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.

 

[Coelacanth]

I can't speak for the 80s, but during the 00s and 10s, a lot of financial advice from boomers was woefully out of touch. "Get a trade, job for life" turned out to be true, but a lot didn't. "You need a degree or you'll be stuck flipping burgers" being an infamous one. A common one in my local area is/was "get a job at the railyard shoveling coal". Trains haven't ran on coal for 40 years, but they still expect it to be a viable way to make quick cash to buy a house.

Oh yeah that. I totally get where you're coming from there. From what I understand boomers during that period had no idea what was actually being taught at school. They just assumed that kids and teens had the time to go out and do stuff like volunteer work or did jobs alongside their parents to get the experience needed to even be a viable applicant for a job (not to mention the piss poor teaching that showed us how to craft a CV). By then the education system was more interested in students who could jump through the right hoops and produce good test scores too, which wasn't fun at all. I still hate gym halls because of the crappy GCSE tests we had to take.

 

[Blanche]

I wonder if the uncensored stuff is still available.

You can sometimes get wording to appear under blacked out images usually by increasing the brilliance, highlights, and brightness. You can tweak the values back and forth.

 

[SirCliveSinclairdabbing]

Oh yeah that. I totally get where you're coming from there. From what I understand boomers during that period had no idea what was actually being taught at school. They just assumed that kids and teens had the time to go out and do stuff like volunteer work or did jobs alongside their parents to get the experience needed to even be a viable applicant for a job (not to mention the piss poor teaching that showed us how to craft a CV). By then the education system was more interested in students who could jump through the right hoops and produce good test scores too, which wasn't fun at all. I still hate gym halls because of the crappy GCSE tests we had to take.

To be fair shoveling coal at a volunteer steam railway is a great way to make contacts in the rail industry and learn a valued high risk skill like shunting.

 

[EddyRooney]

Yes they should have sent each of them a letter outlining what was being done. My work pension does every time there’s a change or something I need to be made aware of. Advertising alone is not acceptable. The ads were also weird and cryptic.
This is another legislation by spite - it’s encouraging us to say ‘screw them they should have known’ when these women lived in different times and did what society expected of them - pay married women’s stamp and look after the home, and get part time jobs at most. Then the next time the pot is empty there will be a precedent.
Its not the average boomer who is the issue - most of them worked hard, the older ones grew up during rationing, and they deserve the retirement. They paid in. We all pay in. Its the predatory bastards at the to asset stripping the country, dipping into public money for private gain or personal/ideological projects and selling us up the river.
I’m a net contributor too and I’m furious at how poorly tax money is spent. I want it spent on people who genuinely need it and on things that benefit the country. If someone has a works accident and is disabled I want them looked after. I want the council to fix the fucking roads anmd put some flowers in the pots in town. Instead we’ve got illegals taking up half the hotel rooms in the country and the roads look like downtown Mogadishu.
We are being actively mismanaged into decline and destruction and being encouraged to blame pensioners who grew up in poverty and worked hard for what they have.

You've got my vote !
The difference is your work pension is legally obliged to send you notification of changes, whereas I'm not sure there is that convention with the state pension. Your work pension won't have announcements on the national news about changes to your scheme either, thus the requirement for individual letters. I sympathise with your point, as with your argument about this concerning a different generation to mine and I possibly need to be more empathetic in my thinking. That said, I still feel the individual has to take responsibility for themself.

Taxation and how it is spent is always a subjective issue as to where the individual's priorities lie. I think most people in the country would have immigrant welfare much lower down the list of priorities. Anyone with eyes and a memory of the last 30 years knows that living standards have definitely decreased in this country. A lot of this will be down to our GDP per capita remaining roughly the same since 2007 ( so zero productivity growth ) and the population rising by approximately 10% over the same period ( and that's the official figures, I'm convinced the population has increased a lot more over this period and that is why the standard of living has fallen ). In my mind the biggest problem this country and the world as a whole faces is over population.

