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."

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.

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.

 

[Smyrna]

Burnham has been chosen as the Labour candidate in Makerfield and Reform are sticking with Robert Kenyon, their 2024 candidate and a council seat winner at the start of the month.

 

[AssignedEva]

He means the bloke in the video. He does look Nepali to me, too.

Whoops, misread that post.

Writing with spray paint is a lot different than writing with a pen. However a few social media comments suggested that it was not done by Muslims. I counter that they are fucking retarded and can't write on a good day. Have you seen how ugly the graffiti they leave around town centres is?

Basically what they've done is tried to write this:

which is what it looks like in a typeface, but someone who writes Arabic would typically write it more like this

The floaty bits and the last letter can vary (the floaty bits are vowels, which are mostly optional).
So I reckon it's someone who doesn't know how to write Arabic, it doesn't flow like they know how to write it and copied it down from the internet. Kinda like the difference between a lowercase letter g in writing and print:

and it'd look weird if you wrote out a double story g (but a Japanese person trying to copy English text might).
That doesn't preclude it being a Muslim writing it, I'm pretty sure most Muslims approach Classic Arabic like Catholics approached Latin, and aren't necessarily taught to write it, just how to pronounce it.

 

[Heinrich Maneuver]

Whoops, misread that post.

Basically what they've done is tried to write this:
View attachment 9027235
which is what it looks like in a typeface, but someone who writes Arabic would typically write it more like this
View attachment 9027242View attachment 9027244
The floaty bits and the last letter can vary (the floaty bits are vowels, which are mostly optional).
So I reckon it's someone who doesn't know how to write Arabic, it doesn't flow like they know how to write it and copied it down from the internet. Kinda like the difference between a lowercase letter g in writing and print:
View attachment 9027246
and it'd look weird if you wrote out a double story g (but a Japanese person trying to copy English text might).
That doesn't preclude it being a Muslim writing it, I'm pretty sure most Muslims approach Classic Arabic like Catholics approached Latin, and aren't necessarily taught to write it, just how to pronounce it.

informative as always, but why does a Xth generation Londoner know the ins and outs of arabic? Post your hands. (i kid)

Some men have chainsawed down the trees on Digbeth High Street. Small Heath and Highgate Police have the men on CCTV, clearly identifiable, but we shall see. Local news, I know, but the endless destruction of anything good or joyful... they didn't even take the trees, they just left them there. My street had tulips and birch trees planted by a local man, and a man ripped them all up. His face is now plastered everywhere to warn people about him.


The BBC is getting pushback for publishing an article defending Afghani men selling their daughters to feed their sons (X). In the words of the great Pagliacci the Hated, why are Afghan men applying for asylum in the west? what are they fleeing from, oppressing women?

As dawn breaks, hundreds of men gather at a dusty square in Chaghcharan, the capital of Ghor province in Afghanistan.

They line the roadside with weary faces, hoping someone will come along offering any work. It will determine whether their families eat that day.

The likelihood of success, however, is low.

Juma Khan, 45, has found just three days of work in the past six weeks that paid between 150 to 200 Afghani ($2.35-$3.13; £1.76-£2.34) per day.

"My children went to bed hungry three nights in a row. My wife was crying, so were my children. So I begged a neighbour for some money to buy flour," he says.

"I live in fear that my children will die of hunger."

His story is in no way unique.

Warning: This article contains distressing details

In Afghanistan today, a staggering three in four people cannot meet their basic needs, according to the United Nations. Unemployment is rife, healthcare struggling and the aid that once provided the basics for millions has dwindled to a fraction of what it once was.

The country is now facing record levels of hunger, with 4.7 million - more than a tenth of Afghanistan's population - estimated to be one step away from famine.

Ghor is one of the worst-affected provinces.

The men here are desperate.

"I got a call saying my children hadn't eaten for two days," says Rabani, his voice choking up.

"I felt like I should kill myself. But then I thought how will that help my family? So here I am looking for work."

Khwaja Ahmad barely gets out a few words before he starts sobbing.

"We are starving. My older children died, so I need to work to feed my family. But I'm old, so no one wants to give me work," he says.

When a local bakery near the square opens up, the owner distributes stale bread among the crowd. Within seconds, the loaves have been pulled apart, half a dozen men clutching onto precious pieces.

Suddenly another scrum occurs. A man on a motorcycle comes by wanting to hire one labourer to carry bricks. Dozens of men throw themselves at him.

