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Matt Cardy / Getty Images, file
In days gone, pasties were the food of miners and farmers -- a robust parcel that (so legend has it) could be dropped steaming hot down a mine shaft or thrown over a high hedge to the agricultural laborers on the other side.
LONDON -- We're a placid bunch, us Brits.
You can call us names and poke us in the eye and we'll pretty much stand there and take it.
So pity the poor misguided chaps who run this country and who decided to try their luck by introducing a tax on ... pasties.
Man the barricades!
For those who are not among the cognoscenti, a pasty is a traditional and tasty food that resembles a meat and potato pie. It has almost iconic status in its place of origin, the distant and beautiful county of Cornwall.
In days gone by, it was the food of miners and farmers -- a robust parcel of pastry (so legend has it) that could be dropped steaming hot down a mine shaft to the menfolk below or thrown over a high hedge to the agricultural laborers on the other side.
According to folklore, in one end there was savory meat, spuds and turnip and -- on the other side of a pastry wall -- fruit jam. Entree and dessert all in one steaming package. Genius.
Wpa Pool / Getty Images, file
David Cameron eats a pastry during an election campaign stop on May 1, 2010 in Woodstock, southern England.
No wonder a simpler version was adopted all across the country. It has become a staple of many a working lunch, snatched from the oven of a high street food store and wolfed down on the nearest bench or at a desk.
Library opened by Mark Twain falls victim to austerity cuts
So into this culinary sanctum stumbled the British government. Always anxious to raise more cash in these dark days of austerity, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne decided back in March to slap a 20 percent tax on hot snacks like pasties, pies and sausage rolls.
The plan was to raise an extra $150 million.
But Osborne -- a millionaire whose diet does not apparently include pasties -- had no idea that he was about to walk into a political furore that we have seldom seen since the 1990 Poll Tax riots.
"Half-baked," screamed the tabloids. "Save our pasties," the nation echoed as people licked their lips and bared their teeth.
A newspaper hired an actress dressed as Marie Antoinette to pursue the hapless Chancellor -- a reminder of her infamous quote that led to revolution across the Channel: "Let them (the poor) eat cake."
Justin Tallis / AFP – Getty Images
Bakers and their supporters hold pastries as they gather outside the prime minister's official residence in London in April to protest and deliver a petition against the so-called pasty tax.
The accident-prone Conservative-led government had walked into a minefield of meat and potato proportions. Politicians rushed to have their photos taken stuffing pasties down their throats.
NBC News' UK partner ITV News on pasty debate
Even Prime Minister David Cameron was wrong-footed when asked in Parliament when HE had last eaten a pasty. He claimed to have done so at a shop that closed down some years ago. Ouch!
So yesterday Cameron and Osborne decided on a change of diet: humble pie.
The Sun's front page story on the British government's 'pastygate' climbdown on Tuesday.
In a humiliating climb-down, the government was forced to abandon its snack tax.
Well, almost. In a wonderfully British muddle, pasties will avoid tax if they are hot but cooling down out of the oven. If the shop keeps them hot -- that will be another 20 percent please.
Telegraph video: David Cameron remembers his last pasty
No matter. Today's papers speak for the nation in declaring victory, with the mass market Sun saying it best: "Pasty la vista, taxman."
Peace has broken out in Britain's leafy suburbs and town centers. One joyous Cornish Member of Parliament said there'd be "dancing in the streets."
But the message to our politicians is clear.
There is, after all, a line you cannot cross. Our trains may not run when it rains or snows; you may not get through airport passport controls for hours; but mess with our favourite foods and we WILL bite back.
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Leave a Comment:
Based on the fat asses in that picture, it might be a good idea to tax them at 50%.
cullerco: Perhaps it is the fat between your ears that allows you to miss the point.
God help them if they try to tax my Snicker's Bar....
At least they had the balls to oppose the tax in mass .... while we sit on our "asses" and piss and moan about what our government does to us!
Considering the Brit's helped start the USA partly due to over zealous taxes you think they would have learned this lesson a long time ago. Now we have idiots in this country who are worse than King George and think taxes are just dandy. Dolts.
"In a wonderfully British muddle, pasties will avoid tax if they are hot but cooling down out of the oven. If the shop keeps them hot -- that will be another 20 percent please."