"I want it spent on people who genuinely need it and on things that benefit the country. If someone has a works accident and is disabled I want them looked after." How do you assess genuine need ? I thought a lot of benefits ( not my area of expertise ) were either means tested or based on some sort of requirement assessment ? As I mentioned earlier - too much is required by the average person in this country now of the state. It's all "it's my right" and "I'm entitled to" - the NHS, job seeker's allowance, all these other state offerings were originally intended as bare minimum, short term aids to help people get back on their feet - not as life style choices. Why do people see it as the state's obligation to fund them ? Unfortunately I see all these types of people as ponces. There should be shame attached to being on the dole for years, using food banks and receiving all the other hand outs. Society has become soft and there is a whole section of society that think it is clever to get "something for nothing" from the state. It's not the state, it's the tax payers ( the government has no money ), they are poncing other people's money.
As for people injured at work - the main responsibility should fall on the individual. Health insurance is available by a lot of employers ( also legally responsible for preventable accidents ) as a benefit and I would certainly invest fairly heavily if I did a dangerous job, they are available online to the general public too.....is it too much for others to think this way ? Why do you feel the state has to pick up the bill ? Again, for me the state should be providing the emergency A&E cover and then a bare minimum funding. If the individual wants a big payout, get private insurance.

One of the bigger problems we have is that democracy in this country is failing, the mandarins in Whitehall and the judges in the Law Courts seem to me to actively work in a way to subvert laws that were introduced by a government that had a mandate through a large majority. It will be interesting to see if this continues post the next general election if there is a change of government, given that I suspect the Civil Service and the Judges are politically left leaning. Whilst I appreciate there is a requirement for checks and balances in the system, the fundamental will of the people should be implemented, in that respect I think it isn't just politicians that have let us down.

 

[Otterly]

There should be shame attached to being on the dole for years, using food banks and receiving all the other hand outs.

Absolutely there should, but if you’re in genuine need you should get help. Short term only for almost everyone.
PL: several years back some friends of mine both lost their jobs the same month - both companies went under. This is a hard working family, two kids, some small savings. They got nothing whatsoever from the government and they really struggled. Of course both wanted new jobs immediately and both went out and got them (he started his own business up) but for a couple of months they were very strained.
Most places in Europe have a system whereby you pay into a kind of union associated insurance and if you lose your job you get a set amount per month for up to a year. That would be good.
We have ex soldiers on the streets who need significant mental health help that’s not there. We’ve got pensioners unable to put the heating on. Our roads are crumbling. We all pay shitloads of tax. I want absolute transparency on where its going. I don’t think anyone begrudges the line in the council tax that says fire brigade. We do begrudge the invaders in hotels and endless translators.
Taxation without representation started one war. I think we have taxation so vastly against our own wellbeing that it’s approaching that.

 

[Clem Fandango]

Dear BBC,

Please put Romesh Ranganathan in more TV shows, radio shows, game shows, panel shows and podcasts. I don't think he's in enough things, and want to see more things with him in.

Sincerely,

A guy who is not at all sick to death of seeing Romesh Fucking Ranganathan in literally every BBC product.

 

[isalaide]

Aw, I like Romesh. Could quite happily never see Jack Whitehall or Tax Dodger Jimmy Carr ever again, though.

 

[Otterly]

Aw, I like Romesh. Could quite happily never see Jack Whitehall or Tax Dodger Jimmy Carr ever again, though.

Bring back Percy Thrower.

 

[EddyRooney]

PL: several years back some friends of mine both lost their jobs the same month - both companies went under. This is a hard working family, two kids, some small savings. They got nothing whatsoever from the government and they really struggled. Of course both wanted new jobs immediately and both went out and got them (he started his own business up) but for a couple of months they were very strained.

Taxation without representation started one war. I think we have taxation so vastly against our own wellbeing that it’s approaching that.

Couldn't agree more with the PL - I was in a similar situation during the financial crisis of 08. Had paid well into 6 figures into the system by then and what did they offer me in unemployment benefit - next to fuck all. It was a good job I had saved beforehand ( ironically that was one of the contributing factors to me getting the large side of nothing ). At the time I would have done any job - I couldn't even get shelf stacker ( over qualified ) - just had to wait a year until the economy picked up again. This was however a unique circumstance as it sounds like it was with your friends. It is definitely a contributing factor to my bitterness towards the state and the welfare system.

