
Humber Bridge Farmers' Market return date confirmed
A farmers' market will return to East Yorkshire in April after a five-year absence.The Humber Bridge Farmers' Market, held at the Country Park in Hessle, was paused in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.In October, the Humber Bridge Board announced it was linking up with Little Hummingbird Events to bring back the markets on a trial basis.The first market will be held on Sunday 6 April, from 09:00 to 14:00 GMT.
In a statement, Little Hummingbird Events said: "We are excited to confirm that we have finalised all the plans with Humber Bridge and are happy to confirm that the infrastructure is being put into place."The company added it was keen to recruit helpers "to advise us with issues on the ground on the day".It said it also wanted to hear from anyone from a local farming background "to ensure that local and small businesses have the opportunity to trade with us on a regular basis".Andrew Arundel, chief operating officer at the Humber Bridge, previously said the organisation was "really excited" about the return of the market."There's not been a week go by when someone hasn't asked via email, or at the booths, or via social media when the market is coming back," he said.Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
A rise in defence spending will kick-start the industrial future
The decision at the Nato summit this week to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035 is a seismic shift for all of us and will have massive implications for the budgets of every government department over the next decade. When we consider in the high levels of debt and tax, this raises fundamental questions for government in allocating resources at a time when the growth of tax receipts is constrained by the paucity of economic growth. Right across western Europe the challenge caused by the financial crisis of 2008 led to a step change in the long-term trajectory of financial growth. Put simply we have come up short. The challenge for us is how we strengthen the economy in the midst of the challenges we face? A failure to move the needle on this will result in living standards continuing to be squeezed and the impossibility of funding the growth of defence spending, resulting in painful cuts elsewhere. • Ageing and sick population will lead to £16bn annual tax rise Events have conspired to leverage massive costs on to the public purse: Covid, the cost of living crisis, largely as a knock-on effect of the Ukrainian conflict, have led to levels of fiscal debt typically only seen at times of war. Time of war is an apt phrase as politicians and wider society have a growing realisation that times have changed. Global instability and the threat of war is very real. Though in these islands we have excellence in many aspects of our armed forces, to a large extent our military capability has been hollowed out. The need to enhance defence capability and at pace is stark. There is now a race to invest and if we take last year's defence spending of £53.9 billion as our base, we are going to have to find by 2035 an extra £60 billion plus a year to invest in defence. Where is this to come from? Starmer's government are for now, silent on the source of the majority of this funding. Difficult choices are going to have to be made. • SNP ban on 'munitions' funds puts Scottish shipbuilding on the line Short of a sustained increase in economic growth there is going to be a squeeze elsewhere on spending. Austerity will be a price to be paid as a consequence of having to invest in our national security. Investment in defence, though, can be a lever and transformative in itself in generating economic growth. With the increase in defence spending requiring £60 billion-plus, it is beyond doubt that we need to make sure that Scotland gets its fair share, and I know the Scottish government will be standing up for Scotland's interest in making it happen. There is a long history of the SNP doing just that. From Nicola Sturgeon making the case for shipbuilding jobs at Govan and numerous MPs making the case for defence spending in Scotland, most notably Angus Robertson and Stewart MacDonald, who championed the industry and in particular defended Scotland's historic regiments — a campaign led by Annabelle Ewing. It is therefore of no surprise — and consistent with the long-term position of the SNP — to read John Swinney being quoted in The Times this week that he had no objections if a company came to Scotland to set up a munitions factory, while making the point that the Russian threat is very real. We speak of our support for Ukraine. We speak of their right to defend their sovereignty. There is a need to replenish munitions in support of the defence of Ukraine. In doing this, though, there are red lines and that means munitions supplied in the needs of strategic defence interests and never in situations such as Gaza where civilians are targeted. Indeed, the SNP website makes the point that 'defence manufacturing infrastructure in Scotland is fundamental to our national engineering and manufacturing sector'. Today in Scotland we have excellence in aerospace, defence, security and space. The challenge is leveraging in investment and accelerating economic growth that is critical to our financial security as a consequence of the need to invest in our national security. ADS, the umbrella body for the industry, points out that the sector today employs 33,500 workers and delivers a value added of £3.2 billion, with an output per worker of £95,000. These figures make it self-evident that there is an economic prize in attracting defence investment into Scotland. We all want high growth, high wage, high productivity Scotland. A society that drives investment in skills and innovation. Think for a minute of our industrial past and leading-edge electrical engineering businesses such as Ferranti, (now Leonardo). Scotland is at the forefront of innovation in both defence and in civil applications. We need to re-engineer to capture that pioneering spirit, not just for defence capabilities but to use that opportunity as a lever through defence diversification to create a broader and deeper industrial and advanced manufacturing base. John Swinney is right to demonstrate that Scotland is open for investment. An increase in defence spending is coming. We should seize the opportunities out of this to kick-start investment in advanced manufacturing through, among other things, utilising our world-class academic base to develop the technologies and businesses for the future. Investment in defence, will kick-start the delivery of an industrial future for Scotland. Ian Blackford was the SNP leader in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2022, and an MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 2015 to 2024.


