UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

https://news.sky.com/story/row-over-new-greggs-vegan-sausage-rolls-heats-up-11597679

A heated row has broken out over a move by Britain's largest bakery chain to launch a vegan sausage roll.

The pastry, which is filled with a meat substitute and encased in 96 pastry layers, is available in 950 Greggs stores across the country.

It was promised after 20,000 people signed a petition calling for the snack to be launched to accommodate plant-based diet eaters.


But the vegan sausage roll's launch has been greeted by a mixed reaction: Some consumers welcomed it, while others voiced their objections.

View image on Twitter


spread happiness@p4leandp1nk
https://twitter.com/p4leandp1nk/status/1080767496569974785

#VEGANsausageroll thanks Greggs

7
10:07 AM - Jan 3, 2019

See spread happiness's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy


Cook and food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe declared she was "frantically googling to see what time my nearest opens tomorrow morning because I will be outside".

While TV writer Brydie Lee-Kennedy called herself "very pro the Greggs vegan sausage roll because anything that wrenches veganism back from the 'clean eating' wellness folk is a good thing".

One Twitter user wrote that finding vegan sausage rolls missing from a store in Corby had "ruined my morning".

Another said: "My son is allergic to dairy products which means I can't really go to Greggs when he's with me. Now I can. Thank you vegans."

View image on Twitter


pg often@pgofton
https://twitter.com/pgofton/status/1080772793774624768

The hype got me like #Greggs #Veganuary


42
10:28 AM - Jan 3, 2019

See pg often's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy


TV presenter Piers Morgan led the charge of those outraged by the new roll.

"Nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage, you PC-ravaged clowns," he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Morgan later complained at receiving "howling abuse from vegans", adding: "I get it, you're all hangry. I would be too if I only ate plants and gruel."

Another Twitter user said: "I really struggle to believe that 20,000 vegans are that desperate to eat in a Greggs."

"You don't paint a mustach (sic) on the Mona Lisa and you don't mess with the perfect sausage roll," one quipped.

Journalist Nooruddean Choudry suggested Greggs introduce a halal steak bake to "crank the fume levels right up to 11".

The bakery chain told concerned customers that "change is good" and that there would "always be a classic sausage roll".

It comes on the same day McDonald's launched its first vegetarian "Happy Meal", designed for children.

The new dish comes with a "veggie wrap", instead of the usual chicken or beef option.

It should be noted that Piers Morgan and Greggs share the same PR firm, so I'm thinking this is some serious faux outrage and South Park KKK gambiting here.

 

[close]

If they bring vodka and heroin I see absolutely no reason to fight our Russian brethren

Be that as it may, your governments are likely to pick a fight with Russia if anyone.

Maybe not the US but we could take Russia.

As a litmus test - how many geese do you think you could personally take in a fight?

 

[isalaide]

Be that as it may, your governments are likely to pick a fight with Russia if anyone.

My government isn't going to pick a fight with any cunt. There will be whining here and there, but 'eastern Europe' has spent its entire history under the boot heel of either the Russians or the Germans, and that won't change. The line of influence just moves around every so often. My government has enough fucking problems what with adjusting to being perma broke without trying to fling around the military might it doesn't have.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

Aside from all of that house-to-house fighting we did in the MidEast, of course. I'm sure those 850 Englishmen at Fallujah carried the 10,500 Americans present all by themselves.

Lots of combat in Iraq (less in Afghanistan) was urban warfare.

Afghan wasn't urban combat. There were houses and streets, but it wasn't urban. Bosnia and Sarajevo, they were Urban.

We might win a battle or two against the US but ultimately lose any war. What makes the American military scary is its sheer size and its production, no need for strategy when you can drown your enemy in munitions.

America is not the Qing's Banner Armies.

The size of their military is irrelevant because they don't know how to use it. As stated before, perception is 8/10ths an armies strength and that's what America has.

They’ve been stuck in a muddy field for over a year and had their arse handed to them by a nation of farmers and camgirls.

A war of attrition as pushing further was not worth the gains for the potential losses. They haven't had their arses handed to them by farmers, when said farmers' death toll stop being recorded when it broke 400,000 dead.
That's before we ignore the 'international help' with weapons and ammunition.

 

[Chaos Theorist]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/22/uk-fire-service-council-report-racism-misogyny/

 

[teriyakiburns]

As a litmus test - how many geese do you think you could personally take in a fight?

Canada or Greylag?

