UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

https://news.sky.com/story/row-over-new-greggs-vegan-sausage-rolls-heats-up-11597679 (https://archive.ph/5Ba6o)

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.

 

[Vesperus]

How much of that is Birmingham, though? Where I'm staying, I feel like the locals would take it upon themselves to organize a trip to the landfill for the street each week. Guarantee that the busybody woman a few doors down the hill would make a rota.

Apparently they're not allowed to...
I suspect the council have contracted out the dumps to somebody's brother-in-law, in a deal that makes plenty of money for the family but only if there's no staff.

 

[FedPostalService]

Imagine how that stuff is going to stink even worse once it gets hotter. Also, once it gets dryer they will be going on fire a lot.

 

[Mound Dweller]

Imagine how that stuff is going to stink even worse once it gets hotter. Also, once it gets dryer they will be going on fire a lot.

At what point do they actually send the army in to scoop the shit up? They might not have the manpower to invade Pooland anymore but they generally do pretty well when the floods come and there's already been a few rumblings about activating them.

 

[FedPostalService]

At what point do they actually send the army in to scoop the shit up? They might not have the manpower to invade Pooland anymore but they generally do pretty well when the floods come and there's already been a few rumblings about activating them.

It's a Labour government. The unions fund the Labour party. It's like how they sank the economy buying off the PCS with big public sector pay rises. Sending the army to effectively break a strike is something the Tories would flinch at and more than likely impossible for Labour to comprehend.

It's a massive conflict of interest that we all pretend to ignore.

 

[Whoopsie Daisy]

Imagine how that stuff is going to stink even worse once it gets hotter. Also, once it gets dryer they will be going on fire a lot.

I would have piled up my shit and all of the neighbours shit on a local piece of land and burnt the rubbish by this point. Plenty of council estates, middle-class estates and posh areas have big enough land to have a big bonfire.

 

[Soggy paper straw]

There is so much happening currently, though, I don't see how the government even functions.

Warmer weather also tends to be a more welcoming environment for protesting. First time around went great for Starmer, I am sure he learned nothing from it

Yeah, these awards are definitely something we can be proud of been rooted in English traditionalism.

Will they become English? So no more "cultural appropriation"? I know,

A lot of those children will need intensive medical intervention, and lifelong medical care, taxis to school if they go, or day placement type stuff. and their entire families seem to end up as carers on benefits.

I know that there has been a general increase in kids diagnosed with "neurodiversity"-related conditions, but sometime I like to read threads on mumsnet and it looks like about 1/3 of the kids are "neurodivergent" or have some other type of disability.
Sometimes, I can sense from a comment hints of pedophile worshipping inclinations and, without fail, the poster's kids are retarded and/or physically disabled.

Guarantee that the busybody woman a few doors down the hill would make a rota.

The issue of having so many people who live in a country for the economic potential is that they don't care about keeping it clean. This also applies, eventually, to the native population once you kill their pride and love towards their home.

Also, I haven't read the specific Birmingham thread, but the issues with the councils are also due to a badly mismanaged IT project for switching to Oracle (https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/13/birmingham_oracle_inquiry/ ; archive)

The costs associated with both rollouts and remediation work could amount to around £130 million, up from early estimates of around £20 million for the first implementation.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

How much of that is Birmingham, though? Where I'm staying, I feel like the locals would take it upon themselves to organize a trip to the landfill for the street each week. Guarantee that the busybody woman a few doors down the hill would make a rota.

A lot of it is Birmingham being a major city. But the second this happened elsewhere the tips would be whacking on additional restrictions.

I personally for example know which of the two tips nearest me is best for me and it's not the one in my local council area. By and large they do not care and I have friends in the same area whose post codes I keep handy if I was challenged. But, on days when most people are free, they get very busy and they are open limited hours. It's never taken me more than an hour as a round trip but this is when the tip is only being used for specific stuff, not every single home owner's weekly waste.

Add to that that most people do not have cars suitable for this sort of thing especially if you are helping your neighbours out and it would be likely four or five hours optimistically for the trip, another hour or two getting the rubbish together and a lot of mess in your car to clean afterwards. Which is a hefty chunk of most people's free time.

 

[Big Judge Cock]

And the inbreeding.
A huge proportion of children born in places like Birmingham and Bradford are from ‘first cousin marriages.’ It’s been pointed out here before that that’s just what’s admitted to, and that a lot are half sibling type arrangements.

