In the UK, the lowest guess (from the government) is “more than 10,000”. Most anti-slavery charities agree on an estimate of about 120,000 - 130,000 in the UK.

Each year, about 10,000 - 20,000 are newly referred to authorities (and potentially rescued).

Though there’s often a perception that it’s only foreign workers in the UK that get trapped like this, 25% of those are British nationals.

Some sad (but important) links: antislavery.org

unseenuk.org

The Modern Slavery Act 2015: becoming world-leading again (PDF)

You don’t necessarily need full sun any more (though it helps). Solar panels are a lot better than they used to be at generating power on cloudy, overcast days. You can even use them in the North of Britain these days. Of course they generate more on both of our sunny days, but they still work on our normal rainy cloudy days too.

I remember reading about some plan to fill the Sahara desert with solar panels, which would in theory be able to power the whole world, but I imagine there’s a whole lot of politics, profit and greed in the way of something like that ever working (I imagine there’s also a tonne of engineering and environmental considerations).

Depends how he dies.

If he gets Gaddafied by his own people, I imagine his successor might try to do things differently.

It’s easy - you just mark all the zonks that contain an ezinamabhasi.

All solid advice. May also have an ingredient sensitivity to something like “sodium laureth sulphate”, which can cause dry skin and flaking, or massively inflame existing psoriasis or dry skin.

An arms fair sounds like the least fun type of fair.

By some traditions, yes. Volcanic sacrifice was particularly popular in the Victorian Era, for example. Unfortunately for fans of the method (and fortunately for those who live in these areas) most of the best volcanoes were in the outer territories of the former British Empire, which are now independent.

I’m sure Ben Nevis is due another pop any time now, but until then “1, 2, 3, into the sea!” :)

That’s a very good question. I think in that case we have to assume “drowned: apply to join the EU”. If he turns up mysteriously alive at a later date, we can set fire to him etc “in arrears”.

These are very sensible and fair plans - though you have to be careful not to make it too much fun, else people might be inclined to say “delay the EU application another month, next week they’re throwing Farage in with some bears! I must see that!”.

Referendums don’t always work, so instead we should throw Nigel Farage into the sea.

If he drowns, we apply to join the EU.
If he floats, we fish him out of the sea and try and set him on fire. If he burns, we apply to join the EU. If he doesn’t burn, we “nexit” him with a guillotine and apply to join the EU.

Burtle zed.

This is a good and thorough answer, and it is likely entirely correct.

I still think traitorous cunts made a ton of money off it though :)

Because some people stood to become personally very rich off the back of it, and were willing to damage a whole nation for their own benefit, because they’re traitorous cunts.

I’m not quite sure what you’re on about there, sorry.

I literally only spoke of the people who are caught in a debt-poverty trap, who you accused of being rich people that just wanted free money, rather than people who genuinely needed support.

I didn’t even comment on anything else you have referred to.

This is people living in a week-to-week manner, who’ve had to borrow £300 off a pay-day lender to cover a shortfall (sometimes an emergency or unexpected outgoing, sometimes there were just fewer hours of work available) because they literally have no other money.

They’ve then found out the predatory, scummy lender’s practices and interest rates mean that a few months later, despite paying back every spare penny they can afford, they now owe £2000 to that lender, pushing them deeper and deeper into a poverty they cannot ever escape from.

They didn’t ask for the debt to be paid off, but it’s definitely a need, not a want. There’s no need to be spreading that sort of victim-blaming nonsense.

Anyway, they now owe those scum £0.

Ideally, most of this situation wouldn’t even exist in the first place, and it’s a shame this is the only process currently available to help these people, but this is literally saving people’s lives and though perhaps not by itself lifting anyone out of poverty, it’s certainly keeping people out of more severe poverty.

Here they still exist - they just make you pay if you want a new one. I (and seemingly most people) use them all the time still, but I guess more people reuse them more times now. I’m quite happy to pay 30p for one when the old ones get used up. I think they’re a bit sturdier than they used to be too - so less likely for the handles to snap when you’ve still got a mile to walk home.

I guess it mostly cut down on unwanted ones getting littered etc. Now they’re valuable, all the more reason to hoard them in a cupboard in the kitchen.

Where you are it sounds like they stopped existing - what do you put your food shopping in? Do you still have a thousand left that you previously hoarded?

I think technically it’s both, but it’s mainly focused on the former - the shop and supermarket ones. You now pay 20 or 30p for them - previously when they were free, they would sometimes force a bag on you, even if you didn’t want one (I guess to walk around advertising their shop).

Throwing pretend milkshakes at a pretend Nigel Farridge is disrespectful.

We should be burning effigies of him on bonfires.