Daily Archives: June 28, 2021

Thousands of East Timorese people who fled the country in the 1990s could lose their rights to work, rent a home or access the NHS in three days time because of Brexit.

Campaigners say many of the estimated 15,000-strong population in the country do not understand that if they do not apply for settled status to the Home Office by Wednesday they will lose their rights.

Many of the East Timorese community travelled to the UK on Portuguese passports but have a strong East Timorese sense of identity and do not understand the ramifications of being, on paper, an EU citizen, activists have warned.

A Timorese interpreter and translator, Bocagio dos Santos, an activist in Oxford where the largest population of East Timorese is thought to live, said many have only the slightest understanding of what Brexit is and what it means for their right to remain in the UK.

Local campaigners estimate about a third have not begun their application for post-Brexit status despite the 30 June deadline.

There are Timorese people in the UK who are totally unaware that Brexit has happened. They could end up being in the country illegally next week and they wont even know why, Dos Santos said.

Oxfords East Timorese community chair, Rosalia Costa, said: Im expecting the worst. Language barriers are the biggest problem but theres not much effort to communicate with us in our own languages.

There are about 4,000 Timorese people in Oxford alone so we should have a service in our language to help those who dont want to speak up.

East Timor was a Portuguese colony until 1975 and citizens born before 2002 are entitled to a Portuguese passport. Since the early 90s, thousands of Timorese have settled in the UK as EU citizens, many fleeing war and the Indonesian occupation. There is no exact figure on the number of East Timorese people living in the UK. Estimates range between 5,000 and 20,000, with Oxford home to the largest single community.

Fazil Kawani, a coordinator at the charity Asylum Welcome, said that although there had been some successes, the charity has found engaging the community challenging. They have many of the same issues as the other communities were helping but until now they had a different status in the country [as EU citizens] and that stops them from contacting us.

Rasina, 25, and Joel, 28, an Oxford-based Timorese couple, discovered that they would have to apply to remain in the UK through Facebook.

Former professional footballer Onorio, 28, who arrived in 2020, said: I was totally shocked by it when I arrived in the UK. I had never heard of Brexit while I was in East Timor. It was only when I arrived that I found out that things had changed.

I know so many Timorese people who are facing the same issues but theyre afraid to speak out. They think keeping quiet is the best option.

Id be devastated to go back. There are no jobs and I wont be able to provide for my family back home. Im the eldest, so Im responsible for looking after them.

Oxford city council said it was working with Asylum Welcome to help EU citizens struggling with their applications with specific communications in the main East Timorese language of Tetum to reach this community.

The Home Office said all EU citizens settled in the country before 11pm on 31 December 2020 should apply for settled status before 30 June even if they do not have all the documentation that may be required. As long as their application is in the system they will retain their rights to work, live and rent, even during the many months it may take to process.

Anyone who has applied to the EU settlement scheme by the 30 June deadline, but has not had a decision by then, will have their rights protected until their application is decided. This is set out in law, the Home Office said.

Dedicated civil servants are working extremely hard to help applicants secure their status, including supporting them to provide the evidence required.

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UKs East Timorese population faces loss of rights after Brexit - The Guardian

This week we will find out the real number. Under the settled status scheme put in place following our departure, anyone from the EU already living here can stay permanently. All they have to do is apply, with tomorrow as the final deadline. Hows it going? As of the last update, onMay30, 5,605,800applications had been submitted. There are plenty of reports of a last-minute rush to apply, and calls for the deadline to be extended to cope.

The final number? About seven million seems a reasonable estimate but it could be higher. On top of that, we have to keep in mind that lots of people may have decided to go home over the last year, either because of Covid-19 or because they cant be bothered with the paperwork needed to stay.

The net result? At the peak, eight or nine million EU citizens may have been working in the UK. My maths can be a little wobbly at times, but I can confidently say that is a lot more than the 2.2 million in the official figures. It was out by a factor of three or four, or perhaps five million people the equivalent of seven or eight Manchesters with a couple of Liverpools thrown in.

