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]

No, just a bit emotionally unstable ATM.

You should definitely stay and post here.

That Indian trade deal is fucking disgusting. How does Labour just sleepwalk into this a few days after an historical set of election results?

 

[Drihten]

Happy page 1000 gents

Reform have seen this news regarding Indian visas and have now pounced, which will no doubt ensure that even Boomer normies know about this.
I don't like Farage, but I'm confident that Reform has this in the bag now, Labour is FUCKED, they have no clue what they're doing, like a headless chicken.

 

[Kier Starmer]

@FedPostalService Bro, I was so close to fedposting

Indeed, for UK companies, that would mean they will not pay NI. Grats, Starmer, you have sealed your fate. Even the fucking Guardian are mocking this, christ even PoliticalUK is not too happy and that is far left. You just made more people go to Reform and again you made us look weak because you're a snivelling faggot. You did this purely for Indian votes you treacherous CUNT!

Happy page 1000 you Greggs loving bastards!

Edit: I just saw Farage's response, and he is spot on. I can practice accountancy, but I contacted someone I know in payroll, and it is correct.

 

[teriyakiburns]

t would seem that even Welsh Labour has had enough of Westminster Labour, and Eluned Morgan (the Leader of Wales) has stated that she is losing patience with Starmer:

I've been floating the idea of an early election for a while already. Don't know if I said it on KF (I did say Starmer would be in serious trouble by May, just wanted to say that again because I like stroking my own ego), but elsewhere for sure. The reaction has generally been "why would labour MPs vote against the man who got them into power?" or something along those lines, which ignores that Starmer is guaranteeing they will be out at the next election. Forcing an election now changes a certainty into a maybe. Enough of the rebels thinking along those lines means a vote of no confidence, or even just a leadership challenge, would be an absolute certainty before the year is out.

That Indian trade deal is fucking disgusting. How does Labour just sleepwalk into this a few days after an historical set of election results?

They wanted this deal even when they were in opposition and were, IIRC, complaining that it didn't go far enough.

 

[Made In Wales]

You should definitely stay and post here.

That Indian trade deal is fucking disgusting. How does Labour just sleepwalk into this a few days after an historical set of election results?

Do they really have a say in this, with Common Purpose, DEMOS and other infiltrators/apparatchiks 'guiding' them in making ever more stupid and crazy decisions?

It's a dumb idea and it will cost them (along with everything else) when the GE comes around.

If a Summer GE is to be called, then the latest I would expect us to go to the Polls is July 17th which would mean that the State Opening of Parliament would be on July 30th and Parliament breaking for Summer a day later.

It would also be one of the shortest gaps between General Elections in history, but longer than that of 1974 (nine months) and the 1923 and 1924 GE's (ten months). At a year and a week (or two) it would be the shortest gap of the 21st century where we've been used to either four or five year terms - although 2015, 2017 and 2019 all had General Elections (though two of them were largely as a result of the Brexit negotiations).

 

[BrightonAndHoveAlbion]

I think a GE will not happen until 2029. Unless a load of Labour MPs decide they would prefer to be Reform MPs, it is simply never going to happen. The British people don't have enough unity to mount protests for long enough and those that do all get bloody locked up anyway.

I would happily eat my words but just look at what happened in France when Macron called an early election hoping it would catch the RN on the back foot. Now Macron's party is one of the smallest in parliament.

 

[Overly Serious]

You should definitely stay and post here.

That Indian trade deal is fucking disgusting. How does Labour just sleepwalk into this a few days after an historical set of election results?

I wonder how many British companies will read the public sentiment and decide not to take up the 20% discount on Indian workers the government's tax system creates, even if it hits short-term profits.

I've been floating the idea of an early election for a while already. Don't know if I said it on KF (I did say Starmer would be in serious trouble by May, just wanted to say that again because I like stroking my own ego), but elsewhere for sure. The reaction has generally been "why would labour MPs vote against the man who got them into power?" or something along those lines, which ignores that Starmer is guaranteeing they will be out at the next election. Forcing an election now changes a certainty into a maybe. Enough of the rebels thinking along those lines means a vote of no confidence, or even just a leadership challenge, would be an absolute certainty before the year is out.

