UK British News Megathread - aka CWCissey's news thread

https://news.sky.com/story/row-over-new-greggs-vegan-sausage-rolls-heats-up-11597679 (https://archive.ph/5Ba6o)

A heated row has broken out over a move by Britain's largest bakery chain to launch a vegan sausage roll.

The pastry, which is filled with a meat substitute and encased in 96 pastry layers, is available in 950 Greggs stores across the country.

It was promised after 20,000 people signed a petition calling for the snack to be launched to accommodate plant-based diet eaters.


But the vegan sausage roll's launch has been greeted by a mixed reaction: Some consumers welcomed it, while others voiced their objections.

View image on Twitter


spread happiness@p4leandp1nk
https://twitter.com/p4leandp1nk/status/1080767496569974785

#VEGANsausageroll thanks Greggs

7
10:07 AM - Jan 3, 2019
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Cook and food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe declared she was "frantically googling to see what time my nearest opens tomorrow morning because I will be outside".

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

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

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

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

The hype got me like #Greggs #Veganuary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The new dish comes with a "veggie wrap", instead of the usual chicken or beef option.

It should be noted that Piers Morgan and Greggs share the same PR firm, so I'm thinking this is some serious faux outrage and South Park KKK gambiting here.

 

[Clem Fandango]

Diane Abbot has been quiet for a while. Seems she's feeling confident speaking up again about Covid's effect on minority groups;

Minister rubbishes Diane Abbott blaming pandemic on ‘ethnicity’ issues

Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch rubbishes Diane Abbott blaming pandemic disparities on 'race and ethnicity' issues, telling her "I do wish you would have r...

www.youtube.com

Shame she did it when Kemi Badenoch was around to point out it's nice to hear Labour talk about how Jewish communities are affected by this too rather than the groups that normally receive headlines.

It'd be nice if we did not have to rely on Kemi or Pritti to turn up every time a minority Labour MP has a point about to make that relies upon race but given we know they'd scream like any slack jawed American who has nothing in their hand but the race card if a white person dared to contradict them guess that's where we're at these days.

I read an article yesterday on the BBC about the "alarming lack of uptake of the vaccine in the BAME community".

You just cannot win with these people. They would obviously throw a shitfit if you forced them to get the vaccine. Offer it them for free? Nah fam, they won't take it due to "historical lack of trust in the system".

But...it's the same vaccine that white people are offered. White people have an uptake of 95+% and it's bringing their hospitalisation rate way down. Why do you think it's going to sterilise you? Also your GP is highly likely to be a "member of the BAME community" (god I hate this phrase btw) themselves.

And then they have the gall to whine that they are "the most affected" by the pandemic. It's because you don't obey lockdown rules and you won't take the fucking vaccine!! Honestly, it's like having a family of chimps in your fucking house.

 

[It'sallabitsillyreally]

But...it's the same vaccine that white people are offered. White people have an uptake of 95+% and it's bringing their hospitalisation rate way down. Why do you think it's going to sterilise you? Also your GP is highly likely to be a "member of the BAME community" (god I hate this phrase btw) themselves.

Yeah about that GP being a member of the BAME community so there should be trust in the vaccine...

https://www.hsj.co.uk/acute-care/exclusive-fewer-black-and-filipino-nhs-staff-vaccinated-amid-hesitancy-concern/7029397.article

"Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust’s board heard yesterday that while overall 80 per cent of its staff had been vaccinated, the rate was around a quarter among black-African and black-Caribbean staff, and lower still for Filipino staff. The trust confirmed that of Asian staff groups, Bangladeshi employees were least vaccinated so far."

Now that is only one hospital trust but it is the largest in the UK. So if those numbers are roughly consistent then minority members of the NHS are less likely to trust the vaccine and potentially spread that mistrust.

