UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

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https://news.sky.com/story/row-over-new-greggs-vegan-sausage-rolls-heats-up-11597679 (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
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7
10:07 AM - Jan 3, 2019
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Cook and food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe declared she was "frantically googling to see what time my nearest opens tomorrow morning because I will be outside".

While TV writer Brydie Lee-Kennedy called herself "very pro the Greggs vegan sausage roll because anything that wrenches veganism back from the 'clean eating' wellness folk is a good thing".

One Twitter user wrote that finding vegan sausage rolls missing from a store in Corby had "ruined my morning".

Another said: "My son is allergic to dairy products which means I can't really go to Greggs when he's with me. Now I can. Thank you vegans."

View image on Twitter


pg often@pgofton
https://twitter.com/pgofton/status/1080772793774624768

The hype got me like #Greggs #Veganuary

42
10:28 AM - Jan 3, 2019
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TV presenter Piers Morgan led the charge of those outraged by the new roll.

"Nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage, you PC-ravaged clowns," he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Morgan later complained at receiving "howling abuse from vegans", adding: "I get it, you're all hangry. I would be too if I only ate plants and gruel."

Another Twitter user said: "I really struggle to believe that 20,000 vegans are that desperate to eat in a Greggs."

"You don't paint a mustach (sic) on the Mona Lisa and you don't mess with the perfect sausage roll," one quipped.

Journalist Nooruddean Choudry suggested Greggs introduce a halal steak bake to "crank the fume levels right up to 11".

The bakery chain told concerned customers that "change is good" and that there would "always be a classic sausage roll".

It comes on the same day McDonald's launched its first vegetarian "Happy Meal", designed for children.

The new dish comes with a "veggie wrap", instead of the usual chicken or beef option.
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It should be noted that Piers Morgan and Greggs share the same PR firm, so I'm thinking this is some serious faux outrage and South Park KKK gambiting here.
 
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Made In Wales said:
Stacey Solomon faces action by the BBC, after her BAFTA rant:
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Ew, the Sun?

With that sneering smugness time for me to bring us the entertainment. It's that time of year again, another source described by the BBC as a "journalist "found to be saying Hitler did not go far enough with the Jews.

A journalist who appears prominently on the BBC’s Arabic channel to report from Gaza called for Jews to be burned “as Hitler did”, it can be revealed.
Samer Elzaenen has appeared on BBC Arabic more than a dozen times since the conflict erupted following the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel.
He reported live last month and his dispatches have included reports from the Nuseirat refugee camp in June last year, after an Israeli military operation to rescue four hostages, held by Hamas, led to hundreds of Palestinian deaths.

It has now emerged that Elzaenen, 33, has issued a stream of social media posts which single out Jews for condemnation and even appear to call for violence against them.
In a Facebook post in July 2022, he stated: “When things go awry for us, shoot the Jews, it fixes everything.”
Elzaenen has also appeared to call for a repeat of the Holocaust, stating on Facebook in May 2011: “My message to the Zionist Jews: We are going to take our land back, we love death for Allah’s sake the same way you love life. We shall burn you as Hitler did, but this time we won’t have a single one of you left.”

Elsewhere on social media, he has posted a hashtag stating: “#We Are All Hamas You Son of a Jewess”
Elzaenen’s social media output over the past decade has included endorsements of more than 30 separate attacks against Jewish civilians in Israel, calling the actions “blessed” and “heroic”; describing the perpetrators and “heroes” and “martyrs” who “ascended” to “heaven”; and appearing to express joy at the victims’ deaths.
Commenting on a February 2023 attack in which a Palestinian terrorist killed two boys aged eight and six and a 20-year-old man, after ramming his car into a bus stop in Jerusalem, Elzaenen said the victims “will soon go to hell”.
The Palestinian journalist has also repeatedly described the Hamas terrorists who carried out the October 7 attacks as “resistance fighters”, including those who targeted young music fans at the Nova festival.
Ahmed Qannan, another regular BBC Arabic freelance contributor, appears to have expressed his hope that Israelis wounded in a shooting near a Jerusalem synagogue, which claimed the lives of seven civilians on Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2023, would also die.
Writing on Facebook in response to a friend who stated “We want to see some throats cut”, Qannan replied: “Don’t give up on your ambition”.
Qannan also described a 26-year-old Palestinian who killed four civilians and a police officer in a series of shootings in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak in March 2022, as a “hero”.

