Its Official

[B Dobson]

48 minutes ago, Barryd999 said:

Oh no I offered a full apology. I just saw what John H had written and forgot it was that other bloke not Patterson. The trouble is with all these sleazy Tories, they all look alike. Easy mistake. Anyway we put that one right. I will always admit when I am wrong or make a mistake.

I don't see how I have had a bad day on the forum though. I have very much enjoyed it although I am incredibly busy at the moment fixing the economy so don't have too much time to dally about on on here. However Im very good at multi tasking so I can often fix the economy and tap away on here at two hundred miles an hour at the same time.

I dont recall the pasty incident. As my stalker I am sure you will have logged it so please remind me.

It's a real shame your friend who got you into trouble with his lies hasn't obviously got the decency to admit he "made a mistake" isn't it? . You don't ever seem to "recall" things you'd rather forget, maybe you need to have a word with the doctor . BTW that meal for 2 tonight is 9.99 and then because the missus mate has an NHS card she'll get 25% off n'all . Still nothing evidence wise to back up your France is good Britain is bad claim . You gotta laugh Barryd999, let's hope for better tomorrow 

[Barryd999]

28 minutes ago, B Dobson said:

It's a real shame your friend who got you into trouble with his lies hasn't obviously got the decency to admit he "made a mistake" isn't it? . You don't ever seem to "recall" things you'd rather forget, maybe you need to have a word with the doctor . BTW that meal for 2 tonight is 9.99 and then because the missus mate has an NHS card she'll get 25% off n'all . Still nothing evidence wise to back up your France is good Britain is bad claim . You gotta laugh Barryd999, let's hope for better tomorrow 

How can I give you evidence for something that is based on my own experience?

I notice you haven't questioned what I said about Shrinkflation and the lowering of quality and quantity of our food stuffs though, that you can verify.

[B Dobson]

You give evidence because of your "own experience" and you tell all what exactly makes French food produce "far superior" to horrible, racist Britains, its really very, very simple but of course if we are to be honest you cant because youve made it up . As for "Shrinkflation" this could be awkward https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/Petition-launches-against-shrinkflation-in-shops-in-France

[Barryd999]

3 hours ago, B Dobson said:

You give evidence because of your "own experience" and you tell all what exactly makes French food produce "far superior" to horrible, racist Britains, its really very, very simple but of course if we are to be honest you cant because youve made it up . As for "Shrinkflation" this could be awkward https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/Petition-launches-against-shrinkflation-in-shops-in-France

Cant open the article but I assume it says its happening in France also. That does not surprise me and I never said it wasn't either.

I seem to remember you telling us repeatedly that there were no labour shortages in hospitality simply because you managed to get served in a couple of pubs in Penrith so I assumed it was ok to form opinions based on your own experience which in my case is pretty vast of France at least.

[B Dobson]

7 hours ago, Barryd999 said:

Cant open the article but I assume it says its happening in France also. That does not surprise me and I never said it wasn't either.

I seem to remember you telling us repeatedly that there were no labour shortages in hospitality simply because you managed to get served in a couple of pubs in Penrith so I assumed it was ok to form opinions based on your own experience which in my case is pretty vast of France at least.

Another stonker . I havent ever said "there were no labour shortages in hospitality" but if you find just one example of that I will gladly donate £100 to a charity of your choice . I said on many occasions we suffered the same as the rest of the EU and still do but of course you claimed we suffered more because of Brexit . Since Covid rules were relaxed Ive been to France twice for around 13 weeks and had 3 weeks in Holland as well as touring here and in Wales and Scotland and I have seen no difference with food and drink service . I have seen adverts in all places for staff and the best was in Annecy last year which was a big board outside one restaurant which had in English "Wanted dead or alive" staff . Your opinion as always is blinkered as you have one thing that you need to blame anything and everything on and thats good old blooming Brexit 

[B Dobson]

While I think on hubby went to Table Table last night and had a meal which she said was enjoyable and more than value for money though admittedly they weren't allowed the 25% off just 10% and there was a longer than usual wait, not because of staff shortages though or Brexit but because one of the cookers had broken . Regards 

[Barry Lineker]

2 hours ago, B Dobson said:

