I thought I'd share this thread from the conductor and musician Howard Goodall on Twitter, which tells one of the real stories of Brexit:
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I thought the band kept playing as the Titanic went down. Seriously though, all that applies to everything/one after you lot are a third country. This idea that “nothing will change” and “we’re all chums” means jack because you’ll be the equivalent of Africans or Russians or Americans or whatever as far as border control goes.
But we weren’t
I caught the Howard Goodall musical Bend It Like Beckham in Delhi last year, before it was scheduled to go on and tour Canada and the USA, and blooming marvellous fun it was too with a good crowd. Thanks for sharing this. How awful for him and his team.
Appalling!
One very major thread that emerges from the Brexit process is that the scale of the deception involved has been truly breathtaking.
This list of requirements imposed on musicians, and mainly applicable to other performing arts practitioners highlights the fact that a vast amount of basically dangerous detail has been deliberately hidden under simplistic memes such as the infamous “Get Brexit Done!”
This idea saw the light this week when the road hauliers called out on the fact that with less than ten weeks to go, they have very little idea if any, of what new requirements they need to meet in order to simply move goods.
When added together, lots of similar situations suggest to me that there is one almighty Brexit reckoning on the way, and many, many people, who placed great store in it for essentially non-Brexit reasons, are in for a massive disappointment, or perhaps better put, a massive shock.
The Brexit proposition was to reclaim ‘liberty’. Nobody asked, liberty for whom? If it was liberty of the individual, there was far more liberty, the free movement of British people throughout Europe, than British subjects will have following Brexit. Indeed we had more individual liberty before the introduction of passports; which were only required from early in the 20th century.
From the perspective of the individual, Brexit was never intended for them; it is intended for business to operate throughout the world as privateers (a term from the 16th/17th century that best represents the political concept). As we found with the COVID-19 pandemic, if you ask yourself whether the British economy is there to serve the interests of the people, we discovered that from a Conservative Party, neoliberal perspective, what ‘liberty’ really means is that the people are there to serve the interests of the economy. It is a simple matter of priority and purpose; whatever market the British Government believes it can adavantageously plunder in the interests of itself and the vested interests it serves, even if at the expense of its own people. If you wish an example of this look no further than the quasi-privatised, outsourced Test and Trace operation, and its disastrous performance, examined from the perspective of the public interest.
And businesses are also losing that….
I have written two articles recently on Test and Trace in Bella Caledonia. I looked at the accounts of one of the corporate beneficiaries of outsourcing Test and Trace; Serco. I picked the 2018 accounts, because that was pre-Covid. Here is Serco’s description of itself: “Serco Group plc is a leading provider of public services. Our purpose is to be a trusted partner of governments, delivering superb services that transform outcomes and make a positive difference to our fellow citizens.” It is designed for outsourcing. Around this time Serco paid £30m for healthcare contracts of Carillion, which of course drew nationa attention when it collapsed; the contracts were apparently for ‘facilities management’ for NHS hospitals.
The 2018 Accounts make this reference to the outsourcing of public services in Britain: “In last year’s Annual Report, we proposed ‘Four Principles’ for the governance of public sector outsourcing. Shortly after, the UK Government established a process to review the way it interacts with private service providers. This has been a very constructive process, run by the Cabinet Office and involving the supply side as well. Our Four Principles have provided, we believe, an important contribution to the development of policy, as well as playing a part in moderating the tone of public debate and establishing Serco as a thoughtful contributor to the debate including appearing multiple times in front of Parliamentary Committees”. Incidentally, I could not find a single reference in the 2018 Serco Accounts, to the term ‘Public Health’.
It is because of the way the British Government dismantled the well established, soundly proven British Public Health system, 2010-2020; and then hastily constructed Test and Trace as a Government vehicle for centralised outsourcing, that I term this whole ideologically driven neoliberal approach to the ‘market’ solution to public services (please note that one of the criticisms made of outsourcing is that it often fails standard tests of competitive tendering), using the term ‘privateering’, which I believe fairly describes its credentials.
The Brexit vote in the UK was fueled by a feeling of grave injustice so strong was this felt that people wanted to kick the people in power regardless of the consequences they were ready to believe anything that any charlatan would say.
No matter who was in power nothing had changed for the vast majority in this country for decades.
The rich got richer the poor got poorer.
For 40 years the richest 5% accumulated vast wealth and with that came power either directly or by proxy.
The cause of Johnson and Trumpism
From today’s Guardian
“People like Mike Stout and his family. He’d worked for decades in the local steel mills and had been a fiery union leader. Now he spent every spare hour as a reincarnation of Woody Guthrie, carrying a guitar along with memories of standing in 2009 on Washington’s Mall to watch Obama’s inauguration, his breath freezing in the January air as the first black president was sworn in . “It was like a new world had opened up, just for an afternoon,” said his wife, Steffi.
