Will panic buying make a comeback?

Now that it's pretty obvious that Covid isn't the primary cause of materials, imported goods and retail item shortages given that there's no lockdown and relatively few people are off work, it would suggest that the problem isn't a "blip" and is likely to worsen before it gets better - if it ever does.
Prices on certain goods have rocketed and there is far less choice in certain lines as stock levels deplete.
I was reading this article earlier today and it suggested that increasingly empty shelves in retail outlets are likely to fuel panic buying i.e. the less folk see is available, the more likely they are to hog what's left for themselves.

I'm well aware of the rocketing prices and lack of materials in the building and related industries but now it's becoming increasingly apparent in my local supermarkets - they just can't get hold of certain lines and have discontinued others so I was wondering if you guys are noticing the same where you are? Does your local supermarket still have as wide a range of products and are there still plenty of stocks?
Or are we heading back to panic buying - and then rationing - in post-B-word Britain?

Oops - wrong section. Mods?

Oddly enough yes mate I have definitely noticed that certain things aren't available from my local Tesco that I never used to think twice about getting. A slightly weird one perhaps is a milk shake powder that Wendy loves which we haven't seen in months. And when I do the shopping online a hell of a lot of my 'favourites' have either been replaced by something else or simply discontinued entirely. It's a similar story with both Iceland and Morrison's online shopping. It's not at the point where I can't get staples like bread and milk or at least some form of the item I want but the choice range is definitely smaller and a number of the prices have jumped significantly over the last four months in particular.

You get a better class of panic-buyer in Waitrose  ......but yes, stocks of essentials are often running low or are missing for some time. Mind you, the Waitrose Essential range is ludicrous!

Did you read the article you linked us too, because it clearly identifies the problem as Supply Change Issues - it even says that in the tittle!

These are a few of the comments from the article...

"It's taking three to four weeks to get delivered whereas it used to take three or four days - there's a lot of uncertainty about when we're expecting to see stock."

The issue he faces is that some of the shelves of the wholesalers are also bare...."I don't think I'd ever been anywhere when they've been sold out of something - with posters up saying you can only have one of two of these at a time or 'Sorry, due to a lack of drivers, we can't get the stock in'," he says.

Retail expert Natalie Berg, founder of NBK Retail, says there is "no overnight solution" to the current issues.

"Shoppers can expect to see less choice at the shelf and higher prices in certain categories, as retailers look to alleviate supply chain pressures," she says.

So is Brexit to blame for this - which after all is the point you are clearly wanting to make...

Government to shorten HGV driver testing process

Widespread supply chain issues caused by the driver shortage have hit a range of sectors, including food, drink and medicines.

"The government seem to finally understand the scale of the problem. For the first time they looked rattled", industry sources told the BBC.

The haulage industry said a perfect storm of a post-Brexit exodus of drivers, an ageing and retiring workforce and COVID-related delays to testing new drivers had brought some supply chains to breaking point.

Haulage firms, desperate for drivers to fill lorries left idle and to complete orders left unfulfilled, welcomed the move but warned that it would not be enough to fix the cracks appearing in supply chains.

They reiterated their calls for HGV drivers to be added to the Shortage Occupation List which would allow firms to temporarily bring back some of the estimated 20,000 EU drivers who have left the industry.

But Richard Burnett of the Road Haulage Association said the industry was losing 600 drivers a week from the industry and with a net shortfall of 90,000 drivers, it would take nearly two years to fill the gap.

The industry was already reporting shortages of about 60,000 drivers before Brexit and the pandemic.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58487347

So there you have the problem in a nutshell - 90,000 drivers short of which 60,000 were needed BEFORE Brexit or Covid.

Obviously losing 20,000 drivers leaving after Brexit has made matters worse - but it wasn't the cause and the problem would have happened Brexit or not - as if we needed 90,000 drivers and we had kept all those who left following Brexit (20,000) we would still be 70,000 short and suffering these problems.


And to answer your questions, yes it is noticeable that the local food stores have stock shortages and yes people are greedy and self centred and no doubt will panic buy when they see others on social media doing the same.

Just to remind people and fwiw, remember how everyone panic bought last time and stocked up with things like toilet rolls, etc - was there anyone who actually ended up short of anything - the answer is no because there was always enough to go around and there would not even have been an issue if stupid and selfish people hadn't been spooked by all they read and saw on Facebook and Twitter, etc.

Apologies. I hadn't realised how well Brexit is going and how much better off we are now

wanderlust wrote:Apologies. I hadn't realised how well Brexit is going and how much better off we are now

What is it with you?

