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

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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."

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

The hype got me like #Greggs #Veganuary


42
10:28 AM - Jan 3, 2019

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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.

 

[Crunkle]

The south is like the frog boiling pot.

Love this phrasing. City retards will be the first group of people fucked over when they switch to cashless and then a single Labour power cut because it wasn't windy enough kills all of it; suddenly can't buy anything from Pret. The sight of a white man selling bacon and egg baps out of the side of a white van with a 'STRICTLY CASH ONLY' sign would terrorise them.

btw there's parts of Norf FC town I live in I don't go to as a white woman on my own because the Pakis are so fucking hostile. They refuse to believe it, they won't have it. So when they come visit, we go for a little walk round the Muslim shit holes and it's amazing watching them see it first hand.

Yeah, there's places up here where you just cannot walk around if you're a white woman. I took a wrong turn in Leeds (they all looked like a DEI Wrong Turn to be fair) once and turned into this really nasty street. Like, really nasty. Rubbish everywhere, graffiti, every single car was a beat-up Renault or a 2003 BMW that was more dent than bodywork, then on the corner there was just a group of Muslim men who stared directly at me as I went past and did not stop looking until I'd turned the corner back into a normal street. Haven't been back to Leeds since.

 

[BongoMongo]

Love this phrasing. City retards will be the first group of people fucked over when they switch to cashless and then a single Labour power cut because it wasn't windy enough kills all of it; suddenly can't buy anything from Pret. The sight of a white man selling bacon and egg baps out of the side of a white van with a 'STRICTLY CASH ONLY' sign would terrorise them.


Yeah, there's places up here where you just cannot walk around if you're a white woman. I took a wrong turn in Leeds (they all looked like a DEI Wrong Turn to be fair) once and turned into this really nasty street. Like, really nasty. Rubbish everywhere, graffiti, every single car was a beat-up Renault or a 2003 BMW that was more dent than bodywork, then on the corner there was just a group of Muslim men who stared directly at me as I went past and did not stop looking until I'd turned the corner back into a normal street. Haven't been back to Leeds since.

Birmingham. I rest my case. The holy trifecta of god awful. Pakistan, Africans and a labour lrd council who bankrupted themselves because they gave the contract for taxis to get kids to schools (since when is this a thing FFS?!) to one of their pals.

And I'm guessing you're familiar with the shit show that is Harehill in Leeds? Fucking gyppoes.

 

[Crunkle]

Birmingham. I rest my case. The holy trifecta of god awful. Pakistan, Africans and a labour lrd council who bankrupted themselves because they gave the contract for taxis to get kids to schools (since when is this a thing FFS?!) to one of their pals.

And I'm guessing you're familiar with the shit show that is Harehill in Leeds? Fucking gyppoes.

As someone who grew up in Birmingham, I can safely say that I am one bad curry "morning-after" away from switching my vote from Reform to Britain First.

 

[BongoMongo]

As someone who grew up in Birmingham, I can safely say that I am one bad curry "morning-after" away from switching my vote from Reform to Britain First.

Tbh this last week has me eyeballing the heritage party or something though I am open to suggestions.

 

[Miriam Margoyles]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...gle-illegal-school-children-bbc-b2707888.html

All things considered, I did think his T-shirt was quite funny.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Tbh this last week has me eyeballing the heritage party or something though I am open to suggestions.

Homeland has been suggested a few times, if you're after an explicitly nationalist party.

 

[6MillionCoofs]

And now the news that GB News is having problems slids across the desk.

Well no shit. When the majority of people behind cameras for telly are left wing you are going to have issues.

There’s a reason podcasts are beating them. At minimum it requires 1 person. Hard to be undermined by yourself.

 

[EddyRooney]

The south is like the frog boiling pot. They have no clue about life outside their metropolitan bubble and their proximity to London means they try out shit to see if it sticks.

It's like, I have to explain to Southerners,btw there's parts of Norf FC town I live in I don't go to as a white woman on my own because the Pakis are so fucking hostile. They refuse to believe it, they won't have it. So when they come visit, we go for a little walk round the Muslim shit holes and it's amazing watching them see it first hand.

