21 Reasons To Get Your News From the UK

The United Kingdom has one of the largest - if not the largest - number of national dailies of any country in the world. I counted 21 paid circulation daily newspapers in England, Scotland and Wales.

Every shade of political opinion is represented from the traditionally surly right-wing editorials of the Times and the populist Daily Mail to the socialist Morning Star.

The most famous, and longest established, of them all is "The Times". It's name was adopted by other newspapers around the world (e.g. The New York Times) and so outside of Britain it is referred to as the "Times of London".

The Times was first published in 1785 and for many years it was famous for never carrying news on its front page. For over 200 years it was published as a broadsheet before switching to a compact format in 2004.

The Times newspaper is the originator of the ubiquitous typeface known as "Times New Roman", devised for reliable printing on mass production machinery.

Nowadays, newspapers all carry online editions as well as the printed versions. The modern age of the Internet has made yesterday's printed news all but redundant.

Blighty's website has a page (www.blightys.com/UKNews.html) in which a fair sampling of Britain's online news sources is presented as convenient clickable links. There is also a Google Widget providing live updates from the BBC and a pocket history of the "Beeb".

Win a big jar of Revels

It's time for some fun. One of the best selling candies at Blighty's Tuck Store is those mischievous, mouth-watering, multi-flavoured treats called Revels. Inside the delicious chocolate coating is a soft centre and every bite is a surprise. It could be an orange centre, it could be coffee flavour, or a chewy toffee or who knows?

It was a bit of a slow, cold Monday morning at the store today, so Pat and I came up with an idea to have a bit of fun. We filled a candy jar with Revels and setup a competition to guess how many are in the jar.

To enter, all you have to do is send your entry by email to us at shop@blightys.com. Just include your full first and last names and your guess for how many Revels are in the jar.

And the prize? You guessed it, you win the whole jar. If you can't collect your prize, we'll send it to you by Canada Post expedited parcel service free of charge!

What to do with a big jar of Revels?

• Eat them all, get fat
• Use them for party loot bags
• Use them for a fundraiser for your sport, church or social group
• Invite hundreds of your closest friends to try candies from England

Competition Rules:

1. Only one entry per person please
2. Entries are free and without obligation
3. Entries must be sent by email only
   
4. Must be a permanent resident of any province or territory in Canada.
   
5. Full first and last names and valid email address required
6. Competition closes St David's Day (1st March) 2009
7. Winner will be closest guess within 10% of correct answer

The result of the competition will be announced on this blog on or after St David's Day. The winner will be notified by email (requests for anonymity will be respected).

Go ahead, give it your best shot!

Privacy Policy
Your name and email will not be sold, loaned or given to any other party for any reason whatsoever. You may receive occasional, infrequent email from Blighty's Tuck Store which you may opt-out of at any time.

Blighty's Britfood Tips

Do you love British food? Blighty's Tuck Store just wouldn't stay in business if I didn't know the answer to that question is an unequivocal "yes" for a large number of people. We carry hundreds of different imported food items from the UK. Many of them are easy to prepare while others depend on imagination, creativity and tradition to bring out their best.

Our free eBook "Food Glorious Food" has been downloaded hundreds of times from our website (www.blightys.com/BritishFood.html) and that tells me that there is a growing interest in British cuisine. So, we have launched a new blog called "Blighty's Britfood Tips".

This blog will continue to provide news about the store and off-the-wall news items from the United Queendom while Blighty's Britfood Tips will be focussed entirely on British food. If you share our interest in "Britfood" why not join us on the new blog at http://britfood.blightys.com.

Silly Season in Britain

I think I must be still asleep. Or perhaps it's all those chemicals I've been pumping into my bloodstream to fight the cold that still lingers two weeks after I first sneezed. Or maybe it really is silly season in the United Queendom.

I was watching BBC World News on the gogglebox this morning. There was a bizarre news item that caught my attention. Britain has regained the title in the world underwater ironing competition. Then the Beeb showed a video of people wearing SCUBA gear ironing their laundry underwater. I quickly reached for a third cup of coffee in an attempt to restore reality.

An hour or two later my laptop beeped to herald an incoming email from Pugwash (regular readers will know that Pugwash is the gentleman who imports all our Brit stuff). Walkers - the potato crisp people - are introducing some new flavours. Before you read on you had better do a Tim Horton's run to make sure you are fully awake.

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?