In truth, the scale of immigration over the past decade was far higher than anyone owned up to. The trouble is, winding that down too quickly is going to come as a huge shock to the economy. You cant suddenly take workers out of the labour market on that scale without causing massive disruption.

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Brexit has proved there are far more EU migrants than officialdom dared admit - Telegraph.co.uk

In this photo illustration, the word "Brexit" is displayed on a mobile phone with the European Union flag in the background.

Budrul Chukrut | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images

LONDON From Jan. 2022, some Brits will have to start paying to use their phone in European Union countries again.

On Thursday, Britain's top mobile network operator EE announced it would bring back mobile roaming charges, starting next year.

The BT-owned carrier will introduce a new flat fee of 2 ($2.78) a day for customers using their data, minutes or texts while traveling to EU countries with the exception of Ireland, which is included in EE's domestic plans.

"This will apply only to new and upgrading customers signing up to EE from the 7th July 2021 and will support investment into our U.K. based customer service and leading U.K. network," an EE spokesperson told CNBC.

There will also be a 30-day "Roam Abroad Pass" for which customers can pay 10 to use their phone in the EU for longer periods of time.

Roaming charges are additional fees charged for making calls, sending texts and using internet data while overseas. They apply as soon as a phone connects to a foreign network.

But since 2017, mobile phone users in Europe have been able to use their regular call, text and internet allowances while traveling anywhere in the EU at no extra cost.

That was thanks to new rules which abolished data roaming charges across the bloc part of efforts to forge a "Digital Single Market" across EU member states.

After the Brexit vote in 2016, there were fears that roaming fees may be reintroduced as the U.K. would no longer be a member of the EU.

The major British carriers which include EE, Vodafone, Three and O2 had said they had no plans to reintroduce roaming charges in Europe, despite the fact that they could do so under the U.K.-EU trade agreement signed in Dec. 2020.

But this week, EE came out as the first mobile operator to bring back roaming charges.

Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight, said the move reflected a "failure by U.K. telecom operators to stem the long-term decline in average customer spend amid heavy investment in future fixed-line and mobile networks."

"Roaming is a poisonous term for consumers after travelers were hit by exorbitant prices for years," he added. "The company knows it will not be well received by its customers, and that it has handed on a plate a clear marketing opportunity to rivals."

Vodafone, Three and O2 told CNBC they had no plans to bring back roaming charges. However, Three is reducing a "fair use" limit on how much data their customers can use while in an EU country.

From July 1, Three's fair use limit will go down to 12GB from 20GB. Customers that go over those restrictions will have to pay a surcharge based on how much extra data they use. Vodafone and O2 have both imposed limits of 25GB.

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Brits haven't had to pay mobile roaming charges in the EU since 2017 that's now set to change - CNBC

Women who applied for EU settled status in the UK under their married names may struggle to access jobs and housing because of a government computer anomaly, it has emerged.

Many have been left unable to prove their status to councils and employers because they have been wrongly registered to the EU settlement scheme (EUSS) in their birth names.

There are fears that this could leave them in legal limbo from 1 July, when EU nationals have to prove they have been granted settled status in order to rent property, access banking services or claim benefits.

A French woman who has lived in the UK since 1977 told the Guardian she fears she could lose her state pension after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wrote to remind her to apply to the settlement scheme before the 30 June deadline.

She had been granted settled status in 2019 but despite applying in her married name, her digital record was issued in her birth name, which is listed first in her passport. What worries me is whether the DWP will be able to find me when they check my status next month as they know me by my married name, as does my bank and my GP, said the woman, who does not wish to be identified.

Although passports issued by a number of EU countries show the birth and married name of the holder, only the former shows up in the machine-readable zone of the page. As a result, it is this name that is being used to process EUSS applications.

Because settled status is a digital-only record, many women may not realise it has been granted in a name they no longer use until they have been denied their rights, according to Angela Crawley, the MP for Lanark and Hamilton East, who is lobbying the government to address the problem.

When one of my French constituents requested a name change to her EUSS documentation, she was told this could not be carried out and that she should approach the French authorities to amend her passport, Crawley says. Due to the expense and hassle involved, this solution was unacceptable.

