It seems to me there is increasing evidence that Brexit is having a detrimental effect upon the economy. According to news reports The UK's economic recovery is being slowed as a result of labour shortages - EU citizens have left the UK in huge numbers. In the meat industry, for example, they are considering using prisoners to cover for staff shortages. Transport bosses have also flagged recruitment difficulties as a serious and on-going problem. In addition, there appear to be huge problems for many businesses acquiring materials. The construction industry is reportedly dealing with major supply problems especially affecting cement and timber. The two countries which are the biggest cement producers in Europe are France and Germany. 90% of the UK's building timber is imported, with Scandinavia, Germany and Austria being the biggest suppliers. The UK is not guaranteed the continuity of supply it enjoyed whilst we were in the EU.

At a local level Tesco in Wick have started to widen the aisles by removing shelving. Prior to this it cannot have escaped anyone's notice that, at times, some shelves have been vary bare. Are Tesco removing shelving so as not to have large tracts of it lying empty? Presumably it looks better to have fewer but full shelves rather than lots of empty ones. Fewer shelves, of course, means a reduced range of items on sale. Are we witnessing Tesco effectively acknowledging that some items are no longer going to be available?

I realise that there are lots of other factors affecting business at the moment; not least of which is Covid but I can't help but think that the full impact of Brexit is finally becoming clear.