Another stonker . I havent ever said "there were no labour shortages in hospitality" but if you find just one example of that I will gladly donate £100 to a charity of your choice . I said on many occasions we suffered the same as the rest of the EU and still do but of course you claimed we suffered more because of Brexit . Since Covid rules were relaxed Ive been to France twice for around 13 weeks and had 3 weeks in Holland as well as touring here and in Wales and Scotland and I have seen no difference with food and drink service . I have seen adverts in all places for staff and the best was in Annecy last year which was a big board outside one restaurant which had in English "Wanted dead or alive" staff . Your opinion as always is blinkered as you have one thing that you need to blame anything and everything on and thats good old blooming Brexit 

On the same theme we stopped at one of our favourite campsites in France, which has an excellent onsite restaurant, we were surprised to find the previous Dutch owners had sold up to a British couple, so were wondering if the food would be as good.

We were not dissappointed and stayed 3 days eating in the restaurant everyday, we did notice the site wasn't as clean as it used to be, which the owner explained was because she was running the place virtually single handed, as her other half worked away, and it was almost impossible to get any staff.

[B Dobson]

22 minutes ago, Barry Lineker said:

On the same theme we stopped at one of our favourite campsites in France, which has an excellent onsite restaurant, we were surprised to find the previous Dutch owners had sold up to a British couple, so were wondering if the food would be as good.

We were not dissappointed and stayed 3 days eating in the restaurant everyday, we did notice the site wasn't as clean as it used to be, which the owner explained was because she was running the place virtually single handed, as her other half worked away, and it was almost impossible to get any staff.

Sounds like a nice spot Barry Lineker . I'm sure Master of Misinformation will be along to explain just how it's that blooming Brexits fault the French struggle with staff 

[Barryd999]

Whilst it is true other countries inside the EU have suffered with staff issues there is no denying that in the UK Brexit has made that situation worse for the UK. how could it not? We ended free movement of people and any hotelier, pub owner, farmer or factory worker will tell you these shortages started long before Covid hit our shores.

Anyway, apparently the Tories are set to massively open the floodgates on immigration. They have to or they wont meet their 2024 growth predictions.

[B Dobson]

48 minutes ago, Barryd999 said:

Whilst it is true other countries inside the EU have suffered with staff issues there is no denying that in the UK Brexit has made that situation worse for the UK. how could it not? We ended free movement of people and any hotelier, pub owner, farmer or factory worker will tell you these shortages started long before Covid hit our shores.

Anyway, apparently the Tories are set to massively open the floodgates on immigration. They have to or they wont meet their 2024 growth predictions.

Yes absolutely spot on as usual . I see a certain Sebastien Bazin who's head of the world's 6th largest hotel group Frances very own Accor Group says and I quote "the French hotel industry is on its knees" with regards to hospitality employment . I don't believe he once mentioned Brexit being the cause though but I'm sure it will be 

[Barry Lineker]

1 hour ago, Barryd999 said:

Whilst it is true other countries inside the EU have suffered with staff issues there is no denying that in the UK Brexit has made that situation worse for the UK. how could it not? We ended free movement of people and any hotelier, pub owner, farmer or factory worker will tell you these shortages started long before Covid hit our shores.

Anyway, apparently the Tories are set to massively open the floodgates on immigration. They have to or they wont meet their 2024 growth predictions.

Looking on the brightside, seeing as we're all heading into recession, I'd of thought it would be better for us to have staff shortages, as when the recession bites and some businesses are inevitably forced to close, then their staff are more likely to find employment.

[Barryd999]

18 minutes ago, B Dobson said:

Yes absolutely spot on as usual . I see a certain Sebastien Bazin who's head of the world's 6th largest hotel group Frances very own Accor Group says and I quote "the French hotel industry is on its knees" with regards to hospitality employment . I don't believe he once mentioned Brexit being the cause though but I'm sure it will be 

Yes that maybe so but if anything this just highlights even more how crackers Brexit and ending free movement has been.  You never know what is around the corner so massive ill planned changes like Brexit are always a huge gamble and of course if you subscribe to chaos theory are almost always doomed to fail when there is no clear direction or proper assessment of the nock on effects down the line should something like Covid arise or a war in Europe perhaps.  

