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Kirsty Wark asked me to fetch her a cup of tea and a Penguin biscuit

Kirsty Wark asked me to fetch her a cup of tea and a Penguin biscuit

Certainly, she can appear regal to the journalistic peasantry. I remember a packed press conference where she breenged in with her crew. Suddenly we – self-important, like everyone in our trade – all felt like minions. She asked me to fetch her a cup of tea and a Penguin biscuit ('one with a green wrapper'). Wow.
What ingredients went into creating such an imperious personage? Well, being born was a useful start. This auspicious event occurred on 3 February 1955 in Dumfries. Kirsty's father, who earned a Military Cross for heroism at Normandy, was a solicitor. A convivial raconteur, he also liked spending time on his own fly-fishing. 'I'm sure he was reflecting on the horrors of war, ' Kirsty told the I newspaper recently.
Her mother was a teacher who, after one early Newsnight interview, phoned to complain that she'd split an infinitive. Poor Kirsty must have been tempted to tell her mother where to boldly go.
She spent her early years in Castle Douglas before moving to Kilmarnock. After attending all-girl, 'independent' Wellington School in Ayr, she studied history, specifically Scottish Studies, at Embra Yoonie. In 1976, aged 21, Wark joined the BBC as a graduate researcher and soon became a producer for Radio Scotland, displaying enthusiasm and a willingness to make things happen. Wish I'd tried that.
(Image: Jamie Simpson)
BOXING CLEVER
WARK switched to television in 1982, producing Reporting Scotland, Agenda and Current Account. She then moved into presenting various Scottish political programmes before moving to UK network television as part of the Breakfast Time brigade.
In 1988, she reported on the Lockerbie bombing and, in 1990, made her mark as an interviewer when she confronted, so to say, Margaret Thatcher. The Iron Lady was incensed with her abrasive questions about the poll tax, and complained afterwards that she'd 'interrupted me more than I've ever been interrupted'.
Later, it emerged that Wark had just learned she was pregnant with her first baby, and so was determined to remain 'preternaturally calm' for both their sakes.
In 1993, she joined Newsnight, BBC 2's mumphing aboot politics show, in a role that was to last three decades. She stood down last summer, a week after the General Election.
In her time, she has faced accusations of being too close to Labour. Donald Dewar, former Labour First Minister and a close friend, appointed her to a panel choosing the design for the new Scottish Parliament – with hilarious consequences!
Later, the independent production company she co-owned was an awarded a BBC contract to make programmes about … construction of the Scottish Parliament building. Whoopsie.
In 2005, she invited another Labour First Minister and long-time friend, Jack McConnell, now Lord McConnell of Proletariat, and his family to stay at her Majorcan holiday home over New Year. Doubt was cast on Wark's neutrality and suitability to anchor political programmes, with respected quality newspaper the Daily Mail dubbing the episode 'Villagate'.
Importantly, it added that she had a 'big, almost masculine voice that belies a worked-on slim figure and good legs often hidden by trousers'. Trousers, ye say?
However, several observers considered the 'scandal' overblown, with Newsnight's editor pointing out that many media peeps had old pals who went on to hold office. 'The important issue is your ability to ask tough questions and that is not a problem with Kirsty Wark …'
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ECK OF AN ATTITUDE
ALEX Salmond was a problem for Kirsty Wark. In 2007, after an interview with then First Mniister, the BBC received 120 complaints from entirely disinterested individuals, and issued a public apology regretting Wark's 'rude and dismissive' tone.
In 2020, after she presented a programme about Salmond's sexual assault trial – in which he was acquitted – more than 900 complaints of bias were made.
Wark responded: 'Alex Salmond was found innocent, not guilty, there is no disputing that in any way. What we were doing was giving background to the whole thing, and we did that fairly.'
Politically, she has described herself as 'soft left', with pals in all parties. Late Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy called her a 'fierce foe when the studio lights go on, great fun in the bar'.
Late Labour MP Robin Cook MP said at least she let folk answer the question, 'unlike those from the Paxman and Humphrys school'.
She herself describes her approach as 'forensic' – certainly leaves blood on the floor sometimes – and contends that she's professional enough to 'leave my own views at the door when I come to work'.
Forby politics, she's right arty and, indeed, has written two novels. She presented BBC Two's Late Show from 1990 to 1993 and, in 2006, interviewed playwright Harold Pinter, resisting the temptation to get back at the old scrote by leaving long silences.
She made cameo appearances in Doctor Who and Absolutely Fabulous. In 2013, she appeared on the inexplicably popular Great British Bake Off, but has resisted 'many times' invitations to do Strictly Come Dancing, another programme that has sapped the nation's morale.
More consequentially, she has highlighted problems of the menopause, believing people are reluctant to discuss it. Moving swiftly on, two months ago she bagged a BAFTA Fellowship, with BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip praising her 'enormous charm and wit'.
GA-GA FOR RADIO
ALWAYS based in Glasgow, Wark has lately been appearing in BBC Scotland's Good For Her, in a running sketch that follows a woman who can't stop speaking as if she's delivering the news.
Kirsty Wark misses the buzz of Newsnight, but is content for the moment presenting arts magazine show Front Row and history series The Reunion on BBC Radio 4.
She likes claes and, in 2013, was deemed one of the 50 best-dressed over-50s by fashion magazine, the Guardian. In other news, we can reveal she loves gardening and homemade jam, having spent several years in recovery from an addiction to banana cake.
Meanwhile, in the interests of truth, that currently under-rated concept in which she takes such a great interest, I should clarify that, at the start of this authoritative exposé, I was only joking about the cup of tea and a Penguin. It was a Twix.
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I tried a World War II cake recipe from Marguerite Patten
I tried a World War II cake recipe from Marguerite Patten

