Free as a Dodo: UK Politics Welcomes 2021

Looking at both An Post and Royal Mail last night, I realised I had no idea what the lack of guidance on either meant in terms of how I would send stuff to Ireland or vice versa. Very minor both in the grand scheme of Brexit fuckups and for me, but also upsetting because that has always been an easy link for me and it’s gone for the time being at least.

Sher look, ordering anything at all has just been an act of faith punctuated by a shrug since early December.

Incredibly tone deaf response to the pandemic from the Chorlton estate agents who once tried to keep my deposit pic.twitter.com/ifGGKMnFKp

— James Jackson (@derJamesJackson) January 25, 2021

Say what you like about the Blitz but it was a catalyst for redevelopment

Looking at both An Post and Royal Mail last night, I realised I had no idea what the lack of guidance on either meant in terms of how I would send stuff to Ireland or vice versa. Very minor both in the grand scheme of Brexit fuckups and for me, but also upsetting because that has always been an easy link for me and it’s gone for the time being at least.

― scampish inquisition (gyac), Monday, 25 January 2021 12:41 (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

It’s a limited amount of experience because I’ve gone from 45% of my orders bein eu bound to umm 8% (and just told my commercial landlord lol if you think I’m paying you rent) but we (and the couple sellers groups im in) have had no trouble sending stuff under £135. I’ve already got lazy about declaring the right codes too, pretty much labelling everything as Clothing Accessories (this catagory doesn’t need to change, whereas say Trousers changes per type of material, denim, cotton, synthetic fibres, cut corduroy etc).

Obviously there is a hell of a lot more things to send than clothes though. And things that should definitely be declared at over £135 (not 100% sure why this is the magic number, vat iirc?). You can also declare “gift” and a small description on a cn22 label, and should not be treated the same as someone sending something commercially. God knows if this helps in a world where mans can’t even keep his sandwich meat though.

IIRC the threshold for import VAT and duty on gifts arriving in the UK remains £39 but for commercial items is now £135 (in theory - supply VAT is supposed to be collected by the seller but nobody knows exactly how this working yet).

I think i missed this when it was reported earlier but the FT is suggesting that around 1.3m people born outside of the UK have permanently left the country in the last 12 months, 700k of which were in London.

is that a euphemism for 'died'

Xp any indication on numbers of Brits returning to the UK? Though why anybody wants to come to this plague ridden shithole beats me.

i guess teresa may will be happy

(theresa may can go fuck herself btw)

say what you want about theresa may

I think i missed this when it was reported earlier but the FT is suggesting that around 1.3m people born outside of the UK have permanently left the country in the last 12 months, 700k of which were in London.

― Scampo di tutti i Scampi (ShariVari), Monday, 25 January 2021 bookmarkflaglink

Wonder if this is Brexit or the pandemic and ppl going back to family. Probably a combination.

Xp any indication on numbers of Brits returning to the UK? Though why anybody wants to come to this plague ridden shithole beats me.

-700k?

More likely Brexit I would have thought. I can't think of anyone I know who was born outside the UK who has left the country.

Boris Johnson?

Oops sorry I misread that as 'hasnt'

Yankee Go Home

No thanks, we don’t want him.

xps tysm user ahoy hoy, I was just having a bit of a rant because the guidance is fucking useless (when it’s there!), I had heard (husband kept insisting) that anything over £13 was subject to VAT and I wasn’t finding anything to disprove him

I absolutely do not understand how any of this works but the closest I can get is that the £15 low-value exemption has been scrapped so any goods sold commercially are VAT liable. If it is over £135, the buyer is responsible for paying import VAT and customs duties, depending on the nature of the item. If it’s under £135, it’s exempt from duty but U.K. VAT (rather than import VAT) should be charged by the seller at point of sale. Anyone selling to the U.K., therefore, has to be registered to collect VAT on behalf of HMRC.

What’s less clear is what happens if the organisation you have bought from isn’t actually registered and hasn’t charged you U.K. VAT.

Or if it’s, for example, a gift?

Oh totally. The guidance is fucking useless. If it wasn’t for people on message boards who have similar businesses giving me advice, I would be fucking screwed. I was trying to get my head around it when there was that massive breakdown and Royal Mail stopped sending stuff to the EU for a couple days; it was then that other people, seemingly independent of the lack of government advice, were able to help me.

It’s fucking bullshit though and rant away. Personally think some people should be sent to the hague for it.

Gifts into the UK are OK up to £39. Over that VAT and duty are due. Whereas with commercial consignments up to £135 I reckon there's a better chance they will just go through. They won't have the resources to stop and check everything at the moment.

The EU is planning similar VAT changes but they are currently delayed until July.

Of course the UK has really fucked it with no coherent idea how packages are supposed to be marked when supply VAT has been collected, and worse no turnover threshold before non-UK businesses have to register for VAT.

Ugh.

Thanks for that clarification, I guess I just work commercial out of the country

Haha thanks both. I guess I’ll just have to resort to checked baggage for everything above £39... whenever that’s happening again.

I have never been so glad not to have a kid as now, I hear terrifying stories from all I know who have them

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is self-isolating for the third time

How many contacts does this guy have?

he's a popular guy

I won't believe it till he has +20 contacts

NEW: Labour is urging the government to commit to reopening schools and colleges first when lockdown restrictions are eased.

— Sienna Rodgers (@siennamarla) January 25, 2021

kids in schools = small peeps with hundreds of contacts

Reports say that starmer is increasingly self isolated

that godawful melt Kate Green who replaced RLB as shadow education has been bringing unwelcome pressure on the Tories to be Tories again as well.

NEW: Labour is urging the government to commit to reopening schools and colleges first when lockdown restrictions are eased.

— Sienna Rodgers (@siennamarla) January 25, 2021

i bet the government hadn't thought of that. thanks, labour!

it's almost like you are expecting the tail to wag before the dog wags it .. come on now!

Westminster voting intention:

CON: 42% (+2)
LAB: 37% (-1)
LDEM: 8% (-)
GRN: 4% (-1)
REFUK: 3% (+1)

via @RedfieldWilton, 25 Jan
Chgs. w/ 18 Janhttps://t.co/GeqBdtGy4x

— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) January 25, 2021

FIVE POINTS BEHIND! or as it was called on QT when Jez was the leader and polling level TEN POINTS BEHIND.

why should they care how badly they are doing, as long as it isn't getting mentioned in the Graun/BBC 50 times a week then it hasn't happened

Nothing more inspiring than an insipid version of death of the poor and often brown in this here united (and it should stay that way because am I not a Kieth because I am not off a poor regional) king of dem

itt posts that read like LKJ lyrics!

Wonder if this is Brexit or the pandemic and ppl going back to family. Probably a combination.

Anecdotally I've had friends leave because of brexit but also lots of friends went back when the pandemic hit to be with family and I think that might become permanent for a lot of them, looking at how the UK is going. The two feed into each other.

Breaking - surprise Boris Johnson press conference, 5pm tonight

— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) January 26, 2021

isn't Stratton supposed to be doing these now?

i think this is because the british idea of "a strong economy" is "real estate prices rise precipitously and indefinitely", and why not after the last 40 years? https://t.co/lGc6ZLVdy7

— joolsd (@joolsd) January 26, 2021

I thought Starmer would forensically chip away at those issues

No-one specified how big the chips would have to be.

^ one for the quoted out of context thread

Or that he wouldn’t have to use his head to do the chipping.