Highest level of taxation ever. That's the point. Most of it un-necessary and being spent on things that should be much lower on the list of priorities. Smaller state, smaller government, less taxes, less government intervention in my life. Unfortunately this will get worse still if Labour are elected next ( that's not to say I am a fan of the current bunch of clowns ).

 

[6MillionCoofs]

Dear BBC,

Please put Romesh Ranganathan in more TV shows, radio shows, game shows, panel shows and podcasts. I don't think he's in enough things, and want to see more things with him in.

Sincerely,

A guy who is not at all sick to death of seeing Romesh Fucking Ranganathan in literally every BBC product.

They only have so many diverse people that are passably funny that believe what they do. They are kind of stuck.

 

[Dick Mason]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13282207/Crack-dealer-dodges-deportation-UK-judge-rules-young-age-naive.html

Crack dealer dodges deportation after UK judge rules he had been 'spoilt' by his aunt making him 'young for his age' and 'naive'​

A crack dealer has avoided deportation after a judge overruled a Home Office order after deciding the criminal was 'naïve' and 'young for his age'.

Jabril Hussein Abdullahi, 24, was convicted for supplying the Class A drug in November 2021, being sentenced to three years and five months behind bars, as well as deportation to his birth country of Italy.

This is in line with UK laws that ay any foreign national convicted of more than 12 months in jail will be automatically deported.

Judge Canavan, however, said that the young man, who can speak fluent Italian, would be in danger and could be at risk of making 'bad choices' after being raised in a 'very female family'.

Abdullahi moved to the UK age 16 with his mother by exercising pre-Brexit free movement rules, yet she returned to Somalia leaving her son to live with his aunt.

The judge said that Abdullahi 'did not manage money well' leading him to take 'what seemed like a good money-earning opportunity to deal drugs, without thinking of the consequences'.

I'm pretty sure we all died decades ago. This can't be the real world.

https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/advice-from-successful-candidates/pathways-into-the-judiciary/sandy-canavan-circuit-judge/

Judge Sandy Canavan, Judge of the Upper Tribunal

“Before my appointment I was a barrister. For about 15 years I did a mix of crime, family and personal injury and for the last 10 years I practised in crime alone. My parents were immigrants from Ireland in the 1950s and I grew up in a council house in Hackney, East London with my three sisters and my grandmother. I was state school educated in Stamford Hill.

“I became a judge mainly because I thought that I would be good at it. I had watched a number of judges over the years with different styles and approaches which made me realise that I had the necessary skill set. It was also important that more women and more people from non-traditional backgrounds were represented in the judiciary – this helps society see that we are not out of touch.

“I have brought to the bench firstly an understanding of the system itself. Secondly, an understanding of how active judicial involvement in a case can help. Thirdly, how proper preparation and hard work are critical to the effective and fair disposal of any case. Finally, how important it is in the way you engage and communicate with people caught up in the system: defendants, juries and witnesses so that they can understand what is happening and feel part of the process, as opposed to it being something that is being done to them.

“My personal background made me want to show that I was just as good, if not better, than those from a more privileged background. It did, and to an extent still does, leave me with a bit of imposter syndrome. I have a very different life experience to most of my colleagues and sometimes, it seems, little in common socially with them. However, as with anyone in life, people on an individual level generally surprise you in a nice way.

“I am particularly interested in convincing kids from working-class and migrant backgrounds that there is nothing you cannot do.”

certified looney tunes she is she is

https://www.barcouncil.org.uk/media-campaigns/campaigns/iamthebar/spin-off-series-i-am-the-bench.html

1. Tell us about your background and why you decided to become a judge.

My childhood was spent in Hackney in East London where my parents, my 3 sisters and my grandmother lived in a council house. My parents came here from Ireland in the 1950s as economic migrants! I was educated at a state grammar school in Stamford Hill and went to university to study law at Kings College London.

I had spent a year studying Zoology but discovered that vivisection really wasn't my thing and so did law instead.

I became a barrister initially in a common law chambers doing a bit of everything; that changed to crime, personal injury and family, but eventually I specialised in crime.