South Wales Argus

time7 hours ago

  • South Wales Argus

I tried a World War II cake recipe from Marguerite Patten

These often turn out wonderfully, and it got me thinking what it would be like to try a wartime recipe using the same ingredients that people would have been restricted to during rationing. Rationing was a system implemented to make sure everyone got their fair share of food during national shortages in wartime. This was exacerbated by enemy ships and submarines attacking imports of food, which caused a greater reliance on items produced in the UK. Marguerite Patten was one of the earliest celebrity chefs, presenting a popular BBC radio programme during World War Two, in which she shared recipes for cooking with wartime rations. Here she is demonstrating how to make an Easter cake back in 1950.#ThrowbackThursday — BBC Current Affairs (@BBC_CurrAff) April 9, 2020 Several foodstuffs, such as sugar, meat, fats, bacon, eggs and cheese, were rationed, which caused a great impact. After doing a bit of research for wartime cake recipes, I was recommended by my mum to check out recipes from Marguerite Patten. She was one of the earliest examples of a celebrity chef and became famous during World War II, where she shared recipes on BBC radio that could work within the limits of rationing. It sounded like the perfect thing to explore, and I found her recipe for a Vinegar Cake, which was a fruit cake that used vinegar instead of eggs. This can be seen in her book Feeding the Nation, and is notable for using vinegar instead of eggs as a main component. How to make a World War II-era light fruit cake Making the cake will not require too many ingredients (Image: Newsquest) In terms of ingredients for the fruit cake recipe you will need 6oz of self-raising flour 3oz of margarine 3oz of sugar 1/4 pint of milk 1 tablespoon of vinegar 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda 3-4oz of mixed dried fruit Meanwhile, for equipment, you will need: a decent-sized mixing bowl large basin scales sieve measuring jug a teaspoon a tablespoon larger spoon (for mixing) 7-inch baking tin Baking cakes is not something I do very often, so I made it with my Mum overseeing things to make sure I didn't mess up anywhere. The first step involves creaming the margarine and sugar together (Image: Newsquest) Firstly, we creamed the margarine and sugar together and made sure it was well-combined. After that, the recipe recommends pouring the milk, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda into a "large basin". It was quite a vague term, so we combined the elements into a large measuring jug as it would supposedly froth up quite a bit. The recipe involves 3-4 ounces of mixed fruit (Image: Newsquest) However, this didn't happen in practice, so any worries of creating a mess were quickly alleviated, at least. We then poured that mixture into the mixing bowl with the creamed margarine and sugar, before sifting the flour into it. After mixing that, we then added the dried fruit, which was a combination of raisins, peel and cherries. All the ingredients will eventually be mixed together into the bowl (Image: Newsquest) Finally, after briefly mixing together, we then poured it into a seven-inch baking tin. The recipe recommends flouring and greasing the tin, but if you have a cake case to hand, you can line the tin with that. All there is to do after that is to pop it in a "moderate oven" (approximately 170-180C) and bake it for an hour. The verdict Once the hour was up, I took the cake out of the oven and was pleased to see that, at least aesthetically, it had turned out quite well. The cake certainly looked the part coming out of the oven (Image: Newsquest) It had a nice golden-brown colour with bits of dried fruit popping through the outer layer. All that was left to do was to try it, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I'd seen from other people trying the recipe that it had turned out really crumbly, but in this case it held its shape perfectly. The cake had a light and fluffy texture (Image: Newsquest) Having it warm was certainly a bonus, and it had a delightfully fluffy and light texture. Recommended reading: It also wasn't overly sweet and balanced all the flavours remarkably well. Due to how relatively few ingredients this requires and how it doesn't take too long to make, I would highly recommend giving this a try. While rationing is, of course, something nobody ever wants to go back to or experience in the first place, it is somewhat comforting to know that with a bit of adjustment, people were still able to enjoy some treats like this.