You bang on about Brexit all the time on here about how bad it will be yet you voted for it!

Seems you feel you've been conned about voting for it and have since seemingly become obsessed over it.

When it is pointed out you voted for it you you lie and claim that the Hoppy510 account on ww isn't you - yet at least a third person off here knows full well it IS YOU.

You wrote that you feel bad you've been lied to and conned to vote for Brexit but yet you have no qualms whatsoever about doing exactly the same thing of lying through your teeth and trying to con the people on here that you aren't the author of the Hoppy510 account and you didn't vote for Brexit!!!

I'd have more respect for you if you had simply said you voted for Brexit because you were a mug and believed what politicians said at the time of an election and regret voting for Brexit now - but oh no, you rather lie and con people in just the very same way you hated and seethed about having been done to you!!!

In fact I've zero respect for you - I'm sure you couldn't give a fuck about that - but how do you think your mates on here feel about you KNOWING you've constantly lied, and lied, and lied some more.

And all for what...?

They aren't stupid, they can see you for what you are.

How do you think people view you in real life if you behave the way you do on here?

I think I can guess...

And what about Brexit, if it is good, bad or indifferent you can't do anything about it now - you voted for it remember - so live with the consequences you inflicted upon yourself.

I’m sure we’ve all read about this before and it doesn’t need repeating at every opportunity.  And there’s no need for the personal attacks all the time.

BoltonTillIDie wrote:I’m sure we’ve all read about this before and it doesn’t need repeating at every opportunity.  And there’s no need for the personal attacks all the time.

Thank you.
I think the discussion asks a valid question and the only reason the b-word was mentioned is because it directly impacts on the HGV crisis in this country - not because other countries are also facing a shortage of HGV drivers but because we are the only country to have turned our trading network on it's head - which is why other countries are not facing shortages of a wide range of products ranging from medical supplies to sewage system treatment chemicals to milkshakes in McDonald's as we are. Their trading partners are helping them out as you would expect.
B-word isn't entirely responsible but it hampers our ability to deal with the crisis e.g. the loss of the Eastern European drivers due to b-word was compounded by many returning home to be with their families at the outbreak of the Covid crisis - but the new immigration system has made it very difficult for them to return.
The UK has a Shortage Occupation List ostensibly to give flexibility of free travel where needed however, the list is restricted to RQF Level 3 - which excludes HGV drivers.

The government could change their own rules to include HGV drivers...but that would mean they would be effectively conceding another of the main thrusts of the Remain argument and thereby the platform on which they were elected.

Point is that whilst the b-word isn't the only reason why there's a driver shortage - it is a refusal to reintroduce a degree of the flexibility we once enjoyed that is exacerbating the problem.

I digress. Nobody has actually answered the 2 questions yet i.e. are you noticing shortages/discontinued lines/price hikes where you are and do you think that it will lead to a return of panic buying if the situation continues to worsen?

BoltonTillIDie wrote:I’m sure we’ve all read about this before and it doesn’t need repeating at every opportunity.  And there’s no need for the personal attacks all the time.

If you don't like what I post then don't read it.

As for personal attacks, what personal attacks?

He's lied and been caught out.

He's lied and lied further to cover the fact he's lied in the first place.

He's done this to a bunch of strangers on the internet when nobody - not even myself - is remotely bothered which way he voted or if he made the wrong decision in the first place.

If he can lie and lie when it doesn't even matter then what do you suppose he would do in real life when it did?

I merely express my opinion that I wouldn't wish be around someone like that in real life and that I suspect many of the people who are actually acquainted with him share that same view.

Would you want to keep the company of someone who is quite happy to knowingly lie to your face?

Good for you if you are but I suspect most people would rather not.

What's Boris got to do with it?

wanderlust wrote:What's Boris got to do with it?

You do make me laugh!

You bang on about Boris lying all the time but you do exactly the same on here!

How come in your world it's wrong that Boris lies but absolutely fine that you do?

Sluffy, lusty, chill please.

It's obvious the two of you are never going to agree on this so perhaps you should just leave it at that.

Brexit is of course a divisive and contenscious issue for many and a vigorous informed debate about what it does and will later mean in terms of our economic performance is clearly a valid thing to have but you two have gone well beyond that into petty name calling and personal insults that frankly stain the whole site.

I don't CARE who started what and who indulged in this childish spat first, I just want to remind you both that you're supposed to be adults. Try behaving like it please.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Sluffy, lusty, chill please.

It's obvious the two of you are never going to agree on this so perhaps you should just leave it at that.