I don't consider that is a result of their ethnicity mind. The blame lands squarely on the people behind the spin that they should not trust it. Even when they try to turn things around as they did here they still cannot help themselves.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55839493

"And Labour's shadow women and equalities minister Marsha de Cordova said "Black people are more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people, so it's really worrying that so many in the black community are reluctant to have the vaccine.
"We understand this lack of trust may stem from structural racism in our history, education and health services but we also know that the virus thrives on these racial inequalities, and the only way to stop it now is to have the vaccine.""

"The NHS is structurally racist, but go have the vaccine from them anyway. Why isn't this working?"

Congratulations assholes. You tell people they live in a racist country where everyone is essentially a white supremacist who hates them oddly enough when you then have a crisis and need people to trust the various institutions you've called and continue to call racist they won't. I could have told you that without needing actual deaths to prove my point.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Question for the brits here. Did the British outpace the Euros in vaccination since they don't need to spread the vaccine across dozens of countries? Since if that's true, that's pretty much the ultimate pro Brexit argument (discounting the questions about the efficiency of the vaccine).

 

[Brahma]

Question for the brits here. Did the British outpace the Euros in vaccination since they don't need to spread the vaccine across dozens of countries? Since if that's true, that's pretty much the ultimate pro Brexit argument (discounting the questions about the efficiency of the vaccine).

Not a bong, but no.

They outpaced the euros by

1) backing the right horse. Don't remember the details but basically every government|responsible party, eu, bong, burgers, Canada etc etc were all investing money in different companies at different levels. The bongs gave a bunch of cash early on to {pfizer?} and prebooked a large number of doses before they even had a viable product. Eu backed other horses and took a much more conservative stance not prebooking large amounts of production capacity from any one company.


2} doing their own drug approval on the finished products themselves rather than in coordination with the eu responsible body meant they independently declared the vaccines "safe" days and weeks earlier than the eu
Only anecdotal but reportedly the British authorizing body worked their asses off, overtime, shifts, hired extra, to get their approval out the door, the eu authorizing body treated it like a routine thing and clocked off at 5pm everyday as usual

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Not a bong, but no.

They outpaced the euros by

1) backing the right horse. Don't remember the details but basically every government|responsible party, eu, bong, burgers, Canada etc etc were all investing money in different companies at different levels. The bongs gave a bunch of cash early on to {pfizer?} and prebooked a large number of doses before they even had a viable product. Eu backed other horses and took a much more conservative stance not prebooking large amounts of production capacity from any one company.


2} doing their own drug approval on the finished products themselves rather than in coordination with the eu responsible body meant they independently declared the vaccines "safe" days and weeks earlier than the eu
Only anecdotal but reportedly the British authorizing body worked their asses off, overtime, shifts, hired extra, to get their approval out the door, the eu authorizing body treated it like a routine thing and clocked off at 5pm everyday as usual

I guess the second can still be a pro Brexit argument.

 

[Clem Fandango]

Not a bong, but no.

They outpaced the euros by

1) backing the right horse. Don't remember the details but basically every government|responsible party, eu, bong, burgers, Canada etc etc were all investing money in different companies at different levels. The bongs gave a bunch of cash early on to {pfizer?} and prebooked a large number of doses before they even had a viable product. Eu backed other horses and took a much more conservative stance not prebooking large amounts of production capacity from any one company.


2} doing their own drug approval on the finished products themselves rather than in coordination with the eu responsible body meant they independently declared the vaccines "safe" days and weeks earlier than the eu
Only anecdotal but reportedly the British authorizing body worked their asses off, overtime, shifts, hired extra, to get their approval out the door, the eu authorizing body treated it like a routine thing and clocked off at 5pm everyday as usual

Pretty much. Remember when Ursula Von Der Leyen of the EU Commission was pitching a fit over AstraZenica not giving preferential treatment to the EU over the UK? Well the EU still hadn't approved AstraZenica's vaccine at that time.

 

[Brahma]

I guess the second can still be a pro Brexit argument.

Not really. AFAIK the Brits always maintained their own FDA equivalent body. All the countries in the eu do Afaik. It worked in conjunction with other european bodies, sure, and there is a central eu body but I think they're advisory more than anything.

With the coof I think the eu countries decided to coordinate, rather than that being the default.

