Being taken away ... jars of Vegemite pictured on a London supermarket shelf. Picture: Charles Miranda Source: Supplied
AS debate raged about Australia’s restricted access to the UK, one of Britain’s largest supermarket chains was stripping its shelves of Vegemite declaring the appetite for the staple had gone as quick as its consumers.
In possibly the most noticeable aspect of the visa issue, Sainsbury’s announced it would no longer be selling the popular Aussie spread.
A spokeswoman confirmed it just no longer sold due to a diminished market in a move that caused something of panic on social media with expats asking where they could now find the staple. Other supermarket giants such as Waitrose said it still had it but ominously added all stocked products were regularly reviewed; another Australian spread AussieMite recently disappeared from its shelves.
AUSSIE VISA RESTRICTIONS: What’s going on in the UK?
MORE: US kids react to trying Vegemite for the first time
Going gone ... jars of Vegemite pictured on a London supermarket shelf. Picture: Charles Miranda Source: Supplied
The migration issue brings into question Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s awarding a knighthood to the Queen’s consort Prince Philip for services to Australia while all the while failing to secure royal support for a pressing contemporary issue.
Ironically yesterday’s debate came as 200 Australian paramedics landed in London having been recruited from Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane to fill desperate shortfalls in the ranks of the London Ambulance Service.
They will be allowed to do a couple of years then be ordered to leave.
Bad call ... Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott gave Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh a knighthood. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
There has been a dramatic drop in annual Australian migration to the UK from 40,000 in 1999 to 26,000 in 2011. Home Secretary Theresa May recently closed Tier 1 (general) visa streams and imposed a cap of just 20,700 on the number of Tier 2 (general) Skilled Worker visas. That cap applies to all those from outside the EU.
South Africans have fared worse; there was once 30,000 of them in London but a census last year found only 5000 in the country.
This week British Prime Minister David Cameron declared he would cut the 260,000 migrants to the “tens of thousands”.
Standing firm ... British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced cuts to migrants. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
“I believe that we would be a better, stronger country if we had net migration in the tens of thousands rather than the hundreds of thousands … the figures are very clear, I have not achieved that. I want to keep going until we do achieve that. I think it’s the right thing for our country.”
Meanwhile, in the UK Australians everyday were being shown the exit but maybe a knighthood awaits them back home, a reward perhaps for their perseverance with a mother country that treats them like unwanted convicts.
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