Yorkshire Post
Veteran, 101, receives the British Empire Medal
AT 101, Mervyn Kersh may believe he has seen it all. But he was thrilled to be presented with the British Empire Medal in a ceremony at the Tower of London. Mr Kersh, an ambassador for the British Normandy Memorial, was given his honour in...
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Minister ‘troubled’ by Israel strikes
THE Foreign Secretary says she was “deeply troubled” by Israeli strikes in Lebanon which Iran has said breached the terms of the ceasefire. Yvette Cooper also said it was “crucial” that Iran was not allowed to apply tolls in the strait. The calls...
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Blow to mayor’s hopes of city trams
THE secret Whitehall review into West Yorkshire’s proposed mass transit system has urged mayor Tracy Brabin to consider using buses over trams due to a “significantly less” cost. Ms Brabin has pledged to bring trams back to the streets of Leeds and...
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Lunar spectacular
Spacecraft Artemis II is beginning its epic journey home after reaching a record distance from Earth. In this stunning image, captured by the crew, Earth is setting over the Moon. The photograph was taken during their journey around the far side of the...
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Gardener wins coal carrying race
Fern Gardener, from Liversedge, who went on to win the first of the women’s races in the World Coal Carrying Championships, leads from the front at the event, which took place in Gawthorpe, near Ossett, yesterday. A man was rushed to hospital after...
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End the ‘pointless conflict’ in Iran
THE Archbishop of York, in his Easter Sermon, has called for an end to the “literally pointless conflict” in Iran and criticised the erosion of international law. Speaking at York Minster yesterday on Easter Sunday, the Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell urged...
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Airport reopening in the balance
THE reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport has been plunged into uncertainty after Reform UK Doncaster revealed it wishes to cancel a vital £57m loan to support the project. Coun Jason Charity, deputy leader of Reform UK Doncaster, told an...
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Grieving families’ call to regulate funeral directors after scandal
FAMILIES, whose relatives’ bodies were kept by fraudulent Hull funeral director Robert Bush, have urged the Government to act now to regulate an industry which operates with very few rules or oversight. Victims have spoken of their anguish at not...
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Last check before balloon goes up
A hot air balloon pilot checks the interior rigging as he prepares for flying season and plans the 2026 Bristol Balloon Fiesta from August 7-9. One of the board trustees, Pete Dalby, became interested after a hot air balloon landed outside the hamlet...
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More troops on way to Middle East
BRITAIN is to send more troops to the Middle East, Defence Secretary John Healey announced yesterday, as the Iran war continues to escalate. Air defence batteries will also be sent to Gulf nations, while RAF Typhoon jets’ action in Qatar will be...
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PM urges firms to ‘pull together’
THE Prime Minister has called for businesses to pull together with the Government to help weather the impact of the Iran war and lessen the spiralling cost of living crisis. He met with industry leaders from energy companies, insurance firms, shipping...
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Call for a ‘level playing field’ for British farmers
RURAL Labour MPs have called for a “level playing field” and Australian-style origin labelling to help make British farms more profitable. With farmers operating on razorthin margins in the face of extreme weather, difficult harvests and the fallout...
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Famous locomotive on show at museum
Senior conservator Dean Smith polishes up Flying Scotsman in the National Railway Museum, York, where it will stay for a month over Easter. The locomotive, which was built in Doncaster in 1923, is famous for being the first to reach 100mph in 1934. It...
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Yorkshire Water’s 32 years of sewage discharges in 2025
SEWAGE was pumped into rivers, lakes and the sea from storm overflows by Yorkshire Water for the equivalent of more than 32 years in 2025, new figures show. This was actually a significant reduction on 2024 – by a third – due to the dry weather last...
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A64 upgrade put back for 5 years
NO central Government funding for the dualling of the A64 is expected for at least another five years, a Government minister has told The Yorkshire Post. The long-awaited upgrade to the road linking Leeds, York and Scarborough has seen cross-party...
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World Snooker Championship to stay in region
THE Prime Minister has helped secure the future of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield for years to come as a £45m revamp was announced for the Crucible Theatre. World Snooker Tour and Sheffield City Council have agreed a contract to ensure...
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Iran war ‘could continue for some time’, Starmer warns
THE country must brace itself for the war in Iran to continue “for some time”, the Prime Minister warned yesterday as he chaired a Cobra meeting on the crisis. It came as oil prices fell yesterday after US President Donald Trump said he was delaying...