 

[Geoff Capes Vapes Apes]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/22/uk-fire-service-council-report-racism-misogyny/

I'd be inclined to agree, we should be encouraging more wogs, girlbosses and people of gender to run into burning buildings

 

[Chaos Theorist]

Canada or Greylag?

SNK

 

[Eekum Bokum]

Be that as it may, your governments are likely to pick a fight with Russia if anyone.

As a litmus test - how many geese do you think you could personally take in a fight?

Adult Geese with just my hands and feet? I'd probably just boot one then leg it before its mates show up.

 

[Free the Pedos]

leg it before its mates show up

They can fly, though. They’d find you.

 

[Eekum Bokum]

They can fly, though. They’d find you.

Oh fuck your right they can fly. Then I'm dead. Put on my Gravestone that I went out holding the line against Satan's bird.

 

[Spud]

if the Americans ever tried to start a war with Britain, they would lose in record time.

If that were the case they wouldn't be called Americans.

 

[Otterly]

Adult Geese with just my hands and feet? I'd probably just boot one then leg it before its mates show up.

No can do. They will have covered the floor with Teflon-like slippery green goose shit.

Oh fuck your right they can fly. Then I'm dead. Put on my Gravestone that I went out holding the line against Satan's bird.

I was chased almost to my death by the geese at Rufford as a child. Never got over it. Bastards.

 

[BongoMongo]

No can do. They will have covered the floor with Teflon-like slippery green goose shit.

I was chased almost to my death by the geese at Rufford as a child. Never got over it. Bastards.

I was a postie a long time ago (How long ago? Back when second daily delivery, and bikes were a thing). And a house on my route got put on the "do not deliver to" list because of a particularly aggressive guard goose.

There's been very few times in my life I have thought "well, shit. I'm not coming out of this unscathed" but having that winged emissary of the Dark Lord (Manselson, not Voldemort) charging at me, head down, wings flapping, hissing at me absolutely scared me witless. Thank god Ring doorbells weren't a thing back then.

Fuck Geese.

 

[FedPostalService]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/22/uk-fire-service-council-report-racism-misogyny/

Was that in a Greggs?

 

[teriyakiburns]

And a house on my route got put on the "do not deliver to" list because of a particularly aggressive guard goose.

If that was anywhere near Berwick, then it might have been my nan. She kept ducks, chucks, and a pair of fat, grey geese that would go utterly mental at everyone they didn't know, or just didn't like. That was where I learned to appreciate the flavour and enormity of a goose-egg omelette.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

Hate to break up everyone's geese fighting but BBC pulled the Hamas propaganda Gaza documentary

https://archive.ph/CScWo

The BBC has removed a documentary about Gaza from its iPlayer streaming service while it carries out "further due diligence" after discovering its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
The broadcaster has been criticised for Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone, which centred on the son of Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.
The BBC said it had not been informed of the family connection in advance by the film's production company, which "had full editorial control".
The programme had initially remained available to stream, but was removed from iPlayer on Friday morning, with the BBC saying it would investigate the matter.
A statement said: "Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone features important stories we think should be told - those of the experiences of children in Gaza.
"There have been continuing questions raised about the programme and in the light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company.
"The programme will not be available on iPlayer while this is taking place."
The decision comes after Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said on Thursday she would discuss the matter with the BBC's director general and chairman, "particularly around the way in which they sourced the people who were featured in the programme".
A number of prominent TV figures including actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, Strike producer Neil Blair, former BBC One controller Danny Cohen and producer Leo Pearlman, had also written to the BBC to call for an investigation.
They said: "Given the serious nature of these concerns, the BBC should immediately postpone any broadcast repeats of the programme, remove it from iPlayer and take down any social media clips of the programme until an independent investigation is carried out and its findings published with full transparency for licence-fee payers."
They raised concerns about the "editorial standards of this programme and the BBC's compliance with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, its own Editorial Guidelines and English law", and asked the corporation to explain what had happened.
"If the BBC was aware that Abdullah Al-Yazouri was the son of a terrorist leader, why was this not disclosed to audiences during the programme?" they asked.
"If the BBC was not aware that Abdullah Al-Yazouri is the son of a terrorist leader, what diligence checks were undertaken and why did they fail?"
The BBC initially kept the programme on iPlayer but added a message at the start reading: "The narrator of this film is 13-year-old Abdullah. His father has worked as a deputy agriculture minister for the Hamas-run government in Gaza.
"The production team had full editorial control of filming with Abdullah."
Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK, Israel and others.
The documentary, which aired on BBC Two on Monday, was made by Hoyo Films, which has not commented.