I don't think you can lump all Southeners into that. There are parts of Londonistan that are no-go areas and most people avoid.
It hasn't reached the Shires so much yet, but the people that don't believe it down here are wilfully ignorant. The types who refuse to admit it as it doesn't fit their political beliefs.
Let's be honest, it's not too different to all the stupid women that claim a man ( with a penis ) in a dress is a woman. They don't really believe it, but they'll say it to fit in with their political agenda, even though the trans are a potential threat to normal women.
My argument to the people in my office is to dare them to walk down certain roads in Londonistan. I tell them flat out, that I wouldn't for my own safety ( it normally dawns on them then, as I am physically imposing ).

 

[GratsTheat783]

And now the news that GB News is having problems slids across the desk.

Well no shit. When the majority of people behind cameras for telly are left wing you are going to have issues.

There’s a reason podcasts are beating them. At minimum it requires 1 person. Hard to be undermined by yourself.

What I took away from this article is that they've been slowly building their revenue and are getting closer year by year to being in the green.

Spoiler: Article

February 28, 2025

GB News losses since launch top £100m but 2024 revenue more than doubles​

Advertising and digital revenues are major growth areas.

GB News more than doubled its revenues in the past year to £15.8m but its total losses now top £100m.

The broadcaster decreased its annual losses by a fifth in the year to 31 May 2024.

It made a loss of £33.4m in the 2023/24 financial year, compared to £42.4m the year before.

Its losses since it began setting up ahead of its June 2021 launch now total £105.9m.

GB News revenue was up 136% from £6.7m last year to £15.8m with the growth attributed to “continued audience increases”.

All revenue types were up except for radio, which was down 61% to £51,243 despite continued listenership growth.

Advertising revenue more than doubled (up 111%) to £8.9m. The channel has suffered a boycott from many major advertisers since its launch.

Chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos told a Parliamentary committee last year: “While we have growing audience and our advertising revenue has increased
significantly – and it had to because in the early days we didn’t have much – the reality is that we’re looking at all aspects of monetisation… we’re very confident about the future of being self-sufficient financially but we have a lot of work to do.”

Digital revenue also more than doubled last year (up 165%) to £5.8m.

A GB News source told Press Gazette: “As these results show, the channel is recording growth across several areas of the business, and it remains focused on its mission to become the UK’s largest news channel by 2028.”

Some 86% of GB News revenue comes from the UK. Last summer (after the financial year in question ended) the broadcaster began increasing efforts in the US where Press Gazette was told revenues had grown by 500% over the previous 12 months, albeit from a low base.

The company's latest accounts note that because of losses and net liabilities of £109.5m (as of 31 May 2024) GB News is dependent on its investors but that it continues to have "strong support" from them.

The biggest shareholders of GB News are hedge fund entrepreneur Sir Paul Marshall, who also owns Unherd and bought The Spectator last year, and Legatum Ventures Ltd, a company connected to the pro-free market think tank and investment group Legatum.

GB News began its first major round of redundancies, aiming to cut 40 roles, in April 2024 - just before the end of the financial year in question.


However, the accounts show that on average it had a higher employee count in the year to 31 May 2024 than in the year before: 311, up from 295.

In the accounts, Frangopoulos repeated the company's goal to be the UK's largest news channel by 2028. He claimed the audience data is "highly supportive" of this trajectory.


"With television audience share up 53% and radio audience share up 61% year-on-year, audiences across linear platforms again grew strongly in the last year," he wrote.


"To drive this growth, the management continued to evolve the company's programming line-up and adapted to the inevitable challenges faced by the group as it takes market share in a well-established market.


"The company's digital operation also continued its strong growth trajectory, where both the company's owned and operated sites as well as social media remain robust; page views on the group's website and app increased by 41% compared to May last year, whilst reach on Facebook and Youtube grew by 27%, with aggregate subscribers across all the major social media platforms increasing by ∼1.4 million to ∼3.9 million subscribers."


In the 2023/24 financial year GB News launched a paid offering for member-only digital content. It passed 10,000 paid-up memberships in August with price points of £5 (“basic”), £10 (“supporter”) and £20 (“VIP”) a month.

Also speaking of GB News, they reported this morning 150 more migrants being let in.