 

[It'sallabitsillyreally]

Question for the brits here. Did the British outpace the Euros in vaccination since they don't need to spread the vaccine across dozens of countries? Since if that's true, that's pretty much the ultimate pro Brexit argument (discounting the questions about the efficiency of the vaccine).

You could ask any Europeans too. I'll try to hunt down actual sources for it at some point but as far as I can tell there were a number of factors.

The Astra-Zeneca vaccine, developed from work from Oxford University I believe, was at one point going to be produced by an American firm. The UK government had concerns about that so instead pushed them towards AstraZeneca (joint UK/Swedish venture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford%E2%80%93AstraZeneca_COVID-19_vaccine

(Wikipedia I know but it's a decent spot for this)

The UK signed up for doses of it early and, when negotiations were finally completed by the EU at a later date, at a higher price relative to them. Their contract though was a bit more firm than the one the EU got.

The Pfizer vaccine was the one the UK actually got first though, fast tracking against the advice of some critics. It's entirely possible there may be consequences for this long term but they committed fairly heavily to getting vaccines and getting the trials done.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer–BioNTech_COVID-19_vaccine

Where the EU ran into issues there seem to have been three major factors. The first is that the EU negotiated as a block which made it slower and in the negotiations for Astra-Zeneca made a point of getting a better price than the UK got, taking the attitude that as a more powerful negotiating block they should get that. Production of these was to be completed by sites in the EU, can't remember which countries of the top of my head, but both apparently ran into issues. I believe the decision to have them produced in the EU (and thus result in jobs there) was part of the negotiations but that's a Byzantine layer of motivations to look at. Also as noted they delayed certification of the vaccine until after this deal was done.

Separate from this the EU committed to buying a large number of vaccines from German industry, I assume Pfizer, but they also committed to a similar number of a French vaccine under development which has since stopped development entirely. I believe this has moved since to another French vaccine not estimated as being due to till December but can't swear to that one.

Both France and Germany's leaders have engaged in casting doubt on the effectiveness of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine when it seemed it was a success which ahs then resulted in back pedaling as their citizens are now questioning why they should trust a vaccine their leaders say is not fit for purpose. The EU also responded like a psychotic ex when they realised their Astra-Zeneca orders would be delayed and their contract provided no protection for that, demanding the UK's vaccines and slapping the Irish border like it was their mutual child and hurting it would let them tick off the UK without actually provoking any retaliation.

Now the EU is behind on the amount of vaccines it should have, some countries can't get their citizens to take them because of other major EU voices scaremongering and in some cases they are actually obtaining vaccines from Russia and China despite no-one confirming they are fit for purpose yet.

 

[Inquisitor_BadAss]

Question for the brits here. Did the British outpace the Euros in vaccination since they don't need to spread the vaccine across dozens of countries? Since if that's true, that's pretty much the ultimate pro Brexit argument (discounting the questions about the efficiency of the vaccine).

Once the EU gets there’s collective shit together they could possibly out pace as a whole. However there is a large anti vaccination movement on the continent and shit said by the EU and Macron hasn’t helped.

 

[Racist Trash]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56259056

The fish wars continue who will win and claim control of the SNP and thus all of Scotland?

 

[AnOminous]

Now the EU is behind on the amount of vaccines it should have, some countries can't get their citizens to take them because of other major EU voices scaremongering and in some cases they are actually obtaining vaccines from Russia and China despite no-one confirming they are fit for purpose yet.

Serves the bureaucratic fucks right for trying to throw their weight around when a lot of the weight they had to throw around in the first place was literally because the UK was a member.

 

[It'sallabitsillyreally]

Serves the bureaucratic fucks right for trying to throw their weight around when a lot of the weight they had to throw around in the first place was literally because the UK was a member.

They were always going to be petty and vindictive with the UK after it left because it was kind of necessary. Leaving the EU cannot be seen as a good choice and that necessitates some weight throwing. They can still do a lot of that, they are a formidable block and especially at the moment they have a lot of things to threaten with a pandemic in place.