In the two hours we were there, only three men got hired.

In the communities nearby - bare homes scattered over barren, brown hills, set against the snowy peaks of the Siah Koh mountain range - the devastating impact of unemployment is clear.

Abdul Rashid Azimi takes us into his home and brings out two of his children – seven-year-old twins Roqia and Rohila. He holds them close, eager to explain why he's making unbearable choices.

"I'm willing to sell my daughters," he weeps. "I'm poor, in debt and helpless.

"I come home from work with parched lips, hungry, thirsty, distressed and confused. My children come to me saying 'Baba, give us some bread'. But what can I give? Where is the work?"

Abdul tells us he is willing to sell his girls for marriage, or for domestic work. "If I sell one daughter, I could feed the rest of my children for at least four years," he says.

He hugs Rohila, kissing her as he cries. "It breaks my heart, but it's the only way."

"All we have to eat is bread and hot water, not even tea," says their mother, Kayhan.

The choice to sell daughters over sons, is because culturally sons are widely seen as future breadwinners, and here in Afghanistan, with the Taliban's restrictions on education and work for women and girls, it is even more pronounced.

Additionally, there is a tradition in which a marital gift is given to the family of the girl from the family of the boy during marriage.

Two of Abdul and Kayhan's teenage sons work polishing shoes in the town centre. Another collects rubbish, which Kayhan uses as fuel for cooking.

Saeed Ahmad tells us he has already been forced to sell his five-year-old daughter, Shaiqa, after she got appendicitis and a cyst in her liver.

"I had no money to pay the medical expenses. So I sold my daughter to a relative," he says.

Shaiqa's surgery was successful. The money for it came from the 200,000 Afghani ($3,200; £2,400) she has been sold for.

"If I had taken the whole sum at that time, he would have taken her away. So I told him just give me enough for her treatment now, and in the next five years you can give me the rest after which you can take her. She will become his daughter-in-law," explains Saeed.

Shaiqa puts her tiny arms around his neck. Their close bond is evident, but in five years, when she is just 10, she will have to leave and go to the relative's home to marry one of his sons.

"If I had money, I would never have taken this decision," Saeed says. "But then I thought, what if she dies without the surgery?

"Giving away your child at such a young age, carries a lot of anxiety. Underage [marriages] have their problems; however, because I couldn't pay for her treatment, I was thinking, at least she will be alive."

The practice of underage marriage remains widespread in Afghanistan and is increasing due to the Taliban government's bar on education for girls.

Just two years ago, Saeed was getting some help.

Back then, he and his family – like millions of other Afghans - received food aid: flour, cooking oil, lentils and supplements for children.

But massive cuts in aid over the past few years have deprived a large majority of this life-saving assistance.

The US – once the top donor to Afghanistan – cut nearly all aid to the country last year. Many other key donors have also significantly reduced contributions, including the UK. Current UN figures show that the aid received so far this year is 70% lower than in 2025.

Severe drought – which has affected more than half the provinces in the country - is compounding problems.

"We've had help from no one - not the government, not NGOs," says villager Abdul Malik.

The Taliban government, which seized power in 2021, also places blame at the door of Afghanistan's previous administration – forced out as foreign forces withdrew from the country.

"During the 20 years of invasion, an artificial economy was created due to the influx of US dollars," Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, tells the BBC.

"After the end of the invasion, we inherited poverty, hardship, unemployment and other problems."

However, the Taliban's own policies, particularly its restrictions against women, are also a key reason why donors are turning away.

When asked, the Taliban government rejected any responsibility for donors walking away, stating instead that "humanitarian assistance should not be politicised".

Fitrat also points to Taliban plans "to reduce poverty and create jobs by implementing major economic projects", naming a few infrastructure and mining projects.

But while long-term projects might help one day, it is clear that there are millions who will simply not survive without urgent assistance.

Like Mohammad Hashem, whose 14-month-old baby girl died a few weeks ago.

"My child died of hunger and a lack of medicine... When a child is sick and hungry, it is obvious they will die," he says.

A local elder says that child mortality, mainly due to malnutrition, has "really gone up" in the last two years.

Here, though, there are no formal records of deaths. The graveyard is the only place to find evidence of a surge in child deaths. And so, like we've done in the past, we counted the small and big graves separately. There were roughly twice as many small graves as big ones – suggesting twice as many children as adults.


