UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

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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
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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."

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

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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.
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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.
 
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A-Logato said:
There's always a none 0% chance with Nigel that at the last minute he'll pull out people in key seats to allow the Torries to gain more of the vote share. It's happened before and it wouldn't shock me if it happens again.
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It depends on the state of play when the election actually hits. Contra Sargon et al, Farage doesn't have zero political acumen- he stood down the Brexit party because they were polling behind the Tories and would only hand Labour a victory by splitting the right. Contrast that with 2024, when he and Reform went in against the dismal Sunak. Badenoch has yet to produce any kind of right-wing renaissance with the Tories (blown credibility has that problem) leaving Farage and Reform as the inheritors by default. They're just too strong now to ultimately have to stand down come election time, unless it's as a proactive strategy in concert with the Tories to set up a ConForm government (think of the strategic withdrawls in the French parliamentary elections last year.)
 
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Police have been told to use facial recognition searches in every criminal investigation, The Telegraph can reveal.
The independent police inspectorate has urged forces to “fully exploit” the technology after finding that some were using it more than others.
It comes as a Telegraph investigation reveals the true scale of police use of facial recognition, with forces conducting searches on the public every two minutes.
Officers are encouraged to obtain pictures of their targets – including witnesses and victims – from social media, doorbell footage and CCTV, and search them against the vast police national database (PND).

Police could be able to check driving licence photographs in future under plans to give police access to DVLA information, although the Home Office says it is not changing the law for that purpose.
Facial recognition technology is not subject to national guidance from either the Home Office or the College of Policing, which provides advice to police on conducting investigations.
The technology, introduced to catch serious and violent offenders, is now most often used for low-level investigations.
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Privacy concerns​

The unprecedented use of facial recognition will be welcomed by some as a way of reducing time-consuming investigations, but privacy concerns have prompted MPs, regulators and civil liberties campaigners to urge the Government to impose new rules regulating its use by police.
The Telegraph found that one force, Essex Police, used the technology for 16 investigations into what was later determined “non-crime”.
The force said it had used facial recognition for investigations that concluded that no crime had been committed.
Essex Police was criticised last year over its investigation into Allison Pearson, a Telegraph columnist, for remarks she posted online. The investigation was later dropped.
Last year officers ran more than a quarter of a million “retrospective” facial recognition searches in the UK, including 30,000 by the Metropolitan Police alone – more than ten times the Met’s figure for 2019.
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Good thing this was uploaded on April Fools, I almost believed it, haha.

Civil servants are being offered up to £95,000 to quit their jobs in a redundancy push that echoes Elon Musk’s government efficiency drive in America.
So-called “voluntary exit schemes” have been set up across Whitehall, with the Treasury giving an additional £150 million in funding last week to speed up the process.
The Cabinet Office, Environment Department and Foreign Office have already created schemes, with the Health Department and Communities Department expected to do so soon.
Those designing the programmes hope hundreds of officials in each participating department will opt in to voluntary redundancy, potentially adding up to thousands of departures in total.


It is part of a wider government cost-saving push from Labour to save £2 billion by 2030 – a target now factored into public finance forecasts after Sir Keir Starmer announced a crackdown on Whitehall waste.
Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said of the extra Treasury money: “We have been clear that to deliver our Plan for Change we need a more productive and agile state, which can rise to the challenges we face.
“This fund will enable us to build a Civil Service workforce fit for the future as we streamline costs and ensure every pound of taxpayer money is focused on delivering for working people.”
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Guntsress Of Diabeteeze said:
Why are managers or higher ups so slimey? I respect and appreciate transparency and honesty- If you have an issue or problem with a piece of work I did, tell me. Don't be passive aggressive and tell the whole office. I wanna pull the "you're being homophobic" card, but I don't wanna be a faggot...yet.
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Because redundancies are coming and we’re making lists. Now is the time we have to put in a bit of professional distance so it’s easier to to lay people off.
 
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Otterly said:
It’s rather sobering that I, and probably most of us on this thread, am at least as qualified to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer as Rachel Reeves is.
None of these people have ever held a real job.
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It's an obscure reference but I love a line from Cerebus the Aardvark where he's asked why he says he'd put "ladies of the night" in charge of the exchequer to which he replies (causing a spit take from other characters): "I've never yet found a whore as would give credit."

Maybe we should follow suit with our own cabinet. It's at least a real job.
 
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teriyakiburns said:
When London is in ashes, then you have permission to doom.

Except that would be a good thing.

I just confused myself.
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I wish there were a way to track how people's answers to the question, 'If you had one nuke, where would you send it?' have changed over time globally: from targeting X, Y, or Z to choosing their own country's capital instead.
 