BBC sources emphasised that Elzaenen and Qannan were not members of staff.
But the broadcaster’s use of them as freelance contributors representing the corporation has been condemned by media watchers, who accuse BBC Arabic, part of the BBC’s World Service, of anti-Israel bias.
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera) – which unearthed their social media posts – says it is indicative of BBC Arabic’s willingness to use contributors who cannot be trusted to deliver objective and balanced broadcasting.
It comes after The Telegraph revealed that regular BBC Arabic contributor Ahmed Alagha was accused of describing Israelis as less than human and Jews as “devils”.
A Camera UK spokesman said: “The BBC misleadingly frames freelance journalists used by the Arabic service as mere “contributors” so it won’t have to take responsibility for the hatred they regularly spew in social media.
“Providing live reporting from the Gaza Strip and other world locations, it is not their opinion that the BBC asks them to share with its audience but their eyewitness, based on their presence on the ground.

“Freelancers who divulge such egregious bias should not be covering Israeli and Jewish affairs for the BBC. Any individual whose social media activity indicates their support for violence targeting Israel’s Jewish civilians lacks the basic journalistic skill of distinguishing between combatants and uninvolved bystanders.”
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, last month called for “wholesale reform” of BBC Arabic after a report by Camera accused it of “appalling anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias”.
In a letter to Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, Ms Badenoch said: “BBC Arabic is intended to provide high-quality, trusted news for the hundreds of millions of people who speak Arabic. It should uphold the highest standards of public-service broadcasting. Instead, it seems that the World Service may be fomenting extremism and misleading audiences – while funded by the taxpayer and licence fees. This is simply unacceptable and must stop.”
The BBC has previously investigated a number of BBC Arabic presenters and reporters who liked or shared social media posts which appeared to celebrate the Oct 7 atrocities, but took no further action against them.

Elzaenen and Qannan were approached for comment.
A BBC spokesman said: “International journalists including the BBC are not allowed access into Gaza so we hear from a range of eyewitness accounts from the strip. These are not BBC members of staff or part of the BBC’s reporting team. We were not aware of the individuals’ social media activity prior to hearing from them on air. We are absolutely clear that there is no place for anti-Semitism on our services.”
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Also BBC related turns out their fact checkers are useless.
The BBC quietly edited an episode of Question Time after allegedly making a false claim about net zero.
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, appeared on Thursday night’s panel show following his party’s sweeping gains in the local elections last week.
During the show, which was recorded before a live audience but broadcast later, he was asked about his party’s position on climate change policies, which he said was to “scrap net stupid zero”.
In the debate, Fiona Bruce, the host, intervened to correct Mr Tice on the proportion of carbon emissions that are man-made.
The MP for Boston and Skegness claimed that it was “about three or four per cent” of all emissions, to which Bruce said that, according to Nasa, it was around a third.

Mr Tice claimed that he approached a BBC editor after the show to tell them that the statistic was a mistake, and was informed that the information had come from BBC Verify, the broadcaster’s fact-checking unit.
The exchange with Bruce was then edited out of the programme, but the BBC has not reflected this in the show uploaded to its iPlayer.
There is no clear consensus in the scientific community on the correct statistic. However, the BBC stands by the Nasa statistic and has said there was no mistake.
The BBC said the segment was edited out because “two statistics were compared which were not directly comparable” and therefore “more context would have been needed to explain the two statistics sufficiently”.
A BBC spokesman said: “These claims are simply untrue. It is normal practice to edit the programme before broadcast for audience clarity. In this case two statistics were compared which were not directly comparable. The decision was taken to edit this as more context would have been needed to explain the two statistics sufficiently. The statistic came from Nasa, which is a trusted authoritative source on the issue.”

BBC Verify was launched in 2023, when its purpose was described as “explaining complex stories in the pursuit of truth”.
But the unit has been accused of making errors and being politically biased.
It comes after Bruce was forced to correct herself on a programme last year when she made an intervention during remarks on asylum seekers by Zia Yusuf, the Reform chairman.
Mr Yusuf said that the UK took more asylum seekers per capita than France, to which she countered that France and Germany took more per capita than Britain.
Bruce later said: “Actually, before we move on, I just want to say, Zia, you are right, in fact, that France takes fewer asylum seekers per capita than the United Kingdom. We take more than that, it’s important to get that right.”
BBC sources said that BBC Verify was not involved in the incident with Mr Yusuf.
Mr Tice told The Telegraph: “This is the second time in a matter of months where the presenter has wrongly challenged a Reform representative, and essentially made them look bad in front of the audience and other panellists.

