Unfortunately, I could not make it to the Auf Wiedersehen Pet 40 year celebration of the Auf Wiedersehen Pet series at the City Hall in Newcastle on Saturday. Videos on social media of the crew singling Whey Eye Man brought back found memories.
Mark Knopfler as a solo artist and with group Dire Straits are firm favourites. His famous track for the third series of the show became a Geordie anthem for many of us who scattered around Europe back in the day.
Auf Wiedersehen Pet
ITV 4 is currently re-running the very first series, where the lads deal with challenges of living in a hut, separation from loved ones and eventually make friends with some of the local ‘Eriks’. Dennis even falls for management assistant Dagmar. As a fan, I loved watching these, but my perspective from the armchair is one which is tinged with sadness for myself, my own and younger generations prospects and in particular for my region, whose best method of levelling up has now been confined to the history books by the heavy boots of ‘Brexstreamism’. The whole model revolved around our membership of the single market.
“Wherever you gan, you’re sure to find a Geordie”
Geordies have traditionally had a strong connection with Europe due to sea and air links to the continent. Lack of opportunity for work locally forced many of us to look abroad. This is a historical fact. There is a North South divide in this country, which can favour candidates based in the South East.
As a region, we are also happy wanderers who love to travel, although our region may always remain our home base.
The Auf Wiedersehen Pet model: work and knowledge exchange as a creative catalyst
Hard core heavy industries like building may seem worlds apart from the realms of culture yet the real life experience of local brickies influenced creative services in the form of popular culture.
The Auf Wiedersehen Pet model acted as a creative catalyst for Ian Le Frenais, who with fellow writers had been looking for a story. BBC Radio Newcastle spoke to Le Frenais in interview last year, who told listeners how a chance meeting with a local bricklayer on the Quayside during a night out sparked inspiration. He told Le Frenais that armies of Geordie brickies were engaged in contract work on building sites all over Germany. He kept in touch with the bricklayer, who continued to work on projects in Germany while the team wrote the scripts: Le Frenais rang him at appointed times at a local call box. One day, local police questioned why he was loitering outside this particular call box, to which the bricklayer replied: “I’m waiting for a call from Hollywood”.
Stardom for local actors
Le Frenais sought actors who fitted the right Geordie bricklayer type imago, one of whom was Jimmy Nail, who has since become a household name for both acting and music. He too was interviewed by BBC Radio Newcastle last year, where he mentioned a hilarious conversation with his mum about the fighting scenes in the series. She scolded him: “Our Jimmy, you’ve been fighting again!”. The actor reassured her the blood on screen was all paint and it was just pretend. Jimmy Nail has to a large extend founded his career on the success of that series. His music, like Big River once again promotes Geordie cultural talent together with the unmistakable sounds of Mark Knopfler’s guitar strokes.
Likewise, the series catapulted Hexham lad, Kevin Whatley, who played Neville, into the artistic spotlight in addition to Tim Healy, who played foreman Dennis in the series. Timothy Spall, who played Barry, has similarly won a firm place as a household name. The historical phenomenon of Geordie builders has forged lifelong careers and economic activity for both the actors, writers and their technical crews.
A boost to the music industry
Mark Knopfler is a legend in himself. However, the inclusion of Auf Wiedersehen Pet 3’s theme tune from the album, The Ragpicker’s Dream, undoubtedly increased sales to fans of the series with its famous cries, “Nee more work on Maggie’s Farm, Haddaway down the Authbahn”.
Confined to the history books
Sadly under today’s political and trading circumstances, Auf Wiedersehen Pet would never come to life. The lads seek work in Europe using an employment agent, who supplies German building sites. Work on an agency model in Germany where freelancers are payrolled under similar circumstances, which is called Arbeitnehmer Uberlassing (ANU), is not permitted under the Brexit Trade and Co-Operation Agreement (See Annex 21 and 22). Should any UK citizens seek agency work in Germany, they would be turned away.
Adverts state candidates should be EU citizens. A British citizen who had moved to Germany permanently under the Withdrawal Agreement before the end of the Brexit transition would be allowed to work in Germany, but that scenario is a very different story to a Geordie quest for temporary work, where the permanent home is Newcastle. The government and any ardent Brexiteers forgot that family ties may make a person have permanent attachments to their home land where claims to rights under the Withdrawal Agreement could never apply. A British border worker, who had a project or job in Germany before the end of the transition would have been able to continue working on that project or job after transition end. These cannot be applied to a British worker with a permanent base in the UK who seeks a new project post-transition end.
