House of Lords canteen slammed for serving rainbow-coloured ‘Pride crumble' dessert
A HOUSE of Lords canteen has been given a roasting for serving a rainbow-coloured 'Pride crumble' dessert.
Peers and staff working on the Parliamentary estate have been offered the woke sweet treat, pictured above, to mark Pride month.
Portions of the pudding were on offer yesterday for £2.15 with custard.
Only last week, rainbow couscous was on the menu in the River Restaurant overlooking the River Thames.
But campaigner Fiona McAnena questioned whether the colourful crumble had been created after so-called Progress Pride flags were removed from the cafeteria earlier this week.
Ms McAnena, who represents the Sex Matters charity, added: 'Whoever is behind this may think that they are supporting a noble cause.
'But do they really support the reality of what the transgender rights flag represents, including sterilising surgeries, cross-sex hormones that cause permanent physical damage, and rapists in women's prisons?'
Tory peer Baroness Nicholson had demanded the cafeteria's Pride flags be taken down as they had not been given proper permission.
The latest row comes weeks after Nigel Farage's Reform UK party said town halls under its control would be stopped from flying LGBTQ+ and Pride flags.
Reform said it would allow only the St George's Cross and the Union flag to be displayed.
1
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Poorest to benefit from Reeves's spending but tax rises likely, says thinktank
Rachel Reeves's multibillion-pound plan to repair public services will benefit Britain's poorest households most but means tax rises are likely this autumn, according to a leading thinktank. The Resolution Foundation said the extra funding for hospitals, schools and the police announced by the chancellor would provide a valuable 'benefit-in-kind' for households who would gain from the improvements. A middle-income household would gain the equivalent of £1,400 a year on average by the time of the next general election through access to better services, rising to as much as £1,700 for the poorest fifth of households in the country. However, the thinktank warned that Reeves could be forced into further tax increases to maintain higher levels of spending at the forthcoming autumn budget, amid a worsening outlook for the economy and public finances. 'A combination of a weaker economic outlook, an unfunded spending commitment on winter fuel payments, and just £9.9bn of headroom against the chancellor's fiscal rules, mean further tax rises are likely to be needed this autumn,' it said. Reeves used Wednesday's spending review to prioritise funding for the NHS, defence and more than £100bn for long-term capital projects despite leaving some key areas facing a tough squeeze. In a pivotal speech to the Commons setting out Labour's plans up to the next general election, the chancellor said she was taking action to 'renew Britain' after years of underinvestment and austerity measures overseen by successive Conservative-led governments. The Resolution Foundation said the package showed that Britain was turning into a 'National Health State', with health accounting for 90% of the extra spending announced. In a major reshaping of the state, it calculated the NHS was on track to account for half (49%) of all day-to-day public service spending controlled by Westminster by the end of the decade – up from a third (34%) in 2009-10. The thinktank said real day-to-day spending was now rising again in the 2020s by 2.2% a year, after a 0.5% fall per year in the 2010s. However, in the decade prior to that under the last Labour government, spending rose by 4.3% on average each year. While the health service is taking up a larger share of public spending, other areas have faced real-terms budget cuts, including a 16% reduction in real, per-person funding for justice and a 50% decline for housing, communities and local government since 2010. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion However, experts warned that Reeves could face a summer of speculation over tax increases in the run-up to the autumn budget. Mel Stride, the Conservative shadow chancellor, said: 'This is the spend now, tax later review, because [she] knows she will need to come back here in the autumn with yet more taxes.' Labour argues that its plans allocate money that has already been raised, highlighting that the spending review is based on last year's autumn budget and this year's spring statement, when the Office for Budget Responsibility judged that Reeves was meeting her main fiscal rule to balance day-to-day spending with revenues within the fifth year of its forecast. However, economists warned that a weak growth outlook and rising government borrowing costs amid Donald Trump's global trade wars could blow the chancellor's plans off course. This could force the OBR to downgrade its forecasts for the government finances, which would require Reeves to take action to announce spending cuts or tax rises if she wanted to stick to her fiscal rule. Andrew Goodwin, the chief UK economist at the consultancy Oxford Economics, said: 'Considering the government's recent U-turn on winter fuel payments could be a precursor to higher government spending in other areas, it looks increasingly likely that substantial tax increases will be needed.'
