
TV's Yorkshire Vet appeals for 'lifeline' rural bus drivers
Mr Wright added: "Rural loneliness isn't just about being alone - it's about being cut off, physically, emotionally and socially. "The bus is a lifeline. "I've seen elderly people who've gone days without speaking to another soul. This bus helps people reconnect. It brings back dignity and joy."The bus service was launched after research commissioned by Age UK, found more than 1.1 million older people relied on using public transport to access company.Becky Keeble, from sausage company Heck Food, said the service was "another way of connecting with our community". But she added: "We need more volunteer drivers to help us reach even more people. "If you can spare some time to help us drive the bus, and keep the wheels turning, we'd love to hear from you."
Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
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The Sun
13 minutes ago
- The Sun
Nescafe shoppers fuming due to shortage of nation's favourite frothy coffee on supermarket shelves
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
The leadership rumours inside Labour that speak volumes about Starmer's future
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The housing secretary's repeated attempts to shut down the rumours – saying she has no desire to hold the top job – have done little to dampen speculation. The rumours speak volumes about the level of disaffection within the party over Sir Keir's leadership and the direction of government. Labour won a thumping majority at last year's general election. They had a clear mandate to deliver their so-called 'plan for change' and there was a real sense of optimism. But just one year on, that optimism is well and truly gone. After repeated attempts to reset the narrative, the prime minister's authority has been damaged, while brutal polling shows that voters have turned away. And this week's humiliating welfare debacle, which saw the PM gut his reforms entirely only to still be faced with the largest rebellion of his premiership so far – has only added to his mounting woes. Behind the scenes, there is now more wrangling than ever over where Labour goes next. If Tuesday's welfare vote proved anything, it's that Labour MPs are far more left-wing than their party's leader. Starmer has been attempting to pull the party to the right both to try to combat the threat posed by Reform, but also to deliver a government that meets the expectations of the British public. But as a result of failings in Downing Street, and obfuscations from his own MPs, it hasn't worked. There are now growing calls for a reset in No 10. The problem, however, is that this isn't the first time the prime minister has attempted to do so. We've seen repeated attempts to draw a line under previous mistakes and fumbles from the government, but no real change in direction. Despite Starmer's insistence that his chancellor is here to stay, there is a growing feeling that without a reshuffle, the PM will be unable to truly draw a line under the past year. 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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Angela Hartnett: ‘A full English? It's a lot. I don't know how some people manage it every day'
'The Italians don't really do breakfast,' laughs Angela Hartnett. 'You maybe have a tiny little biscotti or a cappuccino and that's it. It's certainly not cooked. But we're in London, we're in Marylebone, so we're going to do a little twist on an Italian cooked breakfast.' Marylebone is home to the fourth of Hartnett's Cafe Muranos, the more relaxed cousins of her Michelin-starred restaurant Murano in Mayfair. In Marylebone, as at the branch in Bermondsey, south-east London, residents crave brunch, especially at the weekend. A restaurateur as accomplished as Hartnett, who draws upon her Italian heritage for her menus, is not going to miss the chance to give it to them. 'It's the kind of place where people might come in at 10am, and I didn't want to just do a croissant and a Danish,' she says. 'We've become Americanised: people want to eat brunch on a Saturday morning.' Among the breakfast dishes she has chosen to serve there are a frittata with courgette and feta, and a ciabatta bulging with mozzarella and mortadella. There is even, borrowing somewhat contentiously from the Austrian borderlands, a strudel. What there is not, is anything like a full English. 'I can't remember the last time I had one. It's a lot. I don't know how some people manage it every day. I probably do one every six months, if I've been out the night before!' Hartnett is hardly the first chef to dream of a busy breakfast service, but it is easier said than done. For every restaurant – such as The Wolseley or Hide in the capital – that manages to establish itself as a morning destination, there are countless others that fail. 'The mistake everyone makes is they start it, it's quiet, and they give up,' she says. 'They let things slide. They don't staff it properly, they reduce the menu, so people don't come back. You've got to stick at it for at least a year and build up the trade.' It is encouraging that Hartnett continues to expand at a time when most of the music from British restaurants is rather gloomy. 'It's not easy, but our business has never been easy,' she says. 'You've always had to work at it. You have to keep thinking about how to improve it and never stand still. But it is hard. After what the Labour government just did to us [with national insurance increases], we had to find another half a million a year just to make it work, which is nuts. There are places that will close. We're not out of the woods. 'The governments see it as survival of the fittest; I don't think they're fussed. Which is a shame. Because hospitality [businesses] – pubs more than anything – give people a lifeline in the community.' Still, Hartnett, 56, has never shied from a bit of graft. She fought her way to the top, working with Marcus Wareing and Gordon Ramsay, rather than being whooshed there at 25. As well as running the restaurants, she has hosted seven series of a podcast for Waitrose, Dish, with radio presenter Nick Grimshaw, on which they have interviewed everyone from Florence Pugh to Richard E Grant. She concedes her profile 'does make a difference' to business – the podcast has drawn a younger crowd to Murano – but says it does not 'make or break' a restaurant. After all the telly (she's frequently on Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen), three cookbooks, the OBE (for services to the hospitality industry, and to the NHS during the pandemic) and countless awards for her cooking, she has an agreeably robust perspective. 'I can't be bothered to sit and moan about how tough [the industry] is. And you can't blame the Government for everything,' she says. 'There are places that are packed. We just need to make sure we are those places.' And it starts with an Italian-ish kind of brunch.