So whilst those two tragic events have hit every country and created supply and staffing issues, we made it worse for ourselves by ending freedom of movement and creating a hostile environment to foreigners.  You cant deny that as its been going on since 2016!  Long before covid or Putin decided to invade Ukraine.

Now we are faced with the huge problem of filling those gaps in the labour market and the result is the highest amount of none EU migration since records began but its still not enough!  So much easier when we had productive European workers from just across the water eh?

Both Starmer and Sunak are now saying we will train up UK workers to do the work but if that were possible, it would have happened years ago. I bet at best 10% of the unemployed are even remotely capable of filling these rolls.

One things for sure though. Immigration is going to increase, it has to and I bet they wont be coming from Europe. 

[B Dobson]

1 minute ago, Barryd999 said:

Yes that maybe so but if anything this just highlights even more how crackers Brexit and ending free movement has been.  You never know what is around the corner so massive ill planned changes like Brexit are always a huge gamble and of course if you subscribe to chaos theory are almost always doomed to fail when there is no clear direction or proper assessment of the nock on effects down the line should something like Covid arise or a war in Europe perhaps.  

So whilst those two tragic events have hit every country and created supply and staffing issues, we made it worse for ourselves by ending freedom of movement and creating a hostile environment to foreigners.  You cant deny that as its been going on since 2016!  Long before covid or Putin decided to invade Ukraine.

Now we are faced with the huge problem of filling those gaps in the labour market and the result is the highest amount of none EU migration since records began but its still not enough!  So much easier when we had productive European workers from just across the water eh?

Both Starmer and Sunak are now saying we will train up UK workers to do the work but if that were possible, it would have happened years ago. 

One things for sure though. Immigration is going to increase, it has to and I bet they wont be coming from Europe. 

A fella in France who knows way more than you or I says the French hotel industry is on its knees due to hoslitality shortages and you reply with paragraph after paragraph on how bad Brexit is . Goodness me Barryd999

[Barryd999]

4 minutes ago, Barry Lineker said:

Looking on the brightside, seeing as we're all heading into recession, I'd of thought it would be better for us to have staff shortages, as when the recession bites and some businesses are inevitably forced to close, then their staff are more likely to find employment.

Good job your not chancellor. 🤣

Remember those 2024 growth figures that you posted that we hope will come true and not see us as the sick man of Europe once again. They are totally dependent on doubling immigration and providing growth not the other way around.

[Barryd999]

1 minute ago, B Dobson said:

A fella in France who knows way more than you or I says the French hotel industry is on its knees due to hoslitality shortages and you reply with paragraph after paragraph on how bad Brexit is . Goodness me Barryd999

He might be right but so what? We are in the same boat but Brexit has hugely made the situation worse here. Ask not just some fella in France but go and ask pretty much any hotelier or hospitality business owner in the UK. See what they have to say.  

[B Dobson]

36 minutes ago, Barryd999 said:

He might be right but so what? We are in the same boat but Brexit has hugely made the situation worse here. Ask not just some fella in France but go and ask pretty much any hotelier or hospitality business owner in the UK. See what they have to say.  

So if the situation is worse here, no sorry "hugely" worse and Frances hotel industry is on its knees just how would you describe our hotel industry situation and how long in your view will it survive given you seem to be an expert though I don't know how many hotels you've stayed in this year? 

[Barryd999]

1 hour ago, B Dobson said:

So if the situation is worse here, no sorry "hugely" worse and Frances hotel industry is on its knees just how would you describe our hotel industry situation and how long in your view will it survive given you seem to be an expert though I don't know how many hotels you've stayed in this year? 

Great swathes of it wont survive unless we address the Labour shortage.

Imagine everyone on this forum was in a club that allowed each member to share their stuff easily. Lets say each member wanted some biscuits and out of the 27 members there were only 15 biscuits to share. The logical thing to do would be to share the biscuits, maybe break a few bits off around each of the 27 members. However one member decided he didn't want to be in the club anymore but still wanted some of the biscuits because now he has no biscuits of his own.  The other original members though said we wont be giving you any biscuits as you left the club and we are starving ourselves because of the shortage of biscuits here.

Its bad for them but they still have some biscuits.

So the reluctant shunned ex member has to then import dodgy soggy biscuits from Africa or somewhere but he cant do that because people dont like the colour of the black hobnobs from Nigeria.