Telegraph
7 hours ago
- Telegraph
Our welfare system needs reform, not arbitrary cuts
As the smoke settles from yet another astonishing tyre-screeching U-turn by Kier Starmer on his welfare proposals, the stark reality is that instead of significant savings, we will all now face an extra tax bill of £3bn in the autumn. This U-turn isn't surprising to me because their proposal was a classic panicky short-term Treasury driven cut but in no way genuine reform. I even doubt that the savings would in the longer term have materialised. This is because I believe they were going at it the wrong way. The Covid lockdowns blasted a hole in our welfare system. Since 2020, the number of households where no one has ever worked has doubled. Economic inactivity due to long-term sickness has risen by 800,000. And taxpayers today are shelling out an extra £30 billion every year on sickness and disability benefits, on top of an already bulging bill. Lockdown reversed much of the progress we had made under the transformations of Universal Credit, in part relaxing eligibility rules and assessments for benefits, a leniency that astonishingly continues to this day. But also expanding the 'claim culture', albeit inadvertently, through schemes like furlough. It is easy to forget that by 2019 we had the lowest rate of workless households on record. Clearly, we have to get a grip. But solving this problem will take thought, courage and time. The Government's proposals are rushed in order to be 'scored' by the OBR in time for the Spring Statement. In a panic, the Treasury opted to simply top-slice spending by raising the threshold for disability benefits across the board. This leads to some deeply concerning outcomes. According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), three in four Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants with arthritis, two in three with cardiovascular disease, and even a third with cancer could lose support. Yet there is another way, one which focuses on the root causes of the crisis. But that must start with a grown-up conversation about mental health. Monthly PIP claims have more than doubled, driven in large part by a threefold increase in people citing mental health conditions. Meanwhile the majority of people on Universal Credit receiving health-related top-ups now also report poor mental health. Tragically, it is disproportionately young people fuelling this rise, those most likely to suffer the mental and emotional consequences of being out of work. And yet it is the system itself that is driving worklessness and dependency. Of course, PIP eligibility does not require someone to be out of work. Yet five in six recipients are. Taken in the round, once you tot up all the various benefits, the system has tilted towards incentivising ill health rather than supporting recovery. There is another way. New research from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) shows that better targeting of mental health benefits – focusing help to those with more serious conditions – could save the Government up to £9 billion. A more humane and sustainable approach to reform would recognise that, for many people with anxiety or depression, ensuring proper treatment is much more compassionate than parking them on benefits and slamming the door to an independent life. First, the government could use the savings to fund a £1 billion investment in NHS Talking Therapies, expanding 1.5 million additional treatment courses. CSJ polling also finds that nearly half the public believe people with less severe conditions should be supported through programmes and services, compared to one in five saying cash. Second, the Government should accelerate the rollout of Universal Support, originally launched by the last Conservative government and now rebranded as Connect to Work. This scheme works with the local charities and community organisations best placed to help people who are furthest from the workforce. These inspirational people are already on the ground, collaborating with employers to tackle the most difficult barriers to work, whether family breakdown, debt, addiction, and poor health. Finally, for the first time, sickness benefit is being brought into Universal Credit as I had designed originally. The DWP now has powerful tools Universal Credit provides. The NHS has made it clear that for depression and anxiety, the largest new claimant group, work is a health treatment. Yet far too many people were left on sickness benefit with no meaningful contact. Many who were off work for health reasons received no time with a work coach at all. Now under Universal credit that can change. The system should be doing more – using AI to free up work coach time – to increase the contact time with claimants and not leaving them parked on the sidelines. Our welfare system needs reform, not arbitrary cuts. I understand the pressure Liz Kendall is under. But short-term fixes risk doing lasting damage. We need a system that treats people with compassion while actively supporting them to recover and return to work. That's how to reduce dependency, control costs, and rebuild lives.