I always saw myself as a judge someday, probably because I was convinced that I could probably do it better than everyone else. Sitting as a Recorder disabused me of that notion pretty quickly, but I still wanted to do the job full-time.

2. What is the most rewarding thing about being a judge; has life at the bench met your expectations?

The most rewarding thing about being a judge is that occasionally I get to make a difference in someone's life by taking a chance on sentence with a defendant and watching them turn their lives around. It does not happen very often but when it does it is enormously satisfying.

3. How did your journey to becoming a judge compare to your journey to becoming a barrister? Did you face any obstacles in either case relating to your background?

I had two main disadvantages when it came to getting a tenancy - being a woman and being from the atypical background. It meant that I did not have the connections that others did. To an extent that persisted when I applied to be a Recorder as I lacked some of the visibility that others had. I don't think that affected my application for the full-time job in the same way. Being from an atypical background does occasionally give me a sense of being a bit of an outsider, of having a totally different understanding of the world from my colleagues.

4. What opportunities, support and encouragement did you receive along your journey to transitioning to the Bench from the Bar?

I got a lot of help from judges who knew me and who encouraged me both to apply to sit and thereafter when I sat as a Recorder. I didn't get any help from any mentoring schemes or the Bar but that might have been because I didn't look for any.

5. How do you use your experience of coming to the judiciary from a non-traditional background to support those seeking to do the same, and/or to inform your work? How does having a diverse range of backgrounds represented on the bench serve the public's interest?

I believe it is crucial to explain to kids from a background like mine that there is no reason that they cannot be anything they want to be. The only limitation should be their ambition not their background. I volunteer to speak at the sorts of schools where kids don't see themselves at university let alone on the Bench. I also have regular marshals with me from working class backgrounds. It's about showing them that if I can do it, with my background, they can too.

6. What are the challenges facing today's aspiring judges, and how could they be addressed?

The increased cost of doing a degree and then going on to do Bar Finals undoubtedly puts off a lot of talented but poor kids who don't have the safety net of the bank of Mum and Dad behind them. In terms of the judiciary, real-term pay cuts and poor judicial morale are putting off a lot of applicants from applying to sit full-time. It's easier to apply as a woman now than it was; albeit there is nothing like equality on the Bench yet. It's probably easier to be from an atypical background, albeit I haven't seen a massive change in the backgrounds of most of the judiciary from before. I think that the Bar and the Judiciary need to get out and meet ordinary kids and let them know that we're not all posh middle class white boys.

7. What advice would you give someone from a non-traditional background, seeking to succeed at both the Bar and the Bench?

Work harder and longer; be better than the rest; never give up. If you are that good, then they cannot say no to you forever.

If you see that face leering at you from the bench, you know you are screwed.

https://www.northampton-academy.org/news/careers-enterprise-news/circuit-judge-delivers-talk-to-legal-hopefuls

The first black female judge was appointed in 2004 and now in 2018-19, 45% of judges are women. Sandy admitted that there is still a big shortfall in the representation of ethnic minority groups within the law, as most judges are still white middle-class, privately educated males.

People like her are basically just disease in human form. They don't even know how fucking stupid they are, and will drag us all down to hell with them grinning the entire time.

 

[No. 7 cat]

Jabril Hussein Abdullahi sounds a very Italian name like Mario or Luigi and thanks to evil looking Sandy he won't be returning to what's obviously his homeland. The UK wins keeping such a high quality man. The UK could have a shortage of drug dealers from God knows where. Thanks Sandy!

 

[Tootsie Bear]

Man, imagine telling people years ago an illegal would get a slap on the wrist for drug dealing because he's "naive". Clown world.

 

[Dick Mason]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunak-election-poll-tories-jdwpqxszb

‘Very Gordon Brown’: Rishi Sunak is down and lashing out​

With an ever-gloomier forecast, insiders say the prime minister is miserable — and rumours are swirling about where he might find a sunny escape after No 10​

A top US tech firm is "putting together plans" for an AI venture capital fund for Rishi Sunak to run when he's no longer prime minister

The villains always win.

Man, imagine telling people years ago an illegal would get a slap on the wrist for drug dealing because he's "naive". Clown world.

