Westministenders: Gin O'Clock

[RedToothBrush]

After disaster after Salzberg and a very predictable humilation over the Chequers Deal which the ERG reject, moderate Brexiteers reject, Remainers reject and the EU reject....

May does a press conference...

...which is delayed by a power shortage inside No. 10.

And....

I definitively has got worse in the last year or so Mother.
Im in the North and nowdays it’s impossible to find anything that is tiny bit more ‘upmarket’ or ‘unsual’. Things that used to be there. Or simply you find the product but only in the ‘Value’ range.

I believe this is because the cost of food has shot up, people have less money so overall it doesn’t make sense for supermarkets to stock those more upmarket items.

At least, if/when rationing comes in, it won’t be as much of shock I suppose.

20 odd years ago I was returning to UK from 'abroad' and I volunteered to carry the bag of the very elderly, I think Polish lady from the plane to the customs/immigration counter. It was ridiculously heavy and she was bringing food because she was concerned about supplies in England.

I can remember my mum boiling up tongue once when I was wee she only did it the once

I'll need to talk to my dad (former cattle farmer) for ideas on what to do with all the cuts of beef

I think we are headed for feudal times with a very small elite top and then an amorphous blob beneath.

I don't think we ever really left them. Remember, for the last 1,000 years, the same families have owned most of England www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/10/last-1000-years-families-owned-england/

The very first thing William did after he took the English throne was to declare in 1067 that all lands, which had previous been in the hands of many landowners, belonged exclusively to him. He then instituted feudalism when he began to parcel land out to the loyal soldiers who helped him win the throne.

That brings us to today. According to The Guardian, 70% of Britain’s land remains in the hand of less than 1% of its population, with a mere 160,000 families owning 66% of it. More troubling, Queen Elizabeth II remains the nominal owner of every bit of land in England, and every landowner is technically just a tenant (who pays rent in the form of loyalty).

Remember those Henry VIII clauses ?

prettybird I have a tongue press, if it halps? 😀

Meanwhile, has the US incursion begun ?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45652906

Long-suffering UK savers could soon see higher returns, as one of Wall Street's swankiest banks boosts its presence on this side of the Atlantic.

Goldman Sachs is well-known for its investment bank in London, but from Thursday it will also offer a savings account to members of the public.

It will be known as Marcus by Goldman Sachs, after the bank's founder, Marcus Goldman.

Savers will be offered 1.5% a year, currently the best rate on the market.

That is also the highest return that UK savers have seen in the last two and a half years.

Experts predict that such a competitive rate could force other banks and building societies to offer better returns as well.

(contd)

So it looks like British banks are on the menu for quick takeovers then, on we leave EU regulations. And all the time we were worrying about food ...

I almost fancy tinned fruit cocktail now! With evaporated milk of course.
Real custard that would probably glow in the dark, not this poor imitation stuff.

In the NYT article from MyBrexit the single father, deep in debt, going hungry, his son isolated - e.g. unable to go to parties because they can't afford presents ...
said he had voted Tory and would do so the next time, because "he thinks there are too many people expecting handouts for nothing"

Have to do an eyeroll over that.
He's voting for more punishment for himself and his son,
all because he believes in that terrifying bogeyman who is somewhere maybe getting benefits and doesn't need them

I quite like tongue, but haven't made it since we moved to France. I knew a family who served a tin of spam carved on a plate for six.
When we were first married we used to do scrag end of lamb, stuffed breast of lamb, belly pork and brisket, which can all be delicious if cooked well. Trouble is none of it is cheap any more.

Albert Drive is most definitely not a "No Go" area - not then, not now . Yes, it has lots of Asian food and sari shops - much cheaper (and with a better choice of loose fruit & veg and cheaper spices) than the supermarkets, but it's just a normal mixed residential and shopping street with many different ethnicities living, walking and shopping there. I feel ok walking along the street from the train station at 11.30 at night to get home.

You'd only feel threatened if you had the most xenophobic of attitudes . The English journalists who came up were probably examples of those - and are amongst those who've helped create the environment for the English Leave vote.

In the NYT article from MyBrexit the single father, deep in debt, going hungry, his son isolated - e.g. unable to go to parties because they can't afford presents ... said he had voted Tory and would do so the next time, because "he thinks there are too many people expecting handouts for nothing"

That is, of course, if he exists ... maybe he meets up with "all" the Remainers who would now vote Leave.

A country that can’t feed its own children.

Correction: a country that won't feed all its own children.
There would be ample money to do so, if the politcal will was there. Bung for the DUP anyone? How many decent meals would that have provided?

Trouble is none of it is cheap any more.
I was saying that the other day to DH - fish used to be a cheap meal. Now it's as expensive as meat.

Missclimpson - I'll decline that kind offer, thank you

I do however like pork belly, mutton, lamb shanks, lamb breast - but as you say, so much of it is now expensive, having been promoted justifiably by chefs.

I do remember Gordon Ramsay demonstrating how to make garden snails edible (Lots of controlled nice lettuce iirc). There's another source of protein Our 2 younger cats are also great () birders and regularly bring in pigeons and magpies - we'll maybe not be so quick to rescue them

Good news! My crop of parsnips looks good this year!

I do remember Gordon Ramsay demonstrating how to make garden snails edible

apparently, the first animal mankind farmed (according to QI).

There's a school of thought that insects make great protein.

Only kidding before BeLeavers and Quitlings start going crazy....or am I

I've previously discussed with youngest DD why snails became a food item, and yet the pesky more plentiful slugs never feature as a protein source. Something to do with the shell and tenderness we surmised.

If anyone wants to try and report back?

Fish IS meat, its the flesh of a creature.
Wastage, by not eating the various varieties that caught but die when they are thrown back is criminal.
Maybe a bit of serious austerity will teach people to be less wasteful of our planet.
I think food is more expensive in France, probably other parts of Europe. Large cauliflower was just over £2 last week.

I did try snails once but you had to capture them ans starve them, so I let them escape after a bit. We have a freezer rammed with produce from the garden this year, but not much use to anyone in the UK if I can't get it across the channel.

Rationing would really be the last straw for my parents (who are only here to be near me and DCs). As much as they love being near us, they want something else in their old days... can't blame them but them leaving would be very depressing (not to mention a huge gap in my support network)

Locusts and many other crustaceans are treated as a delicacy in many parts of the world. A bag of fried locusts is a superb snack and much better for you than a bag of maltesers.

Quiet my parents are the same. Except that they have already decided to move away form the U.K. and go back to France.
They came here for me and the dcs. My mum is heartbroken at the idea of not been able to see my dcs as often.
And I’m going to loose a support that I really need atm (there are other stuff going on for me too)
And they are going to go back to a country that's their country of origin but one they don’t know anymore as they’ve been away for so long (40 years of living overseas anyway).

I am not ready to move though. It would be the worse time for my dcs to move to what is a foreign country to them, education wise.
So I’m waiting for things to get worse :( whilst preparing myself for the worst too.

Snails are well chewy. I ate them prepared with garlic, butter and parsley. It tasted of that rather than any meat etc...

I remember my dad preparing them when I was a child. Going in the garden to pick them, starving them in a box before cooking them.

Nit something I would go out of my way to eat.not awful either.