The Home Office appears to have since adapted the systems to allow for a change, Crawley says. However, as the onus is on applicants to request the change, many may be unaware their EUSS documentation does not match the name they use in day-to-day life.

The Home Office told the Guardian that individuals must use one name for all official documents and can update their details by following the process on the update your UK visas and immigration account details service on gov.uk.

The DWP told the Guardian that the state pension is based on an individuals national insurance record, not their nationality.

In another case, a Polish national who contacted the Guardian has been unable to prove his status after amending his EUSS record when adopting his wifes surname. He used the name-change procedure on the Home Office website to register his new surname and submitted his new passport in October 2020 but since January he has been unable to access his EUSS account.

Im unable to log in with my old passport number, indicating it has been updated, but when logging in with my new passport number, I receive an error message of status currently unavailable, this may be due to not having received a decision yet, he said. Ive been told its a problem with the IT system, and multiple calls and an official complaint to the Home Office have not resolved it. As the deadline for proving my status approaches, I am getting concerned regarding my rights to work and how to prove them.

Unlike other migrants living in the UK, EU nationals have to rely on digital share codes to prove their right to remain, and campaigners are urging the government to issue physical permits as backup.

We are getting hundreds of reports that people are struggling to access their new status online, to register name changes or new ID, and to prove their right to work to employers, said Maike Bohn, a co-founder of the support group the3million. We are expecting to see a huge spike in reported problems next month when IT problems and a lack of awareness among employers, landlords, recruitment agencies and other organisations who will have to check a persons immigration status will lead to discrimination and heartache.

Nina Lorenzi (not her real name) was told that her Italian passport was insufficient right to rent ID when she applied to the lettings platform Goodlord.co last month. There was no provision on the application form for an EUSS share code, so she uploaded a screenshot of it and was eventually accepted. My husband, who only has residency in the UK because Im an EU citizen, has a biometric residency permit that details his rights and he had no issue, whereas I have nothing but a digital reference, she said.

Goodlord told the Guardian that the lettings sector only received detailed guidance from the government on 7 June. While weve been planning for what changes 1 July might bring for some time, this is the first clear guidance weve had on how the new system will work, a spokesperson said. Given how late in the day the details have been released, we predict teething problems for tenants and agents.

A Home Office spokesperson said agents have had seven months to adjust and that technical problems affecting access to EUSS accounts are usually resolved swiftly.

Prior to 1 July, landlords must not discriminate against EEA citizens who do not yet have status under the EU settlement scheme or who choose to use their passport or national identity card to prove their right to rent. There is a telephone helpline if employers and landlords need any guidance on this matter.

EU nationals have a 30 June deadline to apply to the EU settlement scheme in order to remain legally in the UK. From 1 July, EU passports and residence cards will no longer be acceptable proof of residency. Instead, in order to work, rent, claim benefits or access free healthcare, EU-born residents must prove they have been granted settled status.

Anyone who fails to apply before the deadline or who does not qualify for the scheme will become an illegal immigrant from 1 July, while landlords and employers face large penalties if they do not confirm an applicants legal rights.

Applicants to the EUSS must have been living in the UK before 31 December 2020, when the EU free movement law ceased to apply in the UK. Those who have lived in the UK continuously for five years or more until the end of 2020 qualify for settled status. The rest will be given pre-settled status and can apply for settled status after five years of residency.

More than 5.6m applications have been made since the EUSS began in March 2019. The government has promised that the 300,000 applicants still awaiting a decision on their status can still live and work legally in the UK if they can provide proof that they have applied to the scheme.

To prove they have been granted settled status, EU-born residents must generate a share code via an online immigration portal, which they can give to landlords and employers.

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Brexit: EU women fear losing jobs and housing over UK computer glitch - The Guardian

Five years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, most Europeans say they would welcome them back.

But a poll by Euronews by Redfield & Wilton Strategies also found that many Europeans are keenly watching how Britain fares outside the bloc - and would be willing to consider their own nation's exit if it works well for the UK.

