So Brexit certainly didn’t cause all the supply problems, but it did exacerbate them. Critics accuse the British government of not recognizing this, of hiding behind the pandemic. And it seems that the solutions that the government is pushing will only solve the problem in the short term.

Temporary patch work, no long-term vision. As empty store shelves and traffic jams at gas stations provide startling television footage, other consequences of Brexit are gradually becoming clearer. UK companies that export a lot, for example, are having a hard time.

Still, it could have been a lot worse. Not surprisingly, the British government has decided to postpone controls on European Union products for another 9 months. The company’s own certificates, a guarantee of high-quality products on the shelves, have not yet been introduced. The worst has thus been avoided, but at the same time as the postponement hides the possibly even greater consequences of Brexit.

It is not lost on many Britons that Brexit has contributed to these strange situations. Certainly not those who voted for Brexit during the Brexit referendum in 2016. Or they grudgingly admit it, but would vote the same way with this knowledge. “You just have to break some eggs to make an omelette.”