Here are Walker's new flavours:
"Fish & Chips", "Crispy Duck", "Cajun Squirrel", "Onion Bhaji", "Chili Chocolate" and "Builder's Breakfast".

No, it's not a joke. At least it's not my joke anyway. Perhaps the Walker's Crisp people have spent too long at the bottom of a pond ironing their laundry.

I have ordered some of these bizarre crisps; they will be in stock well before April Fool's Day - trust me on this.

You Can Never Have Too Much Chocolate!

Psssst! Wanna buy 20 bars of delicious British-made Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate for thirty two bucks?

I thought not. Twenty bars is a lot of chocolate (not a problem) and thirty two dollars is a lot of coin (problem).

Now suppose you could get the same amount of chocolate for nearly three times less money. Sounds better doesn't it? Sit a butterfly on a Cadbury standard size bar and it will weigh 50g. Buying it will cost you about a buck and a half. But, if you buy a 1Kg size bar you'll spend a lot less money and still have enough chocolate for a street party.

Cadbury only makes these goliaths at Christmas. We had some in stock at Christmas and they sold fast. I broke into the back door of the chocolate factory last night and stole some more so, if you hurry, you - and a few hundred friends - can enjoy a mega-bar one last time before next Christmas rolls around.

Amazing Cure for the Common Cold

Oh how I hate winter. And this winter has, so far, been one of the worst in recent memory. It has been colder, snowier and longer than a lot of winters we have had recently.

I just wish all those bureaucrats who fly off to exotic places to discuss remedies for "Global Warming" would spend six months dressed in parka and mukluks, shovelling driveways in southern Ontario.

Viruses love winter though. The peak of seasonal misery for humans seems to coincide with a heyday for the malicious micro-organisms. A few million of them seem to be occupying my bloodstream at the moment. I am sick. Not sick enough to stay home in bed, just weak with the symptoms of a heavy cold.

Fortunately, I have found a remedy that seems to make me feel better. The wannabe Cockneys on Merseyside who produce excellent teas and herbal beverages under the "London Fruit & Herb" brand make a product called "Green Tea & Blackcurrant".

Green Tea was known to the ancients (so they tell me) as a cure for just about everything. Blackcurrants are known to every British mum as a rich source of vitamin C. This tea is also naturally high in antioxidants which means that, if you drink it, you won't rust.

Anyway, I have been drinking a lot of the stuff. Those nasty little bugs that are swimming around inside me don't like it at all I can tell you. So maybe it won't cure the common cold but it will make life a living hell for the cold virus while easing your symptoms.

Of course, you could always wait for global warming to make life on the planet uninhabitable for viruses that thrive in the winter.

Does it pay to be polite?

According to a recent Australian study, it doesn't pay to be polite. Americans think of the British as being excessively polite, while the British often think the exact opposite of Americans.

Now it transpires that politeness may be dangerous to your health; it might even cost you your life!

The Australian researchers drew these conclusions after studying the survival rates of British and American passengers on board the Titanic. They suggest that British male passengers were more likely to have declined a place in the lifeboats in favour of the women and children. American male passengers, on the other hand, had a more enhanced survival instinct that took priority over their concern for the fairer sex and the young.

The study goes on to suggest that the gentlemanly conduct of the British passengers stems from an instinct to protect those who would breed or grow up to form the next generation. So the American passengers who rushed for the boats may have been preserving only the present generation.

Here at Blighty's we always try to be polite and if this ship ever founders it will be women and children who will get first place in the lifeboats. Rule Britannia.

Bakery Supplies Back to Normal

The new year brought a disappointing phone call from our long time bakery supplier: Flour of Scotland. The business had a disappointing Christmas season and had decided to close its doors forever. It was a crushing blow; many happy customers looked forward to the weekly fresh bakery deliveries and we were unable to replace our supplier quickly enough to bring in fresh supplies the same week.

In choosing a new bakery supplier I had to carefully consider the ramifications of the Ontario provincial governments new initiative to squeeze small meat processing operators out of business. Any small business that cooks meat must now make a huge investment in plant and equipment in order to meet the bureaucrats overbearing requirements. The steam hammer approach of the Ontario Liberals is slowly putting small butchers and bakers out of business in this province.

I had to choose a new supplier who, I believed, would be able to pull through this bureaucratic onslaught and still be in business. I chose Mrs Bridges British Bakery of Toronto. Mrs Bridges has been in business for a long time and has a very high reputation in the industry. Blighty's has sold Mrs Bridges products before and they were very popular.