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Some interesting data from Ofcom of all places. It covers data ranging from 2022 to March of 2024, so how things have shifted post-election and post-Southport aren't included, which is noteworthy since this was released in September of last year, The data is easier to read and more presentable on the linked PDF but I'll just paste it here under a spoiler just in case.

An overwhelming majority (96%) of UK adults say they consume news in some form. However, the ways in which people access the wide variety of news platforms are changing. • In 2024, seven in ten (71%) say they consume online news in some capacity, level with news consumed via TV and on demand (70%). Social media is a significant component of online news consumption, with more than half of UK adults (52%) using it as a news source. • Although TV news viewing, previously the single most-used platform, has declined since last year (75% in 2023, falling to 70% in 2024), we know from Barb data that half of all adults (51%) still watch news on any of the main public service broadcasters (PSBs) each week. The PSM tracker shows that the public value of trusted and accurate news is a priority for audiences and is rated highly. • Although online and social media have increased in use, traditional platforms outperform them on a number of attribute ratings; in particular, trust, accuracy and impartiality. BBC news output, across all its platforms, reaches 68% of all UK adults, and BBC One continues to be the most-used single source of news. However, PSBs are declining in popularity and four of the top ten individual news sources are now social media platforms. • The use of newspapers for news, including their digital formats, has declined significantly since 2023, while the use of radio for news has been stable over the past couple of years. Online and social media: • Among adults who directly access news publishers, websites and apps, the BBC website (59%) has the highest claimed use, followed by Sky (20%), The Guardian (20%) and The Daily Mail (19%). • Facebook continues to be the most-used social media source (reaching 30% of UK adults), in line with 2023, while TikTok has been growing in popularity as a source of news, reaching 11% of UK adults, up from 1% in 2020. • Six in ten UK adults (59%) claim to use some form of online intermediary (social media, search engine or news aggregator) for their news consumption. Meta (40%) and Google (32%) are the most commonly used intermediaries, reaching three-quarters of all adults. Generational differences (16-24s and over-55s): • Online sources continue to be most popular among the younger age groups, with nine in ten (88%) 16-24-year-olds using online sources for news. Social media is the main driver of this, with eight in ten (82%) young adults using this platform. Only half of 16-24s (49%) use TV for news. • In contrast, TV news (including on-demand) is the main news platform used by 85% of people aged 55+. But this age group is also gradually adopting online news, with over half (54%) now using online platforms for news. This is largely driven by direct access (to news publishers, websites and apps), with only 28% of those aged 55+ using social media for news. BBC news output, across all its platforms, reaches 68% of all UK adults, and BBC One continues to be the most-used single source of news. However, PSBs are declining in popularity and four of the top ten individual news sources are now social media platforms. • The use of newspapers for news, including their digital formats, has declined significantly since 2023, while the use of radio for news has been stable over the past couple of years. Online and social media: • Among adults who directly access news publishers, websites and apps, the BBC website (59%) has the highest claimed use, followed by Sky (20%), The Guardian (20%) and The Daily Mail (19%). • Facebook continues to be the most-used social media source (reaching 30% of UK adults), in line with 2023, while TikTok has been growing in popularity as a source of news, reaching 11% of UK adults, up from 1% in 2020. • Six in ten UK adults (59%) claim to use some form of online intermediary (social media, search engine or news aggregator) for their news consumption. Meta (40%) and Google (32%) are the most commonly used intermediaries, reaching three-quarters of all adults. Generational differences (16-24s and over-55s): • Online sources continue to be most popular among the younger age groups, with nine in ten (88%) 16-24-year-olds using online sources for news. Social media is the main driver of this, with eight in ten (82%) young adults using this platform. Only half of 16-24s (49%) use TV for news. • In contrast, TV news (including on-demand) is the main news platform used by 85% of people aged 55+. But this age group is also gradually adopting online news, with over half (54%) now using online platforms for news. This is largely driven by direct access (to news publishers, websites and apps), with only 28% of those aged 55+ using social media for news.

TLDR: Online news now matches TV in popularity (71% vs. 70%), with social media playing a key role—over half (52%) use it for news. While TV remains dominant for older audiences (85% of 55+ adults), younger people (16-24s) overwhelmingly prefer online sources (88%), especially social media (82%). TV news entitied like the BBC still reach large audiences (68%), but their influence is waning, with four of the top ten news sources now being social media platforms. Trust in traditional outlets remains higher, but newspapers continue to decline, and TikTok’s role as a news source is growing (11% of adults, up from 1% in 2020).

Whilst this always felt the case, it's good to have a source to point at.
 
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Kier Starmer said:
10% tariff for the UK, Rachel will be screaming. I think it is an excellent political move to oust the cabinet, as you get governments that align with you.
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>10% for us
>25% for EU
Lmao.
I know we're not as big a market and Trump's soft on the UK but I always appreciate the EU getting shafted in some respect.
(I just became aware they're reciprocal, but still.)
 
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