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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.

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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."

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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.
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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:
"we have reviewed ourselves and we have found that we have done no wrong doing"

We don't need a review, an inquiry, etc. We need to dust off the black cap and the gallows.
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I want to point out, for no particular reason, this picture of the numerous and sturdy flag poles in Parliament Square.

1737121672719.png

Aren't they lovely?
 
Swerf'n'Terf said:
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has announced five local inquiries into the Pakistani Muslim rape gangs will be backed with £10m government money and led by Baroness Louise Casey. Casey is a crossbench peer who appears at a glance to have significant relevant experience. No national enquiry, it's not clear where these will be, nothing for the 45 other locations where Muslim rape gangs have been confirmed, and presumably there will be attempts to whitewash, dilute and impede. (Archive)

This is the work of Maggie Oliver. Yesterday her lawyers wrote to Cooper with the promise of legal action and today Cooper made a concession, which is ludicrously small, but is hopefully the start of a slippery slope for the iconic duo of Labour and Mohammedan nonces.
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Labour will control the findings. PR stunt at the taxpayer's expense which will do nothing for the victims or to prevent future ones.

Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan doesn't know what a grooming gang is.


It's probably a idiotic game he's playing trying to get her to mention ethnic background because in his head if she does that's an I Win button. But he just looks like a moron.
 
Speaking of his nonceness the mayor, seems he's in a spot of bother for a similar reason to Starmer.


Mayor to be investigated over Taylor Swift tickets

The mayor of London will be investigated by the Greater London Authority (GLA) over his acceptance of free tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.

The Tories in the London Assembly asked the GLA's monitoring officer to probe a potential breach of the rules.

It comes after BBC London revealed, in October, his declaration on the official City Hall register was incorrect and late.

A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq Khan said: "Any gift accepted by the mayor is declared openly and transparently. In this case there was an administrative error which was corrected."

The mayor received six tickets worth about £3,000 from a private events company to watch the American star from a box at Wembley Stadium on 15 August.

There were five other members of City Hall staff with him, including two senior officials.

Conservative Assembly Member, Susan Hall, wrote to the GLA's monitoring officer Rory McKenna, claiming the mayor had appeared to "contravene" the gifts and hospitality procedure.

She said there were potential issues raised by the mayor receiving hospitality and being hosted in the box by a private company which has worked for City Hall.

The Tories asked whether there was any reason a technical fault could have "legitimately prevented a timely declaration" of the tickets, and why changes were subsequently made on the register.

The monitoring officer was also asked to clarify the rules about accepting gifts and hospitality from contractors and external suppliers who have had contracts with the GLA.

'Answers desperately needed'

A spokesperson for the GLA said the monitoring officer reviewed the complaint against the mayor and would not be investigating three of the four allegations.

It added, an investigation will now take place to establish if the mayor "exercised an appropriate level of caution" in deciding to accept the tickets.

Ms Hall said: "Whilst I welcome an investigation into the propriety of accepting these tickets, after months of asking Khan for answers, I am disappointed that the monitoring officer isn't considering the fact that the mayor declared these tickets late, initially mis-declared who donated them, that they were undervalued, or that the donor was a GLA contractor."

"More answers are desperately needed," she added.

A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said: "The mayor has no involvement in the procurement process for GLA events, nor in the tendering of these contracts.

"The mayor's office will continue to ensure all the right processes are followed, and looks forward to explaining the approach that was taken in this instance."
 
It was not part of their blood,
It came to them very late
With long arrears to make good,
When the English began to hate.

They were not easily moved,
They were icy-willing to wait
Till every count should be proved,
Ere the English began to hate.

Their voices were even and low,
Their eyes were level and straight.
There was neither sign nor show,
When the English began to hate.

It was not preached to the crowd,
It was not taught by the State.
No man spoke it aloud,
When the English began to hate.

It was not suddenly bred,
It will not swiftly abate,
Through the chill years ahead,
When Time shall count from the date
That the English began to hate.
 
There's been talk of means testing the pension, the pensions that people have actually already paid into by the taxes they pay when they work. I actually cannot articulate the level of disgust that I have for people that support this idea, and every single day I am growing more and more unironically extreme.
 
Swerf'n'Terf said:
...five local inquiries into the Pakistani Muslim rape gangs will be backed with £10m government money and....
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So £2m per enquiry. And where will the majority of this £10m go? To too many money grabbing lawyers and their over inflated legal fees?