A large building services firm or freelancer could tender for projects, but would require high levels of qualifications, such as degrees, and for freelancers six years’ experience. For employees, high levels of qualifications and three years of experience suffice. However, these provisions only apply in certain countries and a restricted number of industries.
Try that in Belgium or Denmark
Work under the TCA provisions as a freelancer would not be possible, not even as a freelance services supplier with a degree and the necessary years of experience. Belgium and Denmark did not sign up to the clauses of the Brexit deal which established possibilities for services professionals to work without a permit onsite. Each EU state made its own sovereign decision about the status it would grant to British services professionals, which ironically demonstrates that even inside the EU, a nation retains some control over its own affairs.
Unfortunately, when there is a pan-European project for a customer which requires presence on site in one of the countries which does not allow British freelancers to work without a permit, this disqualifies British candidates immediately. For example, banking projects for customers may well require a presence in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
I used to work for a town council via a Danish IT Services company. The director asked me if I would be willing to work on Danish projects sometimes. I expressed interest and was given contacts in the Danish office for future reference. Then Brexit happened… We lost the ability to use the professional networks we had built up during our careers. Business development is time consuming; contacts made do not always result in a sale for new work, but they are vital to the freelance business model.
Limited shelf life
Furthermore, the agreements only allow for a maximum of 12 months onsite. So many projects go on longer, which means British CVs are effectively consigned to the bin.
Even where the freelance model is permitted, the maximum time an independent freelancer may provide services on site is restricted to 12 months. Many projects or rolling contracts continue for longer. When the Earl of Clancarty raised this topic in a ‘Question for the Government’, it was brought to light that the government modelled the UK-EU deal on the Japan-EU deal, which included a similar period for onsite service provision, which was considered generous. Yet our government forgot that the proximity of Europe made travel for us through the week and return home at weekends easier. It would be more likely that a professional from the Far East would visit Europe, stay for a while and return home whereas a Geordie would use that model as an established work pattern throughout a career, thus requiring more scope for mobility. The Brexit TCA is again unfairly weighted to employees of large corporate firms, who may send staff to Europe under an inter-corporate transfer agreement for up to three years.
The government was blissfully unaware that freelance consultants would typically acquire a rolling contract, which would extend each time by three months and go on for a couple of years. Cloud transformation programs can take more than a year to complete if the customer has a complex environment. Post go-live, there may well be a need to continued support and staff training. If a customer is in the IT services business, they may well ask the consultant to assist with other project work, thereby prolonging the working relationship.
By virtue of gaining experience and important names in local European sectors on the CV, a British freelancer can also attract other potential customers in that area to their profile. Where temporal restrictions are placed on consultants, these potential opportunities also become unavailable to British professionals.
Spending earnings back at home
With good project earnings, those working overseas will tend to spend more on local goods and services, which boosts the UK economy. Nights out on the Toon, dinners in local restaurants or hiring a builder for house maintenance jobs are not cheap.
Mobility: a lifeline for necessities
The Auf Wiedersehen Pet model has a serious side. The need to seek work forced many Geordies to go overseas, leaving families behind. It was a key to open doors to economic fulfilment for everyday needs. It gave people hope for the future as well as the here-and-now. For some, that means a wage to put food on the table. For other families, like Neville and wife Brenda, who is a nurse in the NHS, it was a chance to get their foot on the property ladder, without which owning a home would have been impossible. Neville feels under some pressure in the series if Brenda does not receive her money each week. A nurse and a joiner these days would need to pull together to have any hopes of buying their first home.
Experience counts
As the programme evolved into series 2 and 3, viewers observe how that initial career stint in Germany has brought some of the lads increased prosperity. Barry ends up owning his own business. Brenda and Neville own their own home. The work experience in Germany allowed some of the lads to work further afield overseas for the British government on contracts.
Our lack of mobility frameworks cuts people off in the present, but it also blocks people from building a future which would have been founded upon solid work experience on European projects. Those future businesses would of course inject more revenues into the country via taxation.
Mobility frameworks: it’s all intertwined
This piece on Auf Wiedersehen Pet and the areas it raises has exposed just how intertwined our entire economic, professional and cultural activities are with Europe. So too is the treasury.