However they also rely on public perception and that's not so great for them currently. Germany's biggest paper Bild recently printed with a front page praising the UK's efforts in vaccinating its people unlike Germany. In fairness Bild is a tabloid that that loves giving Angela Merkel shit and was basing a lot of its assessments on the road map set out by Boris Johnson which is only tentative. Emmanuel Macron tried to rile up French fishermen when he was threatening to veto the Brexit deal and direct their anger at the UK for being unreasonable but instead they mostly turned on him for putting the deal and their livelihoods at risk. And of course despite all the noise and difficulty around the Irish border complete with thinly veiled insinuations that the UK was trying to reignite terrorism in the area the EU suddenly battered that border because they were involved in a trade disputed with a UK/Swedish private company. They backtracked swiftly but it was the equivalent of punching a passing person in the face due to having an argument with someone they vaguely know, it's hard to spin having done it with any justification.

It'll continue and some of the moves will play out better but from the looks of things attempts to stir up nationalistic spirit, mass anti-UK sentiment or EU unity in the wake of Brexit have largely been thwarted by a lot of dickish behaviour from the various EU countries towards one another during the pandemic, the public in most of those countries not giving a shit and the various upper echelons deciding that while they might be ticked off with the UK they've got axes to grind elsewhere.

 

[Irrelevant]

Question for the brits here. Did the British outpace the Euros in vaccination since they don't need to spread the vaccine across dozens of countries? Since if that's true, that's pretty much the ultimate pro Brexit argument (discounting the questions about the efficiency of the vaccine).

It started because the UK didn't care about the price and signed a multiple deals early and said if they all deliver they'll give away the extra vaccines to poor countries. I heard Israel paid double again what the UK did.

Then the UK approved vaccines first which was apparently because the UK allows "rolling" reviews which means the regulators receive data while studies are in progress rather than wait until they're finished and review it all at the end.

Then when the AZ vaccine was finally approved in the EU it turned out their labs hadn't prepared for it so they had to take a few weeks to change production. This lead to shortages and the EU closing the Irish border, claiming the UK was stealing vaccines, and then when none of that worked Macron and Merkel claimed the AZ vaccine "doesn't work anyway".

So now in Germany up to 85% of the AZ vaccine are being left unused because Macron and Merkel told people it doesn't work:

German states call for unused AstraZeneca vaccine to be given to younger people

Several German states called on Sunday for unused AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to be given to younger people, as worries about side effects and efficacy, as well as a recommendation it be used only for under 65s, have meant low take-up of available doses.

www.reuters.com

France just backtracked yesterday because 84% were going unused:

Covid: France approves AstraZeneca vaccine for over-65s

Older French patients can now get the jab, which had been initially limited to those aged under 65.

www.bbc.co.uk

Even the BBC is saying it's because the EU is butt hurt over Brexit and shot itself in the foot.

It is hard not to believe that there was some element of post-Brexit ill will motivating the initial French scepticism towards the AstraZeneca jab.

But it was noticeable how the remarks made by Mr Macron and Europe Minister Clément Beaune that casted doubt on the vaccine's effectiveness never found a receptive audience in the French medical profession.

That profession - which had no political axe to grind - said early on that the jab was a welcome addition to the mix. But the politicians set the tone. They must surely take some of the blame for the slow uptake of the vaccine since its launch in France last month.

AstraZeneca has come to be seen by too many people here as an inferior vaccination. The French government, however, now seems bent on changing that perception and accelerating take-up.

 

[Ly Erg]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56259056

The fish wars continue who will win and claim control of the SNP and thus all of Scotland?

Well Salmond isn't coming back and recent polling has him even below fucking Boris Johnson in approval ratings. He wasn't that popular when he was leader before and there were always jokes about creepy eck when he was still an MSP.