There was more evidence at the main provincial hospital in Chaghcharan.

The neonatal, or newborn, unit is the busiest. Every bed is full, some with two babies in them. Most of them are underweight and a majority are struggling to breathe on their own.

A nurse wheels in a small cot with newborn twin girls. They're two months premature. One weighs 2kg, the other just 1kg.

They're in a critical condition and were immediately put on oxygen.

Their mother, 22-year-old Shakila, is recovering in the maternity ward.

"She is weak because she had barely anything to eat when she was carrying them, just bread and tea," the twins' grandmother Gulbadan explains. "That's why the babies are in such a condition."

A few hours after we left the hospital that day, the heavier baby died before she could even be named.

"The doctors tried to help her but she died," her stricken grandmother says the next day.

"I wrapped her tiny body up and took her home. When her mother found out, she fainted."

Gulbadan points to the surviving baby, adding: "I hope she at least survives."

Nurse Fatima Husseini says there are days when as many as three babies die.

"In the beginning, I found it very hard when I saw children dying. But now it has almost become normal for us," she says.

Dr Muhammad Mosa Oldat, who runs the neonatal unit, says the mortality rate climbs as high as 10%, which is "not acceptable".

"But because of poverty, the patient load is increasing every day," he says. "And here we also don't have the resources to treat the babies properly."

In the paediatric intensive care unit, six-week-old Zameer is suffering from meningitis and pneumonia. Both are curable, but doctors would need to conduct an MRI scan and they don't have the right equipment.

But perhaps the most shocking thing the medics tell us is that the public hospital doesn't have medicine for most patients, with families having to buy their medication from pharmacies outside.

"Sometimes, if medicines are left over from the baby of a better-off family, we use it for the babies whose families cannot afford it," Fatima says.

A lack of money is forcing many families to make tough decisions.

Gulbadan's surviving granddaughter put on a little weight and her breathing stabilised. But a few days later, her family took her home. They simply couldn't afford to keep her in hospital.

Baby Zameer was also taken home by his parents for the same reason.

Their tiny bodies will now have to fight the battle to survive all on their own.
Additional reporting by Imogen Anderson, Mahfouz Zubaide and Sanjay Ganguly

Other news I guess. Shabana is cracking down on High street gangs. Even Channel 4 is reporting about it now. Speaking of C4, to no ones surprise, a bunch of women from 'Married at First Sight' have come forward about being raped. I'm shocked.

 

[SIMIΔN]

Afghani men selling their daughters to feed their sons

I've defended Indian arranged marriages between two children, as it basically solidifies alliances between clans.

But when the father is poor, the girl would be nothing but an adult pervert's plaything. Sheer horror,

 

[BongoMongo]

Hey, anyone else remember when Farage said those dodgy high street shops selling vapes /doing phone repair / dodgy barbers were money laundering fronts, and everyone lost their minds and called him racist?

Does this mean labour are now racist?

 

[StimulatedOrb]

The BBC is getting pushback for publishing an article defending Afghani men selling their daughters to feed their sons (X). In the words of the great Pagliacci the Hated, why are Afghan men applying for asylum in the west? what are they fleeing from, oppressing women?

Lol, its a good and wholesome story. I hope people can put the dots together and work out that these fathers selling their daughters are only doing that because they are poor, if they had means, they would be the ones buying daughters.

Always amazes me in these stories how they are so victim framed, when really it should highlight how this is who these people are, and we want more of them in our country to continue their noble practice of rape and pedophilia.

 

[brocktherock]

Late as fuck about the Ramadan stuff but consider this my local browness check: I went to the local ASDA a while back, I don't usually shop there, and like others itt I got freaked out at how the entire building was dedicated to it. How many years has that been normal? This is the UK, we shouldn't give a fuck about majdool dates here. I bother to keep up with city news and noticed whenever there's something about family events, social services or schools, they spam the brown kids. Every single photo on a leaflet or image on a website is 99% brown, with not even a token white child. They put on the fluffy song and dance about community and togetherness while the picture they use is of junior school aged girls already dressed in their shitty bin bag head scarves with creepy dead eyed stares. Funnily enough, they did that this week specifically for the shithole ward that everyone knows is the dumping ground for new migrants and that you'll get your shit or your virginity stolen walking around there after dark. Not sure what "reducing crime" and "improving safety" have to do with children but Islam is the common denominator!

