OK, this isn't funny any more. Where's the army?

[Orangejuicemarathoner]

One quarter of staff and students late to school this morning, and 10% didn't get there at all. It has been announced that, excepting physical disability, any student within 4 miles or adult within 6 miles will be expected to walk in, but Its expected to be worse tomorrow with a good chance we will be closed by Wednesday.

AA reporting over 100 "incidents" on the road within a 10 mile radius of the school - mostly roads blocked, and mostly by queues outside petrol stations.

I struggled to get home by bike, because of the chaos on the roads - I got off my bike and walked several miles of it.

I called in at a supermarket on the way home. The shelves were more than three quarters empty. No bread or milk. So I'm sitting here drinking black tea planning rice for dinner instead of cheese on toast.

I know its not a catastrophe that I spent an extra hour getting home, and dont have milk in my tea, but what is that saying about the state we are in?

AIBU to say the army should be called in. What have we got an army for? Surely, an organisation of thousands of fit, capable, organised individuals, with vehicles and capacity and skills in logistics is exactly what we need to be utilised in this situation right here right now.

PS, is it ok to feed dog food to cats? does anyone know?

@VelvetChairGirl

we need the tories out, thats what we need

It's nothing to do with the tories, no matter how often you say it is. It's because people overreacted to five petrol stations (out of thousands) being temporarily closed.

Have prices for electric cars shot up

Probably not given the way energy prices are going too...

get Brexit done! We've shown them furrurners a thing or two. I always knew the country would be safe in thecapable hands of Boris Johnson and his right wing ideologue chums.

@Bluntness100

We don’t need the army, we just need the absolute twats panicking to stop.

Absolutely

Nothing to do with the Tories? That's simply ridiculous.

PS, is it ok to feed dog food to cats? does anyone know?

I predict a run on mice and small birds.

@supermoonrising

get Brexit done! We've shown them furrurners a thing or two. I always knew the country would be safe in thecapable hands of Boris Johnson and his right wing ideologue chums.

Any excuse to have a pop at Brexit, even when the facts show the current situation has happened for entirely different reasons.

@Marguerite2000
You're in dream land.
www.sharecast.com/news/political-news/uk-agrees-to-relax-visa-rules-for-foreign-truck-drivers---report--8121431.html

"The government has faced mounting criticism from retailers and the haulage industry as a shortage of drivers caused by Brexit has led to increased supply chain disruption."

"An ally of Johnson reportedly added: “Boris is completely fed up with bad headlines on this and wants it sorted and doesn’t care about visa limits any more.”

Hardline Home Secretary Priti Patel has opposed giving temporary visas to foreign truck drivers, arguing it would lead to a stampede of different industries demanding similar preferential treatment. However, fears of panic buying at petrol stations had seen her change position and agree to the proposal, the report added."

You can find similar reporting everywhere.

And always remember - this isnt a "mistake" or a "cockup"

Johnson, Mogg & Co. KNEW there would be huge supply chain disruptions causing mayhem of the kind occurring right now across food/agriculture, retail, fuel, etc And they KNEW prices would rise as a result and lives would be affected.

But they wanted Brexit anyway.

Pretending this is going on in other European countries is just spinning.

even when the facts show the current situation has happened for entirely different reasons

The facts show that Johnson's Brexit is a disaster, far worse than many Remainers feared.

The irony is that May's Brexit deal - which Johnson helped destroy -wasn't actually bad in comparison.

It would be interesting to know the split of how HGV drivers voted in the referendum.

Forums and surveys from 2016 suggest a large vote in that sector for Brexit (shakey research I know) but if that is in fact correct then rather than rolled eye emojis, sarcasm and accusations it would be far better to understand why the very people we need most now voted they way they did.

@supermoonrising

even when the facts show the current situation has happened for entirely different reasons

The facts show that Johnson's Brexit is a disaster, far worse than many Remainers feared.

Ok please share these facts you have quoted?

@Bluntness100

We don’t need the army, we just need the absolute twats panicking to stop.

I agree with this. People are buying over £100 worth of petrol when they only usually would buy £30. It's pathetic behaviour.

@supermoonrising

The irony is that May's Brexit deal - which Johnson helped destroy -wasn't actually bad in comparison.

I bet she’s chuckling now. It’s so sweet to see Johnson hoist on his own petard.

@Suddenlyfamily5

I struggled to get home by bike, because of the chaos on the roads

Of course you did

yes I did, to the extent that my head has told me, and other staff who cycle through that area not to attempt the journey again today, as it isn't safe, and has switched to an emergency timetable whereby teachers at home are online teaching the classes that have been closed, even though they are not our classes and we don't know them

Not ideal. But teachers on the premises are teaching classes on the premises, even though they are not their classes too.

Now all we need is a covid outbreak while everyone is mixed up, and the whole school closes

@user89000005

How on earth will we fix this situation when the logistics chain is broken?! This is our reality now and to think over half the country voted for this just blows my mind.

There is nothing broken in the "logistics chain" for fuel, jobs are plentiful, tanker driving is still a desirable role due to the higher income, go online and try to find a tanker job. BP had one slight issue that they've very publicly announced to manipulate the market to push for visa changes that they benefit from to keep wages low.

Brexit is shit, the lack of HGV drivers is worrying, but do not confuse them as the reason as to why we are being manipulated in this specific situation.

from my point of view, the logistics chain is very broken, as I am hearing from several lorry driver friends who are not getting much work, and when they do get work, there is never a full load to transport

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar

My local council has a fleet of HGV drivers - driving bin lorries and road mending plant etc. You couldn’t divert the bin men without another crisis, but I don’t see why you couldn’t divert the roads staff. Keep a skeleton crew for emergencies. I’m not sure if the training you get for driving a hotbox counts as handling hazardous materials - 25 tons of hot asphalt is pretty hazardous.

well, our bin men are not coming

@Chewbecca

Do you have any tinned fish? Puss will think it is their birthday 🍰

loads! is it ok to feed it to cats?

@Soupseason

Was the Army involved when the fuel tanker drivers went on strike?. What was that about 20yrs ago?. I can remember only being allowed £10 worth of fuel.

No, but I remember idly thinking that they could have practised single combat by giving the selfish farmers blockading the oil refineries (because they were sulking over the price of red diesel, which was cheaper than ordinary diesel anyway) a good kicking.

I thought that several times during the summer of 2000. When I was stuck behind a rolling blockade on the motorway. When I spent hours trying to get to and from work by train. When I had to cancel plans because there was no petrol to be had.

No bottled water at all.
One bonus of empty shelves.

Was the Army involved when the fuel tanker drivers went on strike?. What was that about 20yrs ago?. I can remember only being allowed £10 worth of fuel.

No they weren't, which is why we have Op Escalin now and why it's not happened since, although it has meant they basically have no power to strike which limits their pay negotiations of course.

@Member869894

'No bread or milk. So I'm sitting here drinking black tea planning rice for dinner instead of cheese on toast.'

not really an army matter is it?

In itself no.

Many times in my life I could not afford exactly what I wanted, and cheerful made no with cheaper choices, with no worries at all, because I was living within a social structure I believed in and had confidence in.

Similarly, I have lived in other countries without reliable supply chains, and settled at a standard well below what I would expect in the UK, but still had confidence that the standard, lower as it was, would be maintained

This is different. No milk because I spent my money on something else, or live somewhere where patchy supply is expected, is different to no milk because I am living in a society that doesn't have the supply chain in place, and that society is the UK in 2021

Of course it’s all right to give cats tinned fish. The only drawback is that they’ll turn their noses up at anything else once they’ve had it.

Our dog adores cat food.