The Tories might, counter-intuitively, side with the Labour whip on voting against No Confidence, because they stand to be wiped out as much as Labour or more. Perhaps some strategic alliance with Reform might induce them to vote No Confidence.

Still, Labour has a 156 seat majority which is huge. And evidently Starmer is willing to see the UK burn if it has to. Not sure what can bring about an early GE short of major civil unrest. Anyone know how hot this Summer's going to be?

 

[Kier Starmer]

The trouble is that their majority is paper because of the lack of skill set, but also almost all of those seats were won with very thin margins. They got in by apathy and no mandate which makes their position even worse because the public have become increasingly pissed.

I cannot see how they last til 2029 because they are so hated.

 

[BrightonAndHoveAlbion]

majority is paper

You would still have to get at least 150 or so of them to raise their hand for a vote of no confidence or resign/join with Reform. Their seats being won on thin margins makes it even more likely they won't do anything to jeapordise their position. Why on earth would they want a new election when they would almost certainly lose their comfy 90+K a year job.

 

[>IMPLYING]

My money is on Reform getting the afd treatment. They have too many young lads voted in for them all to be politically savvy. At least one will say something daft then they all get labelled and it's a slippery slope to the party getting banned.

If Reform weren't so eager to toss out anybody who expresses a right-wing thought in public, I'd say it's possible, but Farage and co are too obsessed with optics (or genuinely not seeing an issue with Muslims themselves) to make such a ban the easiest decision in the world to make. That being said, you really have to twist the government's arm to get them to lift a finger to do much of anything.

After the British Union of Fascists were banned in 1940, the first political party thereafter to get banned was National Action (created in 2013, banned in 2016) because its leaders were found with bomb-making instructions and they were rather open about hating Jews. The two splinter groups (NS131 and Scottish Dawn) were banned pre-emptively too from being registered as parties. This was happening around the time 'Far-Right Extremism' was listed as the number one threat to public safety, but that all seems impotent now in the face of the actual extremists. Plus, they've drifted from the Far-Right to Incels and the Manosphere now. You don't see Left-wing groups get banned because, without fail, they tend to self-implode before long and if they don't form independent groups they just join the Labour party as a bloc (who Labour can just choose to ban members from running as Labour candidates if they so wish).

We're actually not as bad as some of our European counterparts (France, Germany) despite how we're perceived by the Americans. Maybe a tad more embarrassing thanks to shit like the TV Licence and the recent Ofcom letter, but in terms of action we're not as bad: Le Pen was arrested because she assigned duties to members of her own party instead of EU civil servants, preventing her from running in the next French election, and the AFD was just labelled as an extremist organisation and may be banned within the next few years.

 

[Stupor Mundi]

So I guess this is what Starmer meant by "further and faster". Guess he saw the rapid jeetification of Canada and thought "guess I'll have some of that too, mate."

 

[Mound Dweller]

We're actually not as bad as some of our European counterparts (France, Germany) despite how we're perceived by the Americans. Maybe a tad more embarrassing thanks to shit like the TV Licence and the recent Ofcom letter, but in terms of action we're not as bad: Le Pen was arrested because she assigned duties to members of her own party instead of EU civil servants, preventing her from running in the next French election, and the AFD was just labelled as an extremist organisation and may be banned within the next few years.

It's a running joke that the bri'ish are ha ha incompetent but it speaks strongly to the inherent skill of our dreaded Security Services that the court route is most often simply unnecessary. That and the bonolgoid temperament doesn't naturally lend itself to pipe bombs and the like, we tend to skip stright to the chopping block.
The legalese bollocks is reserved for the likes of Tommy Robinson (lol fed) and Dankula (literal retard who ignored a judgment), there's @Caroline Farrow types too who suffer state sponsored persecution but that's more a culture wars side effect than actual policy, as evidenced by how rapidly ser keith was to toss the troons under the bus.
The fact remains; if "they" wanna get you you're gonna get got, we don't have Waco shit in the UK for good reason.