I left the ASDA. Had to go through the mall whose original soul has been dead for as long as I can remember. Now it's got that trashy plastic "world market" vibe where it's crowded full of browns manning hawker stalls like they haven't heard of a building with 4 walls to stare at the brightly coloured Chinese vapes or at YOU. The cherry on top was seeing a muzzie guy dressed up in a waistcoat manning a glowing desk, selling oud right next to all this crap.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

I left the ASDA. Had to go through the mall

Good trick finding an Asda in America.

 

[Clem Fandango]

Good trick finding an Asda in America.

He probably just means the road in front of Buckingham Palace.

 

[femboy fart huffer]

Small Heath and Highgate Police have the men on CCTV, clearly identifiable, but we shall see.

'men'?

I mean I'm betting on foreigners or at least some sort of city faggot just from the inability to cut down a tree properly. The tearing reminds me of many videos of indians cutting down trees improperly and the tree tears for the final third and it ends up going in some off direction and crushes someone.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

Time to have a home grown turd after all this talk of foreigners. I'm not going to pretend to be unbiased, dangerous road users can all be hurled into a furnace. This rancid stain, Billy Stokoe, was on drugs, ran a zebra crossing on his e-bike while looking at his phone, wiped out an 86 year old great grandmother who was walking her dog and fled the scene while she bled to death.

BBC article providing general summary which I won't post because I want the less restrained news.

https://archive.ph/Ig8L5

https://archive.ph/TdEAb

Remorseless electric yob Billy Stokoe wanted to watch Sunderland play at Wembley just days after killing a beloved great-grandmother with his reckless riding. Gloria Stephenson's daughters said more misery was piled onto their heartbroken family when they discovered that, after being arrested over their mum's death, the teen had been concerned his bail conditions would have prevented him from going to the play-off final.


Then, after being charged with causing 86-year-old Gloria's death, Stokoe unsuccessfully applied to magistrates to vary his bail conditions so he could go on holiday abroad, the Chronicle understands.

Close. But I need to go trashier. I'm going to the Mirror for this shit.

https://archive.ph/rw1EN

Chilling footage captured the moment a drugged-up e-biker fled the scene after hitting and killing a great-grandmother on a zebra crossing.

Billy Stokoe, 19, was jailed for six years and nine months after colliding with 86-year-old Gloria Stephenson while riding at speed, high on cannabis and reading messages on a mobile phone in his left hand - despite the left-sided brake being the only one that worked. The force of the impact killed the devoted mother of four and grandmother of 13 instantly in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, on May 16 last year.

Roadside cameras captured Stokoe hitting Ms Stephenson and being thrown from his high-powered £4,000 Sur-Ron Light Bee X bike, which was being ridden illegally on public roads. He was then seen removing his balaclava and running over to see his victim lying on the ground before getting back on the bike and fleeing the scene.

Stokoe was arrested after his mother took him to a police station to hand himself in. His first words were: "Is she dead?"

At Newcastle Crown Court on Friday, Stokoe was sentenced after he previously admitted causing death by dangerous driving, causing death while driving unlicensed and causing death while driving an uninsured vehicle.

He will serve up to half of his sentence before becoming eligible for release on licence and will be banned from driving for five years after his release.

Ms Stephenson's family spoke of the devastating loss of a "beautiful, intelligent, fiercely independent" great-grandmother with a "zest for life". She died while walking her daughter's dog to complete her 10,000 daily steps.

Ms Stephenson, who had been widowed three times, had enjoyed a successful career in the NHS. Her four daughters described her as fit and active, saying she was about to go on a holiday to Lanzarote, where she had a "huge circle of friends".

Ms Stephenson's daughter, Lisa Trench, said: "You, on your illegal, defective bike. You, speeding. You, on your phone. You, under the influence of cannabis. Mam didn’t stand a chance."

Another daughter, Julie Francis, said: "He ran off and left her like she was nothing. I don't know what he will do in the future, but he will never ever hold a light to our mum. He is just a coward, thinking only of himself. He left her alone to die like she was rubbish in the gutter."

Ms Stephenson's family condemned Stokoe's lack of remorse, telling the court that eight days after killing her, Stokoe went to Wembley to watch Sunderland play and then applied for his bail to be amended so he could go abroad on holiday. They also condemned the fact it took three Crown Court appearances before he entered a guilty plea.