We all know the findings will be no different from the original enquiry conclusions. It takes £10m to do that.
 
isalaide said:
Louise Casey already did this very review in Rotherham in 2015. I have posted the link to it many times. Get yourself a free preview of the new review by reading what she said the first time about how these investigations weren't 'suppressed', they actually never fucking started, and why that happened. This is exactly the kind of 'looking like we are doing something' bullshit that will send the keyboard warriors away full of fatuous satisfaction that 'we shone a light on this hur durr' whilst Louise Casey will absolutely repeat her findings of 2015 which have still not been implemented and absolutely sweet fuck all is done for the next two to three years about either her 2015 recommendations, Jay's 2014 recommendations, or Jay's 2022 recommendations to actually protect children from CSE. This makes me want to scream into a fucking pillow. We need high intensity policing on this issue. We need dragnets and trawls of historical files and an incredibly low threshold of suspicion to charge individuals. We need police to be empowered to raid low budget hotels and hostels and similar known hotbeds of CSE activities without a warrant. We need four to five times the number of residential placements for kids to be removed from home. We need the threshold for kids to be securely accommodated - to be literally locked up for their own protection - to be drastically lowered. We need tens and tens of millions of pounds to pay for this accommodation. We do not need Louise Casey to repeat her fully justified extensive criticisms again and more loudly so this 'problem' for HMG goes away and keyboard warriors get to feel they 'pwned libz' for two days and then are distracted by something else. Children continue to be harmed in industrial numbers. Rome continues to burn and people call for more fiddling. I am in despair.
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I just an disgusted that in the year of our lord 2025, politicians are using kid fucking, as a political stick to beat eachother with, rather than working together to end the systematic rape of children.
 
Morethanabitfoolish said:
That is coming. And I would say in the next 15-20 years at the most.
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It's definitely coming, and it's theft. It's the cleanest cut case of theft that the government will commit, and they are 100% going to do it. The pension is something that we are obliged to pay into, the government takes our money, and then they keep it for us with the assurance that we get it back when we retire because we have paid into it our entire lives. Means testing it, is quite literally just naked wealth transfer. Anyone that argues for it, is directly arguing for stealing from the most vulnerable workers in our society who have no recourse against the thieves except violence. Which I actually think they should do if it goes through.
 
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Chunky Salsa said:
There's been talk of means testing the pension, the pensions that people have actually already paid into by the taxes they pay when they work. I actually cannot articulate the level of disgust that I have for people that support this idea, and every single day I am growing more and more unironically extreme.
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But who will pay reparations to all these beautiful empowered sex tourists?
 
Chunky Salsa said:
Which I actually think they should do if it goes through.
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I disagree with you on this part.

I've never seen any form of money transfer to the government from the people, once introduced, be repealed no matter how much those in power change. Before and vigorously is the only hope.
 
Chunky Salsa said:
There's been talk of means testing the pension, the pensions that people have actually already paid into by the taxes they pay when they work. I actually cannot articulate the level of disgust that I have for people that support this idea, and every single day I am growing more and more unironically extreme.
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The talk is coming from Kemi Badenoch herself, a Tory leader who apparently hasn't had it explained to her who it is that votes Tory.
The Independent has a workable summary of the bungle:
Kemi Badenoch in triple lock pensions row after saying Tories would look at means testing
The Tory leader insisted that ‘means-testing is something which we don’t do properly’ after being pressed on her plans for the pensions triple lock

Tom Watling
,
Millie Cooke
Friday 17 January 2025 15:29 GMT
168
Comments


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Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says she is looking at means testing triple lock
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Kemi Badenoch has been accused of “putting pensioners on notice” after appearing to suggest the Tories would look at means testing the pensions triple lock.

The triple lock ensures state pensions rise by whichever is highest out of the rate of inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent. Currently, it is available to all pensioners, regardless of income or savings.

During a phone-in session on LBC on Thursday evening, the leader of the opposition was asked why certain people benefit from the policy when, the caller claimed, they do not need it.

Ms Badenoch responded by saying that was the kind of policy she wanted to “look at”.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch was asked about the triple-lock system first introduced by David Cameron
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Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch was asked about the triple-lock system first introduced by David Cameron (PA Wire)
When pressed by host Iain Dale if she meant she wanted to look at changing the triple-lock system, the opposition leader responded: “No, we are going to look at means-testing. Means-testing is something which we don’t do properly here.”