Youth homelessness in London 'a real crisis'
Youth homelessness in London 'a real crisis'

BBC News

time10 hours ago

  • BBC News

Youth homelessness in London 'a real crisis'

A record high of 13,231 people were recorded as sleeping rough in the capital in this year, a 10% increase on the previous year, according to recent number of people classed as living on the streets in London has increased by 27% in the last year too, according to the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain).It is said to be the highest ever annual rise, equating to another 3,000 people making the streets their home. Youth homelessness is of particular concern, with 11% of those rough sleeping in the capital aged 25 and under, figures show. London Youth Hub, a pan-London youth emergency accommodation centre, said it had been able to keep most residents who had stayed there off the streets permanently - but it was struggling to keep up with demand. For one 24-year-old resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, his four-month stay at the hub has turned his life around after he had nowhere to go. Now coming to the end of his stay, the BBC caught up with him as he was on his way out to a viewing for a studio flat."Me and my mum were, constantly fighting. We had a broken relationship. So I couldn't live there anymore and I had to get out," he said."I stayed with friends for a period of time but I couldn't do that forever."Before he arrived at the hub, he was also dealing with grief from his recent father's death."I was struggling with the grieving process with my dad and they said that they could help me here with that."I found the hub via the council. I started just staying in my room but soon I made lots of friends."Now it feels good. I'm ready to take on the world and go out there and get to it and do whatever I can to stay afloat with the help I've got here. "My progression coach said I can always get in touch for support and so that's great."The hub, run by De Paul UK charity, provides psychotherapy sessions for the residents, as well as progression advisers to support them and help find long-term accommodation. 'A real crisis' "Our young people are often quite traumatised and have often been through a lot of stuff that they need to try and process so they can successfully move on with their lives," explains Luton Sinfield, the hub's manager."It's the only emergency accommodation for the whole of London dedicated to youth homelessness. "Everybody gets their own room, their own bathroom and then we work with them to help them move on. "The challenge is we haven't got enough spaces for all the people we need to accommodate, and that's really sad." Mr Sinfield added: "Part of the reason for that is the shortage of move-on accommodation is because of the housing crisis in London in terms of the general stock, places that are affordable access for young people and indeed support accommodation. That's a real crisis."We really want the government strategy to reflect this and to have a special chapter about youth homelessness because it is distinct and different and it needs a response that's credible nationally and supported by regional and local government."The total number of rough sleepers in 2025 is 63% more than 10 years government said it had increased funding for homelessness services by £233m this year, bringing its total expenditure to £1bn, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing added that the latest spending review protected "this record level of investment to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping beyond this financial year".