Spoiler: Article

By Jess Phillips, Editor
08:44, Mon, Mar 10, 2025

GB News halted for 'unprecedented' breaking migrant news in huge blow to Starmer​

At least 150 migrants crossed the English Channel illegally this morning - bringing the number of illegal crossings in March to at least 2,200.​

GB News was halted for an urgent breaking news announcement in a huge blow to prime minister Keir Starmer.

This morning, Ellie Costello and Nana Akua – filling in for Eamonn Holmes – made the “unprecedented” announcement that at least 150 migrants have crossed the English Channel this morning. It brings the total number of illegal migrants in March 2025 alone to more than 2,200.

Ellie announced: “At least 150 migrants have crossed the channel illegally this morning. It’s an unprecedented 10th day of small boat crossings.” Nana then chimed in: “So it takes a total of crossings since the first of March to more than 2,200.”

Ellie explained: “Well a third small boat is currently in the Channel and making steady progress towards British waters,” before Nana cut to GB News Home and Security Editor Mark White.

Addressing viewers, Mark said: “Well this has clearly plunged the government’s border security policy into even deeper crisis. 10 straight days is unprecedented at this time of the year when of course we get bad weather in the Channel. Weather conditions haven’t been brilliant – okay, they’ve been just about passable on most days, but again today it’s very difficult going out there in the Channel.

“Despite that, in the early hours this morning about 1am first of all and then again at 5am, two small boats crossed with around 120 migrants on board. As we speak that third small boat that was spotted a little earlier this morning is about 15 minutes from reaching UK waters. Once it does, the inevitable happens – a border force vessel will be waiting to pick those up on that boat and take them to Dover Harbour.”

He went on: “Keir Starmer, we know, has made a central plan of his border policy smashing the gangs, a law and order approach to try to dismantle those criminal networks that are pushing these boats out in ever greater numbers.

“While it would have been unfair, of course, to criticise the new government just two or three or four months into office, the fact is it’s been over eight months into the new Labour government with this policy – not only has it not slowed down, the numbers crossing, we are seeing unprecedented numbers at this time of the year crossing the Channel now, well over 4,000 and at least 20% up on where we were at this point last year.”

Viewers chimed in to agree, with one tweeting: "@Keir_Starmer must be held to account. He is inflicting danger on his citizens by refusing to secure our borders!"

Another agreed: "Care to comment Prime Minister and Home Secretary? Your plan, if you ever had one, is completely falling apart. Do something about this, NOW!"
Source

 

[Kier Starmer]

I consider myself fortunate I discovered podcasting early on in its infancy and found it could that you could make a news show about anything or interview everything. Even at a young age, I knew that news as a platform was dead. My RSS feed is still full of the most random shows even now.

As for the divide, I had to go to London unfortunately a few times whilst seeing the other half, and as a Norfener/Midlander it is always so stark. My town has no fucking banks now they are all closed down, in a 5 mile radius there are 2 trustworthy ATMs. I live in a stunning location with a lovely community, and very low crime. Most people you can talk to for 30 minutes or just go on a joint dog walk with. The population here is very vocal about foreigners, the only people we let in were the Ukranian refugees because they were refugees. I would say for the Midlands, it is a death by a 1000 cuts and slower than the North but it will reach the same fate.

Honestly in London even with my other half we did not feel safe and we were in tourist areas. As for GB News they are trying they are considered a somewhat safe investment since they nearly hit their target.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

taxis to get kids to schools (since when is this a thing FFS?!)

It's SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) stuff. Essentially as part of the support for children who fall under that banner the councils are required by law to provide taxis for them to and from schools.

Anyone who thinks about that for 10 seconds either recognises the issues or is dangerously foolish.

https://archive.ph/n7hSE

BBC research shows the councils with some of the longest journeys are Herefordshire at 242 miles, which the council said was a weekly trip, and East Sussex at 220 miles.

One council, Buckinghamshire, said it was paying £952 per day for "two complex medical passengers" to travel by ambulance with a nurse.

Other examples include a £684 per day trip in Trafford and £650 for a trip three times a week for a child in Lincolnshire.

Mr Oliver, who is also the Conservative leader of Surrey County Council, said his own local authority's budget for home-to-school transport was overspent by £10m.

