The UK political class has used WhatsApp to avoid democratic scrutiny. They weren’t bamboozled by the tech or confounded by advice from their private office. They knew what they were doing. They knew it was wrong. They did it anyway.
Funny how aging TINA neoliberals accuse the kids of being intolerant of diverse opinions
An occasional series of East London chicken shops. Peck! Peck! by Sutton and Sons, Graham Road, Hackney, London E8. Sutton and Sons is a chain of North-East London chip shops.
It seems to me British politics reached its nadir some time ago. And now, various Tory wannabees are wrestling in the muddy slops below the bottom of the barrel.
Average car insurance cost in UK nears £1,000 after prices rise 58%
“Like a lot of our expenses, car insurance is getting more costly. And this is likely to be the case for some time. Claiming is one of the biggest factors when it comes to insurers pricing up policies. And with the cost of paying out for claims being considerably high, insurance prices are going to be too.”
From my perspective as an inveterate pedestrian, car driving has got a lot worse in London since the pandemic.
Technicians commission one of the Winter Lights exhibits at Westferry Circus.
X-risk: when the techno-optimists' AI tells them we need to reduce inequality and establish social democracy.
An occasional series of East London chicken shops. Frisco’s, Beckton Road, Canning Town, London E16. The streaks are wind-blown snow.
An occasional series of East London chicken shops. Seoul Bird with a branch of Wagamama above, in Jubilee Place, Canary Wharf, London E14.
Masala apple pie
A nice warming apple pie for when the weather gets colder.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon of chai masala powder. (If you live in the UK, you could do worse than Waitrose sweet garam masala in the Cooks Ingredients range)
- 2 teaspoons of sweet potato flour. (You’ll find this at East Asian grocers, or substitute with cornflour)
- 2 level tablespoons of dark muscovado sugar. (If the apples are sweet, you may want to use a bit less), and a little bit more for dusting
- 4 medium apples (cooking apples, but you can use any not-too-sweet apple you can get your hands on), peeled, cored and chopped
- 2/3 thumb of ginger, peeled and finely diced
- zest of 1 lime
- juice of half a lime
- 1 sheet of ready-made chilled vegan shortcrust pastry. (Take this out of the fridge before you want to use it)
- usalted plant butter (for greasing a pie dish)
- (optional) a couple of threads of saffron in a ristretto-sized volume of warm water
Method
- Put the chai masala powder, sweet potato flour and muscovado sugar in a large bowl and mix through. Add the chopped apples, the ginger, the lime zest and the lime juice and stir until all the apples are coated.
- Grease a deep pie dish with a knob of plant butter
- Line the pie dish with about 2/3 of the shortcrust pastry (reserving 1/3 for the lid)
- Tip in the apple and spice mixture - ideally you’ve selected a pie dish where the filling rises above the sides
- Cover the pie with the reserved shortcrust pastry. You can use the back of a teaspoon warmed in hot water to create a nice finish joining the lid to the pie lining
- If you have some left-over pastry, shape it into small leaf or flower shapes to decorate the pie lid
- You can “glaze” the pie by brushing a small amount of warm water over the surface of the pie lid - add a thread or two of saffron to the water for a little more oomph
- Dust a small amount of finely crumbled muscovado sugar over the pie lid
- Using a sharp knife, poke a couple of holes in the top of the pie around the apex
- Bake in the middle of a preheated over at 200C (180C fan) for around 45 minutes
This pie is great served warm. Remember, the filling will be hot when you take it out of the oven!
Happy new year. It’s been a cost of living crisis fireworks display so the pigeons are frightened but not totally insane with fear.
2024 approaches. The fireworks are ramping up, and the pigeons are getting unsettled.
Is it possible to create an arbitrary bookmark - not bookmark a post - using the microdotblog API? @help
I thought 15C was too warm for snow at Christmas, then looked up and saw it was a tree in blossom.
TikTok is evil beyond redemption. Its community safety is a sham, and it seeks to profit from misery and suffering. This cannot escape its employees and enablers. If you work for or do business with TikTok, make quitting your new year’s resolution. The choices we make matter.
Friends and followers, we have the winners for the winter solstice 🆆⚓️ on 🛞🛞competition.
Oh. The Substack clowns have de-cloaked. And to no one’s surprise they’re the RealNazis™. If you’re not bailing right now, then, we see you - we know what you are.
Should you ever find yourself sarf of the river in need of a decent lunch, you could do a lot worse than Marcella on Deptford High Street. Good food, interesting wines, friendly staff.
Principled Tories? Uh-uh. No. Nope. There are none.
Relief for Rishi Sunak as Rwanda bill passes first vote in Commons
Here’s the thing about neoliberals: they would rather “go fash” than tax the rich and build affordable housing