Tributes paid to Wrexham pub landlord after sudden death
Tributes paid to Wrexham pub landlord after sudden death

Leader Live

time14 hours ago

  • Leader Live

Tributes paid to Wrexham pub landlord after sudden death

Glenn Hamilton sadly died at Wrexham Maelor Hospital on June 18 due to coronary thrombosis (blood clot on the heart) - two days before his 53rd birthday. Loving husband of Patricia for almost 30 years, and proud father of twin boys Lyndon and Cameron, he will be very sadly missed by all who knew him. Glenn with his twin boys, Lyndon and Cameron (Image: Family photo) He ran The King William pub in Summerhill, alongside Patricia, for the last nine years. As a testament to his character, over 200 people attended his funeral at Pentre Bychan Crematorium. Glenn, a proud Scotsman, served in the army for 24 years - meeting Patricia while posted in Northern Ireland. Their children were born in Glasgow before the family moved to the Wrexham area. Glenn, Patricia, Lyndon and Cameron (Image: Family photo) Paying tribute, Patricia said: "He'd do anything for anybody. One of the last conversations he had with one of our regulars, Bryn, was that Bryn was talking about having a long car journey to collect car parts. "Glenn asked where Bryn was going, and after hearing where he said he was heading that way anyway and said he'd do a little de-tour to pick up the parts for Bryn - who's in his 70s and wasn't looking forward to the drive. "That's just an example of the sort of man Glenn was." Glenn and pub regular, Cliff Phillpott (Image: Family photo) She added: "He was a cheeky chappy, and would always have little jokes with people. He loved football, and was a Celtic and Liverpool fan. All three of my boys were born in Glasgow - and I love the fact that all my boys were Scottish. "He taught our boys (now aged 16) to play pool from a young age, and they both play pool for Wales u18s. He also coached the Llay junior football team they play for. He loved the boys, and our dogs, so much - and sadly missed their recent school prom. (Image: Family photo) "As landlord of the pub, he was really popular. He'd always know what channel to turn on the TV when certain people came in, and he'd always give our older ladies a hug goodbye when they left - as well as a kiss on the cheek when they asked: 'Where's my kiss'. People came from all over for the funeral." A spokesperson for The Welsh Pool Association (WPA) said: "The Welsh Pool Association would like to send their condolences to the family of Glenn Hamilton. "We are truly saddened to hear of his sudden passing. A true loss to the pool community, as a father to two of our international unders players, Lyndon and Cameron, and as a WPA team manager. RIP, Glenn." Read more Annie Perry, a member of the Summerhill community, set up a GoFundMe page for Patricia and family at this difficult time. It has raised over £600 and can accessed via It states: "This page has been set up at a time when we are all truly devastated by the sudden passing of the amazing Glenn Hamilton, we are thinking of Trish, Lyndon and Cameron as they work through this difficult time. "Glenn, Trish, Lyndon and Cameron have been a huge part of our community running The King William pub for many years. They have been there for so many of us when we've had a rubbish day or when we are celebrating, they have made it the heart of the community and we want to now show our appreciation for being there for us to now be there for them. Glenn and Patricia on their wedding day. (Image: Family photo) "We want to help eliminate the immediate financial burden, to take away some of the stress so they can concentrate on each other as a family and can focus on getting through this time." It adds: "With our support to raise some funds, hopefully we will be able to help in a practical way. "We understand that we are in hard financial times, so if you can donate anything to help, to show our love and support we would very much appreciate it. Let's gather together when Trish, Lyndon and Cameron need us the most."

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