Some councillors have pointed out that this is being over-used by children being diagnosed as having mental issues when they are in fact just in need of a thick ear and patents are swapping advice on social media of how to gain these diagnosis, since funnily enough free taxi services to and from school every day for their children is fairly appealing. Naturally there was outcry and the councillors had to apologise.

https://archive.ph/bxxaG

More money is being spent on this than on a lot of councils are spending roads in their area.

https://archive.ph/dt9tR

Of 43 councils that replied to a Guardian request for data, all but eight were spending more on Send pupils’ transport than on their revenue roads budget, which is used for maintenance rather than capital improvements.

On average, the amount spent on transport was slightly over twice as much, and in some cases notably more. One council, Wakefield, spends seven times as much on Send transport than road maintenance, and the ratio for several others is four or five to one.

 

[SirCliveSinclairdabbing]

We need short buses like America has and there should be a stigma to it.

 

[Übertroon]

Oil tanker and cargo ships collide and set the North Sea on fire

Considering the ethnicity of crewmen on ships these days I imagine this was how the two ships communicated with one another

Another big win for globalism

 

[Van Darkholme]

I have to apply for an ETA now if I want to travel to the UK. They want to know if I'm employed, what my job is, if I'm a member of a terrorist organization (or was), scan the chip in my passport via NFC, take two pictures of myself....next time, I'm just going to take a boat.
Oh and it costs 10 quid too.
Still looking forward to my vacation on the outer hebrides next month.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Oil tanker and cargo ships collide and set the North Sea on fire

Thank god it all happened outside the environment. I wonder if they maintained the minimum crew requirements...

I have to apply for an ETA now if I want to travel to the UK. They want to know if I'm employed, what my job is, if I'm a member of a terrorist organization (or was), scan the chip in my passport via NFC, take two pictures of myself....next time, I'm just going to take a boat.
Oh and it costs 10 quid too.

The EU has the equivalent ETIAS coming online by the end of next year. They tell me it's supposed to help prevent illegal immigration. Try saying that with a straight face.

 

[Mound Dweller]

Oil tanker and cargo ships collide and set the North Sea on fire

Shits on fire yo this might actually be ba- oh wait it's Lincolnshire nevermind couldn't really get much worse.
Speaking of ecological disasters has that shit about the Tee river dredging pulling up nasty ass sludge killing all the crabs/Blackpool fracking leeching nasty ass shit into the Ribble and killing all the birds from last year gone anywhere or are we forever stuck in a "not great, not terrible" stage? If the local schizos were onto anything when it reaches full circle it'll make the asbestos forest look like a fucking foam party.

 

[Crispy Jakes]

Sure. Just might not be the best look when you are trying to win elections where you need them to vote for you and to do that you require funding.

Rupert Lowe is worth £30 million and he already self funded the campaign that won him his seat.

Money isn’t the problem. You need a cohesive national platform that only a competently run party can provide. Unfortunately Muhammad Ziauddin Yusuf can’t provide that when he’s crying to the police about being threatened by an OAP.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Starmer faces 80 MP rebellion over welfare cuts (archive)

Sir Keir Starmer is facing the biggest rebellion of his premiership over plans to curb Britain’s growing benefits bill.

Around 80 Labour MPs are said to oppose the Government’s proposals to rein in public spending through radical welfare reforms, with a growing number willing to stage a revolt.

In a sign of mounting backbench disquiet, it is understood that furious MPs are planning to send a letter of complaint to the Treasury and the Prime Minister ahead of the Spring Statement.

It comes as Sir Keir is grappling with the twin challenges of funding a rise in defence spending and plugging a £9 billion fall in the Government’s fiscal headroom.

The defence uplift was welcomed by Labour MPs when it was announced in February, but some criticised Downing Street’s decision to raid the foreign aid budget to pay for it.

The Government is also being forced to consider the expensive prospect of funding a peacekeeping force in Ukraine as Donald Trump threatens to withdraw US support from Europe.

The Telegraph understands that the 80 or so Labour MPs – roughly a fifth of the parliamentary party – “won’t tolerate” billions of pounds of welfare cuts set to be announced by the Chancellor later this month.

The anger is said to have spread beyond the “usual suspects”, with MPs who would not typically criticise Sir Keir threatening to “give the Government a slap” over the proposals.

Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a £6 billion cut to welfare as part of a string of “politically painful” measures to ease pressure on the public finances. The Chancellor has insisted reform is needed to deliver value for the taxpayer and help those “trapped” on benefits back into work.

But after a string of controversial decisions on the two-child benefit cap, winter fuel payments, overseas aid and compensation for Waspi women, Sir Keir is facing growing anger from Labour MPs who feel he is taking the party in the wrong direction.

It is unclear what avenue they might use to rebel. There is no need for a vote on the cuts, because they do not require any new legislation.

One MP on the Labour Left said a series of “missteps and silly decisions” have had a cumulative effect, with some MPs set to draw the line at welfare cuts.

The MP said: “I’ve spoken to not the usual suspects… the first thing they’ve said to me after a few minutes saying how things are going is: ‘I’m going to give the Government a slap, I’ve had enough, I don’t know what it will be, but I’m at the end of my tether. I need to show my constituents, I need to show people that I have my own brain, that I’m not going to suck up all of this.’

They warned the “Ukraine bounce” that allowed Sir Keir to raise defence spending will not last forever, with disaffected voters at risk of turning to Reform UK or the Green Party at the next election.

“The fundamentals haven’t changed, and one of the things we know about the kind of instability in politics at the moment is that the electorate are fickle. This isn’t going to be his Falklands moment. He’s got four years left,” said the MP.

‘Deeply concerned’

A second Labour backbencher warned that colleagues were “not happy” about the welfare cuts, adding: “You can do what you like to insulate MPs during the week when they’re all in the House of Commons, but you can’t insulate them from what people are saying to them on the doorstep.”

A third MP said they would be “amazed” if colleagues did not put their concerns in a letter to the Treasury, stating that people beyond the Labour Left were “deeply concerned and uncomfortable”.

“They don’t believe it’s necessary and it’s not what they got involved in Labour politics to do,” the MP said.

Several Labour MPs have already broken ranks to criticise the plans, laying the groundwork for a potential rebellion.

Rachael Maskell, the MP for York Central, said there is “a lot of concern” that Sir Keir is going about welfare reform “in the wrong way”, insisting that “taking a sledgehammer” to benefits is “not the right approach”.

“What I am most concerned about is the narrative. I’m getting letters from constituents who are very, very worried about losing their benefits,” she said. “It feels like the Government is getting the bad news out of the way before the spending review. I want the Treasury to listen at this point, and give us the guarantee that our constituents who need state support will be helped and not frightened.”

‘Worried about burden of cuts’

Diane Abbott, the veteran Labour MP, also warned the Government against cutting benefits to fund its priorities.

“I, and a lot of other people, are very worried about the burden of the cuts in order to spend more money on defence and so on, that it should fall on welfare, and in particular that it should fall on the disabled,” she said.

On Sunday night, senior government sources played down the scale of the rebellion, pointing to statements by ministers that there was a “moral case” to curb the benefits bill.

On Sunday, Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, confirmed that the Government would target disability benefits in the Spring Statement.

He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “There will be changes in long-term disability benefits, because we cannot sit back and let this bill grow and write people off in a way that’s happened for many years.”

---

 

[Futaba]

Reform imploding/being exposed as controlled opposition was yet another hard to swallow blackpill but Lowes response has been exemplary. It's not over Lowebros - we are going to make it. The phrase a week is a long time in politics chimes through the many knives farage/yusuf has sunk into Lowes back.

I don't watch mainstream news so I have no idea if it's just being contained to social media. But it's best this happened now rather than just before an election. The sad thing is that it's obfuscated that the sentencing Council are yoloing us in to official two tier justice and our 'justice' secretary can only shake her fist in the air in a 'why I outta' manner.

I was in Central London last month and I gotta say I love the city itself - unmatched grandure. It's really hard to believe that its been blighted by terrorist attacks and violence and yet it has - I kind of get the londoner cognitive dissonance. It should have never got to this point.

 

[FedPostalService]

Sir Keir Starmer is facing the biggest rebellion of his premiership over plans to curb Britain’s growing benefits bill.

Just wait until next year and there’s no money to pay off public sector union members when they’re all crying about needing 186% pay rises and he has to answer to his Labour’s pay masters