A- Affectation for a good and large pasty

The scandal currently on the minds and pocket change of many of the "regular" residents here is the tax on pasties. I'm not totally familiar with the whole budget shebang, but one thing has been made desperately clear and that is that British politicians have no clue what they're doing. It isn't just the MPs who complain about the quality of their food served in their cafeterias (and by cafeterias, I'm meaning four-star restaurants with views of the Thames River) but also the peers in the House of Lords. But that's another whole post on it's own.

No, the recent issue now is "Pastygate". What happened was that George Osborne, the Chancellor, revealed the country's budget plan last week and later this week was questioned about the budget's increased VAT (value added tax) for hot takeaway (to-go orders) food...particularly, pasties.

A pasty, pronounced "past-ee" not "pay-stee", is a fairly common food item bought on the high street here in England, most particularly in the Northeast. I surmise this is because of Greggs, a national bakery chain, is based out of Newcastle which is only a short car ride or a long bus ride from my house. They bake 'em, then they ship 'em to the Greggs bakery stores country-wide. For around £1.19, you can enjoy a hot baked good in a variety of flavours. I like a good Chicken Lattice, SciMan is happy with a corned beef hash pasty. Kiddo is indifferent, as always.

Anyway, the issue is that hot takeaway food and all other food sold at "above ambient air temperature" is now going to have the VAT loophole closed, due to be implemented some time in October. Essentially, the food will now be priced 20% higher.

obligatory MLP:FiM reference

Greggs has assured many of us loyal customers that they'll do their best to not pass on the increased prices to us customers because they don't/won't guarantee the temperature of pasties sold throughout the day.

And the root of the scandal? George Osborne admitting he couldn't remember the last time he bought a pasty. This has developed or devolved into an affectation amongst the politicos: just how in touch with the "common man" are you?

So now, quite a few mainline politicians from the other parties, Labour and the Lib-Dems, are scrambling to show how they are in fact in touch with the public... trying to out do one another to have their pictures taken in front of a Greggs, holding a pasty to their delightfully governmentally pasty faces...hence, the affectation of affection for a common and usually lowly regarded food choice of non-politicians, people like you and me.  David Cameron, the Prime Minister, is adamant in his love for a good, large pasty. He thinks he bought one in 2007. He also wants you to know this so that you will love him too.

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Now, now David... Every one knows that's a pasty from the West Cornwall Pasty Company, not a Greggs pasty.
You're so out of touch.

In his own words:

"I am a pasty-eater myself. I go to Cornwall on holiday. I love a hot pasty. I think the last one I bought was from the West Cornwall Pasty Company. I seem to remember I was in Leeds station at the time and the choice was whether to have one of their small ones or one of their large ones. I have got a feeling I opted for the large one, and very good it was too." -David Cameron, 3/28/2012

I bet you did "opt for the large one",  too.

Really, this media furor is just stoopid. Because it is. I said so. Take a look at the following two pictures and tell me if you can't see a resemblance:

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The muckety-mucks are just like the men laughing alone with salad! Look at their mouths! SHOVE SOME SAUSAGE AND BEAN PASTY IN THERE, PRONTO! Because this bandwagon's a-gonna leave some of youse guys behind! Granted, it may be that the PR spin doctors recommended, as a publicity stunt, to have the Labour leaders showing "solidarity" with a national bakery chain. Yeah, that is totally going to garner more party supporters. Eventually. I wonder if Alistair Campbell had a say?

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FYI: Cornish pasty, above. Must be crimped on the side for the authentic Cornwall experience. This is not a Northeastern or Geordie pasty. It's more like what you can get if you have the deep pockets like Cameron does. Honestly, holiday in Cornwall? Oh, I'm dead chuffed to go there! (side-eye)

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This is more like what you would be able to buy at Greggs, or Peters, the bastard red-headed stepchild of the takeaway patissieries. It seems that no one is bothering about Peters bakery in the media at all. At least, not that I've seen and I've no idea why either. It's a perfectly fine bakery chain, open on Sundays even.

Bottom line, this is an issue that can really affect some families. For some, if not most, lower income families, Greggs and other bakeries provide the main course of the evening meal. When food prices go up, depending on people's priorities, someone could and likely will, go hungry. Don't mess with the single working mothers of Britain's go-to food of choice for their kids' afternoon tea, George. Oh, incidentally and oh-so-not importantly, I can remember when my last pasty was and where I bought it from.

It was from Greggs.