“They’ve relied on BBC Verify, which perhaps should be named BBC Guesswork. Clearly Reform wants to be on the programme but if we feel that we’re constantly being assailed with false information by the programme-makers, it becomes less attractive.”

He added: “If BBC Verify is giving duff information on live shows that is regurgitated as fact by presenters, then the BBC is in serious trouble.”
The unit, which as of 2024 employed 61 people with a combined salary of £3.3 million, has been criticised in recent months.
At the beginning of this year, BBC Verify suggested that private school fee increases after the Government’s VAT raid would not affect parents’ choices around their children’s education.
Last November, BBC Verify was involved in a controversy over the reporting of inheritance tax changes affecting farmers, quoting Dan Neidle, the former Labour activist, as an “independent tax expert” before quietly removing that job description.
A week later, Frans Unsworth, the BBC’s former news chief, expressed “anxieties” over the message that BBC Verify was sending about the corporation’s journalism.

She said: “I think if you want to set your stall out and say what you’re about, it’s probably a pretty good branding exercise. But my anxieties are… what does it say about the rest of the journalism? Is that not true, then?”
The proportion of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is relatively low, but experts say that this does not equate to a low impact on climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that “human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming”.
Saqib Bhatti, the shadow culture minister, said: “The BBC has a duty to educate, entertain and inform – not spread misinformation about net zero.
“Kemi [Badenoch, the Conservative party leader] has been clear that the mad dash to net zero by 2050 will bankrupt Britain. The only people who don’t seem to be on board with this are the Labour Party and the BBC.
“Our public service broadcaster should know better than to not let the facts get in the way of its agendas.”
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One of the perks of the Overton window changing so quickly is that all of a sudden the "haha I didn't mean that" from the good guys is now getting treated with the same fire as the underclass saying "I don't think they should be here" last Summer.

6 months ago he'd have said this and nothing would have happened. Now he's completely fucked. Kinda bizarre for a Spurs legend to post something blatantly antisemetic considering how Spurs have a heavy Jewish presence.
 
Made In Wales said:
The jug eared tosser bids the BBC goodbye:


Oh, and James Corden is thinking of running (hur hur) for Mayor of London:


Khan or Corden - which one is the biggest waste of DNA?
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Are they thinking of putting James Corden as a candidate for Labour or is he running as an independent?

Wouldn't be surprised if repeat political failure Eddie Izzard attempts to run as he seems to throw his name in for just about every election going.
 
How long before Starmer scraps Brexit? I think that's his ace card he hopes will save him, but it will backfire.

The source explained that Lineker "remains absolutely devastated by the recent turn of events and is deeply regretful about how his post was interpreted."
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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Cancelled by a tweet you jug-eared twat? How does the boot taste now it's on the other foot?
(When this controversy broke last week, I said to family "He's gone against the jews, he will be sacked within a week. You don't come back from that)
 
The UK is so thoroughly enriched, doctors can even get away with rape:
A doctor found by a tribunal to have raped a young woman at his home avoided being struck off over what the panel described as a “one-off” attack.

Dr Aloaye Foy-Yamah, then a consultant at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, instead had his medical licence suspended for 12 months for attacking the woman.
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Either they think he did it or they don’t. If it’s the former, a 12-month suspended license is an insult of a wrist slap for rape.
The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates the register of doctors licensed to practice in the UK, had asked an independent panel run by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) to permanently erase Dr Foy-Yamah’s licence.
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However, that would be racist, nativist, and Islamophobic. Besides, the woman he allegedly raped was not his patient; therefore, Foy-Yamah had not “abused his position of trust as a doctor.”

The boom comes down harder in once-great Britain on “transphobic or homophobic” toddlers:
A toddler was kicked out of nursery after being accused of being transphobic or homophobic, it has been revealed. Data from the Department of Education showed a young child had been suspended from a state school for “abuse against sexual orientation and gender identity”, The Telegraph reports.