 

[Made In Wales]

I wonder how many British companies will read the public sentiment and decide not to take up the 20% discount on Indian workers the government's tax system creates, even if it hits short-term profits.



The Tories might, counter-intuitively, side with the Labour whip on voting against No Confidence, because they stand to be wiped out as much as Labour or more. Perhaps some strategic alliance with Reform might induce them to vote No Confidence.

Still, Labour has a 156 seat majority which is huge. And evidently Starmer is willing to see the UK burn if it has to. Not sure what can bring about an early GE short of major civil unrest. Anyone know how hot this Summer's going to be?

Arguably, Starmer calling for a GE might be in his best interests.

Whatever Labour have tried hasn't worked - from Migrants and Pensioners to Public Safety and the Environment, it has been a hard 10 months of failure and division within the party. They appear to be suffering from the reverse of the Midas touch - anything they touch or get involved with inevitably turns to crap

Starmer clearly is out of his depth as PM and I don't believe that he wants the job if it means being here, hearing the never-ending criticism from both sides, and not at Davos or the WEF's latest shindig.

However, he also does not want Rayner, Reeves, Streeting etc. to take over. A case of wanting his cake and eating it as well.

Starmer also knows that his party is not loyal to him - only today the Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams (Labour) stated that he will not support the Government and may now risk having the whip removed. In addition, the MP's who refuse to accept the Supreme Court's ruling on what a woman is, may feel that if Starmer won't listen and is too pompous to give them audience, that they will leave.

It's unusual for both the Left and the Right to want a Government out not more than a year after the last General Election, but these are unusual times and the numbers don't lie - Starmer's rating as PM is pathetic (only 49 days Liz is worse) and is the worst since Harold Wilson... even Blair and Thatcher score better than the MP for Old Holborn & St. Pancras. The Right hate Starmer because he is fucking useless, the Left hate him because he won't do what they say and he might U-turn at any second.

Therefore, what benefit would there be for Starmer to hold a Summer GE:

1) It avoids a VONC which a pompous prick like Starmer would not want to take place.

2) It avoids a leadership challenge and months of squabbling as to who the next leader and PM will be.

3) Starmer can insist on only those loyal to him being selected as PPC's (Potential Parliamentary Candidates) therefore, there would be no need to threaten the threee line whip for votes.

4) Starmer can attempt to outdo Reform by threatening to pivot further to the Right - if the ECHR won't help the UK, then we'll just leave it and pithee to those who oppose it. It's the only way he'll even have a gnat's dick chance of any success.

5) Starmer is caught between his loyalty to the EU and the USA - he can only choose one friend (and the EU would backstab him quicker than the USA/Trump would). He'd then have to either come out all guns blazing for rejoining the EU (and nuke the Lib Dems campaign in the process) or side with Donald Trump and risk the EU saying a big fat Charles De Gaulle-esque 'NON!' to the UK's future membership permanently.

6) Ultimately, when (not if) he is defeated, it'll then be up to either Nigel or Ed to clear up the mess - he can then retire (don't forget, he's older than Nigel and one of the oldest PM's to be elected in the modern era) and it's no longer his problem. Starmer can't/won't solve the issues, therefore leaving it to somebody who can will benefit him and us, he can then do a tour of Universities and Academia.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

Time for another idiotic news roundup.

Student societies buying drones for Ukraine without realising that they are charities and therefore don't get to facilitate war for any side. How long before we see Palestinian societies suspended for the same?

https://archive.ph/kTwAd

Two UK university student unions have suspended their Ukrainian societies as they probe if they breached charity rules to buy drones that were later sent to support troops fighting Russian soldiers.
The unions at University College London and Lancaster University suspended the societies after becoming aware of the purchases, which were made last year, arguing they were a potential breach of UK charity laws.
Both universities’ student unions are UK-registered charities and governed by the Charity Commission, which regulates the use of funds and assets, as well as rules around fundraising.
According to the watchdog’s rules, “providing aid or military supplies to any foreign armed force is not a charitable purpose, and no charity can legally undertake such activity”.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both sides have used drones for aerial surveillance, cover and long-range attacks.
The student unions’ investigations, which are both still live, are looking into whether the purchases broke the commission’s rules.
UCL’s student union suspended its society in March after finding the group had used £1,500 in profits from an organised club night in Mayfair last October to buy a DJI Mavic drone — a weapon regularly used by Ukrainian troops fighting Russia — and sent it to a frontline soldier.

