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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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CWCissey said:
Lol Queenie doesn't care as long as she outlives Charles.
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Best watch it, she is always waiting and every year you gain puts you closer, you think those cards she sends when you get to +100 are for fun? That's some time delayed anthrax in them son.

Edit: and then there are the scientists who vanished after discovering that covid actually came from corgies and the queen just so happens to have 19 of them, that's right it's actually Corgi-19
 
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She's actually trying to outlive the EU. She outlived Germany's second attempt and she's damn well going to outlive No. 3.
 
Clem Fandango said:
I'm reading an article on the BBC about how Ursula Von Der Leyen is coming "under pressure" to resign over the whole shitshow over Northern Ireland, and more broadly the slowness of the commission to order and approve vaccines. But all I'm thinking is "from who?". I'm sure other Eurocrats are sending furious messages in their WhatsApp groups about how this incompetent bint has put their collective gravy train under scrutiny by spastically flailing in all directions, but what mechanism do "EU Citizens" have to oust an incompetent commission leader?
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Well this was part of the reason people were for Brexit, there's very little you can do about the majority of the EU brass - the only part where Citizens have involvement is voting for MEPs to send over, which is mostly a grift anyway. They only get to vote on certain things and Brussels gives them loads of free perks on trips over so they can be like "look at all the free drinks! the fancy meals! the parties! - man wouldn't that suck if you suddenly couldn't have any of this anymore huh?"

But yeah, there's nothing EU citizens can do about the shitty vaccine commission and I've rarely heard of an EU commissioner willing to fall on their sword in these sorts of cases. At best maybe there might be a shuffle and Der Leyen gets quietly replaced. But the Eurocrats won't openly slate her or make her resignation super public as they see that as playing into the hands of the critics.

CWCissey said:
Chris Evans, a long time broadcaster notorious for slacking, Matt LeBlanc, an amateur car fan and Joey from Friends, he did his best bless him, and some rally driver I think, I can't remember his name.

Now it's terminal lad and staple of shit TV Paddy McGuiness, ex-cricketer Freddy Flintoff and some other dude, I don't know.
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Chris Evans is really good with projects where Chris Evans is the main attraction and he has some level of say, but also strong enough producers to rein him in. He's remembered well for Big Breakfast as his big break, but he actually would bunk off the show half the time to leave Gabby Roslin and the rotating door of male presenters to keep it chugging along.

It didn't help that Chris angled for the job on twitter from the very moment he heard Clarkson and co were gone like a damn vulture and then proceeded to piss off the fanbase. Of that season generally people got peeved because Chris generally seemed to just like bragging about the cars he owns, regardless what you think of Clarkson - even with his inflated sense of self he could actually talk about the car or be somewhat amusing.

Matt LeBlanc was a weird one, I guess he just really liked the UK after doing Extras and heading up the Beebs big IP sounded neat. But he was also surprisingly dry as a presenter. But overall there was no chemistry between the replacement 3, the production team couldn't really deliver to the same level as well. Once upon a time, regular TG and Who marathons were BBC America's bread and butter, now they mostly survive on Attenborough Docs and Star Trek reruns.
 

Media Regulator Bans China's CGTN Satellite Channel From Airing in UK​

The U.K. media regulator Ofcom on Thursday banned Chinese state media giant CGTN from broadcasting in the country, citing violations of its license conditions.

Ofcom announced the move in a statement on its website, saying its investigation had concluded that CGTN's license was "wrongfully held" by Star China Media.

"We have decided it is appropriate to revoke the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the U.K.," the agency said, adding that further investigations into impartiality and privacy complaints would be concluded soon.

"In the U.K., broadcasting laws ... state that broadcast licensees must have control over the licensed service – including editorial oversight over the programs they show," the statement said. "In addition, under these laws, license holders cannot be controlled by political bodies."

It said a probe into the ownership structure of CGTN had found that Star China Media had no editorial responsibility for the satellite TV station's output, while an alternative license-holder proposed by CGTN was rejected as unsuitable.

"We have been unable to grant an application to transfer the license to an entity called China Global Television Network Corporation (CGTNC) ... because crucial information was missing from the application, and because ... it is controlled by a body which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)," Ofcom said.

It said that since September 2020, CGTN had repeatedly failed to respond to important questions, or to offer any update linked to its claim that the ownership issue would soon be resolved by corporate restructuring.

Almost immediately, China said it had lodged "stern representations" to the BBC over its coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing the broadcaster of "politicizing" the pandemic and putting out "fake news."

China's foreign ministry said the BBC should "stop harboring ideological bias, stop smearing China, uphold professional ethics, and do objective, fair reporting on China."