Wednesday marks five years since Britain held a referendum on its membership of the EU, in which 51.9% voted to leave.

The vote shook British and European politics to its core and was followed by years of gruelling negotiations between Brussels and London.

Then, on December 24, 2020, at the eleventh hour, a deal was reached that prevented the UK from crashing out of the bloc.

But Brexit is far from over.

It began with disruptions at ports and the detention of EU citizens by British authorities over confusion about visas. Six months later, Brussels and London are back to trading barbs over fishing rights and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Perhaps that goes some way to explain why Europeans are, for now, not keen to follow in the UK's footsteps and divorce the EU.

An exclusive poll for Euronews carried out by Redfield & Wilton in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain found that a majority of the 1,500 respondents polled in each of the four countries would vote for their country to remain a member state if a referendum was held in the near future.

Spaniards were the most adamant with 84% of them holding that view.

Most respondents in the four countries also affirmed having a favourable view of the EU and that being a member state had a positive effect on their country.

Asked if the UK public had made the right decision in 2016, most French, German and Spanish respondents said no, but most Italians, despite their attachment to the EU, said Brits had made the right decision.

Italian respondents were also the only ones to predominantly hold the view that the UK public will increasingly appreciate having left the bloc. In France, Germany and Spain, the main opinion is that they will regret it.

Eurosceptic politicians across Europe have more or less abandoned their pledge to hold a similar referendum. Even Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right Rassemblement National, who backed a "Frexit" during her 2017 presidential campaign, has had a change of heart in time for next year's presidential election.

But it's not completely off the table for now with most Europeans polled waiting for the dust to settle on Brexit to make a decision.

Should the UK and its economy be in a good state in five years time, half of Italian respondents said they would be more likely to support leaving the union. Most French and German respondents also held that view with Spaniards divided.

If the UK has a change of heart, most Europeans would welcome them back into the EU fold with the Spaniards the most welcoming and French the least.

The prospect seems highly unlikely. A YouGov poll from March found that only 35% of Brits have a very or somewhat favourable view of the EU while 50% have either a very or somewhat unfavourable opinion.

Another poll released a month earlier found that although in hindsight, 50% of Britons would now vote to remain in the bloc, they are more or less split on rejoining the EU with 42% in favour and 40% against.

The 2016 referendum has shaken British politics leading to Brexit in-fighting and leadership changes in both the ruling Conservative party and the main opposition Labour party. The ranks of the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, had been decimated a year before the referendum and the centrist party has so far failed to regain any sort of momentum despite several changes in leadership.

In Scotland, where the vast majority of people voted to stay in the EU, the referendum has renewed calls for independence, which most Europeans also support, according to the Euronews/Redfield & Wilton poll.

Majorities in Spain, Germany and Italy also said they would support an independent Scotland's bid to join the EU.

Scotland's pro-independence camp lost the 2014 referendum by a margin of 10 percentage points and recent polling suggest they would once again be defeated with 53% of Scots polled by YouGov in May rejected independence.

The survey of 1,500 people in each of the four countries -- France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- was carried out for Euronews by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on June 7 and 8.

Redfield and Wilton Strategies is a strategic research partner of Euronews. It conducts surveys on behalf of Euronews across European markets.

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Brexit 5 years on: 'We would have you back,' says Europe, in new poll - Euronews

The U.K. needs to offer up a "roadmap" in Brexit talks that can put to rest a dispute over chilled meat exports to Northern Ireland, the European Commission's pointman on the talks, Maro efovi, said in an interview.

Speaking to POLITICOs EU Confidential Podcaston the sidelines of the Globsec conference in Bratislava late last week, efovi dubbed the "sausage king" in Westminster due to his role enforcing the Northern Ireland protocol's clause on chilled meats says he needs clarity from the Brits.

"We should just respect the deals we have signed," efovi said. "We just want to have more predictability and stability in our relationship and not have this perpetual discussion product-by-product."

"It's not easy to spend four years in super detailed negotiations where every line took days, weeks, and sometimes months to negotiate ... and then you see one breach after another," said efovi of the U.K.'s conduct.