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Archbishop’s pilgrimage before enthronement
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally at Canterbury Cathedral after an 87-mile pilgrimage from London to Canterbury Cathedral, ahead of her formal enthronement as the top bishop in the Church of England, which takes place in Canterbury on...
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Food producers in plea for help as energy costs soar
FARMING and food and drink businesses across Yorkshire are calling for greater Government support to tackle the spiralling energy costs caused by the escalating war in the Middle East. Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane, has...
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Thousands missed out on vital care
BORIS Johnson’s “Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” messaging used during the pandemic inadvertently led to thousands of people missing out on life-saving care for cancer and heart attacks, the Covid inquiry has found. The message, which was...
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Royal welcome for President of Nigeria
The King and Queen are pictured with the President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu during a welcome at Windsor Castle. It is taking place amid the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East, with police saying extensive...
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Mayors could get a share of taxes
A PROPORTION of income tax raised in the North could be directly allocated to mayors and regional leaders, Rachel Reeves has said, as she revealed plans for greater fiscal devolution. The Chancellor gave her second Mais Lecture yesterday and set out...
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PM unveils £53m aid package for heating oil users
HOUSEHOLDS that rely on heating oil are set to receive £53m to help with bills, the Prime Minister has announced, as prices soar due to the war in the Middle East. Sir Keir Starmer made the intervention yesterday after customers raised concerns that...
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City celebrates with dazzling spectacle
The Our Tides daytime procession, part of the celebrations in Hull which took place over the weekend. More than 1,500 people took part in the event, which transformed the city centre and culminated in a open-air evening performance in Queen Victoria...
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Reeves’ message to petrol station bosses
CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves has told petrol station bosses “to make sure price rises are limited to what is absolutely necessary and no more” with oil prices spiking due to the conflict in the Middle East. Iran’s continued blockade of a key oil shipping...
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MPs’ anger with water firm chiefs
MPS have accused Yorkshire Water’s boss of “insulting their intelligence” by refusing to call £1.3m in payments from the firm’s off-shore parent company – on top of her regular salary – a bonus. A cross-party group of five MPs representing the...
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Starmer ‘was warned’ over peer’s contacts with Epstein
SIR Keir Starmer was warned that Lord Peter Mandelson had continued his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein after the paedophile was convicted of child sex crimes, before appointing him as US ambassador. The Government yesterday released an initial batch...
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Warning on energy prices spike driving up inflation
A sustained spike in energy prices driven by the US-Israel war with Iran could mean UK inflation ends the year one percentage point higher than expected, the Government’s official forecaster has said. Professor David Miles, a member of the Office for...
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Iran war could harm economy in UK, PM warns
THE longer the war in the Middle East continues, the more likely it is there will be economic damage in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer has warned, as fuel prices spiked and the stock market tumbled. The Prime Minister insisted the economy was resilient and...
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Cooper hits back at Trump rebuke
FOREIGN Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the UK Government’s job is not to be “outsourcing our foreign policy” after renewed criticism from Donald Trump over the conflict in Iran. She also hit back at a rebuke from Sir Tony Blair, saying it was...
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RAF ‘could strike Iran missile sites’
ROYAL Air Force jets could legally strike Iranian missile sites being used to attack British interests in the Middle East, David Lammy has said. The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that F-35 and Typhoon jets were currently only shooting down missiles...
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Prince serves up pasty treats in Cornwall
The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall while in the county, serves customers at the Gear Farm Pasty Company, a farm renowned for producing traditional Cornish pasties, in St Martin, Helston. He was visiting Cornwall for St Piran’s Day – the...
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PM brushes off Trump broadside
SIR Keir Starmer has brushed off suggestions that Donald Trump’s personal attacks against him will damage the “special relationship”, and indicated it would not have been lawful for the UK to allow the first US missiles to strike Iran. Mr Trump lashed...
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UK to beef up Cyprus security as Trump rounds on Starmer again
BRITISH military helicopters with counter-drone capabilities will be deployed to protect RAF personnel in Cyprus, alongside HMS Dragon, one of the Royal Navy’s six Type 45 air defence destroyers, Downing Street said. It comes as ministers insisted the...
