Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster. This week alone we've seen the worsening crisis of empty supermarket shelves, soaring energy costs and the government having to pay millions to a US company in order to ensure the continuation of supplies of CO2 which are vital for the food and drinks industry.
While not all these problems have been directly caused by Brexit, they have been made immeasurably worse by Brexit.
The supply chain problems besetting UK supermarkets might have originated with a shortage of drivers due to the pandemic but they have been compounded by the fact that the EU citizens who were so numerous among delivery drivers have been going home and not being replaced.
Friends in Spain assure me there are no shortages in supermarkets there and are incredulous that there are problems in the UK. Equally the food and drinks industry in Northern Ireland has reported no issues with CO2 supplies thanks to Northern Ireland remaining integrated into the EU's customs union and single market.
A desperate British Government has been reduced to floating the idea of the UK joining the US-Canada-Mexico trade deal as a junior partner. The UK insisted on leaving the EU's single market and customs union because British nationalist pride demanded that the UK had to be a "rule-maker" not a "rule-taker" but could end up taking rules from Mexico.
Global Britain stands exposed as a weak and powerless state, pathetically begging to be noticed.
This piece is an excerpt from today's REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
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