Dogwhistles in Remainer ideology

After a while a lot can be left implicit in ideological stories. This is often described as a 'dogwhistle', a thinly coded way referring to racist or sexist tropes via terms like 'urban crime' or 'hysterical demonstrators'. The daddy of them all was the analysis of the 'mugging' moral panic of the 1970s and 1980s, of course.

Grauniad-reading liberals need a bit more help to get there and a bit of practice condemning the efforts of others. Thus we have been told once or twice that 'supply problems' is an apologetic for 'problems produced only/solely by Brexit'. The Graun is trying to work the trick in reverse. A story I failed to relocate in this week's Observer had dire tales of shortages that didn't actually refer to Brexit at all -- but it was located under a byline that said 'Brexit' anyway. This one today is a bit more transitional for slightly dimmer dogs who still need a bit of work:

Sewage discharge rules eased over fears of chemical shortage

Wastewater plants in England and Wales offered waiver because of impact of lorry driver crisis

It's a good topic -- sewage and ecological damage, although a bit of a problem with nasty chemicals, but no matter -- on with the story of driver shortages. It seems based on the usual handout after a survey, of course, from an industry PR person:

A recent survey of its members showed that 93% were experiencing haulage shortages, up from 61% in the first quarter of the year....One of its concerns is that the driver shortage will be worse in the chemical industry because of the requirement for additional qualifications for anyone carrying hazardous substances....“We are seeing a real crunch on the driver front,” said Tim Doggett, CEO of the CBA [Chemical Business Association]....“My concern and what I have said to the Department for Transport this morning is the game of musical chairs we will see. If you have a driver faced with a job which means he doesn’t have to get out of his cab to deal with dangerous substances and one that gets paid the same and has to handle hazards and be specially qualified to do so, you know which job the driver will go for,” he added.

So they have evidently relied on paying general rates for special and hazardous jobs and now they face a shortage. I thought capitalists knew how to solve these problems based on market dynamics. But no, 'the chronic shortage of lorry drivers [is] caused by Brexit and the pandemic' and thus cannot be solved except by Government. Or rejoining the EU? Saying sorry?

The magic term Brexit is what got it in the Graun, no doubt. There is no attempt to estimate or explain the relative effects of Brexit and pandemic or set them against the dubious employment practices the industry itself confesses to. 

It is not even clear that it is a real problem with real effects yet:

In a regulatory position statement issued on Tuesday, the Environment Agency introduced a waiver that would mean some companies would not have to go through the third stage in the treatment of sewage if they did not have the right chemicals....A government spokesperson said the water supply to consumers would not be affected and any waste company that wished to avail of the waiver needed prior approval from Defra....It also said that no water company had yet notified it of a shortage of ferric sulphate but it was introducing the regulatory position as a precautionary measure.