Now do you understand? 

[B Dobson]

22 minutes ago, Barryd999 said:

Great swathes of it wont survive unless we address the Labour shortage.

Imagine everyone on this forum was in a club that allowed each member to share their stuff easily. Lets say each member wanted some biscuits and out of the 27 members there were only 15 biscuits to share. The logical thing to do would be to share the biscuits, maybe break a few bits off around each of the 27 members. However one member decided he didn't want to be in the club anymore but still wanted some of the biscuits because now he has no biscuits of his own.  The other original members though said we wont be giving you any biscuits as you left the club and we are starving ourselves because of the shortage of biscuits here.

Its bad for them but they still have some biscuits.

So the reluctant shunned ex member has to then import dodgy soggy biscuits from Africa or somewhere but he cant do that because people dont like the colour of the black hobnobs from Nigeria.

Now do you understand? 

So just to be clear "great swathes" of our hotel industry won't survive according to you and given our hotel industry problems are "hugely" worse than those in France which according to a fella who should knows says its "on its knees" we can expect the death of the hotel industry when exactly? 

[Brian Kirby]

Back to food prices, I've been looking at our recent experience in France in September/October this year. 

At home, we use our local Tesco (80%) and Waitrose (20%).  In France we visited E Leclerc (x3), Carrefour (x6), Casino (Geant) (x1), Super U (x2) and Intermarche (x1).  We were in France for 7 weeks, so for comparison I've taken our Tesco/Waitrose food coasts over a similar period, split either side of the trip.  No booze included.

Result: UK £102 per week, France £111 per week, so France about 10% more expensive.

But food prices vary around France, as well as between supermarket chains, plus food carries 5.5% VAT in France and 0% in UK.  Also, our shopping/eating habits vary between home (with a "proper" kitchen), and the van (with its hob only and a small fridge), so we invariably buy more, smaller, pre-packed salad, meat, and fish while away, which is inevitably more expensive.

So yes, food in France was more expensive, though I'd say "marginally", rather than "much", more so.  But then, diesel was cheaper (about £1.50/litre on average), campsites cheaper, wine cheaper, and eating out, on a like for like basis, both cheaper and better.

[Barryd999]

2 hours ago, B Dobson said:

So just to be clear "great swathes" of our hotel industry won't survive according to you and given our hotel industry problems are "hugely" worse than those in France which according to a fella who should knows says its "on its knees" we can expect the death of the hotel industry when exactly? 

Depends if they get the staff doesn't it?  Same goes for all hospitality and various other sectors. Bit of a perfect storm I think.  Massive spiraling costs, lack of staff, recession, rise in interest rates partly due to Dizzy Lizzy and Kamikaze Quasi, people spending less as a result. 

The growth ambitions for Hunt are ambitious and rely on massive immigration yet here they all are and now Starmer it seems saying we want to kerb immigration and get Brits doing it. We have been here before, wont happen. 

The issue of course we have here is Brexit.  Its screwing up everything. Hunt cant just admit that we desperately need to rejoin the single market or at least openly admit we have to increase immigration not lower it because it flies in the face of being Brexity! Its flaming madness.  Thats why we will continue to suffer until people are man enough to admit its failed and is holding us back. 

[B Dobson]

2 minutes ago, Barryd999 said:

Depends if they get the staff doesn't it?  Same goes for all hospitality and various other sectors. Bit of a perfect storm I think.  Massive spiraling costs, lack of staff, recession, rise in interest rates partly due to Dizzy Lizzy and Kamikaze Quasi, people spending less as a result. 

The growth ambitions for Hunt are ambitious and rely on massive immigration yet here they all are and now Starmer it seems saying we want to kerb immigration and get Brits doing it. We have been here before, wont happen. 

The issue of course we have here is Brexit.  Its screwing up everything. Hunt cant just admit that we desperately need to rejoin the single market or at least openly admit we have to increase immigration not lower it because it flies in the face of being Brexity! Its flaming madness.  Thats why we will continue to suffer until people are man enough to admit its failed and is holding us back. 

