OK, it’s only a trivial complaint, and not my main one against Brexit; but I still haven’t received several orders and even Christmas presents from the UK, apart from one where I was made to pay more in import duty than the thing had cost. I’m not alone in this; the various ‘Brits in Sweden’ Facebook sites are full of similar stories. The other thing we have in common is that none of us is entirely sure who or what is responsible for this. We’d like to blame Brexit, of course; but – as several have pointed out – Postnord, the local official postal company, is notoriously inefficient; and there is a pandemic raging, which is affecting flights, etc. from abroad. 

Regarding Postnord: I can’t quite work out whether it’s a state or a private enterprise. It operates in Denmark and Germany as well as in Sweden, with the Swedish and Danish governments both holding stakes in it. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostNord.) Does that count as ‘nationalised’?

Anyhow, my experience of our post over the last two months, including Christmas and New Year (and my birthday!), has determined me never to order anything from UK outlets again. Luckily I can get most British books from local shops here in Sweden, or even from a friend’s bookshop in Germany (and if I’m desperate an amazon.se has just started up); and the ‘Little Britain Shop’ in Gamla Stan sells English essentials like Marmite and Bovril. The latter are terribly pricey compared to in Britain; but I imagine that Little Britain has to pay hefty import taxes too.

I doubt that the loss of my – and my fellow exiles’ – British trade will make a great dent in the British economy. And I don’t expect any sympathy from stay-at-home Brexiters: ‘You lost, get over it’. (And ‘why do you want to live abroad in any case?’) On the other hand, the same problem may exist for the stay-at-homers, albeit in reverse, with shortages and hefty price-rises on their Bries and  Ardennes Patés. What is your ordinary working-class British Brexiter going to say to that? (Irony.)

PS. (Later the same day). Good explanation here from Garry Jones, editor (is that the word?) of one of my ‘Brits in Sweden’ sites: https://lifeinsverige.se/postbrexit/?fbclid=IwAR3e98ECoXtKQJSznVrv9DMA_TVRUUxBZc_y6AOGPJmaRvyN4oskQ4ImnmU.