In my experience, even out in the arsehole of nowhere, it's fairly good odds that the random indian/pakistani child in your child's class has a disability or is a shrieking horror due to inbreeding.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

Time for a round of "stop pretending to be that stupid"

EU Negotiator - "I had no idea the UK cared about fishing rights"

https://archive.ph/Htx7D

The EU's foreign policy chief has suggested negotiations over post-Brexit fisheries rights should not hold up talks on a new EU-UK defence pact.
There are reports that EU countries want to link future access to British waters to ongoing talks on a wider "reset" in areas including defence spending.
Speaking to the BBC, Kaja Kallas said she was hopeful a wider deal could be struck at an EU-UK summit scheduled next month.
But she added she was "surprised at how important the fish are, considering the security situation" amid the war in Ukraine.
Sir Keir Starmer's government is aiming to strike a defence pact with the EU alongside a wider renegotiation of the UK's trading relationship.

​

https://archive.ph/o/Htx7D/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wpy9x890wo
A defence deal would pave the way to greater UK involvement in EU-wide defence research and joint procurement projects, as well as potentially unlocking full British access to a €150bn EU loans scheme announced last month.
But there have been reports that EU countries, notably France, want to link the wider reset talks to negotiations over fishing arrangements that are due to expire in June next year under the post-Brexit trade deal.
Brussels is also reportedly keen for the UK to agree a new youth visa deal, despite Labour previously ruling out the UK taking part in an EU-wide scheme.
Asked whether a row over fishing could hold up a defence pact, Kallas, who took up her current EU role in December, said: "Fish apparently are very important also when it comes to diplomatic relationships".
The former Estonian prime minister added: "I'm actually surprised at how important the fish are, considering the security situation".
"But I am definitely pushing this from my side, because I think the UK is a very important defence and security partner.
"It's the most logical defence and security partner that we have, and it's a beneficial relationship for both sides."

​

Kallas is not the first senior EU official to suggest that talks over fishing rights should not block a security deal. In February, European Council President António Costa said the two areas "cannot be put on the same level".
However, Sweden's EU affairs minister Jessica Rosencrantz recently suggested the two could be linked, telling Politico in an interview last month: "I think we have to find a way where we can do both".
UK fisheries minister Daniel Zeichner told MPs last month that other countries were "pushing very hard" on the fisheries issue, although two weeks later he denied there was any "linkage" between fisheries and the wider reset talks.
Talks have taken place on what will replace fisheries rights agreed as part of the Brexit trade agreement, when they expire in June 2026 alongside agreed rules on energy co-operation.
The fisheries industry is only small in the overall context of the UK-EU economic relationship, but has long occupied a prominent political importance.

Atheist says "what, I have to abide by the rules of the chapel I am sheltering in that says weekly services are mandatory or I could lose my free housing?"

https://archive.ph/HIKfN

A woman living at an historic almshouse says she is being threatened with eviction for not attending its chapel.
Sandy Smith, a 69-year-old atheist, has lived at the Charterhouse, in Hull, for almost five years, but said she had now been placed under investigation by the charity's trustees.
A residents' handbook states that everyone must attend the on-site chapel on Sundays unless excused by the "master" of the organisation, who is appointed by Hull City Council.
The Charterhouse, which was founded in 1384, declined to comment. The council said the Charterhouse operated "in accordance" with a scheme approved by the Charity Commissioners.
Ms Smith, who has a chronic lung disease, fears she could lose her flat.
She said a governance document lodged with the Charity Commission stated that any resident who was not a member of the Church of England and who applied to be excused "shall be excused from attendance".
"I did go to chapel for about a year, but some of the sermons I found offensive," she said.


"I took this up with the former master, who would not give me permission not to attend, so I didn't return, and ever since then I have had a sequence of letters and warnings saying that it is part of my agreement to stay here that I go to chapel every week.
"I am just not prepared to do that."
An almshouse is a form of charitable housing.
The Charterhouse provides supported independent living for up to 40 residents over the age of 60.
The residents' handbook describes the Charterhouse as "a religious foundation" and states that "all residents are required by the scheme to attend divine service in the chapel on Sundays... unless excused from attendance by the master". "There is also a service every Wednesday which residents are requested to attend."
The handbook goes on to state that "chapel absences may invalidate your license to occupy".