The child was reportedly aged either three or four and had been suspended during the 2022-23 academic year. … Figures also reportedly show that 94 pupils at state primary schools were suspended, or in some cases permanently excluded, for transphobia and homophobia in 2022-23.
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Three of them were in year 2, where maximum age is 7 years. One child was of nursery age. Shitlib social engineers can never nip thought crime in the bud too soon.
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters … said this “is not an isolated” case, highlighting 13 four or five-year-olds had been suspended or permanently excluded for the same reason.
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Across all state primary schools, 178 kids were expelled for failure to embrace faggotry and trannyism in 2022–2033. The UK had better start building gulags to house all these enemies of democracy.
 
Starmer erasing Brexit galvanizes Lowe and Farage immensely. To do so, a WEEK after declaring the UK a nation of strangers is not only one of the most fucking retarded political moves I have seen in my lifetime but puts him in a fucked position.

The Redwall rebellion is the biggest caucus in the party and is actively pissed at him. They even reject Andy Burnham as they see him as part of the problem, as he did not challenge Starmer and offer leadership. A lot of those Redwall constituents are anti-EU.

He has not only enacted a faction civil war at this point, but given your considerable opposition ammunition. I am now convinced he is doing this purely for damage and spite because he knows it's over.
 
Turkey Beef said:
Across all state primary schools, 178 kids were expelled for failure to embrace faggotry and trannyism in 2022–2033. The UK had better start building gulags to house all these enemies of democracy.
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These were all prior to the supreme court's ruling, as well as a couple of other precedent-setting cases that established the expression of "gender critical" views as protected. The law is in limbo at the moment. Legally, being a troon is protected by various bits of law, but it's also legal to say a troon is a man, which used to be treated as transphobia, but now can't be. Any kid getting kicked out of school for "transphobia" today would have a pretty decent case for discrimination of protected views.
 
Overly Serious said:
I looked up both entries as I'd heard neither.

Dutch entry:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=bWe8PRsW4T0
Austrian entry:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=SaolVEJEjV4
There's no prize for getting to the end of the the Austrian entry so nobody put themselves through it out of duty. He has a voice like a bluebottle trapped against a window.
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I just had a listen to that 2014 Dutch entry. Got to admit, it's alright.

But the best Eurovision song was Montenegro's entry for 2012 – Euro Neuro by Rambo Amadeus. It didn't make the final, though.

Euro Neuro live

Euro Neuro music video

Rambo Amadeus gets his name from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Rambo. I'd been a fan of his for quite a few years before he ever appeared Eurovision.

Balkan Boy

Don't Happy Be Worry

Might not be to everyone's taste. But I like.
(Sorry, I can't embed YT links)
 
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Everything in Starmer's new Brexit reset deal rated - and how much it will affect you
Sir Keir Starmer struck his hotly anticipated “reset” agreement with the European Union on Monday after the negotiations carried on through the night.

The Prime Minister has hailed the deal as representing a new era of cooperation with Brussels, as he seeks to leave the rancour and division of the Brexit years behind.

Here, The i Paper looks at what elements are in the deal, how contentious they are for the Government, and what, if anything, they mean for you.

Trade in food
Seen as the biggest prize from the talks, the UK has secured fresh trading terms with Brussels that will reduce post-Brexit checks, so-called SPS checks, on food and drink and, in some cases, remove them entirely. This will significantly reduce queues of lorries at the border, which has been a mainstay since Brexit and has led to fresh produce going to waste.

Crucially, there will be no time limit on the removal of the checks, which No 10 said will give certainty to businesses and reduce the cost of groceries at the till. It is unclear whether the deal means the UK is aligned with EU standards in perpetuity or not, which is a red line for Brexiteers.

Political risk rating: 3/5

How will it impact you?

Shorter queues at key ports such as Dover could make holidays easier by reducing congestion on major motorways and making journeys to the continent via ferry or cruise ship smoother. But this benefit could be reduced if plans for biometric checks at the border for UK travellers still go ahead (more details on that below).

Cheaper supermarket bills will also be a welcome boon to Britons struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

ees brexit brexit checks dover europe travel eu travel
The wait for Dover in July 2023: Queues of up to 14 hours have been recorded in Kent (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty)
Fishing rights
In what appears to have been given in return for the removal of SPS checks is a lengthy extension of access to British coastal waters to EU fishing vessels. The UK originally hoped to provide just four years of access, but has given Brussels 12 years of access until 2038.