So they're going to hire people to see if the baker separates the ones eaten right away from those sold later and reheated?
Typical 'penny wise and pound foolish'.
No, just typical big brother mentality.
Let's see if we can get a few more people on the government payroll, and kill any thoughts of free enterprise
Wait, am I talking about the good ole USA now....
I thought the pastie tax was going to be imposed on strippers......
Those wacky Brits!
Same thing coming to the U.S. via the liberals, they want to control what we eat. Moochelle leading the pack.
An article all about "pasties" and yet they call them "pastries" in both photo captions.
Does MSNBC contract out it's proof-reading to India or just bypass it altogether?
I wasn't sure if I ate them or covered a strippers nipples with 'em???
Just another attempt by the British government to strip people of their dignity and remove any last verstige of freedom from their society. Cameras everywhere, the nation infested with a mish-mash of foreigners who are not even European not to mention English. There are barely any pubs left where people can congregate. What an abysmal piece of garbage this government is becoming: it is to vomit over. It is like Orwell said,
There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always—do not forget this… always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling [someone] who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face—forever.
George Orwell. ‘1984’ Part III, Chapter III.
damn that thing looks good!
where can we find these in California??? haha. yeah right.
Bologna Sandwich well you can go to the U.P. of Michigan and find 'em. Or mail order them from Pasty Central. In any event they are damn fine grub!
My family came out of Cornwall. I was raised on pasties. Growing up in a mining town everyone ate pasties regardless of their nationality. That was the food staple that people lived on. Butte, Montana is the coldest place in the nation. Yet, the pasty gave families what they needed not only in one meal but in necessary nutrition to survive the cold. Taxing a food that is used for survival is just wrong. Today it is steal a favorite food of all Butte people. If you tried taxing pasties in Montana you would have the biggest war that you have ever seen. Besides there is already food taxes so that is double taxing. IF you want to add a tax add it to something that is not needed for survival such as cigarettes, alcohol, entertainment. Leave the food alone or there will be more starving people.
Janice, Pasties were introduced to the U.P. by Cornish Miners and have become a staple of the area.
"It has become a staple of many a working lunch, snatched from the oven of a high street food store and wolfed down on the nearest bench or at a desk."
"Even Prime Minister David Cameron was wrong-footed when asked in Parliament when HE had last eaten a pasty. He claimed to have done so at a shop that closed down some years ago."
Sounds like a tax on the working and middle class to me.
The once Mighty British Empire, the mightiest of all empires, has indeed fallen on hard times.
What else you gonna get from conservatives but taxes on the middle class and poor people while they lavish tax decreases on the affluent.
Good for the Brits! I bet Americans, who won't do anything in spite of the worst provocations the Gov't throws at em, would revolt for a hamburger or Pizza Tax too.
The problem is that they are looking for tax revenue. If they don't tax pasties, they will tax something else. By the way MSN, these 'older, newer' tabs at the side of this page are really annoying!!
Those tabs ARE a giant pain in the *ss.
tooooo much welfare means higher taxes...put their arses to work, same thing applies here.
Yep, more tax money is needed to finance the entitlement bunch.
You two have not heard of the unemployment fiasco because the rich are not hiring I suppose. You must be from that lot that thinks we should just let those people at the bottom (mostly children) die while waiting for gainful employment.
Better to tax the poor and middle class food than make people like Romney pay more than his 14% rate. He'd have to eat pasties too!
According to conservatives, lowering taxes for the wealthy creates jobs. LOL!
They do create jobs. Sadly they just create them overseas!
Can I hear an AMEN!! to that!! Right on!!
It always amuses me how stupid and/or hypocritical liberals are. Why is it fine to be super wealthy if you're a liberal - but if you're wealthy and a conservative you must be a greedy dirt bag who deserves to have all his money taken from him? Why don't any of you idiots ever scream about people like George Soros? Or how about people like John Kerry? Lawrence Ellison? Herb Kohl? Jane Harman? Frank Lautenberg? ANY of the Kennedys?
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2011/11/15/seven-of-the-top-ten-wealthiest-members-of-congress-are-democrats/
http://newamericangazette.com/2011/01/politics/top-20-richest-people-democrats/
And it also amuses me how almost half the country pays NO Federal Income tax - but it's the OTHER half who "isn't paying their fair share" according to the same idiot liberals.
