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‘Brexit problem’: UK tap water safety at risk after testing labs shut down
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2024
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So there's a whole year where brexit is irrelevant?
Honestly the article doesn't do a good job of explaining the problem, or how it's going to be fixed.
Honestly this isn't hard.
Businesses plan more than a year in advance.
These labs carried on as long as they could make a profit without significant maintenance cycle costs.
Then they look at their market and whether the next cycle is worth the investment.
If we were in the EU they'd be looking into claiming that large market in 2026, instead they're shuttering the business before it starts making a loss.
They're looking at 5, 10, and 25 year profitability. You're looking at a 1 year plan.
This is why politicians and their billionaire donors are so easily able to trick you into voting like an idiot. You choose not to think.
They've basically just shoehorned Brexit into an article about governmental incompetence.
As if being in the EU saved us from our useless politicians.
The water system is a business. The labs are businesses. A competent business shuttering when the market shrinks to avoid making a loss is an effect of Brexit.
The fact our water infrastructure is run as a business is an effect of Thatcher selling it.
We need to vote for a government to reverse Brexit eventually. But we're also still waiting 35 years to reverse the privatisation of the 80s.
The problem with voting for destructive Conservative governments is it costs a lot of money to replace the things they've given away or destroyed.
Would you expect the guardian to explain it? That's like the Sun trying to explain a complex economics problem without referring to Boobs And Bust. Or the Daily Mail trying to explain anything without blaming immigrants.
It's not great.
But states that the UK had 3 certified labs until 2021. That closed due to cost.
I assume those labs used to sell services to the EU, but Brexit made that more complex. So they closed or moved to the EU. Now Brexit means we can't use them.
But yeah the article leads you to assume rather than explaining, So it could be total bollocks.
As for how it will be fixed. Not sure if that is the media's job unless the gov has announced a plan.
Articles do this all the time and it's dangerous
The problem is with sourcing the materials used to treat water. The labs that have closed are not the ones testing water - our tap water will continue to be DWI compliant and some of the best in the world. The labs that closed are the ones testing the materials used in water treatment. Not an ideal situation, but not a massive problem currently either:
As usual, it's a doom-laden panic piece made to get people worked up over Brexit.