Artur Podsokha, president of the society, said he “couldn’t remain silent while Russia’s war has been terrorising our country since 2014”, when Moscow annexed Crimea.
Podsokha said the society had not explicitly fundraised but used profits from the event to fund the drone. “We believe it would be unfair for us to benefit from the UK’s support while doing nothing to help our own country and soldiers,” he said.
In a post on social media site Instagram last summer, Lancaster University’s society celebrated having raised more than £20,000 to support Ukraine, over half of which was used to purchase drones.
The caption accompanying the post said “the full list of purchased items” included “three DJI Mavic 3 Drones (3930£)” and “Drone parts for territorial defence forces (2150£)”.
Asked by the Financial Times about the purchases, the university’s student union said it had “just been made aware of the allegations”.
“We have not yet had an opportunity to investigate these, but on the basis of the allegations we have decided to suspend the society’s affiliation to LUSU, on a precautionary basis, whilst we undertake an urgent investigation,” it said.
The student union added the society had not received any funding from the university.

Lancaster University’s Ukrainian Society said its “fundraising activities have always been strictly humanitarian. We have never made any announcements or posts regarding fundraising directed at military targets.”
“Any social media content that might be interpreted as dual-use items was exclusively related to the personal initiatives of individual members of our society, not official society fundraising activities,” it added.
Podsokha of UCL said the society’s committee had purchased the drone and that he and his colleagues felt “privileged to be safe [in London], while Ukraine endures constant shelling”. The soldier who received it had sent them a thank you video, he added.

UCL said it supported “the action taken by the union to suspend the Ukrainian society”.
“Their investigation and disciplinary processes are fully independent of UCL, so it would be inappropriate to make any further comment while this is ongoing,” the university added.
Lancaster University said it took “a close and supportive interest” in the work of the student union and “fully expect their own regulations to be adhered to. As such, we support their action to suspend the society and investigate.”
In January, the Charity Commission issued an official warning to the Chabad Lubavitch Centres North East London and Essex Limited, which set up a fundraising page for a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces in northern Israel.
The page — which was removed after the commission received 180 complaints — raised about £2,280, with £937 sent directly to the soldier, according to the commission.

As well as Birmingham's waste problems the Australians are trying to poach their police.

https://archive.ph/8c3SF

Police officers are being encouraged to swap the streets of Birmingham for the sun-kissed beaches of places like Adelaide.
Recruiters from South Australia Police are holding UK information sessions for those tempted by the switch and say they have been "overwhelmed" by the levels of interest.
The force has an event in Birmingham on Wednesday, where they will urge experienced officers in the region to consider a new "adventure" down under.
"The workload is nowhere near as what you have over here," said Ch Insp Scott Collins.
"You can get back to some of that proactive policing and engaging with the community. That's what we joined for."
Ch Insp Collins, who used to work with Thames Valley Police and is leading the recruitment drive, described it as an "incredible" lifestyle.
"You can go to work, do the job that you love, finish work [and] go for a walk on the beach," he added.

A campaign featuring the South Australia police commissioner in his swim shorts at a picturesque beach has already gone viral.
Probational constable Oliver Lamb, from Dorset, said he fell in love with Australia after travelling its east coast.
He explained he had "jumped at the opportunity" to join South Australia Police and it had been amazing.
"The people are so friendly," he said. "The weather is fantastic, as we already know, and the way of life is something we all wish for."