I received a communication from the Labour party this weekend, in which they paint a gloomy picture of Britain’s future should the party not win the 2024 General Election:
“If we lose this year’s general election, our next chance to deliver a Labour government will be in 2029.
“Can you afford five more years of the Tories in power? Of high taxes and low growth. Of sewage in our waters. An NHS on its knees. Crime going unsolved. Crumbling schools.
“We know millions of working people around the country can’t afford to endure another five years of Tory chaos.”
However, a Labour government under the current modus operandi of ‘making Brexit work’ will bring no end to the deprivation and blockages many of us in the North East experience in our day to day lives. A Labour government brings no concrete hope or solutions. Our industries, earnings and lives will be disturbed by outages which are now permanent features until Britain re-embraces the mobility frameworks of the single market. By extension, that means the NHS and other essential services are losing out on masses of revenues from tax on our earnings, which for many of us largely came from European customers.
This week, the government claimed that Britain was officially out of the recession. This rather depends on who you speak to. The position of professionals in creatives and services is much bleaker. Apart from the House of Lords, which initiated the UK-EU Services Inquiry in 2021 regarding the Brexit TCA, no serious government body has surveyed us. Reports of five billion losses due to Brexit similarly have not approached many independent freelancers for comments. Tim Brennan from the Carry on Touring Campaign for musicians and professionals in creative tech commented recently:
“Music touring in the EU is down 74% to what it was prior to 2021. The majority of freelance technicians are unable to find sustainable work, yet the EU are busier than ever. The reason, bands don’t want the red tape involved in taking UK passport holders. There’s also a big drop In bands from the EU and further afield coming into the UK, there’s also a lot less collaboration. Then there’s the classical scene which has also been devastated by Brexit.“
Members of the Cross Border Services workgroup and I would concur. In many cases, the negative impact of the Brexit imposed red tape has reduced business to levels which are much worse than during the 2008 financial crisis. Notably, rates on projects in Europe can be at least one third more well paid than UK projects for those who have niche skills. These are serious losses for our own business and the treasury.
Kim McGuinness, who is in her thirties, may have won the position of North East Mayor, but it would be beneficial for her and Keir Starmer to watch the first series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet to recap on the needs for mobility frameworks. Sadiq Khan argued the need for renewed mobility frameworks for European workers in London, with a special London Visa. Could the North East do the same, and foster mutual mobility frameworks with European hubs to open up the lost markets?
Keir Starmer exclusive: I will be ‘ruthless’ to change Britain
Starmer told journalists he had demonstrated ruthlessness and determination to change the Labour party and Britain. Cutting thousands of people off from necessary livelihoods and mobility frameworks was and continues to be a ruthless act of government, whichever side of the political spectrum it came from.
It is my view that the only hope we have rests upon the establishment of a hung parliament, which would bring in voices of common sense from other parties who favour the single market, such as the Liberal Democrats, Greens and SNP. Our regions in the North East need it even more than the South East. Even now, as projects go hybrid, London centrism favours candidates within an hour of the capital. This mental attitude continues. Contrastingly in countries like Germany, it is the norm for professionals to work in cities located at more than three hours travel from their home base. We have the transport links and the technology for remote work. Only single market membership can restore this access to those important project markets and bring the Auf Wiedersehen Pet model back to life. Starmer requires a ruthless dose of common sense.
Auf Wiedersehen Pet stories
You can hear more about my own Auf Wiedersehen Pet story and how we IT services freelancers work in an interview with Glasgow Loves EU’s Jenny Wilson:
Germany is part of that and several other locations. I would not be the person or the professional I am without that foundation, nor would I have been able to pass my knowledge onto younger members of my customers’ staff, some of which are in the North East. It just so happened that my own IT tutor, Paul Snaith, who worked at Newcastle College for a while and local companies like British Airways, got some of his experience in Germany as a programmer. He was fluent in both programming languages and German. With my background in languages, he encouraged me to try the career switch as I would have an even larger job pool in Europe. Not only that, my initial steps to gain entry into IT consisted of night school classes in programming sponsored by the European Social Fund. Newcastle was considered a poorer region and as such benefitted from free training in subjects where there was a skills shortage like IT and plumbing, Those lovely benefits we once had in return for our EU membership fees…
Do you have an Auf Wiedersehen Pet story to tell? North East Bylines would be delighted to hear from you. Let’s show the region and the would be leaders of the government what we can become once again with some common sense and an open mind in office. Let’s make intra-history of the lives of ordinary people count to bring about change for the better.