Sheesh.
Agree agree...I really don't understand why the "Christian" conservatives truly feel the peasants can fix the debt issues....Wake up...If mittens gets into office we will be back to bush era trickle down economics. It is categorically known that this does not work....we did it for 8 years and we saw what happened. Americans have such short memory spans. The British people did something about it....Americans just believe what we see on tv....propaganda and hearsay rule our opinions..we are in love with our own voluptuousness we would rather eat and make love with our faces than know the truth....Mark my words the feudal system is coming to America...Mark my words
grilledcheesesandwich - Why don't you explain where that number comes from idiot...............From the census bureau "50% of Americans don't pay federal tax" that icludes all the old on SS and children better get your kids jobs....Some people are so stupid...See what I mean...........ignorant
grilled cheese
Don't try to talk common sense to a liberal, They just wanna feel good.
I do wonder why there is no whining about every Hollywood type, It apperas they are 95% liberal, making tons of money, but because the espouse the liberal BS mantra, They must be OK
Commonsensedude your name is an oxymoron. This is not about the rich paying for everything, it is about the rich paying their fair share. Just because you are too dumb to realize what the expectation is, it is for the rich, middle class and poor to all pay the same percentage of their income in tax. Your word vomit and dribble is insane.
I don't differentiate between wealthy Democrats and Republicans. Their tax breaks over the past 10 years have done nothing for the economy, they have just made them wealthier. Also, they'd better think hard before overly severe austerity measures, as the result will be guaranteed recession. The problem is more complicated than partisan politicians would have you believe.
Dave -I agree 100%.
Another tax on middle and low-income taxpayers. Just can't tax the rich folk creatin' all the jobs.
The 1% have all their 99% lackies under control as attested here by grilledcheese and commonsense.
Perfect handles for RWNJ's who prove you can't fix stupid.
That is a funny tax story...pastry tax. Here in USA, I say it is Flat Tax time on anything other than food items. 25%. That way the poorest to the richest are all on the same page. If you can afford to buy it, great, if you cannot, save up until you can or do with out.
Peter that 50% # is from the IRS on income tax filers. It does not include children.
Dave - you have also gotten "richer" by having a lower income tax of the past decade. Do you want to give your money back to the government since it would appear you believe the money is first the governments and then the person who works for the money?
look the census bureau is the only organization that assess total population...try again.....Once again it is about equality and fair share.....If you don't get it then move....Please
The IRS and treasury are the ones who collect income taxes and they, therefore, have the statistics on income tax filers.
You say it is about fair share. What is a fair share? Should someone earning $250,000 pay $0.40 out of every dollar they earn in taxes while someone earning $25,000 pay nothing on what they earn? Is that "fair"?
When you can come up with a dollar figure that is fair, we'll all be able to understand.
Where should I move? The United States used to be a place where I could move to another state if I wasn't happy with what was going on in my state. Since the federal government has become so involved in what previously had not been the business of the federal government, it doesn't matter where I move.
Why is it fine to be super wealthy if you're a liberal - but if you're wealthy and a conservative you must be a greedy dirt bag who deserves to have all his money taken from him?
Because so called liberals are willing to pay their fair share of taxes and the rich heirs of former wealthy people who are cheap and thus conservative are not. Nobody wants any rich person to pay more than his fair share. The problem here is their tax bills are high but when you look at the percentages they are low. A flat tax where everyone paid the same percentage and all income was taxed would be what we need. If 1% own 85% of the wealth they should pay that much in taxes right?
FOR FRODO!!!!
I'm sure just like here in the US, there's plenty of money wasted by the government that could easily cover that deficit if the rich were willing to part with it. This is about finding a way to bilk more money from the middle class. Shame on the poster who thinks this is about weight- the pastries were the staple of hard working people long before the 'obesity epidemic' was invented by Big Pharma and Big Diet.
This as a tax proposed by conservatives who put forth an austere budget.
Conservative for the rich. Austere for the poor and middleclass.
Remember, it is only class warfare when the poor and the middleclass fight back.
