Tag: uk

Sixpence none the richer, a half penny will do, and other thoughts on the old English currency

I was in London recently when someone said something was 50p. It got me thinking: do they still have half pence or shillings any more in England? With a bit of research I quickly discovered that a) they do not b) they got rid of all of that currency and went with a decimal system, much like Canadians did when we got rid of imperial measures and moved to the metric system in the second half of the 20th century.

The old money, like the imperial units, had a certain charm that their newer counterparts lack. Charm aside, the new replacements are easier to work with. (Although leave it to Canadians to invent the Loonie and the Twonie as coins!) I’m glad for the decimal units of money when I go to England, and I am believe most Brits must feel the same way.

For more on the old system of English money and how it was upgraded, check out this, Decimalisation, and also this, Pounds, Shillings and Pence.

Assessing the Speaker of the UK House of Commons, John Bercow


This is a good piece: How bad is Bercow? – UnHerd.

Bercow is a controversial figure, and as you can guess, many think he is a bad thing. But the UnHerd piece looks back over numerous Speakers of the House of Commons and gives a kinder assessment. Given that we are going to be reading alot about the House due to Brexit, it might be a good time to become better aware of the man and the role.

Two thoughts on Jamie Oliver’s U.K. Restaurants Declare Bankruptcy

One, It’s always terrible when this type of thing happens: Jamie Oliver’s U.K. Restaurants Declare Bankruptcy – The New York Times.  

But two, I am curious about what has been happening with his businesses based on this:

… his British restaurants ran into financial trouble in 2016 and got into such dire straits that Mr. Oliver had to inject millions from his own savings to salvage the business. Even then, he had to close about 20 restaurants and pizzerias in the months that followed.

What has been happening in the past three years? I remember reading that at the time and it seemed like they had turned the corner at were going to be ok. They turned a corner but they were the opposite of ok.

I’d really like an in depth article of what happened.