in the civil service across europe and they are not expressing concern that the uk needs to start stockpilling.

Stop spewing hyperbole.

ethelfleda · 03/08/2019 20:02

This is the first Brexit thread I’ve clicked on in a while. I’m still very much in denial over the whole thing and I want to pretend it’s not happening!
This thread has worried me... a lot. We as a family are definitely not on the bread line... so that’s ok. But I honestly wasn’t planning on stockpiling I usually have a fairly healthy pantry to be fair but not enough to feed us for months!! I feel massively underprepared now.

ConorMcGregorsChin · 03/08/2019 20:05

So much hatred and disbelief between the Remainers and the DisBelievers. As usual.

For what it's worth, I worked my arse off to stop Y2K from crippling us. And Yes, I'm stockpiling. It does not / will not affect you - the fact that I have a well stocked pantry and yeah, the proverbial masses of bog roll. Because I bought it months ago.
Fuck you if you don't give a shit. But Fuck you more if you knock on my door asking me if I have any spare stuff from my stash. It's for me and my family. I have a years worth of medication. If you don't, and you end up in shit creek, more fool you.

Hazardtired · 03/08/2019 20:07

Can people try being helpful to the OP instead of being the usual stubborn beavers?

She needs to know if she's BU.
And she needs you all to stop brexit.

If your not trying to do the later then if I worked in the civil service I wouldn't tell you to stockpile either Grin

Wombleish · 03/08/2019 20:07

Crispmonster Grin

MammaBot211 · 03/08/2019 20:10

I think you should get a grip @ManagingLife 🙄

ethelfleda · 03/08/2019 20:14

Just read this on the BBC

Travel to Ireland will not change, even if there's no deal. You'll continue to be able to travel and work there in the same way as before.

we have family there, DH and DS have Irish passports and my company has an office in Dublin. Maybe we will feck off over there for a while!

Helmetbymidnight · 03/08/2019 20:17

people actually trust the govt to do the best for the average person.

Grin i know.

anyone who's been following the news for the past three years knows that most of them are a bunch of fucking lying incompetents but yet, for some reason, many people have faith in them.

its a mystery to me.

TarragonSauce · 03/08/2019 20:19

Who up above asked who are we going to loose (sic) houses to?

I cannot believe the naivety.
You cannot pay the mortgage, the bank repossesses the house, you go off to the council homeless and end up living in one room of a stinky pit of a b&b and your old house sits there empty for years rotting away because no one can afford to buy it off the bank.
I am 52 years old and I've watched this cycle 3 times in my life (and been lucky each time).
Do people really not understand the basics of a mortgage anymore?

timshelthechoice · 03/08/2019 20:22

Oh, yes, WWII, where organised crime went rampant and the propaganda machine still causes people to think everyone just 'pulled together' 74 years after it was all over! Unbelievable people fall for that shit still.

I'm not interested in pulling together with the fuckwits who voted for this shower of shit. The fuck I'm going to share my stash with such numpties, they can go to the wall for all I care.

TheElementsSong · 03/08/2019 20:24

Oh dear, I think lurker is angry that UnBeLeavers cannot be banned from threads Grin (weird mis-accusation that I'm mostly known for posting Guardian articles Confused - is that a squirrel to distract from Brexitannian NewSpeak and our longstanding Bingo game?).

Graphista · 03/08/2019 20:25

"The gov managed to keep us all fed during 2 World wars" actually they didn't - particularly WWI - that's WHY they made the preparations they did and had rationing from pretty early on for WWII. Wasn't quite as bad during WWII but certainly there was still a black market, malnutrition, people "looting" farmers crops etc.

People have a rose tinted view of "how things were" during that time, go and do some proper research on crime rates and malnutrition at that time - why do you think there was such a desire for the Nhs & welfare state immediately following WWII? It wasn't just because of the war wounded.

"Your comment shows a frightening lack of understanding of economics." Yep but is a comment often made on such threads, showing they are far from being in the minority for not having this knowledge.

"Who are we going to loose houses to exactly? The whole Country will be in the same position!" This is a new argument to me as a renter. Who owns the mortgage on your home if you have one? If it's Santander who are a Spanish company what's going to happen re your mortgage post brexit? Even if with other banks they don't operate in a vacuum, they trade with the eu, plus if inflation does rise what effect will that have on your mortgage or your ability to pay it?

"OK so we may have a shortage of Belgian chocolate and some wines" that just shows how VERY Little YOU know about how your groceries reach you. Go look at the food you have in your house NOW I challenge you to find 6 items that are completely sourced in the uk (not just cooked and packaged but ALL the ingredients & packaging materials from uk too).

"Who during the last couple of GE was saying any comment by Multinationals and Banks as Corbyn being bad for GDP was right wing propoganda." I've not even been ON mn that long!! Confused

Are you sure you're not confusing me with another poster? I also don't recall having made any such specific comments re multinationals and banks!

"Stop spewing hyperbole." I'll post what I like thanks (within TG's of course Wink)

Fwiw I don't consider what I wrote hyperbole (and clearly I'm not alone in my opinion) merely my own opinions and experience.

MammaBot211 · 03/08/2019 20:27

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

timshelthechoice · 03/08/2019 20:27

"The gov managed to keep us all fed during 2 World wars"

Haahaaha! That's why there was all those rickets that also caused a lot of women childbirth complications later on. Bollocks they 'kept everyone fed' - there was massive malnutrition, but hey, people were skinny and that's what's important.

Can't believe how deluded people are, or think that others will help them or the government will.

TheElementsSong · 03/08/2019 20:29

oh do shut up with your blatant scaremongering

Yes, UnBeleavers should shut up! No speaking against the Willy of The People should be permitted because Reasons.

ineedaknittedhat · 03/08/2019 20:30

I've bought a ferret so we can go out hunting rabbits at night.

We've had security bars fitted to the downstairs windows.

Dh has bought a new air rifle so we can shoot seagulls as I've heard they're actually very nutritious.