Ms Francis said: "We had to go to Crown Court three times before he admitted his guilt, which I find disgusting. Obviously, it is traumatic for us but it wastes public money and police time. There is no consideration for the community and for people suffering.

"Ten days after he killed my mother, he actually applied to have his bail changed so he could go and see Sunderland in the play offs at Wembley. And then he applied to go on holiday as well. So this young man showed no remorse whatsoever.

"And that just adds to our trauma and our anger really. We have all seen these bikes on the streets and they are a menace. So the law needs to be changed."

Another daughter, Janine Murphy, added: "Even when we were planning the funeral, he was asking about the holiday he had booked before he killed our mother. It was like it was an inconvenience - 'I've just killed somebody and I need to go on holiday'. That's not a remorseful person."


Superintendent Billy Mulligan, of Northumbria Police, who led the investigation, said Stokoe had been seen riding dangerously around Sunderland and weaving through traffic shortly before the collision.

He described it as an "accident waiting to happen", saying: "These bikes are very fast, they can go from 0 to 60 mph faster than most cars."

Supt Mulligan said: "He was seen riding the bike at speed for most of the day. Footage before the incident shows him riding without using his hands, without using the brake, weaving in and out of traffic, and going around parked and moving cars.

"Billy ignored the normal route, overtook, and hit Gloria Stephenson on the zebra crossing. The first thing he does is go back, get on his bike and then realise what he has done.

"Members of the public are helping Gloria but he gets back on his bike and leaves the area. CCTV shows him fleeing to an associate's address, where he hides the bike and walks away as if nothing happened. His own mother tells him to turn himself in. He admitted causing death by dangerous driving."

 

[Mussolini’s Merkin]

Billy Stokoe, 19, was jailed for six years and nine months [...] He will serve up to half of his sentence before becoming eligible for release on licence and will be banned from driving for five years after his release.

So this murdering chav fuck will get out when he's 22/23 and be back behind the wheel when he is 28. Absolutely disgusting, just utterly wrong, the criminal justice system is so broken. Yes, I know that it's been like this for years but it doesn't make it any better.

 

[femboy fart huffer]

So this murdering chav fuck will get out when he's 22/23 and be back behind the wheel when he is 28. Absolutely disgusting, just utterly wrong, the criminal justice system is so broken. Yes, I know that it's been like this for years but it doesn't make it any better.

Wouldn't he need to get a license again though? You'd need to add at least a decade on your time estimates for that.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

So this murdering chav fuck will get out when he's 22/23 and be back behind the wheel when he is 28.

Guaranteed he will appeal out the driving ban.

For added depression he does not work but has the spare money for drugs, e-bikes and football tickets.

 

[brocktherock]

Good trick finding an Asda in America.

It's the UK post 2010, trying to identify fakers by Americanisms won't do you much good. It was literally called a mall for years.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

It's the UK post 2010, trying to identify fakers by Americanisms won't do you much good. It was literally called a mall for years.

The average shopping centre really hasn't been called that at all by more people. It's Americans refusing to assimilate or people drowning in Americanisms saying that.

There's the Mall in Wood Green and Maidstone but that looks more like a wannabe brand. Also neither looks to be near an Asda.

 

[the printer is outo fink]

The average shopping centre really hasn't been called that at all by more people. It's Americans refusing to assimilate or people drowning in Americanisms saying that.

As far as I know, in the original, non-American context, mall means the pedestrian area between the shops and it can be indoors or outdoors. So shopping centres have malls within them, and over time Americans just started referring to the whole building of a shopping centre by the word for the promenade areas. It's not a word we use a lot here, but it's not wrong if talking specifically about that area between the shops.

 

[Clem Fandango]

As far as I know, in the original, non-American context, mall means the pedestrian area between the shops and it can be indoors or outdoors. So shopping centres have malls within them, and over time Americans just started referring to the whole building of a shopping centre by the word for the promenade areas. It's not a word we use a lot here, but it's not wrong if talking specifically about that area between the shops.

So, basically a ginnel then?

 

[Mussolini’s Merkin]

So, basically a ginnel then?

Snicket or ginnel is getting dangerously close to the bap debate…

 

[the printer is outo fink]

So, basically a ginnel then?

Isn't a ginnel a laneway between houses or along the back of houses? A mall is like an arcade, in the original retail context, except a mall can be outside or inside, whereas an arcade has to have a roof.