 

[SirCliveSinclairdabbing]

Hate to break up everyone's geese fighting but

NO. It's goose day!!!

I had a cycling/apocalypse now goose incident.
Full suspension £50 marketplace mountain bike.
Narrow canal path.
No chance to turn or stop.

Screaming and kicking at them, trying to avoid the babies, broke at least 3 of the adults backs. That suspension was amazing.
Turned the next corner and nodded at a bloke walking the other way. Probably should have warned him.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

So, we've got another member of the cabinet who lied on their CV. This one claimed to be a solicitor and is our business secretary.

https://archive.ph/pPZPe

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is facing calls to resign after he was accused of falsely claiming to be a solicitor on his online CV.
Reynolds has previously said he worked as a solicitor at a law firm in Manchester before becoming an MP but he had quit his legal training to run for Parliament in 2010 and never qualified.
The Conservatives and Reform UK have both called for Reynolds to step down from his cabinet role.
The cabinet minister had been described as a solicitor on his LinkedIn profile but the BBC has been told this was an "administrative error" that has been corrected.
The updated profile says Reynolds was a "trainee solicitor" at the Manchester branch of the Addleshaw Goddard law firm between August 2009 and May 2010.
It previously stated he was both a "trainee solicitor" and a "solicitor".
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said, external he had written to the prime minister's ethics adviser, asking him to investigate the claims.
Griffith urged Reynolds to "apologise and step down", writing that he "appears to have knowingly mislead the public".
Reform UK has also called on, external Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to sack the business secretary.
The party led by Nigel Farage suggested Reynolds had "misled Parliament" in 2014, when he told the House of Commons, external he had "worked as a solicitor in Manchester city centre".
On other occasions Reynolds has described himself as a trainee solicitor at the firm, external.
Qualified solicitors are required to register with Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to practice law in England and Wales.
The BBC understands the SRA contacted Reynolds in January in relation to an error on his LinkedIn profile.
The SRA clarified the rules and the business secretary then corrected what has been described as an "administrative error".
An SRA spokesperson said: "Our regulatory role is to protect the interests of users of legal services.
"We are aware of this issue, however having considered all factors involved, there is no need for us to take any action."
Labour sources have suggested Reynolds does not manage the LinkedIn profile.
Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson told Times Radio there were "mistakes made by administrative staff".
She said "there was a bit of a muddle" on LinkedIn.
She added: "But I think he's been very clear he was a trainee solicitor, that's the position he held."
The change to Reynolds's LinkedIn profile was first reported by the Guido Fawkes website, external.
It comes after a BBC investigation found Chancellor Rachel Reeves had exaggerated the length of time she worked at the Bank of England on her online CV.
A spokesman for Reeves confirmed that dates on her LinkedIn were inaccurate and said it was due to an administrative error by the team.

Another deportation challenge pritected by the ECHR, from the Guardian this time. NHS employee cheering on Hamas on October 7th.

https://archive.ph/hEodX

An Egyptian NHS doctor who “glorified terrorist violence” by mocking Israeli civilians fleeing the Hamas attacks in October 2023 has won a legal challenge against deportation.
In one of three social media posts hours after the attacks began, Dr Menatalla Elwan, 34, who worked at an NHS trust in Liverpool, reposted footage of music festivalgoers running from Hamas terrorists and wrote “if it was your home, you would stay and fight”, accompanied by a smiling face emoji.

The Home Office tried to remove her temporary right to remain in the UK, but Elwan, who has lived in the country legally since 2016, challenged the decision and was backed by an immigration tribunal judge.
On 7 October 2023, militants from Hamas, an organisation proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000, entered Israel and carried out attacks on civilians.

