Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[OttoVonBismarck]

Around here the hipster places will give you those bamboo disposable cutlery.

[Josquius]

The big one that annoys me is takeaways. They're incentivised to give you styrofoam shit as its just so much cheaper than decent cardboard or whatever. So much of this stuff ends up just dumped on the streets.

[garbon]

Around here the hipster places will give you those bamboo disposable cutlery.

I hate that as it reminds me of a tongue depressor.

[The Larch]

Do my eyes deceive or is the government actually doing something good?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/08/single-use-plastic-cutlery-and-plates-to-be-banned-in-england

Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England

It's part of an Europe-wide legislative initiative, over here new legislation on this topic came into force with the new year too, as well as in several other EU countries, stemming from an EU directive from a few years ago.

Tobacco companies to be billed for cleaning up cigarette butts in Spain
Ruling is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling

Tobacco companies are to be forced to foot the bill for cleaning up the millions of cigarette ends that smokers discard every year under new environmental regulations in Spain.

The ruling, which comes into force this Friday, is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling. It includes a ban on single-use plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene cups and plastic straws, as well as cutting back on plastic food packaging.

The law conforms to a European Union directive limiting the use of single-use plastics and which aims to oblige polluters to clean up the mess they create.

Cigarette manufacturers will also be responsible for educating the public not to discard their butts in the public space but it remains unclear how the clean-up will be implemented or what it will cost.

One Catalan study put the cost at between €12-€21 per citizen per annum, a total of up to €1bn (£880m).

Earlier this year, the Catalan government proposed introducing a scheme whereby cigarette butts could be redeemed for €0.20 each, which would add €4 to the current average price of €5 for a pack of 20. The scheme has not yet been introduced.

It is assumed that the tobacco companies will pass on the cost to the consumer, providing one more incentive to quit the habit. According to last year's government statistics, about 22% of Spaniards smoke (16.4% of women and 23.3% of men) compared with an EU average of 18.4%.

Nevertheless, despite the large number of smokers, especially among young people, popular opinion favours increased restrictions on smoking in public places. A survey by the family medicine association found that 85% favour further restrictions, with 72% backing a ban on smoking on the terraces of bars and restaurants.

Cigarette ends are one of the most ubiquitous forms of litter and take about 10 years to decompose, in the process emitting toxic substances such as arsenic and lead.

According to the Ocean Conservancy NGO, cigarette butts are the most common form of marine pollution, more even than plastic bags and bottles, with an estimated 5bn discarded in the ocean.

In the interests of public health and to reduce the number of butts finding their way into the sea, about 500 Spanish beaches have been declared smoke-free.

Last year, Barcelona outlawed smoking in all the city's 10 beaches.

[Sheilbh]

Also I think it's worth noting the things Sunak is pausing or cancelling or saying he won't be able to do. They might not have worked and would need policy development anyway - but he's cancelled the whole "investment zone" idea, proposed childcare reform, the 300,000 a year housebuilding target and is fighting over the funding deal for small nuclear reactors.

What he's proposing so far is scrapping plastic cutlery and some form of maths education until 18

I said it about Johnson, but it all feels very Cones Hotline. With Johnson I think it was his incompetence as a leader, with Sunak I think it is just his politics.

[Sheilbh]

Turns out I might need to get the Harry book now
https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/1612780178777800709

Edit: So it seems like Harry's ghostwriter hated him. This is a genuine line: "What was the universe out to prove by taking my penis at the same moment it took my brother?"

[Josquius]

Oh yes sure. We're talking minor common sense tweaks like wiping a dirty bench when the entire house is falling down. Still nice to see some attention being paid to these little things. Not going to impact how I vote whatsoever of course.

[Sheilbh]

Interesting report (here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/Church%20Commissioners%20for%20England%20-%20Research%20into%20historic%20links%20to%20transatlantic%20chattel%20slavery%20-%20report.pdf) and move. Obviously this only relates to the formal endowment that funds the Church of England and the way it was historically set up in the 18th century. So it's an approach from an institutional perspective but doesn't include individual clergymen's involvement which, given their class position, I imagine would have been pretty significant:

C of E setting up £100m fund to 'address past wrongs' of slave trade links
Church to back community projects to compensate for financially benefiting from chattel slavery
Harriet Sherwood
@harrietsherwood
Tue 10 Jan 2023 11.07 GMT
Last modified on Tue 10 Jan 2023 11.18 GMT

The Church of England has committed £100m to a fund it is setting up to compensate for its historical benefit from the international slave trade.

A report for the Church Commissioners, the body that manages the C of E's £9bn-plus endowment fund, traced the origins of the fund partly to Queen Anne's Bounty, a financial scheme established in 1704 based on transatlantic chattel slavery.