Broadcasting forced confessions

But a rights group that has campaigned against CGTN over its involvement in forced, televized "confessions" welcomed the news.

"CCP propaganda @CGTNOfficial is finally kicked out of #UK after years of @SafeguardDefend campaigns against its #forcedconfessions, breaches of privacy and the fact - that it is illegally broadcasting because it's controlled by a political body," the rights group Safeguard Defenders said via its Twitter account on Thursday.

The group said in an August 2020 report to the United Nations that state media organizations and Chinese state security police had produced dozens of televised forced "confessions" in the years since CCP general secretary Xi Jinping took power, often involving severe duress and torture.

Safeguard Defenders listed a total of 87 televised confessions between July 2013 and January 2020, many of which were the result of "extreme physical or emotional coercion."

It said detainees were kept in conditions that create immense stress and feelings of fear, including months of solitary confinement, and were regularly sleep deprived under lights that are kept switched on 24 hours a day.

Some had undergone hours of interrogation during which they were subjected to beatings, electric batons, restraints, and denial of bathroom breaks.

As well as being broadcast on state TV in China, several "confessions" were broadcast on China’s overseas Communist Party TV channels, including CGTN/CCTV-9 in English and CCTV-4 in Chinese, or by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong media, Safeguard Defenders said.

Ofcom has already upheld a complaint from former British journalist and private investigator Peter Humphrey against CGTN for treating him unfairly and infringing his privacy when it filmed his "confession" to alleged violations of privacy.

China Global Television Network (CGTN) is a group of six international language channels launched by CCTV on Dec. 31, 2016, under the aegis of the Central Propaganda Department.

It was tasked with the enhancement of China's international broadcasting capacities with disseminating the CCP's guiding principles and policies, according to publicly available documents at the time.

In February 2020, the U.S. State Department designated five Chinese state media entities including CGTN "foreign missions," meaning that they are considered to be the official representatives of a foreign government on U.S. soil.
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Racist Trash said:
The true horror of Brexit revealed, more jobs in the UK.
www.bbc.co.uk

More Cadbury Dairy Milk production to return to Bournville

It means a £15m investment in Cadbury's Birmingham plant by owners Mondelez International.
www.bbc.co.uk
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More chocolate produced by brits, Swiss and Belgians now on suicide watch.
bot_for_hire said:

Media Regulator Bans China's CGTN Satellite Channel From Airing in UK​

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I had no idea up until this point China broadcast in the UK? It’s not like anybody who wants to keep on watching couldn’t do so online like after Fox News got shit canned.
 
No.10 send royal scroungers up north to save the union...?

Revealed: Secret No 10 plan to send Prince Edward to live in Edinburgh palace in attempt to quash rising support for SNP and another independence referendum​

  • No 10 wanted Edward and his wife to relocate to Scotland to save the Union
  • It came amid a surge in the polls for the SNP calling for a referendum
  • The couple have lived at Bagshot Park, Surrey, since their 1999 wedding

    Royals called Edward don’t always have the best reputation north of the border. Edward I earned the nickname Hammer of the Scots for his fondness for going to war against them, while his son Edward II was famously thrashed by the forces of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn.

    So would our present Prince Edward really be the man to send to Edinburgh to smooth modern-day tensions between the two countries? The wheeze was dreamt up last year by Downing Street officials alarmed at the Scottish National Party surging in the polls amid growing calls for a new independence referendum.

    They wanted Edward and his wife the Countess of Wessex to relocate to Scotland in an effort to save the Union. It came as aides working for Boris Johnson considered how the Royal Family could help bolster ties between all four nations of the UK. One mooted idea was to make Edward and Sophie the public face of the royals in Scotland. The couple would have taken up full-time residence at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, to lead efforts to increase the number of royal engagements there.

    The UK Government is increasingly concerned about the threat to the Union as Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP appears to be on course for a landslide in may’s Scottish parliament elections.

    The First Minister has said that if the SNP wins a majority she will push forward with a referendum, regardless of whether Westminster gives her the go-ahead. Mr Johnson has repeatedly insisted he will not allow another vote, arguing that the 2014 vote was a once in a generation decision. But 20 consecutive opinion polls have now shown the Yes campaign ahead.

    Amid anxiety in No 10, Mr Johnson this week drafted in trusted aide Oliver Lewis to take charge of the fight to save the Union. He was deputy to Lord Frost in the Brexit negotiating team.

    David Cameron said the Queen had ‘purred down the line’ when he phoned her to tell her the result.
    Each summer the Queen spends around 12 weeks at her Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, although she did not last year because of coronavirus. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall isolated at Birkhall, their nearby Scottish home, during the first lockdown.

