No parrots were involved in Brexit

A Monty Python sketch introduced the idea of TV news for animals [as a parody of regional news provision] and offered a series of normal news stories which tagged on mentions of animals -- 'no badgers were involved today in a motorway pile-up on the M4' etc

There is a growing tendency in Graun and Observerwet to cram in a mention of Brexit to a list of factors explaining some problem. Brexit is usually added right at the end, and sometimes in the headline as well.

There is a good one in a sports article in the Guardian where English fans were being urged to adopt the practices of European ones to increase the atmosphere in the ground (a big worry for the English game which is pricing people out.) Apparently, lovable German 'ultras' are inspired by left-wing ideals of community, but :

even as Britain stands on the verge of shrinking itself culturally as it prepares to pull the shutters down on Europe, young people here could never be as politically motivated as mid-90s post-reunification Germans, so any catalyst must come from somewhere else.

Another classic example in today's Guardian from the beloved P Toynbee. Here is the headline:

Our nurses are being cast into a perfect Brexit storm 

The story is about the awful conditions endured by nurses in the NHS -- frozen wages, increased workload, substantial cuts to general and specialist training, the abolition of bursaries for student nurses, occasional scandals about standards of care, indifference from the Government.

So far it seems like a perfect Tory Government storm, but wait ...shortfalls in trained nurses are being met by recruiting overseas.Polly doesn't comment on the ethics here but moves straight to the point she has been worried about for 4 months -- Brexit. Some of these nurses might think about going back to their countries of origin. Some from EU countries presumably -- Polly doesn't say -- or maybe all migrant nurses will feel unwelcome?

Evidence? Well

Mark Power, [Radclliffe Hospital's] director of human resources, has written a detailed report warning his board that the present 10% vacancy rate in the Thames Valley area may worsen following the Brexit vote. In 2015 his hospital brought in 448 EU nurses who are now “concerned and uncertain” about their future...

The John Radcliffe’s chief nurse, Prof Catherine Stoddart, fears many [UK students] will be discouraged [by the cut in training and bursaries]...Ask her about her EU nurses and the way she brims with extravagant praise betrays her anxiety following the referendum: “They make a huge contribution with very strong skills that lift the standard of our own. Our best nurses have worked all over the world.” They’re worried, she says. “Since the vote, we have organised special lunches for them to reassure them and say how much we want them to stay. [No pay rise then?]  There’s a risk they will go home in the present climate. Our patients worry too, asking them: ‘Where are you from and are you going home?’”

Hardly convincing. I can see why managers would want to recruit cheap but skilled labour, but let's revert to the ethics: (1) should we expect overseas recruits to work in our NHS despite the poor conditions and crap pay already mentioned as a disincentive for UK ones? (2) is it right to import nurses from other countries that have trained them and have an equal if not greater need for them? (3) who should we blame first for the 'perfect storm' -- Tory Government or Brexit voters?