The veteran Slovak commissioner previously moderated politically explosive talks between Russia and Ukraine over gas supply, but is now asking EU countries to approve a three-month extension to a deadline on chilled meat exports from Great Britain to Northern Ireland to head-off a "sausage war."

"As a sausage king I definitely do not want a sausage war," said efovi. "I'm ready to do everything to prevent it."

In a blow to makers of chorizo, Toulouse and bratwurst bangers across Europe, efovi told EU Confidential that his favorite sausage is the nitran from his native Slovakia.

"I'm not a big expert in British sausage I'm afraid," he said.

Are you a professional following the impact of Brexit on your industry? Brexit Transition Pro, our premium service for professionals, helps you navigate the policy, and regulatory changes to come. Email [emailprotected] to request a trial.

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EUs efovi: Ill do everything to avoid a Brexit sausage war - POLITICO Europe

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British and European officials are increasingly optimistic they will avert a post-Brexit trade war, believing the two sides will strike a truce in the dispute over checks on goods moving into Northern Ireland.

The British government has asked the European Union to extend the grace period before a ban comes into force on the sale of chilled meats and fresh sausages into Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.

No deal has been done yet and European officials want to hear how the British government will use any extension to the June 30 deadline, with EU diplomats due to discuss next steps at a meeting Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said. But expectations on both sides are growing that an agreement will be reached, the people said.

The issue of trade rules for Northern Ireland sparked heated clashes between the U.K. and the EU in recent weeks and overshadowed the Group of Seven summit in Cornwall, southwest England, this month.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has threatened to suspend the rules unilaterally if the EU refuses to back down, and the EU has warned it will respond with legal action if he does.

Boris Johnson, right, and Emmanuel Macron during the G-7 summit in Carbis Bay, U.K. on June 12.

Photographer: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images

Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron argued face-to-face about the transport of sausages within France and the U.K., and British media have labeled the clash the sausage wars.

Last week, U.K. minister David Frost said the government was becoming increasingly concerned that the dispute could undermine fragile political stability in Northern Ireland at a highly sensitive time.

Is Northern Ireland Heading for Another Political Crisis?: Q&A

The current position of the protocol is not sustainable, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said at a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. We need to rectify that, we take nothing off the table.

In recent days, the EU has been reviewing the U.K.s formal written request for an extension to the grace period. Officials on both sides now believe its likely that an extension to the current grace period will be granted.

The U.K. has opted not to introduce some checks on goods crossing into Northern Ireland, saying the EUs strict approach to enforcing the rules is hurting local communities. The EU, which is Britains largest trading partner, says the U.K. is failing to implement the terms of the Brexit deal Johnson signed less than two years ago.

Under the terms of the Brexit accord, Northern Ireland -- unlike the rest of the U.K. -- remained under the EUs customs and single market rules to avoid creating a visible border with the Irish Republic, a move that would risk reviving sectarian conflicts.

The EU wants a permanent settlement and is keen to avoid rolling grace periods becoming the norm. European officials say grace periods were designed to allow time for businesses and authorities to come into compliance with the Northern Ireland protocol, which was part of the U.K.s separation agreement with the bloc.

(Updates with Lewis comment in eighth paragraph.)

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Hopes Rise of Truce in Brexit Sausage War Over N. Ireland Trade - Bloomberg

Tinned tomatoes are a taken-for-granted store cupboard staple, relied upon by Britons to whip up home cooked favourites such as spaghetti bolognese. But the price could soon make you take notice, amid warnings of higher shopping bills, set against a backdrop of soaring global food prices.

From the packaging to the transportation and the energy used in manufacturing, nearly all aspects of the production of this popular ingredient now cost more. The crushed tomatoes alone are 30% dearer than a year ago, at 0.48 per kilo. The same pressures are driving the prices of many foods higher, meaning Britons will probably face bigger bills for groceries or meals out this autumn.

Two big drivers of food inflation, in the UK at least, are the spike in demand for goods as bars and restaurants reopen, and the fallout from Brexit, which has caused shortages of workers on farms and in warehouses and food processing centres, and hindered the flow of goods into the country.