This is just one example of the UK's overstepping to tax just about everything. TV taxes (license $200 annually), gas tax (makes their pain at the pump around $10/gal), income tax (20% above the US rate),value added tax (VAT is 20% on hard goods and services), road car tax (they tow away if not paid) and they even have a tax for having a garden hose (or rather the faucet it's attached to).
It seems they have a ministry for just about every aspect of life. I still laugh at the Monty Python's ministry of silly walks. Satire yes but the bureaocracy is rampant in the British Isles.
My income tax rate, including National insurance was 33% when I lived in the UK and that covered health care. If I add my income tax here, to the amount that I pay for health care, it is way more, more than my mortgage payment and that is with out paying for all the BS deductables, treatment not covered by insurance, prescriptions, etc.
They have been making pasties for over 900 years.
Awesome taste, unique flavor, and can be a healthy meal for a good deal if eaten in moderation.
There are many pasty shops also in the western hemisphere via the immigration of the experienced Cornish coal/tin miners to build and mine the copper and iron rich portion of Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the early 1800's.
After the Cornish left for the gold out west, the pasty stayed and was adopted by the Swedes and the Fins. and continues to carry on the tradition as a "meal "in-itself" making them for generations now.
They are also found down below the border near the silver mining neighborhoods of Mexico!
Info. provided with permission from www.mmpasties.com
My grandfather (of Cornish descent) was an iron ore miner in Upper Michigan - my grandmother (of Finnish descent) cooked pasties every morning for him to take to work. In his shirt, the pasty would keep him warm all morning, and after that his body heat would keep the pasty warm until lunchtime. The crust provided a handle so he could eat without having to wash his hands. My mom taught me to make them, and I still do now and then.
I've had pasties from that company before. (www.mmpasties.com) They are located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Tell you what, if you want an amazing authentic Cornish pasty, that is the place to go!
Why hasn't anyone spoken of a tax on public employees. There are son many of them that even a small tax would produce massive monies. I know they would in America anyway.
Yes, tax anyone but the rich. Remember, lowering the rich people's taxes will create jobs.
ROFLMAO
How about a fiat money tax, a bank borrows you fake money, then they pay 50% tax, suit tax, limo tax, contribution tax for polititions, super pac tax?
A tax on public employees would only be a tax on tax dollars.
The amazing thing about this is, there are still lemmings who actually vote for CONservatives, even in the face of the truth that they promote policies that help the rich! How much longer will stupid voters keep electing CONservatives?
As long as stupid and ill informed voters keep voting for liberals! Look at the taxes in the healthcare bill. It's supposed to be about healthcare, NOT TAXES!!!
Romney came up with that idea.
Voting Romney is better than voting for an admitted cocaine user with 0 exectutive experience...aka Obama.
Too bad politicians don't do what they're supposed to with tax payer money. This world economy may not be in this sh!thole it's in today. Politicians banks and wall street are reponsable for this mess and it's going to stay like this as long as we allow it.
Wierdscience! Public employees pay taxes just like the rest of us 99%! Do you pay taxes or do you live off the labor of other people?
Those pastries are great. Try them when you get to the UK. Never seen one as fat as those pictured. Generally are they smaller.
The picture of the protesters show smaller ones. Maybe they cook down like a hamburger.
No need to go to the UK for a traditional pasty. Pasties can be found here in the U.S. Just have to keep your eye out for them.
It's Obama's fault !!!!!!!
"Pasty" is a nipple cover in the good ole US of A. :{)
All depends on the pronunciation of the word.
Oh good, the English suffer from out-of-touch conservatives as well.
I do wish we could get Cornish Pasties in the US. Sausage rolls too. Americans like to put down English cooking, but the fact is that Americans don't know what English cooking even is. As the land of donuts, hamburgers, and hot dogs, Americans really don't have much to feel too superior about.
You dont have sausage rolls over there?!! This is a sadness :) If youre ever in my part of the world, try a cheese and onion roll aswell. Too tasty.
We're also the home of the Reuben, S'mores, Philly Cheesesteak, the Corn Dog (yum, one of my personal favorites), Cobb Salad, Baked Alaska, Buffalo Wings, the Turducken, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream (not to mention chocolate chip cookies), just to name a few.
We have room to boast.
Not in the U.S. ?
Obviously you did not read other posts like....... #8?