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PM defends UK bases decision
THE Prime Minister yesterday defended his decision to initially not allow UK bases to be used by US forces to launch strikes against Iran. The decision was partially reversed late on Sunday, meaning British bases could be used specifically for...
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PM’s message of ‘solidarity’ as Mid East conflict spreads
SIR Keir Starmer has expressed “solidarity” with the leaders of several Middle Eastern countries “in the face of dangerous Iranian escalation” following joint US-Israeli air strikes. Downing Street said the Prime Minister had spoken to the kings of...
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Airport opening ‘going to happen’ vows city council
DONCASTER Sheffield Airport’s full reopening “is going to happen”, the chief executive of Doncaster Council has promised as he said vital negotiations central to the release of £160m of public money for the project are in their final stages. Damian...
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Police pledge on Hillsborough ‘lie’
SOUTH Yorkshire Police’s most senior officer has confirmed to a pair of grieving parents that the force will correct the records around the death of their two teenage daughters in the Hillsborough disaster. Sisters Victoria, 15, and Sarah Hicks, 19,...
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A final trim as garden gets in shape for new season
Senior gardener Tom Longridge trims the topiary box balls in the Goddards garden, York. Formerly home of the Terry family, it is part of York’s chocolate heritage and now cared for by the National Trust. From this weekend it will welcome visitors for...
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‘Funds cap risks sustainable farms’
FARMING groups have criticised the new Sustainable Farming Incentive for having a cap on payments, saying it will limit “the ambitions of those that can do the most for nature”. Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma...
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Hull actor Aramayo pays tribute to Hawke after twin triumphs at Baftas
AN actor from Hull who won two Bafta awards has paid tribute to American film-maker Ethan Hawke. Robert Aramayo may not have been a household name a few days ago, but that has all changed after the actor won not one but two awards at the...
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City sees in the Chinese New Year
The colourful spectacle of the Sheffield Lunar Chinese New Year Festival returned to the city centre once again, to mark the Year of the Horse. The Peace Gardens held a spectacular programme of cultural performance, street food and community...
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Ockenden ‘available’ for inquiry
DONNA Ockenden, the bereaved families’ choice to chair the Leeds maternity inquiry, has told The Yorkshire Post that she has not spoken to Wes Streeting since the statutory probe was announced last year. The senior midwife reiterated she is ready and...
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Mountbatten-Windsor arrested over misconduct in public office
THE King has expressed his ‘deepest concern’ over the arrest of his younger brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and said “the law must take its course”. The former Duke of York was taken into police custody at around 8am yesterday on suspicion of...
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Girl’s fight overturns ‘historic injustice’
A “HISTORIC injustice” has been righted with the Supreme Court ruling in favour of a Sheffield girl that children can receive damages for the years of their life lost because of medical negligence, her solicitor has said. This overturned a 1981 Court...
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City flips for Pancake Day tradition
Shrove Tuesday celebrations were held at Ripon Cathedral with the annual Pancake Day races. Organised by the Rotary Club of Ripon Rowels, this is a centuries-old tradition. Above, centre, is the Very Reverend John Dobson, Dean of Ripon, with fellow...
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UK hastens defence spending rise
DEFENCE spending targets will be increased and brought forward, it is understood, to help combat the increasing threat from Russia in an era of decreasing global stability. The Prime Minister yesterday did not give specifics of the move, but said the...
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Down on the farm for lambing week
Max Warren, aged four, with his sister, five-year-old Eva, enjoyed cuddling lambs at Boston Park Farm, at Hatfield Woodhouse, near Doncaster, at the weekend. The siblings were there for the farm’s lambing week.
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Grieving parents ‘gaslit by Minister’
SOME of the bereaved families in the Leeds maternity scandal have questioned whether Wes Streeting is “competent” in organising the public inquiry, with one saying they felt “gaslit” by the Health Secretary. The Yorkshire Post has spoken to a number...
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Owners seek to keep pink paint on hotel facade
A FAMOUS Whitby hotel has applied for permission to paint part of its façade pink after it undertook the works “without securing listed building consent”. LTK Whitby Ltd is seeking authorisation for works it undertook to repaint part of the Royal...
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Prince plants tree in Saudi nature reserve
THE Prince of Wales enjoyed the “stunning” desert landscape of a Saudi Arabian nature reserve as his Middle East visit drew to a close. William was driven through towering red sandstone canyons and past sand dunes as he learnt about “exciting”...