The vote of no confidence will be determined by the Scottish Greens since they were lucky enough to hold enough seats to become kingmakers like the DUP back in 2017. They have 5 msps

Spoiler: Explanation of formerly six msps

Used to have six but a recent resignation by one of them (Andy Wightman) after their disagreements with something relating to (and I'm not 100% sure) allowing sexual assault victims to choose a different therapist/consultant if they aren't comfortable with MtF/FtM being their therapist and the Screens weren't happy about Andy agreeing with it so he was forced to leave while a few senior members started calling him transphobic and shit once he left (So typical resetera nonsense really)

Plus he was the only one who political savvy people respected before his resignation as he was sued over something dumb (Been a while so I can't remember the details) but fought back against them and won with people's support from different politcal groups of different alignments. With him being an independent MSP for his last few weeks, people respect him more as a result.

Still a green in the end but one that isn't full of themselves like most greens are.

Scottish Labour and Lib Dems will wait alongside greens once the inquiry and stuff is settled and than make their judgement...but considering labour's hate for the SNP is still fresh (I imagine still pissed that they took their spot), lib dems being lib dems and both being unionist parties, they will no doubt vote for no confidence so it's really a matter for the Greens to decide.

Also hasn't the Tory Government in WM broken ministerial code before and not suffer as a result anyways?

 

[CWCissey]

Man uses helicopter to fly to Preston from Salford for a roast beef sandwich.

Covid: Helicopter flew from Salford to Preston for sandwich

A councillor says a pilot's 40-mile trip to get a sandwich is a "flagrant abuse" of lockdown rules.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Inquisitor_BadAss]

Man uses helicopter to fly to Preston from Salford for a roast beef sandwich.

Covid: Helicopter flew from Salford to Preston for sandwich

A councillor says a pilot's 40-mile trip to get a sandwich is a "flagrant abuse" of lockdown rules.

www.bbc.co.uk

Must be a damn good sandwich.

 

[East_Clintwood]

Must be a damn good sandwich.

Nah Salford's just that shit that any old excuse to get out of here even for a while is worth it.

 

[Ly Erg]

Old news but still noteworthy of how the Justice System is fucked

The family of a man killed in a hit and run has said the sentence given to the driver who hit him is "disgusting".
Wayne Shilling, 39, of St Teath, was given a suspended sentence of four months after admitting failing to stop and report an accident.
He was driving home from a carnival in St Teath in July 2019 when he hit Ryan Saltern, who died at the scene.
Mr Saltern's mother Helen said the sentence made her son's life "feel so worthless".
Shilling was also disqualified from driving for 12 months, given an evening curfew for four months and ordered to pay a £207 victim surcharge and prosecution costs.

He had been drinking at a bar at the carnival and according to one witness was "away with the fairies".
While driving home, he hit Mr Saltern, although police were only told of his involvement 36 hours after the crash by a member of his family.
"Ryan didn't have a bad bone in his body, and Wayne Shilling broke every one," said Mrs Saltern.
"Hearing the horrific injuries our son sustained and the distance he was dragged beneath the car, not only shocked us to the core, it made us feel physically sick.
"Wayne Shilling lost his licence for 12 months - our son lost his life, we lost our son, Leanne lost a brother, Cath lost her husband and our little grandson has lost his father," she added.

The family said they were meeting with Scott Mann MP, to ask for a stand-alone law on hit-and-run crashes with a custodial sentence that cannot be suspended.
Currently, hit-and-run drivers face a maximum sentence of six months where there is no other evidence of careless or dangerous driving.
However, the Ministry of Justice last year said it was "committed to changing the law so that drivers who kill can receive life sentences, up from the current maximum of 14 years".

You can get a fine for littering that's more than that and people have been put in prison for much, much less. Guess he must of had a loIcense to run over people like it's not a big deal.

 

[Champion The Wonder Horse]

Nah Salford's just that shit that any old excuse to get out of here even for a while is worth it.

While Salford is a complete shithole, it does have the compensation of having an absolute classic song written about it:

http://youtu.be/s11BuatTuXk

 

[CWCissey]

While Salford is a complete shithole, it does have the compensation of having an absolute classic song written about it:

http://youtu.be/s11BuatTuXk

Plus some fucking amazing bands coming out of the area.