There are already big concerns about a looming squeeze on living standards. UK inflation jumped to 2.1% in May on the back of higher fuel and clothing prices with the Bank of England warning this week that inflation could exceed 3% by the end of the year.

Jason Bull, of West Yorkshire-based ingredients firm Eurostar Commodities, has found himself at the centre of the food price storm. His firm imports 850 tonnes of processed tomatoes a year from Italy but says wholesale prices are already up 20% and suppliers warn the figure could hit 50% this summer due to a shortage of the fruit and even cans to put them in.

At the moment theres basically no tomatoes so everybodys panicking and prices have gone through the roof, says Bull. Weve got increased demand for processed tomatoes but theyre telling us we cant have them, and what we can have is more expensive because they just cant buy the tinplate for the cans.

The tomatoes sourced by Eurostar end up in supermarket ready meals and restaurant dishes. It is the same story for other ingredients, albeit with different degrees of severity, says Bull. Rice flour, used in baby food, desserts and gluten-free foods, is up 30%, while the companys shipping costs from east Asia have increased from $1,200 per container to between $10,000 and $12,000.

Mintec, the commodities data group, created a cost model to illustrate Bulls experience. The cost of crushed tomatoes is up 30%, while tinplate is up 21% and even the paper to make the labels is 8% more expensive, producing an average price increase of 23%.

This year-on-year comparison for May does not include other pressures such as a 281% increase in shipping costs and 119% rise in the price of Brent crude oil which all have to be factored in to the price of the products on supermarket shelves.

The scale of the problem was writ large earlier this month when the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations monthly index, which tracks changes in the price of commonly traded food commodities, surged by 40% in May. It was the biggest jump in a decade, with vegetable oils, sugar and cereals the biggest risers.

The commodity boom has led to talk of a supercycle, a term used to describe a period of abnormally strong demand that pushes up prices, in some cases for a decade or more. In recent weeks, the price of key raw materials including copper, lumber and iron ore have hit all time highs.

But raw materials are just one piece of the picture. Shipping costs are soaring, there are packaging issues, a shortage of seasonal workers for harvest time and not enough HGV drivers to get food to the shops. For good measure, the UK now has Brexit-related red tape to negotiate as well.

Raw material prices are up across the board, explains Mintec analyst Tosin Jack, who says extreme weather events were among factors affecting supply levels. There have been droughts in Brazil and most recently the US midwest. It remains a weather-driven market and this tightness is in combination with extreme demand, particularly from China, as economies reopen.

The price of sunflower oil, for example, has nearly doubled, but Jack says high street increases will not be of this magnitude. It is not going to be like-for-like increases in consumers pockets because it is going to flow through the supply chain, he says. You will eventually see a trickle-down because buyers cannot bear the full brunt of price shocks at this level.

The British Retail Consortium is concerned. It thinks cost pressures are bearing down on retailers and some of them will have to be passed on. Its own data for May showed falling grocery prices, but while the cost of fresh food fell 1%, the cost of packaged and tinned goods rose by 0.7%.

One thing that could insulate British households is fierce competition between the supermarket chains. At the moment food prices are being pulled lower by the return of promotional deals which were dropped as food stores concentrated on keeping shelves full at the height of the health crisis.

Also the big four supermarkets, led by Tesco, do not want to repeat the mistakes made during the last recession, when high prices made shoppers defect to Aldi and Lidl, a trend they have been trying to reverse ever since.

The price of some products on the shelves, such as coffee for example, is more closely linked to the overall cost of goods but the situation is less clear cut for heavily processed goods.

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Manufacturers only recommend prices to the retailers, so they have the ultimate control, says Matt Botham at grocery market analysts Kantar Worldpanel. Sometimes retailers may choose to pass increases on but more likely, on heavy price rises, they will want to make the manufacturer absorb a bit of that.

The reopening of hospitality and food service businesses is adding to the pressure cooker situation. Were trying to get these products in and having to pay sometimes 10 times more for the shipping, so we have to put the prices up, says Bull.