People should start dragging her for that with the claims that its infantilizing to Blacks. It seems like more White Saviour nonsense. "He's just Black/non-white, he can't help but deal drugs, rape, and murder. And I saved him."

 

[Clem Fandango]

“I became a judge mainly because I thought that I would be good at it.

WELL YOU'RE FUCKING NOT.

Seriously, the government needs to implement a system where we, the public, can get rid of these shit judges. These idiots know that they're untouchable. You can tell by the self-important rhetoric accompanying their judgments that they know there's no mechanism for sacking them, or at least not one that the general public has any power or influence over.

And don't give me none of that "separation of powers" crap. Our current system is absolute shite and needs pulling down. I'm so sick of activist judges.

 

[AnOminous]

You can tell by the self-important rhetoric accompanying their judgments that they know there's no mechanism for sacking them, or at least not one that the general public has any power or influence over.

And if there were, SJW cancel mobsters would go after any judge who didn't just automatically convict wrongthinkers of whatever they were charged with.

 

[Clem Fandango]

And if there were, SJW cancel mobsters would go after any judge who didn't just automatically convict wrongthinkers of whatever they were charged with.

Isn't that more a problem with the law than the judges? "Wrongthink" shouldn't be actionable on the first place, so sentencing this way or that way is (or should be) moot.

What I'm saying is that we at least have mechanisms for changing the law, poor as they are. These judges get burrowed in like a tick, and sometimes they just don't feel like applying the law at all. That's a different problem.

 

[Teghern]

And don't give me none of that "separation of powers" crap. Our current system is absolute shite and needs pulling down. I'm so sick of activist judges.

But muh judicial independence.
I do think it makes sense to have judges be impeachable by their constituents like MP are with recall petitions though. if Jeremy Engelheart Wiseman was at risk of being Athenian style ostracised he'd think twice before letting off the yobs.

 

[Judge Dredd]

To be fair shoveling coal at a volunteer steam railway is a great way to make contacts in the rail industry and learn a valued high risk skill like shunting.

Maybe if you want to be a heritage rail engineer. But I think they have decades long waiting lists?

In my mind the biggest problem this country and the world as a whole faces is over population.

I've got some bad news for you.

It's a topic too long for this thread, but the short version is that population collapse is big problem on the horizon. Each generation is getting smaller and smaller. This is most prominent in first world countries like Japan, but other countries like India are following suit. It's a deep rabbit hole to go down, so I recommend looking up documentaries on YouTube. One I like is called birth gap, though it refuses to address things like feminism, likely out of fear of political correctness.

The TL:DR is this. In times past, when there was an economic crisis, birthrates would fall for a time then recover. But in recent years this hasn't happened. Starting with the oil shock of the 1970s, birth rates dropped, and stayed low. No one is sure why. Usual finger pointing at things like birth control, but there's no correlation there. The main theories are behavioural sink and the economy. Feminism with things like no fault divorce are hinted at but birthgap and other serious documentries don't like to go into it.

If you see that face leering at you from the bench, you know you are screwed.

Those pictures looks AI generated.

 

[EddyRooney]

I assume Dredd that you mean population collapse amongst indigenous white English people ? The middle class - i.e. the type that pay proportionately more tax than anyone else, formerly known as the backbone of the country ? That I can buy and for the miriad of reasons, some of which you've mentioned. Everything I've read is that whilst this might be a phenomena in developed countires, it certainly isn't in others.
World population is only increasing and is only projected to increase. 8bn now, 9bn in 2037, 10bn, in 2058.......

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/total-fertility-rate

Just looks to me like Africa is breeding and will soon envelope the world like a plague of locusts. Oh wait, that appears to be already happening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrg8t34yXRs

Whilst this is definitely interesting ( thank you Dredd ) I still think we are and will be overpopulated. It's just a question of the wrong people breeding - uncivilised, undeucated, lazy people that are incapable of supporting a civilisation.

IDIOCRACY Opening Scene (2006) Mike Judge

IDIOCRACY Opening Scene (2006) Mike JudgePLOT: In 2005, average in every way private Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson) is selected to take part in a secret military e...

www.youtube.com

Turns out Mike Judge was a visionary !