In an effort to "address past wrongs", the Church Commissioners' board is to set up a £100m fund to deliver a programme of investment, research and engagement over the next nine years.

The church is not using the term "reparations" as the scheme will not compensate individuals but will support projects "focused on improving opportunities for communities adversely impacted by historic slavery".

The C of E is to form an "oversight group ... with significant membership from communities impacted by historic slavery" to ensure the church's response is carried out "sensitively and with accountability".

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and chair of the Church Commissioners, said the report "lays bare the links of the Church Commissioners' predecessor fund with transatlantic chattel slavery. I am deeply sorry for these links. It is now time to take action to address our shameful past."

The full report, published on Tuesday, follows a four-page interim report released last June.

According to the report, the Church Commissioners "became more conscious" in 2019 "of the fact that the transatlantic slave economy played a significant role in shaping the economy, society and church we have today".

The report says the South Sea Company's main commercial activity between 1714 and 1739 was transatlantic slavery, involving the purchasing and transportation of enslaved people. The company ceased slave-trading activities in 1739, but continued to exist until 1853.

"The trade in enslaved African people was responsible for inflicting much pain and misery on people of African descent in particular but also on other groups around the world who have experienced deep injustices. It contributed to both the racial and class divisions and tensions we experience today in our society and, regrettably, in our church. Churches and societies with such inequity and divisions do not flourish."

Queen Anne's Bounty invested significant sums in the South Sea Company, which traded in enslaved people. It also received numerous benefactions from individuals linked to, or who profited from, transatlantic chattel slavery and the plantation economy.

The South Sea Company bought and transported thousands of people as chattel property in crowded, unsanitary, unsafe and inhumane conditions.

Among the benefactors to the Queen Anne's Bounty was Edward Colston, a prominent slave trader whose statue in Bristol was toppled in 2020 by Black Lives Matter activists.

Bounty funds were used either to pay a cash stipend to poor clergy or to buy land from which clergy received an income. The funds were subsumed into the Church Commissioners' endowment when it was created in 1948.

David Walker, the bishop of Manchester and deputy chair of the Church Commissioners, said: "Discovering that the Church Commissioners' predecessor fund had links to transatlantic chattel slavery is shaming and we are deeply sorry. We will seek to address past wrongs by investing in a better future, which we plan to do with the response plan announced today, including the £100m funding commitment we are making. We hope this will create a lasting positive legacy, serving and enabling communities impacted by slavery.

"We recognise this investment comes at a time when there are significant financial challenges for many people and churches, and when the church has commitments to address other wrongs from our past."

He added: "The Church Commissioners recognised that it was important to know its past better in order to understand its present and ensure that the Church Commissioners continues to support the Church of England's work and mission in the future as best it can."

Ledgers in the archives at Lambeth Palace showing bounty investments are being made public for the first time. They will form part of an exhibition at the palace library from 12 January until 31 March.

Edit: Has to be said my first instinct is this seems very much like a first step

Edit: On the other hand while it is a first step it feels like one that could be usefully followed by other institutions in the UK such as the royals, the ancient universities, the City of London guilds etc.

[Tamas]

[Sheilbh]

Shapps took it down very quickly. His spokesman claims it was taken down as soon as they realised it was edited. Apparently.

[Josquius]

I've seen that it failed so its American aspects are now being highlighted.

[Richard Hakluyt]

It has been great not hearing about the fat oaf every day; hopefully he will lose his seat in the next election and bugger off to the USA to make megabucks on the lecture circuit.

[Valmy]

It has been great not hearing about the fat oaf every day; hopefully he will lose his seat in the next election and bugger off to the USA to make megabucks on the lecture circuit.

He does have a British accent thus many will think he is smart.

[ulmont]

Anyone else surprised by how low the LGBT+ percentages are?

I am, perhaps because I grew up with the Kinsey approximation of 10%

The Kinsey 10% figure was always nonsense.  It was selected as a more political statement (10% is large enough to be significant, yet not large enough to be overly threatening) than a figure supported by science.

There can still be some argument over numbers, but 3% as being LGBT seems more likely to be accurate.

I have liked exit polling for this for the last 20 years or so.  Since it's just one of the questions and really not the most important question, I think you tend to get better data.

2020: 7% https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results
2016: 5% https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/exit-polls/
2012: 5% https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2012/results/president/exit-polls.html
2008: 4% https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-2008
2004: 4% https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html
2000: 4% https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-2000

[ulmont]

Around here the hipster places will give you those bamboo disposable cutlery.

I hate that as it reminds me of a tongue depressor.

I tend to use these when I'm at my parents house with my littlest brother, as he has a semi-pathological aversion to the sound of metal on teeth.