But it was their far more subdued daughter, Maura, who troubled me. The steelworks of her dad’s day was long gone, so she’d gone to university and then spent two years hunting for a job. Now the 23-year-old was doing the accounts for a hotel, a non-graduate position paying $14 an hour, which Mike recalled as the same rate he’d earned at the steelworks in 1978 — without, of course, three decades of inflation. Among Maura’s year of about 500 graduates, she counted as one of the lucky ones.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to earn as much as my parents,” she said. “I don’t think my husband and I will ever have the same life as they did.”
We were in Pennsylvania, often painted as a land of blue-collar aristocracy and true-blue Democrats. But the political economy that had underpinned those ballot-box majorities was as rusted as an abandoned factory. Instead, Maura saw a political system that had failed her and her generation, in which every new day was worse than yesterday. And while the Stouts were leftwing, they had little in common with the party they supported. In their eyes, their home had been gutted of manufacturing and bilked by foreign trade deals, and appeared nowhere on the Clinton/Obama ideological map As long as poor white Americans have little hope of a better life, they will continue to seek a leader like Trump
The so called centrists in UK politics should be very frightened their actions will undoubtedly bring about exactly the same sentiment in this country.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/12/donald-trump-poor-white-americans-despair-leader
Good stuff from Aditya – to be heeded, as his stuff usually is
This should be sent to all Conservative MP’s
‘This should be sent to all Conservative MP’s’
It should be sent to all MPs, particularly those who purport to be on ‘the left’.
On the same theme, this from Jonathon Cook.
https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-11-12/biden-trump-left-populism/?fbclid=IwAR0nyt07crliyV9ZLXFYv0iVaf3JIKXrW4gwZNs0YQVELHL5LAshGsR8FII
Just a note and rather minor in the scheme of the hassles they are going to have the part about filling in the SAD(C88) isn’t correct, to cut a long story short it’s the base document for the data required in (currently) CHIEF. There is no way anyone not trained could do it anyway.
I would also point out that yes the cost of the ATA carnet is accurate but that’s just for raising it, you will also need to provide security based on the value so considerable up front costs.
Oh and I would also point out that you wouldn’t need a separate carnet for each item. One can cover multiple items on the ‘general list’ starting at page 2 and I have dealt with some that have a hundred items or so.
Again not a big deal in the scheme of things but it should be noted some small inaccuracies in the tweets.
Well that is a depressing read. I used to work in theater in the 1990’s. Finances were always difficult and the Arts Council funds were alway under threat. Arguments about how the government seems to have blinkers on when it comes to the economic value of the arts were common. I see Tory’s have now taken ‘ignorance’ to a whole new level of hurt. One wonders if there isn’t any sector of our society that the Tories aren’t planning on destroying? The only protections in place seem to be for family members, mates or mates of mates. Unfortunately for them, you can’t protect individuals from the fall out from societal collapse. Even those who can runaway to another country will suffer emotionally as they lose their networks of influence.
The BREXITERs are dreamers through and through.
All that matters is fulfilling the dream.
Detail? What is that? It’s only messy reality to them. Not even an after thought.
While the horrors of Brexit will continue to unfold it’s worth recalling that some of the opposition to Remain was I believe because of the EU”s hard neoliberal economic policies. Particularly the German treatment of the struggles in Greece. While i am sure that this was based in part on a protest against what was expected to be a large Remain majority it was also dispiriting at the time how few voters would be able to name their MEP or for that matter how decisions were made in Brussels. Visiting my own MEP in Brussels and being shown around i noticed his despondency on this.
A political struggle to rejoin would usefully include a critique and desire to alter these problems as well as overcoming the current nationalism. It”s worth recalling that in spite of the economic disaster of Thatchers adoption of monetarism it was the Falklands War that saved her.
A frightening article.
BUT, perhaps not all the threats will materialise.
“16 Oct 2020 – Vodafone said it had no plans to reintroduce roaming charges. EE said: “Our customers enjoy inclusive roaming in Europe and beyond, and we don’t have any plans to change this based on the Brexit outcome. So our customers going on holiday and travelling in the EU will continue to enjoy inclusive roaming.”
I hope and expect that concerns are being forcibly made known to the government. And perhaps there is now some hope that no-deal will not happen.
I would expect that many European countries will wish that British culture is not excluded.
