The UK is Out - New PM - and whither now for Article 50

IronHerb

None I would guess.

NEoldiron

Herb you could be right, it would of would've been cucumbers ;biggrin

Expat_Hammer

Freedom for the fruitsters ;lol

MrsGrey

That banana story (an utter lie, but promoted by Boris) is proof that (a) Boris is despicable and (b) we have had out own alternative facts long before the Trump administration.

PrestonHammer

The banana story is an old story, I remember that when I was in my teens.

MrsGrey

Astonishing how it lives on.

It has been debunked so many times, but some people still believe it. Even after Boris admitted he made it up.

NEoldiron

I think the point is being missed here. The point being that some voters were (insert whatever adjective you feel is appropriate) enough to decide the future of the UK on such trivial matters. ;angry

AdMeus_CaputFilius

It is not strictly a lie Mrs G, there is legislation out there that was passed by the EU regarding the size and shape of bananas, but it was for classification, so for marketing purposes people knew what they were buying - Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2257/94 of 16 September 1994 laying down quality standards for bananas:-

The regulation applies to unripened green bananas, and thus to growers and wholesalers rather than retailers.[3] The main provisions of the regulation were that bananas sold as unripened, green bananas should be green and unripened, firm and intact, fit for human consumption, not "affected by rotting", clean, free of pests and damage from pests, free from deformation or abnormal curvature, free from bruising, free of any foreign smell or taste.[1] The minimum size (with tolerances and exceptions) is a length of 14 cm and a thickness (grade) of 2.7 cm. It specifies minimum standards for specific quality classifications of bananas (Extra, Class I, Class II).[1] Only Extra class bananas have to comply fully with the shape specifications. Class II bananas, for instance are permitted to have "defects of shape"; Class I bananas are permitted only "slight defects of shape".[1][4] This is not true, however, of the size specifications; sale of bananas below the minimum size is almost always prohibited (with exceptions only for bananas from a few regions where bananas are traditionally smaller).

If you don't read all the information and just focus on section underlines it is easy to see why people misinterpreted the regulation. Also at the time, a lot of the bananas imported to the UK came from the West Indies which tended to be smaller and curvier so imports from that area suffered, as importers switched to other countries who grew products that were more in line with the highest classification - it also lead to accusations (from those losing out) of the EU protecting it's own as many of the EU's big agricultural companies had interests in those areas producing the new higher classification fruits.

The real problem is that there is a lot of legislation and regulations out there from the EU regards fruit and vegetables that is produced for marketing and trade purposes - i.e. when you buy the product badged as Grade A or Class 1 that is what you get (as per the EU regulation), if not you can send it back and have it replaced or pay the costs of the lower grade it actually is (claim back a credit if already paid), which when it gets into the public domain is deliberately misinterpreted (for various reasons) or misunderstood.

NEoldiron

Admeus said:
"which when it gets into the public domain is deliberately misinterpreted (for various reasons) or misunderstood" -
by the usual suspects:
e.g: Sun, Daily Express, Daily Mail among others

IronHerb

NEoldiron said:

I think the point is being missed here. The point being that some voters were (insert whatever adjective you feel is appropriate) enough to decide the future of the UK on such trivial matters. ;angry

So NE, you have generalised, what was it, 17-18m voters on one comment. That's why Brexiteers call Remainers (insert whatever adjective you feel is appropriate) elitist.

Dodger58

I have to admit this line from OnMe's excellent post made me laugh:

AdMeus_CaputFilius said:

..free from bruising, free of any foreign smell or taste.

So is the EU anti-'foreign' smell or taste - I thought the British were supposed to be isolationist ...

;whistle

OutcastLondoner

We, the newly-independent people of Britain, demand free movement for all bananas, not the people from the same countries.

grey_til_I_dye

Power to the banana!

simonc

It may surprize some but there are around 1000 varieties of banana & they come in many sizes - it seems to me that it would be impossible to grade bananas by size and shape, and why would you i tend to think it is the taste that is important - to some it must be how they look in the fruit bowl?

OutcastLondoner

All you really need to know is the midget Asian bananas you can't buy in the supermarket are the best. #EndOf

IronHerb

Do you write the Food Review as well Outcast? ;lol

PrestonHammer

I think they are called Apple bananas.

AdMeus_CaputFilius

They also come in a variety of colours as well (red, purple, brown etc.) as well as the usual shade of green/yellow we are used to seeing.

Hammerwombat

A straight banana would have been so much easier to deal with in a wimpy banana split.

OutcastLondoner

IronHerb said:

Do you write the Food Review as well Outcast? ;lol

I'm applying for the job. That's actually why I have riot gear, to protect us from straight banana-wielding Belgians ready to lay down the law. The Middle East is nothing in comparison. They only have hummus.

PrestonHammer said:

I think they are called Apple bananas.