For our customers thats a major blow because theyve been shut for 12 to 18 months and have lost a lot of money. Theres no way these companies can sustain increases like this, they will have to pass it on.

Its a perfect storm, he says. Food price inflation is going to go through the roof for consumers. It has to.

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Recipe for inflation: how Brexit and Covid made tinned tomatoes a lot dearer - The Guardian

Ella, the sole 21st-century character, learns at the start that she is pregnant and, after losing consciousness, finds herself in a psychiatric hospital, grappling with family memories. She becomes Jeanne, her great-grandmother, who loses her daughter Rosa after divorce; Rosa, who undergoes an illegal abortion; and Zena, from another side of the family, who hemorrhages during the delivery of her son in Yemen.

There is at times too much back story packed into this one-hour show, to the point that Ellas growth as a character remains limited. But Anis, who was named an associate playwright with the Thtre Grard Philipe in 2020, paints a vivid, often poetic picture of the womens shared trauma, both in her writing and onstage.

Her ability to physically transform from scene to scene one minute a nearly feral presence with hair over her face, the next a shy young mother-to-be is a rare gift, and the director of The Monstrous Ones, her frequent collaborator Karim Hammiche, makes way for her to explore it freely.

Hammiche joins her onstage for a few scenes, as Ellas doctor during her hospital stay, but this is very much Aniss show. For French high school students, it offered an opportunity to explore a darker, rarely discussed side of being a mother. Now, at long last, productions like The Monstrous Ones are playing in theaters again.

Exit. Directed by Patrick Alluin. Thtre de la Huchette, through Aug. 28.

The Monstrous Ones. Directed by Karim Hammiche. Thtre Grard Philipe. Further performances to be announced.

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In Paris, Brexit Takes to the Stage - The New York Times

That Covid-19 dragged the economy down is well known. But I think this big challenge has minimised another issue that could crop up in the coming months. And that is Brexits impact on the UK economy.

Consider the latest trade data. In the first three months of 2021, the UKs goods exports fell by 8.7% from the three months before. This is nothing surprising. We were still in lockdown early in the year and other countries were struggling too. However, the red flag for me was that the exports to the European Union (EU) fell hard by 18.1%. Compared to this, exports to the rest of the world actually increased by 0.4%.

This means that if the numbers for the EU were not so dismal, UKs export performance could have looked much better. Now, we do not know how much of this was because of the pandemic and how much because of Brexit. But from these numbers, I think we can conclude that Brexit probably contributed to it.

So I am trying to de-risk my stock investment portfolio from any Brexit-related fluctuations in three ways. One, I can buy stocks of multinational companies that are not dependent on the EU market. A stock like the construction company Ashtead is an example, which I have long liked. Around 60% of its revenues come from the US. Moreover, with massive expected infrastructure spends in the US, it could be in a good place to make gains.

Two, I can buy safe UK shares. These are companies that are essentially immune to economic fluctuations. So even if there is a dent on the UKs growth because of reduced trade with the EU, they remain unaffected. Examples of these would include FTSE 100 utilities like Severn Trent, which provides water and wastewater services. For the year ending 31 March 2021, for instance, its post-tax profits actually increased. And this in a year when many FTSE 100 companies turned loss-making.

And three, I can focus on stocks that cater to the UK market, which are likely to be less impacted. I would explore pub stocks like Wetherspoon. While such UK shares have been impacted a lot by Covid-19, they have reopened. Over time, as the pandemic recedes further, I reckon their fortunes could improve even more, Brexit or not.

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I would keep in mind that Brexit could impact some stocks negatively, including financial services companies. There is still no Brexit deal on these. I would keep this at the back of my mind before buying these kinds of stocks. It is possible that there may be no impact on them at all, but we do not know that for sure at present.

Until we know more about the effect of Brexit, I will focus on stocks that I think will not be impacted by it much at all.

The post How I am protecting my investments from the Brexit impact appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

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Manika Premsingh has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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How I am protecting my investments from the Brexit impact - Yahoo Finance UK