UK sources insisted that the terms of the deal were identical to those signed by Boris Johnson before the UK left the bloc in 2019. EU boats will face the same quotas but have access for a longer period.

Despite equating to just 0.03 per cent of the UK economy, fishing looms large in the political arena. The terms are already being branded as a betrayal by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his counterpart in the Tories, Kemi Badenoch.

Political risk rating: 4/5

This picture taken in the harbour of Le Havre, northern France, on October 28, 2021, shows the trawler 'Cornelis-Gert Jan' detained by French authorities. - The British boat's detention comes amid a flare-up in Britain and France's ongoing dispute over fishing rights. This was sparked by licensing rules for EU fishing boats wanting to operate in waters around Britain and the Channel Islands. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP) (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)
The UK fishing boat ‘Cornelis-Gert Jan’ in a French port after being detained. Fishing has always been a totemic issue in the Brexit debate (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)
Passports
A surprise, but very welcome, development is the agreement that British passport holders will be able to use “more” e-gates in Europe. The UK Government hopes this will help end the lengthy queues at border control, as the EU had demanded Brits have their passports stamped when entering the country.

UK sources were doubtful that the system would be up and running in time for the summer getaway, however. Question marks remain as to whether Brits will still have to input their biometrics once the EU’s new electronic entry/exit system comes into play in the autumn, meaning more queues. Pets will also be able to travel more easily with the introduction of pet passports.

Political risk rating: 1/5

How will it impact you?

Removing frustrating airport queues sounds like a successful win for the Government and will be music to the ears of holidaying Britons. Being able to take our pets abroad with less hassle will also be welcome.

But it remains to be seen if a carve-out can be achieved for a more complex biometric system, which could increase delays, as reported in The i Paper.

MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 28: People queue for a taxi at Barajas Airport on April 28, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. There was a widespread power outage today in Spain and Portugal and parts of France. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)
Starmer is resetting Brexit – but your airport queue could still get longer (Photo: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)
Security pact
Starmer will also agree to a new security and defence partnership with the EU, which will allow the UK defence industry to have access to the bloc’s proposed £150bn Security Action for Europe (SAFE) fund set up in response to the growing threat from Russia and the US’s pivot away from defence for Europe. This was seen as the most straightforward element of the deal to get over the line. Brexiteers are angry that it might mean the UK having to pay to gain access to the fund, however.

Political risk rating: 2/5

Emissions trade
Both the UK and EU have agreed to closer co-operation on emissions through linking respective Emissions Trading Systems, which the UK claims will improve the UK’s energy security and avoid businesses being hit by the EU’s carbon tax due to come in next year. This would have resulted in £800m being sent directly to the EU’s budget. Officials say that the ETS, combined with the deal on SPS, will boost the UK economy by nearly £9bn by 2040.

British steel exports will also be protected from new EU rules and restrictive tariffs, through a bespoke arrangement for the UK that will save UK steel £25m per year.

Political risk rating: 1/5

SCUNTHORPE, ENGLAND - APRIL 12: An aerial general view of the British Steel Scunthorpe site on April 12, 2025 in Scunthorpe, England. Parliamentarians are recalled to the House of Commons for an emergency Saturday session to debate the uncertain future of British Steel amid fears Britain's last operating blast furnace at the Chinese-owned plant in Scunthorpe could close as soon as next month. (Photo by Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images)
The British Steel Scunthorpe site (Photo: Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images)
Migrant data
One of the areas that has been agreed in principle but both sides have yet to get over the line is giving the UK access to EU migrant data, including facial images data, DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data. The UK is eager to be allowed access as it will allow police and security services to catch dangerous criminals and ensure they face justice more quickly. Talks will continue on this aspect.

Political risk rating: 1/5

Youth mobility
Another area that failed to get fully agreed upon is the thorny issue of youth mobility. Both sides have agreed to continue talks on the issue, which is being branded a “youth experience scheme”, with “mobility” quietly being erased.

The UK says any scheme will be capped and time-limited, but the details of this are being contested by Brussels. The scheme could end up being the most contentious for the Government with Brexiteers warning it will amount to “free movement by the backdoor”.

Political risk rating: 4/5

How will it impact you?

If you are aged between 18 and 30 and want to work or study in the EU, a youth mobility scheme with Brussels could offer you the opportunity to do so without complex visa arrangements.