The most popular products in the past were Battenberg cake, custard slices (sometimes called vanilla slices - those squishy, delicious cakes) and custard tarts. Delivery day is Wednesday so come on in and enjoy.

Ontario Government Kills Burns Night

The blundering bureaucrats in the Government of Ontario are about to march roughshod all over Burns Night suppers, killing off one of the biggest celebrations enjoyed by Ontario's huge Scottish community.

The sad truth is that the huge Queen's Park bureaucracy under Liberal Premier Dalton McGuilty has its sights set so far above reality that it cannot see the damage it is doing.

Would you have imagined, when you voted at the last provincial election, that a Liberal government would proceed to wipe out small businesses in favour of giant corporations? Well that is just what is happening now. New regulations being enforced by the Province are forcing small butchers and bakeries out of business.

The heavy hand of the Province has imposed new regulations for the preparation of cooked meats that require huge investment in order to comply. Haggis and Black Pudding are cooked meats that will no longer be available from specialized small businesses like Scottish butchers who simply cannot afford the investment. Many small Scottish butchers will simply close their doors.

The result will be that only giant meat producers will be able to afford to comply with the regulations. But will the mega-corporations be interested in producing small market foods like haggis and black pudding? I don't think so. Do you see haggis and black pudding on your supermarket shelves today?

Marks & Spencer Canadian Deliveries

We all lament the end of Marks and Spencer's presence in Canada. A few years ago we could pop into our local mall and walk right into a "Marks and Sparks" store. The Canadian M&S outlets were in the old style - great food selection and a display of high quality, hard-wearing clothes that those of us who are not dedicated followers of fashion would buy with unrestrained eagerness.

Sadly, Canada's onerous labelling requirements and a downturn in M&S's fortunes tolled the end of their Canadian adventure. But, as one door closes another one opens. A lot of small independent British stores sprang into place to fill the void left by M&S. Stores like Blighty's Tuck Store (www.blightys.com) who specialize in bringing imported British food to Canada. But whatever happened to those dowdy, high quality, hard-wearing clothing lines that M&S used to carry? Gone forever actually.

Have you visited an M&S store in the UK during your travels recently? They are big, bright and they no longer cater to the fashion-unconscious (among whom I count myself). M&S's fortunes are on a roller-coaster ride but many people still maintain a strong loyalty to the brand. While you may be able to pick up your favourite M&S tea or biscuits at Blighty's you won't find any M&S fashions in our store. All is not lost though. You can order Marks and Spencer clothes through their website at www.marksandspencer.com.

Marks and Spencer will ship to Canada (for a flat fee of £20) but you will be responsible for any duties or customs fees that may be payable. Alternatively, on your next trip over 'ome you could simply load up on your favourite M&S togs and bring them back in your suitcase.

Manchester United Team Shirt

Manchester United fans may be interested in our eBay listing for a brand new official team away shirt (size L). These shirts are Nike "Dry Fit" brand. This is a one-off listing; we don't usually carry FA team shirts - if we did we would need a much bigger store. The listing number is 250352372381 - go bid!

Customers Choice: #1

And here it is ... the irrefutable favourite Great British product as determined by the largest independent panel of judges ever assembled in the town of Orangeville, Ontario, Canada - the customers of Blighty's Tuck Store. And the winner is ... the curvaceous, the vivacious, the irresistible ... Cadbury Curly Wurly!

Only the British could have have come up with a product name so twee, so puerile, so silly. The Curly Wurly; it's name describes it so well - a lattice of chocolate covered caramel. Strands of chewy delight entwined in an network of sugary ecstacy. We have sold so many I could hang a sign outside the store: "Billions and billions sold" - well not by Blighty's; maybe by Cadbury perhaps. We laid in extra supplies of the curvy little monkeys just before Christmas but still they sold out. Irate customers dragged many of our sales staff outside and lynched them for failing them in their hour of need - a Curly Wurly deprived Christmas - perish the very thought. It was sad to see the previously heavily laden shelf where the masses of Curly Wurlys once lay; now occupied only by a large sign proclaiming "best price in Canada". The dust settled in that bed for several days until, at last, Pugwash the Pirate (our importer) threw open his doors and allowed us to refill the hallowed ground with a fresh supply of Curly Wurlys - Blighty's customers' choice for best British product in 2008.