These are legal requirements
“Deal or no deal” makes no real difference except around tariffs and taxes. What is written in the article is what will happen either way and cannot be finagled around. Every EU country takes huge pride in being a customs front door to the EU (Shengen) area + each country has its own fines and rules on top of the general EU stuff. You have one of those customs “fly on the wall” TV programmes and so does every other country. I think the closest example is the American Canadian border one and that should give you a good idea of what’s coming.
“London Chamber of Commerce and Industry in pole position for Brexit!” is no tabloid headline but wrinkles such as tolls for Carnet issuing points up the Brexit hoax.
The coming of the Common Market / EU was a boon for Music touring. Groups could go all over without checking customs except on the way in and out of the UK to ‘start’ the Carnets if the tour is going outside the EU. It coincided with the great growth of UK touring services, trucks, buses, sound, lights , stage & so on not forgetting the huge number of crew and the supply of those services to incoming US artists. Touring prior to joining was a challenge even in using the pretty straight forward ATA carnets.
Many European tours will have prior to this year included Switzerland and / or Norway – the show fees are good – both need ATA carnets to enter & leave, the borders operate 24/7. The local customs officers on both the EU and the non EU side at the border know what they are doing and with a goodwill gesture, of the odd t-shirt , are swift. Most rock drivers will have handled such border crossings. What can take time at the borders in addition can be registering for the local road taxes where applicable. An example is registering at the entry border for the Swiss road tax which is charged for engine pollution levels (Euro 5 / 6 / 7), distance traveled and truck gross (licensed) weight which delays trucks new to that country . It can be speeded up with advance work from the office, again t shirts and gig tickets are helpful. Its not new and UK based truckers have been doing this for years.
In the last 15 years as the Dover Customs service was cut back, it became slower since drivers had to go away from the ferry truck parks to get the Carnet ‘opened’ & then back to line up for the next ferry. This applied to trucks going through the Tunnel via the shuttle, they go to Dover get the carnets processed and then back to the shuttle! I’ve not done this in 7 or more years so this may have changed. To get the carnets opened in other less busy ports became an issue, try Immingham for the night boat- pre booking officers who only worked at a particular time, who were unfamiliar with ATA carnets & at times a pain. No wonder Dover is used more than any other port for such trips. This is pretty routine and many UK based music drivers are experienced with this.
What will take more office based advance work is the mooted requirement for work permits & tax arrangement for artists and possibly crews . Some countries have stringent tax withholding regulations, even the UK sorts out Tax arrangements for non EU incoming bands prior to a tour. It’s a management job with the accountants, you haven’t lived until you’ve dealt with a young German tax inspector turning up on his Motor bike in leathers at a gig to check the paperwork. Curry wurst anyone? As Howard says some countries will want to check the wages & employment status of some bands and their crews, having to submit wage rolls to Italian or Spanish authorities takes management time. Work permits will be more complex especially if the bands are not all of one nationality, we had such similar visa ‘fun’ in the 1970s with Osibisa who were a group of largely west African musicians. These needs will hinder the less well known artists as they wish to tour and grow their career , more than the better know acts with larger management / crew support.
Many major tours depend on the trucks getting to the next show overnight 5 or so nights a week & at the next venue for 08:00hrs. If an EU border is included it could delay the travel though I’d guess that since the EU is one unit once your vehicle has entered the EU you’ll not need the carnet until you leave the EU.
The ‘bun fight’ for ECMT trucking permits to drive in Europe will be a hidden obstruction, there are not many given the current number of UK trucks going across the Channel. Upto this point they’ve not been needed for music or exhibition work however from a brief look at the International Transport Forums ECMT Multilateral Quota user guide, Germany for one has issued a ‘ reservation’ for this matter what ever that means (Page 11) .
Howard Goodall is not right that each instrument / item needs its own carnet – AndyBs comments are spot on. On tours the kit in the trucks is lumped onto carnets from for example the band, the lighting company, the sound company, the video company and so on. So the tours lead driver may have half a dozen carnets to process at the EU and non EU borders, again they know what they re doing and this is not new.
What will alter I think is that the UK has been a ‘bridge ‘ for incoming US bands in that Agents, accountants, Heathrow freight services, trucks, drivers, crew buses, lighting , sound kit & crews are sourced in the UK. It has brought a great deal of work & income for all concerned here, we almost speak the same tongue. I think that US production managers will look more keenly at European sources for such services. Already they turn to Austria for crew buses (Beat the Street), Belgium (Stage Co) for really complex stages, Germany (Trucking Services) for some trucks, Netherlands (Mojo) for security barriers & so on. What a mess.
How would this affect, say, a retired person who is not a professional musician, but wants to take a musical instrument (or two) on holiday?
There is always a risk carrying any asset across a border for personal use. Take proof of value, then just show not used for work