 

3 minutes ago, Barryd999 said:

Depends if they get the staff doesn't it?  Same goes for all hospitality and various other sectors. Bit of a perfect storm I think.  Massive spiraling costs, lack of staff, recession, rise in interest rates partly due to Dizzy Lizzy and Kamikaze Quasi, people spending less as a result. 

The growth ambitions for Hunt are ambitious and rely on massive immigration yet here they all are and now Starmer it seems saying we want to kerb immigration and get Brits doing it. We have been here before, wont happen. 

The issue of course we have here is Brexit.  Its screwing up everything. Hunt cant just admit that we desperately need to rejoin the single market or at least openly admit we have to increase immigration not lower it because it flies in the face of being Brexity! Its flaming madness.  Thats why we will continue to suffer until people are man enough to admit its failed and is holding us back. 

Given you've already told us we are because of Brexit "hugely" worse than the French hotel industry that's "on its knees" it's probably fair to say they won't get the staff isn't it? If the French can't get them then we defo can't can we . So when is our hotel industry going to collapse Master of Misinformation? 

[B Dobson]

39 minutes ago, Brian Kirby said:

Back to food prices, I've been looking at our recent experience in France in September/October this year. 

At home, we use our local Tesco (80%) and Waitrose (20%).  In France we visited E Leclerc (x3), Carrefour (x6), Casino (Geant) (x1), Super U (x2) and Intermarche (x1).  We were in France for 7 weeks, so for comparison I've taken our Tesco/Waitrose food coasts over a similar period, split either side of the trip.  No booze included.

Result: UK £102 per week, France £111 per week, so France about 10% more expensive.

But food prices vary around France, as well as between supermarket chains, plus food carries 5.5% VAT in France and 0% in UK.  Also, our shopping/eating habits vary between home (with a "proper" kitchen), and the van (with its hob only and a small fridge), so we invariably buy more, smaller, pre-packed salad, meat, and fish while away, which is inevitably more expensive.

So yes, food in France was more expensive, though I'd say "marginally", rather than "much", more so.  But then, diesel was cheaper (about £1.50/litre on average), campsites cheaper, wine cheaper, and eating out, on a like for like basis, both cheaper and better.

There is no "like for like". French produce is "far superior" to ours and dining out here is like eating ... with sugar on it . BFN told us yesterday yet offered surprisingly nothing to back up either claim 

[Barryd999]

1 hour ago, B Dobson said:

There is no "like for like". French produce is "far superior" to ours and dining out here is like eating ... with sugar on it . BFN told us yesterday yet offered surprisingly nothing to back up either claim 

Actually I said some people will eat S*** with sugar on it not that dining out is like eating S*** with sugar on it. I think its still possible to get some superb meals in the UK but in my experience its more hit and miss than it has ever been.  Maybe some people haven't noticed which I find odd but perhaps they fall into the category I described.

 

[B Dobson]

29 minutes ago, Barryd999 said:

Actually I said some people will eat S*** with sugar on it not that dining out is like eating S*** with sugar on it. I think its still possible to get some superb meals in the UK but in my experience its more hit and miss than it has ever been.  Maybe some people haven't noticed which I find odd but perhaps they fall into the category I described.

 

But when you said the "quality of food in pubs and eateries has diminished here considerably" you didn't say in "some" pubs and eateries did you? and you repeated the same claim a few posts after . Not "some" but you banded them all together and put all of them down which is really rather silly . To make your point more valid why do you find that after Brexit pubs and eateries are "more hit and miss"? 

[Barryd999]

22 minutes ago, B Dobson said:

But when you said the "quality of food in pubs and eateries has diminished here considerably" you didn't say in "some" pubs and eateries did you? and you repeated the same claim a few posts after . Not "some" but you banded them all together and put all of them down which is really rather silly . To make your point more valid why do you find that after Brexit pubs and eateries are "more hit and miss"? 

Nope thats not quite what I said. I think I said it will have affected them all. So you could go to a posh eatery that was always excellent before but maybe their French chef is no longer here or there are less staff and its all a bit of a struggle so its just not as good.  Other places are absolutely now trying to cut costs as well as having to cope with less staff so it all adds to the standards and quality going down. Thats if they are even open. Many of the places we went this year were simply shut half the week because of lack of staff.

If you havent noticed any difference in service standards and quality then I can only draw the conclusion that maybe you are not that fussy.