​

Ms Smith, who moved to the Charterhouse during the Covid-19 pandemic, said the worry of losing her home was taking its toll on her mental wellbeing.
"I just think it is unreasonable and I am going to fight it," she said.
"This flat is probably one of the best flats I've ever lived in. I've got a lovely view, I'm central and I can afford the rent.
"The historical part of the building is fantastic, but this is the housing project that they are getting rents for and the two should not be conflated in my opinion."
The story was initially reported by The Hull Story website, external.
Ms Smith has been asked to attend a panel with the trustees of the charity later.
A letter from the Charterhouse dated February 10 said the panel would report its conclusions to the full board of trustees, who would decide whether to take no further action, issue a verbal warning, issue a written warning or "set aside the appointment".
The BBC put all Ms Smith's points to the Charterhouse, which declined to comment.
Hull City Council, which is responsible for appointing the master and some of the trustees, said the Charterhouse operated "in accordance with a scheme that has been approved by the Charity Commissioners and was most recently revised in December 2015".
"The trustees that are appointed by the council exercise their personal responsibility as trustees to manage the properties in accordance with the requirements of the approved scheme," the council added.

And in more hilarious news late night Mcdonalds leads to one of those dangerous potential incels saving his elderly neighbour's life

https://archive.ph/SRwPY

A 17-year-old boy who ordered a late-night McDonald's had to abandon his takeaway when he noticed a fire was ripping through his neighbour's home and he rushed to save her.
Joel, of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, said he had begun tucking into his food at about 02:00 BST on Friday when he heard screaming outside.
The sixth-former said he went downstairs to investigate and saw smoke pouring out of the windows of the house.
Without thinking he ran over to help, ran upstairs and got the elderly woman out before calling the fire service.
Joel said: "She was stuck in the hallway because she couldn't get down the stairs.
"I ran in, got her out and into a safe place then called the fire service."
His dad Dean said his son was "absolutely amazing" and it was a "proud dad moment".


Joel said it was "just how I responded in the moment".
"When I heard the screaming, I had no clue what it could have been, it could have been anything but I just thought it was the right thing to do, go out and have a look," he said.
Once he had got his neighbour to safety, Joel said he woke his dad and step-mum up.
"By the time he woke me up he'd already got the lady to safety," Dean said.
"I just helped get her further away from the house. He'd already called the fire brigade."

​

"He's always been a great lad, myself my partner and his mum couldn't be any more proud of him and how he conducts himself," he added.
Dean said his neighbour's niece had said she was expected to make a full recovery.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said three fire engines went to the scene.
Joel said: "I was disappointed the Maccies was cold, but other than that, I feel like I did the morally right thing."
"It's what anyone would do in that situation," he added.

 

[close]

Add to that that most people do not have cars suitable for this sort of thing especially if you are helping your neighbours out and it would be likely four or five hours optimistically for the trip, another hour or two getting the rubbish together and a lot of mess in your car to clean afterwards. Which is a hefty chunk of most people's free time.

Boy howdy are people gonna learn to cut their waste down and stop throwing food away when Janet's given them a couple turns on the rota.

 

[CaptainAutism69]

I'm actually pretty educated but the rest is true.

If you have to tell people you're educated, then you're anything but. You're a cunt.

 

[MongInTheMirror]

The more I read about Britain, the more I get the sense some great big dam will break sooner than later, and it'll be chaos for a good long while.

Honestly, I feel the same way, especially if they're stupid enough to let things get comparably bad in Northern Ireland. I've been feeling like that place was a powder keg of increasing volatility ever since Brexit, and did you know paramilitary membership there has actually increased since the Good Friday Agreement?

I really struggle with whether to attribute the current political climate to stupidity or malice on the part of the political class. I know the old adage about the former being more likely, but I just can't imagine anyone being this stupid despite the overwhelming form they unquestionably do have for it. I mean, these are the people whose response to questioning about possible issues in NI in relation to Brexit was more or less 'eh, it will work itself out' right up until the vote happened and it immediately became an entirely predictable problem. It's tempting to go the 'nothing ever happens' route, but if history has taught us anything it's that there's always a breaking point. Nothing ever happens until *that* point is reached, it's just a question of where exactly that point is.

If it doesn't peak with nonces getting the Mussolini treatment, though, I will be absolutely livid.

 

[Snekposter]

Don't admit to committing crimes on the Internet

I can't wait to see what Otterly cooks up though after she decides to break bad. She's probably got a delicious recipe for homemade panzerchokolat chip cookies all planned out and ready.

 

[Mound Dweller]

I can't wait to see what Otterly cooks up though after she decides to break bad. She's probably got a delicious recipe for homemade panzerchokolat all planned out and ready.

Inshallah to making Operation Vegetarian look like a small gas leak.

 

[Neighborhood Curmudgeon]

With all the awful stories I see coming from the UK, I always wonder how and why it's still considered a part of the free world.

My condolences to all you British Kiwis.