Means testing is a financial assessment that determines if someone is eligible for a benefit based on income or capital.

Ms Badenoch went on to criticise the government’s new policy of means-testing the winter fuel payment.

“I have always said, for example, that millionaires should not be getting the winter fuel payment,” Ms Badenoch said.

“But what Rachel Reeves has done is the extreme version of that, where people who are actually on the breadline have had their winter fuel payment taken away.

“We don’t have a system that knows who should get what. That’s the sort of thing that we need to be looking at.”

Ms Badenoch has been called on to “urgently clarify” what she meant
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Ms Badenoch has been called on to “urgently clarify” what she meant (PA Wire)
She pointed out the triple-lock policy was something the Tories supported throughout its 14 years in government after it was enacted by David Cameron in 2010, but “we need to make sure we are growing”.

The Conservative Party leader added: “Starting with the triple-lock is not how to solve the problem. We need to start with, why are we not making the same kind of money we used to make?

“I tell people we’ve started living off our inheritance, we’re living off the work that previous generations did.

“We’ve got to give something to the next generation. What are we leaving them with? That’s what we’ve got to sort out.

“We can’t just make ourselves comfortable now spending their future. We need to give them a future.”

Ms Badenoch’s shadow chancellor Mel Stride recently said the triple-lock was “unsustainable”
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Ms Badenoch’s shadow chancellor Mel Stride recently said the triple-lock was “unsustainable” (PA Archive)
On Friday, the Tory leader said that she did not intend to means test the triple lock and claims reports to the contrary - based on her own interview - were “fake news”.

It comes after a speech on Thursday in which Ms Badenoch admitted to a series of mistakes previous Conservative governments had made and accused Labour of repeating the same errors.

A Labour Party spokesperson criticised Ms Badenoch’s comments, claiming she had suggested the Tories were planning to cut state pensions. This would be a major policy shift for the party.

They said: “Kemi Badenoch has put pensioners on notice - she’s going to cut your state pension.

“The Labour government has taken tough action to clean up the mess the Tories left our economy in, meaning we can guarantee a £470 cash boost for pensioners in April.

“The Tories have let the mask slip though and are happy to leave pensioners worse off. Yet again, the Conservatives haven’t listened and they haven’t learned.”

But the Tories hit back and accused the Labour Party of “fake news”.

A Conservative Party headquarters spokesperson said: “The Labour Party is skewing her words for political gain and lying about what she said. We will look at means testing. But the Conservatives have always protected the triple lock. Ignore the fake news! Read the transcript.”

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, part of the coalition that introduced the triple-lock system, said: “Bungling Badenoch has finally come up with her first new policy, slashing the state pension.

“The Liberal Democrats are proud we introduced the triple-lock and will fight tooth and nail against Conservative attempts to weaken it.”

The party called on Ms Badenoch to “urgently clarify” what she meant by her remarks.

Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride, however, recently said the triple-lock was “unsustainable”.
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Means testing the state pension, as the age profile of the Tory voting bloc has never been higher, is genuinely galaxy brained stuff to be throwing out casually on Iain Dale of a morning.
 
Kemi Badenoch is absolutely not making it to the next election (assuming the full 5 year cycle plays out). The Tories don't really have a cohesive identity at the moment, give it a couple years and they will work it out and choose a leader with more universal backing.
 
isalaide said:
Means testing the state pension, as the age profile of the Tory voting bloc has never been higher, is genuinely galaxy brained stuff to be throwing out casually on Iain Dale of a morning.
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The Independent giving an honest and unbiased summary of anything Tory related is slightly less likely than tomorrow's sunrise occurring in the West. Let's have a look at the article.
When pressed by host Iain Dale if she meant she wanted to look at changing the triple-lock system, the opposition leader responded: “No, we are going to look at means-testing. Means-testing is something which we don’t do properly here.”
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So did she actually in the interview specifically say she was going to change the triple lock or segue into a talk about means testing at a poor time? Because much of the rest of the article is selectively quoting Tory sources and fully quoting Labour and Lib Dems saying what they actually mean?

Don't get me wrong, both parties want rid of the state pension. But this is smelling like the Trump "bloodbath" stories.
 
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