More than 700,000 people and counting have put their names to a petition calling for a general election to be held immediately in a bid to “end the chaos”.
The petition in question – which has been set up on the official parliament.uk petitions platform – comes after Liz Truss stepped down from her role as leader of the Conservative Party yesterday in what was a history-making move, and officially made her the shortest-serving Prime Minister in the history of the UK after only being in office for just 44 days.
During Truss‘s 44 days as leader, following a takeover from outgoing PM Boris Johnson on 5 September 2022, her time in offer was turbulent – to say the least.
She was elected during an ongoing cost of living crisis and an energy supply crisis, in which her government – and the former Chancellor she sacked six days before her resignation, Kwasi Kwarteng – implemented an Energy Price Guarantee that limited energy prices for households, businesses, and public sector organisations.
Her government also announced large-scale borrowing and various tax cuts in a mini-budget unveiled on 23 September – which was poorly received, and the subject of major backlash from all sides, and went on to cause economic chaos and see the value of the pound plummet.
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Truss’s time in office also saw the death and state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, which means 10 whole days of her leadership were spent in a period of unprecedented national mourning.
So perhaps turbulent is putting it likely?
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Liz Truss resigned as leader of the Conservative Party and stepped down as PM on 20 October 2022 / Credit: 10 Downing Street
With all of that drama unfolding in just 44 days, on top of everything that has already happened in the world of politics this year, it’s probably not that surprising to learn of the fact that a petition calling for a general election to be held immediately has gone on to become one of the most popular petitions to ever to appear on parliament.uk.
The petition wants to “to end the chaos of the current government”.
“Call an immediate general election so that the people can decide who should lead us through the unprecedented crises threatening the UK,” the petition’s call-to-action reads.
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“The chaos engulfing the UK government is unprecedented. Over 40 ministers resigned leaving departments without leadership during cost of living, energy and climate crises. War rages in Ukraine, the Northern Ireland Protocol has further damaged our relationship with Europe, recession looms; the UK itself may cease to exist as Scotland seeks independence.
“This is the greatest set of challenges we have seen in our lifetimes.”
More than 700,000 have signed a petition calling for immediate general election / Credit: Conservative Party | Labour Party
Ultimately, the creator of the petition is calling on the government to “let the people decide who leads us through this turmoil” – and dozens of people every minute appear to agree with this.
Given that the petition already has more than 732,000 signatures and is rapidly gaining more every minute, it’s expected that it could hit the one million mark some time in the near future – which is a feat not many public petitions achieve.
Addressing the popularity of the petition, a government spokesperson said in response: “The UK is a Parliamentary democracy and the Conservative Party remains the majority party. The Prime Minister has pledged to ensure opportunity and prosperity for all people and future generations, and a change in the leader of the governing party does not trigger a general election.
“This has been the case under governments of successive political colours… and remains the case.”
Will we ever get a general election though? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Featured Image – gov.uk
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Morrisons introduces new quiet hours to make stores less ‘overwhelming’ for shoppers
Emily Sergeant
Morrisons has decided to extend its popular ‘Quieter Hour’ across the UK to help make its stores less “overwhelming” for shoppers.
Introduced earlier this month to mark World Autism Acceptance Week, and in a bid to turn what can be a daunting task for many people into “a calmer and more enjoyable experience”, the supermarket chain has announced an extension to its already popular initiative by adding new ‘Quieter Hours’ during weekday afternoons.
In case you weren’t aware, Morrisons first introduced its Quieter Hour all the way back in July 2018, and has been welcoming people who may struggle supermarket shopping environments through its doors ever since.
The initiative – which initially took place between 9am and 10am on a Saturday, and for the first hour of trade on a Sunday – originally began as part of the National Autistic Society’s ‘Autism Hour campaign’, after it was found that some neurodiverse people, including those with autism, can find shopping in a supermarket “overwhelming”.
Morrisons has introduced new quiet hours to make stores less ‘overwhelming’ for shoppers / Credit: Morrisons
Supermarkets can lead many people to experience increased sensitivity to light and sound, such as loud music, bright lights, and busy environments, and in turn, this can cause anxiety or, in some of the worst cases, even physical pain.
But now, after the trial has proved to be so successful and well-received, Morrisons has made the decision to extended the initiative to weekdays too, as well as weekends – with ‘Quieter Hours’ now also running every week from Monday to Thursday between 2-3pm.
The company says the extension is all with the aim of “helping even more customers”.
During ‘Quieter Hours’, Morrisons stores operate lower levels of lighting, turn music and radios off, avoid making tannoy announcements, reduce movement of trolleys and baskets, and turn checkout beeps and other electrical noises down.
“The weekly shop can be a daunting task for those who may struggle with noises associated with it,” commented Charlotte Exell, who is the Business Sponsor of Ability at Morrisons.
“At Morrisons, we are always looking for more ways to support customers, and as the Quieter Hour is incredibly popular in our stores across the nation, we have listened to customers and will now help more shoppers in our extended times.”
Featured Image – Morrisons
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Freddos are on sale for 10p at UK supermarkets for the first time in nearly 20 years
Emily Sergeant
It’s happening… it’s finally happening.
We never thought we’d see this again, but for the first time in nearly two whole decades, you can now walk into supermarkets across the UK and pick yourself up a Cadbury Freddo for the price of just 10p.
While it may sound a little too good to be true, due to the fact that the beloved chocolate treat has been creeping up in price for the past 19 years, and has very much gone onto become a classic British reference point for the state of inflation and the rising cost of living crisis, we couldn’t be happier to confirm it is.
But, of course, there is a bit of catch (because isn’t there always).
For anyone looking to get their hands on a slashed-price Freddo – which we imagine will be the vast majority of people reading this – you unfortunately won’t be able to pop into any supermarket, as the 10p offer is exclusive to Sainsbury’s and you’ll need a Nectar card to be eligible for it too.
The caption of the now-viral post reads: “Some things from the mid 2000s should NEVER come back, but this is not one of them.
“Head to any Sainsbury’s superstore to pick up a Freddo for just 10p with your nectar card.”
Sadly, not only is this unmissable Freddo offer exclusive to Sainsbury’s for Nectar card-holders, it’s also only available in Sainsbury’s superstores too, meaning you won’t be able to find the cheap frog-shaped chocolate bars in little Sainsbury’s Local outlets.
The offer is also only for a very limited time too, as it’s available to make the most of from today (17 April) up until next Tuesday 23 April.
Freddos are on sale for 10p at Sainsbury’s for the first time in nearly 20 years / Credit: Sainsbury’s | The Manc Group
Thankfully, Freddos are the only chocolate treats that Sainsbury’s has slashed the price of currently.
As a way of celebrating the iconic confectionary company‘s 200th birthday this year, the supermarket has also put offers on a wide range of other products.
Dairy Milk bars, multipacks of Fudge, Curly Wurlys, and Flakes, Dairy Milk Trays, Chocolate Finger biscuits, and Mini Roll cake bars are the other much-loved Cadbury products currently on sale with up to 30% off their marked price.
Rachel Clark, who is the Director of Grocery for Sainsbury’s, said on the supermarket’s current Cadbury offers: “We’re delighted to be celebrating such an iconic moment for Cadbury, and its milestone of 200 years as a loved chocolate brand. We know that our customers love Cadbury so we’re very excited to be offering market-leading prices across selected Cadbury products, with savings of up to 60% off with Nectar Prices.”
Emily Sergeant -
21st October 2022 