 

[FedPostalService]

If you have to tell people you're educated, then you're anything but. You're a cunt.

I've never said I wasn't a cunt.

With all the awful stories I see coming from the UK, I always wonder how and why it's still considered a part of the free world.

My condolences to all you British Kiwis.

The most important thing is at the moment the retardation of the government is hitting the middleclass really fucking hard. It as easy to ignore the self-destructive nature of neo-liberalism when it was just the proles getting fucked but when you're getting squeezed from all sides and you can see rapey boat monkeys wandering around your nice leafy area then things are going to have to change.

It will be interesting in the local elections. If Reform pull off when Farage did in the European elections with the Brexit party, then the establishment parties will have to change. It's likely it could send Labour into a purity death spiral, but it might stop the Tories being so fucking gay and we might get them actually being conservatives again.

What's interesting is we haven't seen the media going full hatchet job on Reform. Maybe even they are sick of Labour and know this can't go on.

Things are about to get interesting, and not in a fun way.

 

[Raoul_Duke]

If you're wondering why Labour is so atrociously awful and trying to ruin England? It grew out of the Fabian Society, and their logo is of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

 

[Otterly]

Don't admit to committing crimes on the internet

The secret ingredient is crime!
(Note for metstasi, I am not engaging in any crime. Thank you.)
I will now also coin the term metastasis for our glowies.

And in more hilarious news late night Mcdonalds leads to one of those dangerous potential incels saving his elderly neighbour's life

Well done young man. That’s heartening to hear, very brave of him. I hope they give him free Mac Donald’s for life.
Sometimes you see a story that makes you think the kids are alright.

 

[bluegenius8585]

There's local elections coming up soon That's either going to scare the establishment parties into either pretending they were based all along or they're going to start arresting EVERYONE.

I know that nothing every happens, but they're freeing up spaces in prison for a reason.

They have already tried to “delay” them for so they can mash councils together , something that nobody asked for

 

[Overly Serious]

Last week I was curious and had a back of the envelope go at working out what three generations of first cousin marriage would do and I think it leaves the offspring as related as siblings.

FWIW, I don't think that's correct. There's something called the Inbreeding Coefficient which is the chance of two alleles (segment of DNA) in the same place on the chromosome having the same ancestry. I.e. if slot 1234 on Chromosome A comes from Grug and the same slot 1234 on Chromosome B comes from Grug, then that's inbreeding. You've lost the genetic diversity. If they're different, then you still have the diversity.

(EDIT: I know I'm talking to someone who already knows all this - sorry. But I have to lay it out as it's the Internet)

Now. the child of a brother and sister gets 50% of DNA from each and the likely overlap of matching DNA on any given instance is 25% (0.5/2). That's any given allele has a 50/50 chance of being the same as their parents and so does its counterpart on the other chromosome from the other parent and as the parents have 50% the same DNA, then the chance of getting the overlap is half of a half which is a quarter.

So statistically a sibling would have 25% homogenous DNA between their chromosomes.

First Cousins share 12.5% of their DNA. Grandparents are siblings so share 50% each, their kids 25% and the cousins who marry 12.5%. So if they marry their kids are 6.25% overlap (12.5% / 2). Which is a quarter of what siblings would be. All good. But lets have three generations of first cousins.

I think assuming it's always a "fresh" first cousin, i.e their non-sibling parent is not also related in some fashion, then you're adding back in that 6.25% each time but each child of the first cousins only has 50% of the 6.25%. So it goes 6.25/2 + 6.25 = 9.375%. And then for the third generation it would be... 9.375/2 + 6.25 = 10.94%. Still much less than siblings.

Once the figure is past 6.25x2 then it could never accumulate further because you're losing more each generation than you're gaining. So as long as it's always "fresh" first cousins, it caps at 12.5% which is much less than siblings. This can actually be a good thing in fact (can be) due to something called the Founder's Effect in which beneficial mutations become established in a population. Without some level of intermarriage, beneficial mutations will always eventually be bred out of existence.

But for the communities you're talking about, eternal fresh blood coming in is optimistic. I'm curious what it was you were actually working out as I don't think it's the calculation I just did. The child of two first cousins marrying the child of two other first cousins? A sequence like that? I could take a crack at it if clarified.

If you're wondering why Labour is so atrociously awful and trying to ruin England? It grew out of the Fabian Society, and their logo is of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The Fabian Society of which the sculptor Eric Gill was a member. He whose statue on the BBC building was just restored at the cost of half a million after it was damaged by a member of the public in protest of Gill's sexual abuse of his two daughters and dog.