Irish markets here in the US carry sausage rolls. They're nice, but I'd rather try the pasties. The ones I get, the flaky pastry is too dry w/o ketchup. When I have the sausages I prefer them on a sub roll w/ Irish bacon, eggs, black & white pudding - and topped with butter, ketchup, and brown sauce..... Ummmmm, tasty!
Sausage rolls are easy to get and easy to make as well, essentially "pigs in a blanket". Austrian and German delis usually have them. They can usually make a Cornish pasty if you order a few to put in the freezer.
Pork pies are the trick, they are difficult to make. If you live in a big city there is usually at least one transplanted British or Irish butcher who has them or can make them. Also: http://www.englishporkpiecompany.com - but shipping is steep outside of the NE.
They got the tax repealed. A small step for man, A giant leap for mankind. It won't work in america though. They have the National Guard and if we complain. Well, 4 dead in Ohio. In the past, our American politicians have choosen to kill their voters, rather than listen and respect the will of the people. Hooverville, to Occupiers, our politicians have one message. We are in control, we will do what we want, and there is nothing you can do about it.
The people of the UK win one against government greed.
what the story has missed out is that they are still going to reduce the top rate of income tax for the wealthiest by 5% which is what this tax was going to go towards paying for.
so taxing lower and middle incomes to pay for a tax cut for the wealthy. and where is that money going to come from now
If any government want's to raise money why don't they tax toilet paper? OH- I forgot, they already do, only here it is called working Americans because every time we turn around Congress is wiping their collective ass with us. Never mind what is good for the people or the country as long as there are no "skid marks" in their underwear--but we remain covered in poop and flushed down the toilet.
"...Always anxious to raise more cash...". Ah, Mr. Chris Hampson, NBC News Director of International News, I believe you mean "...Always eager to raise more cash...". Sir, there is quite a difference in meaning of the words anxious and eager.
unreal --- govt's constantly pulling cash out of the private sector --- dont these liberal idiots realise, that you cant revitalize an economy by constantly pulling money out of the pockets of private citizens? People are not chattle to be fleeced by a govt's feckless attempt at social justice, or failed entitlement programs. ---- Obama could learn a lesson from this little faux paus.
This story was about conservatives raising tax on the poor and middle class, to give a tax cut to the rich. Try reading some times.
roadkill -- the "conservatives" that you speak of are not conservatives by any stretch of the imagination based on US politics ---- no self respecting conservative --- would attempt such a move --- try reading between the lines and use critical thinking techniques, rather than just believe what you are told by the media --- but then again I wouldnt expect much more than that from a liberal socialist --- just believe the sound bytes that you are spoon fed by the media ---
What in the hell is with these "representative" type governments that do NOT know how to STOP spending? They are just stealing from all of us.
The politicians learned early on in their careers when running for 2nd grade student council: If you promise everything, you will get elected. When they became members of Congress, they just found a way to use other people's money to fulfill those promises.
THE HASTY PASTY !!!! A prime example of English Thought just like HERE in the U.S. Taxing the lower classes to DEATH and keeping the upper class saved from paying next to NO TAXES. !!!!!!!
They better watch their own PASTY FAT GREEDY ASSES. The day will come soon !!!
I love it when conservatives look down on the middle and lower classes, believing that a few more pennies or pence will not draw the ire of the masses, however we see that average folks are getting really tired of the wealthy telling the poor and middle class to just "suck it up" and be willing to pay a little more. We are about to enter the "Summer of Doom" for conservatives, and the show will be the reality series of the Summer and Fall Seasons.
Oh, I can see it coming now. There will be a tax on all snack foods in the US in the near future. Of course, it will be for your own good, like the skyrocketing cigarette tax was. That seemed like a great idea, tax the hell out of the cigarettes then people will buy less; it worked too and cost the government billions in cigarette tax money. Now comes the diet police; we are an obese nation, we must stop this, therefore we will tax you into submission. Don't laugh too hard, they may actually do it. We can call it a fat tax and, it can include all fast food restaurants as well; wheeeen the money keeps rolling in you don't ask how.....
The idea of taxing foods that are not general grocery items is not new, Canada copied the UK VAT rules long ago and GST is applied using very similar (I would say carbon copy actually) rules. The main difference is that the rate in Canada is only 5%, although many provinces use HST which is at a much higher rate.