Judge Davies said Elwan’s reposting of the video along with her comments amounted to “expressions of support and justification for, and indeed glorification of, Hamas terrorist violence”.
In a second post, Elwan said: “Israel was never a country. They illegally occupied Palestine. Would u support Russia invading Ukraine? Israel kill Palestinians everyday, didn’t see anyone caring. Also there are no civilians in Israel.”
The doctor, responding to a post on X by the then prime minister, Rishi Sunak, also wrote: “Just take all the Israelis to UK away from terrorist Palestine a win for everyone, no?”
Elwan’s posts were referred to the Home Office, which moved to cancel her permission to stay, the tribunal in Manchester heard. The department said it was satisfied her continued presence in the UK “would not be conducive to the public good”.
Elwan appealed against the decision, saying it breached her freedom of expression and family life, which are protected under the European convention on human rights (ECHR).
Davies found that immediate cancellation of her leave to remain “was not reasonable or proportionate” under the ECHR or common law.
He said her conduct was “short-lived” and a “one-off” in the context of her “overwhelmingly positive and otherwise blameless length of permitted leave within the UK”.
The judge went on: “Even though Dr Elwan did not make a full or public retraction or apology, she had taken down the posts even before the media publicity occurred.
“It is clearly possible to imagine far more egregious posts having been posted by persons not subject to immigration control on that day. The posts, read overall, did include protected expressions of political opinion.
“The [Home Office] also had to consider the consequences to Dr Elwan and, indeed, to the wider community, of immediate cancellation, requiring her to leave her existing post.”
The judge quashed the cancellation of her leave to remain in the country as a skilled worker until mid-2027 and asked the Home Office to “take the decision afresh”. However, he rejected Elwan’s appeal against a decision to refuse her indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

That's judge Stephen Davies, since the Guardian doesn't want to give his full name. I have a suspicion we'll see it again in other articles.

NHS horror of the day. If a doctor changes gender their disciplinary history gets wiped. So if you're a doctor who likes groping your patients just swap gender when the complaints get too much.

https://archive.ph/W6lbJ

Wes Streeting has raised concerns after a Telegraph investigation found that doctors who change gender are able to have past wrongdoings scrubbed from the public record.
The Health Secretary said the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors, should urgently overhaul its practices, adding the situation should “not have been allowed”.
The GMC holds a public register of all doctors, allowing the public to check whether a medic has been subject to restrictions or suspensions, or has been struck off.
However, on Thursday the watchdog admitted that it erases the public disciplinary history of doctors who change their gender identities.
It raises the prospect that medics seeking to hide a chequered disciplinary history could exploit the system by choosing to change their gender identity in order to erase their past. It also means a female patient who specifically requested a female doctor would be unable to find out if their doctor was born a man.

On Thursday night, Mr Streeting demanded immediate changes from the regulator. He told The Telegraph: “This is extremely concerning, and should not have been allowed to happen.

“It is completely within the power of the GMC to find a workaround for this that means transparency for patients, as well as protections in the Equality Act, are preserved. I expect them to make reassurances that they will address this.”
It came after The Telegraph revealed that when medics seek to change their gender status on the GMC record they can do so without any supporting evidence.
Such medics are issued with a new registration and a fresh GMC number. All public links on the watchdog’s register between old and new identities are erased, meaning that any historical misdemeanours, such as previous suspensions, are wiped from the slate.
One trans doctor, Dr Beth Upton, is at the centre of an employment tribunal against NHS Fife.

The watchdog has now confirmed that Dr Upton is one of 62 doctors to have been given new registrations under different GMC numbers.
The regulator said: “If a doctor had received a historical sanction [ie the suspension is no longer in place] prior to transitioning, this information would not be available on their new public-facing record on the medical register.”

This means current patients would be unable to see any details of their doctor’s previous identity by searching the GMC’s online database using the medic’s new name and number.
An upheld suspension against a doctor of more than three months would usually be recorded on GMC records for 15 years, with shorter suspensions recorded for 10 years.
Investigation
https://archive.ph/o/W6lbJ/https://...25/02/20/doctors-change-gender-scrub-records/
The GMC was unable to tell The Telegraph whether any of the 62 doctors who have been issued with a new number had received any suspensions under their previous identity.
There is no suggestion that Dr Upton has faced any disciplinary action.
The loophole raises the prospect that those who wish to cover up previous sanctions could choose to exploit the system, and change their gender identity for that reason.
It follows a clampdown in prisons, where trans offenders were previously able to move to women-only jails, even if they had male genitalia and a history of sex crimes, until the rules were changed in 2023.

 

[bort420]

at what point do you have to say that the echr is unfit for purpose and that supranational legal forces are terrible and just accelerate societal decline?

 

[isalaide]

It's an offence to claim to be a solicitor if not currently on the roll of solicitors (including the roll of non practitioners). He should have picked that up as a trainee, because he wouldn't have been allowed to sign letters "Jonathan whatsisname, Solicitor". That's an especially foolish bit of CV massage for that reason.