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Project to open new window on mills’ history
PLANNERS have given the goahead for council proposals to install some windows and a storytelling plaque on a wall overlooking Halifax’s historic Dean Clough complex. Dean Clough Mills was once home to John Crossley and Sons, referenced by archivists...
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Princess marks cancer day with video message
THE Princess of Wales has issued a new personal video message to mark World Cancer Day yesterday, telling those affected by the disease: “Please know that you are not alone”. Kate describes how a cancer journey has “moments of fear and exhaustion” but...
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‘Public to pay for net zero drive in farming’
CONSUMERS will have to take on the costs of helping British agriculture hit net zero through higher food prices, as the farming sector is “financially fragile”, a report says. The Green Your Eats paper, by the Resolution Foundation thinktank, claimed...
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First UK ‘Tech Town’ to be in region
BARNSLEY has become the UK’s first Government-backed ‘Tech Town’, where artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to innovate in education, business and healthcare. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, inset, will make the announcement today and said the...
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Call to act on skills shortages in farming
FARMING leaders and MPs are calling for urgent action to address the ongoing threat of skills and labour shortages in the food and farming industry, following a report concluding securing a skilled workforce will be crucial to the country’s future food...
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Resort on shortlist to be ‘ Town of Culture’
A POPULAR North Yorkshire resort is among the potential candidates for a £ 3.5m Town of Culture award bid. North Yorkshire Council has said Scarborough has received support for its planned bid from various cultural organisations locally and...
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Authority seeks views on tram proposals
THE West Yorkshire Combined Authority is asking for responses from people and businesses on how the proposed mass transit system can drive economic growth and development. Mayor Tracy Brabin has pledged to bring a tram network to the region, promising...
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Steel firm ‘must be a priority’, PM told
THE unresolved ownership of British Steel “must be a priority” for Sir Keir Starmer on his historic trip to China, industry leaders have said. Sir Keir, inset, arrived in Beijing yesterday, alongside a delegation of almost 60 British business and...
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Outdated funding ‘fails rural policing’
A “HOPELESSLY outdated” Home Office police funding formula has failed to provide rural forces with the support they need, a report from MPs has found. The Public Accounts Committee said that demographic changes and regional variations over the last 10...
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Call for more action over poverty
PROGRESS on tackling poverty is likely to stall after April if the Government’s key move to axe the twochild benefit limit is not followed up with more action, campaigners have warned. The long called-for decision to lift the cap was confirmed in the...
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Polanski condemns city’s plan for airport
GREEN Party leader Zack Polanski has described plans to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport as “outrageous” in the midst of a “climate crisis”. Mr Polanski, who has been touring Yorkshire ahead of May’s local elections, said investment should be...
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Key £160m for airport under threat in dispute over lease
THE releAse of £160m of tAxpAyer funding to reopen DoncAster Sheffield Airport will not hAppen unless the terms of A controversiAl leAse for the site Are chAnged – with A deAl yet to be Agreed, The Yorkshire Post cAn reveAl. TAlks hAve been tAking...
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Artist Newman to design statue of late Queen
AN acclaimed artist, known for her depictions of Second World War heroines, is to design a sculpture “portraying the strong and complex personality” of Queen Elizabeth II as part of the national memorial to the late monarch. Karen Newman, who also...
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Approve housing – or lose airport
DONCASTER Council secretly agreed that its lease for the use of Doncaster Sheffield Airport could be terminated if it did not approve plans for more than a thousand houses by the site’s owners, a leak to The Yorkshire Post has revealed. The council is...
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Jenrick defects after Tory sacking
ROBERT Jenrick claimed that the Tories are “rotten” and defected to Reform UK just hours after leader Kemi Badenoch sacked him for finding “irrefutable evidence” that he was preparing to do so. Yesterday morning, the Conservative leader dramatically...
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Region set to be prioritised in first phase of Powerhouse Rail
A RAFT of Yorkshire projects are set to be prioritised in the first phase of Northern Powerhouse Rail, the Government has announced, with Sir Keir Starmer saying it will show “that opportunity isn’t reserved for London”. In Leeds today, Chancellor...
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‘Risk’ to farmland in drive for solar
FARMLAND is at risk from the rapid expansion in solar energy due to “inconsistencies” in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), a trade body has said. The Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP) has said that because of...
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