BBC News
42 minutes ago
- BBC News
Palestine activist's prison wait for trial 'outrageous'
The mother of a man charged in relation to an alleged break-in at the UK site of an Israel-based defence firm has said it is "outrageous" that he faces 21 months in prison before his case goes to Plastow, 34, is one of the 'Filton 18' accused of taking part in a Palestine Action protest at an Elbit Systems UK factory in Filton, Bristol last Plastow is still awaiting his trial which is scheduled for April next year. His mum, Jane Plastow, believes it is the longest anyone has been held in prison pre-trial on protest-related Judicial Office told the BBC it could not comment on individual cases. An earlier court hearing was told that during the incident a vehicle was driven into the doors of buildings and two responding police officers and a security guard were with many of the rest of the group, Mr Plastow, from Manchester, is charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary which he denies. The Home Office has previously told the BBC: "The CPS has decided that there is sufficient evidence to submit to the court that these offences have a terrorism connection."However, none of the 18 have been charged with terror Systems UK is run separately to Israel-based Elbit Systems. It previously told the BBC that claims the facilities supply the Israeli military are "completely false".An Elbit Systems UK spokesperson told the BBC it will not comment on an ongoing legal process."I think [for Mr Plastow] there's a great sense of helplessness and hopelessness," Ms Plastow said."There have been lots of people locked up as political prisoners in Britain recently, there is Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil - but nobody has been locked up longer than my son and some of his comrades." 'Gross overreach' Ms Plastow said her son applied for bail, promising the judge that he would stay with his mother and wear an electronic tag."We had discussed the most onerous terms, it basically amounted to house arrest," Ms Plastow said she offered to pay £50,000, from a recent inheritance, but he was denied bail."My son has never been violent. It is a gross overreach," Ms Plastow added."The idea that at the moment it looks like he will be locked up for 21 months is outrageous."
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Rachel Reeves refuses to rule out MORE tax hikes after spending spree plunged into crisis
RACHEL Reeves refused to rule out hiking up taxes after her spending plans were threatened by dismal growth figures. The Chancellor insisted she wasn't going to write Budgets for the next four years after the UK economy for shrank by 0.3 per cent in April - the biggest monthly drop for 18 months. 1 The move came after she hit back at suggestions she was the 'Klarna Chancellor' after accusations her spending review was buy now and pay later. Ms Reeves told LBC News: "I am not going to write four years worth of budgets... It would be very risky for a Chancellor to write a budget in a world as uncertain as this. "I can say I won't have to repeat a budget like last year, I wiped the slate clean. We do now have that path to lower borrowing and debt". The Chancellor was speaking after she revelled in a £300 billion spending splurge increasing spending for health and defence and outlining new infrastructure projects. But Ms Reeves pointed to "uncertainty about tariffs" had led to the fall in GDP for April following Donald Trump''s global tariff war. The world trade war combined with stubborn inflation and slow growth are likely to see tax rises or major spending cuts at the Budget this autumn. She said: 'We know that April was a challenging month. "There was a huge uncertainty about tariffs, and one of the things if you dig into those GDP numbers today is exports weakening and also production weakening because of that uncertainty in the world around tariffs.' Analysis: Growth figures are wake up call after spending splurge By Ryan Sabey, Economics Editor Rachel Reeves revelled in a major spending splurge yesterday - but this morning she wakes up to a reality check. The Chancellor says that the figures are "clearly disappointing" but its a stark reminder of the fragility of the UK economy and how difficult it will be to turbo-charge growth. The effects of 'Awful April' - when a slew of added costs for business including that national insurance rise came in - has hit home. This Labour government has put that push for growth as their number one mission which will have the knock-on effect of driving up living standards. After a positive start to the year - where we saw growth up by 0.7 per cent - today we see it drop by 0.3 per cent for April. We shouldn't take one month's figures in isolation but the fear is conditions for business and entrepreneurs have hit them hard. The hike to national insurance contributions and minimum wage for firms kicked in at the start of April and this is how the economy has reacted. As the British Chambers of Commerce outline the NI rise has hit investment, recruitment and prices. The uncertainty of Donald Trump's tariffs is also a drag on the UK with the largest monthly fall on record in goods exports to the US. With dismal economic growth, the global trade war and stubborn inflation, the Chancellor will surely be left with little choice but to cut spending or raise taxes in the autumn. She has iron-clad fiscal rules she insists are non-negotiable so it feels inevitable something will have to give. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch hit out at Ministers saying they were waging a "war" with business. She highlighted how ' Awful April' when National Insurance contributions for business were hikes and minimum wage payments went up. The party leader said: "This is a war on the private sector, where private businesses are having to cut their coat according to their cloth. "They're having to downsize. They're having to let go of staff, but no reforms are being asked for any parts of the public sector. 'Of course, we want to fund public services, but we need to make sure that we're doing things better.' Ms Reeves outlined her spending review yesterday saying it was time for national renewal. She told Labour MPs at an event last night that she needed to "sell" the benefits of her plans to voters on the doorstep.