Brexit is of course a divisive and contenscious issue for many and a vigorous informed debate about what it does and will later mean in terms of our economic performance is clearly a valid thing to have but you two have gone well beyond that into petty name calling and personal insults that frankly stain the whole site.

I don't CARE who started what and who indulged in this childish spat first, I just want to remind you both that you're supposed to be adults. Try behaving like it please.

Thank you Peter but it has nothing to do with Brexit per se, the issue is that one of us two 'adults', told a lie and the other one caught him out about it and took the piss.

The first 'adult' clearly didn't like to be seen to have been wrong and started to lie on here that he never said what he had - even though it was there in black and white for all to see - and knowing full well that at least another member of the forum also knew he was lying by denying it.

Is it childish of me to take the piss, well maybe.

Is it childish, immature and petulant for him to tell lies, then lie again and keep on lying for something that nobody (including myself) on the internet gives two hoots about, I would say that it most definitely is.

Stop tarring me with the same brush as Sluffy Peter.

It's simply a matter of every time I make a valid point that Sluffy doesn't like about Brexit - and can't think of anything vaguely sensible to add to the discussion -  he rehashes his claim that I voted for Brexit on another website - like debating with someone whose only response to a reasoned argument is "but you smell".


I won't stop trying to make reasonable points for discussion (unless he throws his toys out of the pram again on some spurious grounds) but...




If you think I'm wrong about this Peter, just look back at the dozens and dozens of times he's mentioned it on numerous threads and then maybe you'll realise that I'm not the one causing the discomfort to other posters and killing  reasoned discussion, debate on topics that affect us all and the site in general.

The Chief Exec of the Food and Drink Federation says that shortages, reduced choice and higher prices will be permanent.

Obviously some kind of woke pinko commie - or whatever industry experts are called these days.


Another subversive organisation - Morrison's - warn of looming price rises

At last! An answer to food shortages.

NB: NFU says only 11% of seasonal workers in the 2020 season were UK residents

wanderlust wrote:Stop tarring me with the same brush as Sluffy Peter.

It's simply a matter of every time I make a valid point that Sluffy doesn't like about Brexit - and can't think of anything vaguely sensible to add to the discussion -  he rehashes his claim that I voted for Brexit on another website - like debating with someone whose only response to a reasoned argument is "but you smell".

Sluffy wrote:Thank you Peter but it has nothing to do with Brexit per se, the issue is that one of us two 'adults', told a lie and the other one caught him out about it and took the piss.

For the record I'm not interested in Brexit, never had, never will be.

I didn't vote in the referendum even.

I've spent my whole working career involved with politicians of all parties and I've learned from experience that their sole aim is to obtain power and retain it - they are ALL the same as each other in that respect.

One of the things politicians do is lie or should I say don't tell the whole truth but rather emphasise (overstate) the good points and don't mention (hide) the bad points in what they seek to achieve with their polices.

Often there are unexpected or unintended consequences to their decisions - nobody has a crystal ball and can foresee the future - for instance I doubt the government factored in the lorry driver shortage effect even though it was flagged up by that association BEFORE Brexit for instance.


The stuff between me and Wanderlust is all about that he simply doesn't want to be seen to be wrong.

Not just on Brexit, on anything!

In my world I try to help people, if they don't know something and I do, or state incorrect facts or statements, I simply try to give them the actual facts - and where I can link to references so they can check things out for themselves.

That's all I do, that's all I've ever done.

Wanderlust clearly has issues that go far beyond posting on a forum.

As I say he never wants to be seen to be wrong - and clearly doubly so if it is me who points it out!

He lies, he hurls abuse and he attempts to misdirect, all that rather than admit to a mistake he might have made - and for what - its not as though a mistake or an incorrect fact on the internet means anything to anyone?

I caught him out with a lie about Brexit - he knows I have - he even knows others on here know I have - yet he simply can't accept that he is somehow wrong about anything - let alone Brexit!

We are simply on the internet - on social media - if people want to lie and post fake news that's up to them but if they want to lie and post fake news on here - and I know them to be wrong or lying, I'll simply point it out so at least others will have a different take on what is being said - and have the opportunity to check things out for themselves.

Wanderlust clearly has issues about being seen to be wrong about anything, even on here where there is about what a dozen of us and no one even knows anyone else.

He would - and does - lie rather than admit he made an error.

That is what all this is about.

A good leader creates respect by setting an example, not by pouncing on perceived faults in others.

Missus phoned me up half an hour ago and said there are massive queues at the petrol station so I should get some now. Briefly thought I'd be contributing to the panic buying but as I have to take my car to Norwich on Monday decided to go and fill up.

Already sold out.

Panic buying has definitely made a comeback here - what about where you guys are?