According to an advert for the information session, recruits are offered "competitive advantages", including a great salary and a permanent visa.
They need to have three years of policing experience within the last five years, be under 45 and of good health.
The Australian force wants to attract a total of 200 experienced officers from the UK, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand.
Recruiters have already travelled to London and Cardiff and will head to Manchester and Glasgow after Birmingham.

And another teenage boy saving a stranger's life, though no McDonalds in this one.

https://archive.ph/wWc4X

A man who was seriously injured while paddleboarding has met the 14-year-old boy who saved his life.
Oscar paddled to help Gavin Bowden, 60, after he was hit on the head by his board in heavy surf at Saunton Sands in north Devon on 25 April.
The junior member of Saunton Sands Surf Life Saving Club worked alone to pull Mr Bowden on to his board, signalled to the shore and kept him afloat for 30 minutes until help arrived.
After Mr Bowden left hospital he was reunited with Oscar and called him "my little hero".

Mr Bowden told Oscar's parents: "He's a great kid, he saved my life."
In an emotional reunion, Mr Bowden hugged and thanked the young surf lifesaver.
Mr Bowden told the BBC what he remembered about what had happened when he realised he could not move his arms or legs and was "totally paralysed".
He said: "I called 'help, help, help' and the little kid - I didn't know his name was Oscar - came over and said 'I've got you'.
"He started trying to reassure me, asking me my name and about my family and whether I was married, all the stuff he's obviously been trained to do, he was really good."
"They sent me a guardian angel that day," he said.

Oscar said he had been "quite scared at the beginning that I wouldn't be able to lift him because he's quite a big guy but I just had the determination to help him".
He said: "When I arrived Gavin was panicked and shaken.
"When he got his chest on to the board I went underneath him and just hauled him up, then went back around and grabbed him and pulled him up.
"Then I interlocked arms with him so I knew he wouldn't go anywhere, I waved to my dad and started heading out."
Neil Phillips, a coach at Saunton Sands Surf Life Saving Club, said Oscar had carried out a "textbook rescue".
He said: "Oscar talked to Gavin, he protected him, he got him up on his board, he kept giving him reassurance all the time and he wasn't tempted to bring Gavin in through the break, which would have been a disaster with a neck injury.
"He was just amazing, absolutely fantastic."

 

[>IMPLYING]

don't forget, he's older than Nigel

That fact hit me like a flashbang.

 

[Made In Wales]

I eagerly await the new 'Death In Paradise' spin off... 'Down Under In Paradise'.

 

[Kier Starmer]

It is pretty crazy that the liberal papers hate him so much. The Guardian has said nothing overly positive in a while.

 

[Mound Dweller]

The Guardian has said nothing overly positive in a while.

Granuaids are still salty Corbyn is on the naughty bench and will be for a while; radleft are just as unrepresented as chudformers ATM.
I dunno how many bodies they've got though, probably not a relevant number outside of the urban hives, gotta bear in mind even with solid 51% chudform majorities there's still a solid double digit % of "people" who still back the old parties, this will be a strong point of conflict if Things Actually Start to Happen.

 

[Made In Wales]

Update: https://www.gbnews.com/politics/nigel-farage-victory-reform-uk-nottinghamshire

Nigel Farage makes the Nottingham Wokes cry.

Delicious!

 

[A-Logato]

Starmer secures Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal with India in ‘landmark’ agreement

So this has to be one of the biggest betrayals of the British working class I have ever seen. Were now going to be flooded with infinite Indians on work and student visas who will now get to use all of our public services (NHS included) for free and wont have to pay a penny into it. They don't have to pay national insurance and neither do the employers for these Pajeets so they are quite literally 20% cheaper to hire then natives so you know for sure companies will be sweeping these "people" up in droves, among many other things.

What do we get? We get to export whisky (we barely make any), export cars (we make even less of those) and a bunch of other cheap and shitty goods. We also get cheap visas to travel to India but who in their right mind would want to not only move to India but to also work there?

Not even Rishi had the balls to do something this blatant.

(this probably got mentioned earlier but I wanted to rant a bit)