    A Downing Street source last night said no formal request had been made to the Palace for Edward and Sophie to move to Scotland. Buckingham Palace said it was unaware of the proposal.​
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Wouldn't shock me if this was a plan at some point, seems like something that they would come up with being how out of touch they are.
 
Ly Erg said:
No.10 send royal scroungers up north to save the union...?


Wouldn't shock me if this was a plan at some point, seems like something that they would come up with being how out of touch they are.
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Well it's the best available option really...

Charles and Camilla are busy with Wales, William and Kate are too valuable, Harry and Sparkles are already in exile, Anne would tell them to fuck off and sending Andrew would lead to independence straight away.

Edinburgh has a big theatre scene doesn't it? Edward will love it.
 
Yo. Who elected fucking Billy Bunting?

(https://archive.is/jiJOf)
UK officials have begun an internal investigation after thousands of pounds were spent buying high-priced chocolate on a government-funded agency credit card a few days before Christmas.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) started its probe into a potential breach of its finance policies after Insider made it aware that £6,248.40 was spent on a corporate credit card at Hotel Chocolat, a luxury brand chocolatier, on a single day.
The transaction, dating from December 21, is included in the ICO's corporate charge payments in excess of £500 for the 2020-21 tax year. The chocolate purchase is the single largest transaction made on an ICO corporate credit card in the last 10 months.
Most of the other amounts charged to the ICO's corporate credit card are for adverts, job listings, and web design. The ICO is an independent, government-funded agency that regulates data use, privacy issues, and the Freedom of Information Act.
After being asked by Insider what the agency bought from the chocolate shop for its money, an ICO spokesperson said: "This payment is currently subject to an internal investigation."
They added: "We believe that the transaction has been made contrary to ICO policies. The ICO is committed to upholding high standards in all aspects of our financial management and controls. Should a contravention of our finance policies be confirmed, we will take appropriate action, including ensuring the payment is reimbursed."
FOI experts were unimpressed
"My experience of the ICO is that the case officers are great," said John Slater, an FOI campaigner. "They have ridiculous workloads and get far more right than they get wrong.
"The management team, on the other hand, I'm not impressed with," Slater added. "I don't know what's worse: the fact that someone who had access to the credit card did this, or that they thought it was OK."
The most expensive chocolate available on the Hotel Chocolat website is a 147-piece collection of solid and filled chocolates and biscuits, called The Signature Cabinet. At £170, the allegedly free-spending ICO employee under investigation could have bought 36 Signature Cabinets.
The ICO is funded through a combination of private organizations who pay a "data protection fee," similar to a tax on all companies who process personal data, and grants from public money. In the 2019-20 tax year, the ICO received £4.6 million of funding from the UK government – around 10% of the total funding it receives.
Jon Baines, who is chair of the National Association of Data Protection Officers, told Insider: "On the face of it, it looks extraordinary that someone at the ICO made a £6,000 card payment to Hotel Chocolat.
"Whatever the rights and wrongs of that, the fact the ICO published this information under public sector transparency measures shows both the benefit of those measures, and the benefit of someone taking the time to review the information."
The organization was criticised recently because its commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, one of the country's highest-ranking civil servants, worked from her home in Canada for a number of months during 2020 following a car accident involving her octogenarian mother.
An ICO spokesperson told reporters at the time that Denham was "fulfilling all aspects of her role," despite working in a time zone eight hours behind the UK and her staff.
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You wonder if Brexit accelerated the demise of the woke gravy train?

You can't go crying to Brussels anymore screaming "HUMAN RIGHTS!" if you don't get permission to put up your lesbian statues.....?
 
El Gordo Ramsay Sex Dwarf said:
That statue is fugly as hell
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I think that's the biggest complaint here. The statues are fucking ugly and don't even resemble people. Do we not know what they looked like so some vague abstract is all we have? No? Then why do some weird abstract art piece of them? Another issue is that they were you know, pirates, and gazing peacefully out to sea is not something pirates are particularly known for. A bas relief plaque of the two of them drinking as a bunch of dudes are passed out on the floor around them would be a much more appropriate homage to infamous pirates instead of that.
 
TowinKarz said:
You wonder if Brexit accelerated the demise of the woke gravy train?
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Not particularly. The only ones hurting from this are the “NGO’s” and rights lawyers who latch onto stuff for easy wins and publicity. People are gonna scream at every perceived injustice regardless of how high they can take it.
If anything nearly killed it that was kung flu but George Floyd happened and apparently “government guidance” didn’t exist anymore.
The same people out marching would have been the same people talking about dead grandmothers the day before. Those protests are what led to the second wave in the UK.
 
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