I think you're right. In Bangladesh they just call it a banana. The big ones didn't exist until rich people started importing them to show how classy they are, by eating bland mushy things.

IronHerb

Hummus, that can be nasty though...

TheMadcapLaughs

OutcastLondoner said:

All you really need to know is the midget Asian bananas you can't buy in the supermarket are the best. #EndOf

I`m sure the term "midget Asian" isn`t strictly politically correct..........................

TheMadcapLaughs

And talking of bananas, I opened a new pack on sunday morning, reached in to pull one or two from the cluster, and found a large spiders web in the middle of the bunch. Not having a great affinity to spiders (especially the venomous banana dwelling types) I screamed like a pre-pubescent girly and dropped the bunch in the middle of the kitchen floor and ran around like Corporal Jones on amphetamines. I re-entered the kitchen dressed in protective gear (similar to John Goodman in Arachnophobia) armed with a tennis racket and rolled up copy of The Radio Times (Xmas Edition) accompanied by my daughter, whom I assured would be employed only in a covert "spotting" capacity. Her signal would be to scream in a similar vein to her father if "anything moved". After much prodding and poking I plucked up the courage to advance on the abandoned bunch and prodded and poked. My daughter screamed, I leapt back like someone who has an Olympic Gold in leaping back, only to be informed that my daughter was "testing her signal". After removing the tennis racket that was now embedded in the ceiling I again continued to prod and poke and ascertained that the bunch was disarmed and safe. My daughter and I then managed to scoop the bunch using said tennis racket and TV times into a sainsburys carrier bag which was triple tied (the accepted norm when bagging dangerous fruit) and now sits outside the back door at a safe distance from the house. The only worry now is that the cats (we have two) seem to have interfered with the carrier bag in the night and may have inadvertently released a dangerous arachnid into what was once a safe and leafy suburb.

MrsGrey

You know that while you were out of the room getting tooled up, 3 large foreign spiders legged it from the bananas and are now hiding somewhere in your kitchen, don't you.

;sofa

TheMadcapLaughs

;sofa

Sorry, did someone say something????????????????


Mrs G. I`m not even sure if they have the required travel documents.....................

MrsGrey

AdMeus
The banana discussion reared its head once before, back on pg 34 or thereabouts of this thread. ;ok

Your post seems to me to be suggesting reasons why the 'myth' persists. (Unless I have missed your point?)

AdMeus_CaputFilius said:

If you don't read all the information and just focus on section underlines it is easy to see why people misinterpreted the regulation.

Well, yes, I agree. If you don't read something properly, you won't understand it.

My response would be - why aren't people reading it properly?

AdMeus_CaputFilius said:

The real problem is that there is a lot of legislation and regulations out there from the EU regards fruit and vegetables that is produced for marketing and trade purposes - i.e. when you buy the product badged as Grade A or Class 1 that is what you get (as per the EU regulation), if not you can send it back and have it replaced or pay the costs of the lower grade it actually is (claim back a credit if already paid), which when it gets into the public domain is deliberately misinterpreted (for various reasons) or misunderstood.

(my italics)

So we are in agreement on this - some politicians and media outlets knowingly and deliberately promulgated a misrepresentation of the truth (aka lied) to mislead people. To serve an agenda of their own.

or

In other cases, the aim and content of the classification system was genuinely misunderstood. Because people didn't take the time or trouble to read it properly (as you suggest in your other point that I referred to above.)

Unless you are saying that some people aren't capable of understanding it? I'm not sure it's all that difficult to understand, is it? ;hmm

Vorselaarhammer

MrsGrey said:

You know that while you were out of the room getting tooled up, 3 large foreign spiders legged it from the bananas and are now hiding somewhere in your kitchen, don't you.

;sofa

That's just CRAWL MrsG....

AdMeus_CaputFilius

Mrs G,

If memory servers me correctly, when this story first came up back in the mid 1990's it was done a bit tongue in cheek in one of the papers along with a few other stories about EU regulations.

The point I was making was that the story was based on fact, although not all the facts of the story were reported at the time or since, so therefore it is not a lie but a misrepresentation of the facts. Due to this misrepresentation there has been a lack of understanding in regards to classification system and it's intent, because people did not take the time or trouble to actually look it up.

Because the original story has been repeated many times now, people take it as fact - like other stories that are not exactly a lie and are based on fact, if repeated often enough, become the truth people will believe.


TMC - Nothing wrong with spiders, lovely creatures. We have a Giant House Spider living in the garden under a planter and another in the Garage, look fearsome but are harmless (Harriet and Henrietta). We also have a Noble False Widow hanging out in the Conservatory (Maggie).



That one is Harriet, the gap she is in between wooden batons is just over three and a quarter inched wide (Henrietta is a bit smaller, but not much).



That one is Maggie.

ASLEFshrugged

No Charlotte?

TheMadcapLaughs

Admeus. If I may say this. But that gives me the willies. ;scary