Those working in certain sectors, such as hospitality, could find this scheme beneficial in filling gaps in the workforce. Another example could be parents seeking au pairs, who are typically of the age the youth experience scheme would be aimed at, to look after their children as a cheaper alternative to expensive nursery fees. It could also be seen as a way to help their family learn from another culture and exchange language skills.
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1. 12 YEARS access to wishing waters.
2. Steel exports not subject to EU carbon emissions tax.
3. Access to EU security fund (which we might have to pay into).
4. Less travel restrictions for UK passport holders.
5. Perma reduction in food safety checks to make food exports from UK into EU easier.
 
Kier Starmer said:
Starmer erasing Brexit galvanizes Lowe and Farage immensely. To do so, a WEEK after declaring the UK a nation of strangers is not only one of the most fucking retarded political moves I have seen in my lifetime but puts him in a fucked position.

The Redwall rebellion is the biggest caucus in the party and is actively pissed at him. They even reject Andy Burnham as they see him as part of the problem, as he did not challenge Starmer and offer leadership. A lot of those Redwall constituents are anti-EU.

He has not only enacted a faction civil war at this point, but given your considerable opposition ammunition. I am now convinced he is doing this purely for damage and spite because he knows it's over.
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I assume that these changes will not come in straight away, but from 2026.

I reckon you are right, Starmer is now going scorched earth as he knows the rebellion is coming.

Talking with a gentleman at Wembley on the weekend who has family members in the Civil Service, they are quite confident that there will be a change of Government before the Autumn as 'Labour have no idea about the Civil Service procedures and are just doing whatever they want, creating mess and refusing to listen to politically impartial advisors who are impartial and have over 20 years of experience (or more) of procedures.'

This deal has more or less won Nigel the keys to No. 10 and Ed the LOTO position.

Bravo, Agent Keir!
 
I used to be in IT, and we had a lot of former coppers with 20+ experience who said 4 years ago the police were beyond saving. Now one of my clients for whom I do the books for his son, who is new on the force for 6 months and already has regrets. He is young but said it's a wreck with morale in the gutter and new recruits leaving because it's just paperwork and not solving any actual crime. The lad in question is someone in our camp lets say and said he has seen so much crap about online crap and a lot of free speech stomping. It seems a lot of the force detest doing this stuff as they don't find it fair.

I used to work in the local council in finance, and from my contact list, with whom I share pleasantries with, they said they have lost so many staff. Councillors are pissed about the Serco deal as it will knock every single council into overspend. The increasing spending on illegals and migrants has pushed spending into overdrive, where the costs cannot be recouped. On top of that, several local councils are selling their main offices to dry and claw back revenue in the sale to put them in the black, so as not to affect their loans. They have huge staffing issues and are forcing finance staff to do admin work on top of their duties, with staff leaving in droves due to burnout.

A family member recently left the military and said the new recruits are leaving before even completing training due to pay and disagreeing with the government's intent in using the military. One of the issues is a potential civil war, and you know the military dislike Pakis immensensly.

The civil services are beyond fucked.
 
Funnily enough the police and the council aren't part of the civil service.

What this probably means is that the DWP, Tax office, MoJ etc. are sick of learning a brand new process that takes months to perfect only to have it scrapped or changed out of the blue. Many Civil Servants aren't just waiting around for work, they're dealing with their workload AND training for new things on the side. Plus Civil Service pay is mainly around the pension as entry pay is legitimately minimum wage in some fields. Cranking up the workload while keeping pay static and ALSO making it harder to hire anyone else to ease the burdens with the NI increases and minimum wage increases and forced cuts to Civil Service budgets essentially mean that if 10 people were doing the work of 12 people before, now it looks like 8 people will be doing the work of 12 people.

I'll say this though, a LOT of departments need a kick up the arse because of how ineffective they are, mainly because they're filled with wives who view it as a second source of income for the family who have been working there for 20 years and have watched technology outpace them. They're unsackable, they don't know what the fuck they're doing and it's impossible to teach them anything new. That and the perma sick notes. You know the ones, they have kids and suspiciously fall ill just in time for the Summer holidays so they get paid to babysit their kids and go to Disneyland.

My gut feeling is you could raise the wages and cut staff to offset it and still be doing better with the workload easier to manage if the Civil Service had a mandatory computer literacy test in the interview. It'd cut out all the fucking timewasters who can talk a good talk but can't touch type and need to hit CAPS LOCK to capitalise anything.
 
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