Glasgow Times
a day ago
- Glasgow Times
Celtic should fear Hearts more than Rangers with Tony Bloom on board
Chairperson Ann Budge expressed hope the gap between her home town heroes and the two biggest clubs in the country could be reduced if a smart strategy was put in place and some shrewd signings made after Bidco 1874 had assumed control in 2014 and the calamitous reign of Vladimir Romanov finally brought to end. A few years later, Stuart Wallace, the then chairman of the Foundation of Hearts fan ownership group, echoed her sentiments. 'We split the Old Firm in 1998 and that's the next step,' he said. 'Can we split them again? There is a next level and the job of the foundation is to help us find it.' Alas, since Wallace's bold pronouncement the Gorgie outfit have finished fifth, sixth, sixth, twelfth, third, fourth, third and seventh in the top flight. Several semi-finals and finals have been reached, but no major silverware has been lifted. Realising their vast potential, never mind punching above their weight, has often proved problematic for a variety of reasons. Read more: Poor recruitment, bad managerial appointments, the Covid-19 pandemic and draining European campaigns have all impacted on their domestic efforts. An extraordinarily hard-to-please fanbase has not exactly been slow to voice its displeasure when standards on the park have fallen short of what has been expected either. So it was maybe no great surprise when seasoned observers of the game in this country were unperturbed when Tony Bloom pledged to try and 'disrupt the pattern of domination of Scottish football which has been in place for far too long' when his £9.86m investment in Hearts was completed earlier this week. They have heard it all before and such fighting talk has never amounted to very much. But there are reasons why things may be different this time around with Bloom, the professional gambler, poker player and entrepreneur who has received a 29 per cent stake in non-voting shares in the Tynecastle club in return for his welcome cash injection, involved. He has, to borrow a phrase made infamous by former manager Craig Levein following an Edinburgh derby win over Hibernian at Tynecastle in 2018, upset the 'natural order' before elsewhere on more than one occasion. It is 65 years now since Hearts lifted the Scottish title for the fourth time in their history. It is four decades since a club other than Celtic or Rangers were crowned champions. But back in May the Royal Union Saint-Gilloise side which the Englishman had revitalised after becoming their majority shareholder in 2018 won the Pro League in Belgium for the first time in no fewer than 90 years. (Image: Steven Paston) RUSG, as they are known for short, have a smaller transfer budget, player wage bill and average home attendance than those of Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liege, or The Big Three. Genk, Gent and Royal Antwerp should also by rights be finishing above them given their economic advantages. But the data-led approach to player recruitment that Bloom instigated when he first got involved has transformed the unfashionable Brussels club into the dominant force in their homeland as well as formidable rivals in European competition. The London-based betting consultancy Starlizard has provided the gen which has underpinned their success. An army of analysts, statisticians and researchers supply information on every facet of the game in an attempt to gain a competitive edge. The decibel levels of the crowd when a particular player is on the ball is even considered when a potential transfer is being weighed up. Bloom reduced his stake when both they and Brighton, where he is majority shareholder and chairman, both qualified for the Europa League two years ago in order to avoid breaching strict UEFA multi-club ownership rules. He has, however, very much been involved in their inexplicable and unexpected rise. The billionaire has, too, worked wonders at his home town team by investing heavily in their infrastructure, fostering a positive environment for staff to work in and prioritising the development of young players. Kieran Maguire, host of the Price of Football podcast and a Seagulls season ticket holder, this week described him as the smartest man he has ever met. Read more: Jamestown Analytics, a company that is closely linked to Starlizard, have been working with Hearts for some time now and it has by no means revived their ailing fortunes. Quite the opposite, in fact, has been the case. They were instrumental in the ill-advised appointment of Neil Critchley as manager. However, it took three years for RUSG to win promotion back to the top flight on his watch, four years to qualify for Europe and seven years to win the title. Progress is never made overnight, a long-term strategic approach which will yield results in due course is always taken. Strong foundations are laid, quick fixes are avoided. Scepticism has been expressed about how Critchley's replacement Derek McInnes will cope with Bloom's way of working since the former St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock man was brought in back in May. Such cynicism does one of the sharpest, most progressive and experienced coaches in the Scottish game a gross disservice. Can Hearts challenge defending champions Celtic and Rangers for the Premiership in the 2025/26 campaign? Probably not. Can they do so in the future? It would be a major surprise if they were able to end the Old Firm duopoly. But the Ibrox and Parkhead hierarchies should look out for The Lizard, as he is known on the professional poker circuit. Only a fool would bet against him achieving his ambitious objective.