Chichester grower sees larger strawberries after 'perfect' spring
Record-breaking spring sunshine and "perfect" conditions are producing larger and sweeter strawberries, says one West Sussex grower.Provisional Met Office figures show the UK experienced its warmest spring on record and its driest in over half a century in 2025.Bartosz Pinkosz, operations director at The Summer Berry Company, said daytime sunshine and cooler nights in March, April and May "positively influenced our growing conditions".The company, based at Groves Farm near Chichester, uses reservoirs to help protect against droughts.
Mr Pinkosz said: "What we have observed this year is the perfect conditions to develop ideal berries, which are bigger, tastier, and with better shelf life."The Summer Berry Company has 300 acres of polytunnels, according to Mr Pinkosz.The company also has 62 acres of glasshouses for producing a winter crop of the fruit, and says it supplies most major UK retailers.Despite the bumper 2025 crop, Mr Pinkosz warned that climate change "potentially has a negative impact on growing fruit"."No fruit, in my experience, likes too hot conditions or too wet conditions," he said.The company has, however, designed new varieties of strawberry, which it hopes will allow it to keep producing berries in harsher conditions.
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Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Farage: We'll reopen steel blast furnaces if we win in Wales
Nigel Farage will vow on Monday to reopen Port Talbot's blast furnaces, placing the return of traditional steelmaking at the heart of his campaign to win next year's Welsh elections. The Reform leader will use a speech in the southern Welsh town to decry the collapse of the steelmaking industry and question the strategy being adopted by Labour. It is the latest attempt to outflank Labour on the Left and further build on Reform's surge of popularity, which has sent it surging to the top of UK opinion polls in recent months. Mr Farage believes his party has a chance of winning the Welsh Parliament elections next spring, in what would be a seismic result given Labour's long-held dominance across the border. The speech is an attempt to draw a line under party feuding that led Zia Yusuf to quit as Reform's chairman on Thursday, only to reverse his decision and return on Saturday. Mr Yusuf now has four responsibilities, including leading the party's 'Doge' spending efficiencies project, named after tech billionaire Elon Musk's drive to slash bureaucracy in America. A new chairman to accompany Mr Yusuf will be unveiled on Tuesday. His role has now been split in two, with a new deputy chairman also taking on some of Mr Yusuf's old responsibilities. The Port Talbot plant was, until recently, the UK's largest steelmaker, but Tata Steel, the Indian firm that runs it, announced last year that the remaining blast furnaces would be closed, leading to the loss of up to 2,800 jobs at the site. The blast furnaces are being replaced with an electric arc furnace, which will produce less steel but in a more eco-friendly way. It will not be fully operational until 2028. Mr Farage is expected to say that he wants Port Talbot's blast furnaces to reopen in the long run, while admitting the outcome is not easy to achieve. While exploring options to viability, it is understood that Mr Farage will indicate that, if necessary, he is open to nationalisation, were Reform in power. Mr Farage's spokesman said: 'Nigel will say it's our long-term ambition to reopen the blast furnaces, not the electric arc ones, as we don't believe they will ever be online due to sky-high electricity prices. '[Mr Farage] will talk about the heritage of Wales, with Port Talbot Steelworks once being the largest steel plant in Europe, and also Wales, which once produced almost 60 million tons of coal per year, exporting half. The spokesman added: 'South Wales alone was the biggest coal exporter in the world. The Cardiff Coal Exchange set the global price for steam coal. Swansea once smelted most of the world's copper. Merthyr Tydfil was the world's largest producer of iron.' The spokesman added: 'Basically, Nigel will tap into the hearts and minds of a deeply patriotic nation that feels betrayed and forgotten about by Labour.' Working-class voters Mr Farage's trip to Wales underscores how he sees the next milestone in his party's surge in support coming first in the country's parliamentary elections in May 2026. Elections will also be held for the Scottish Parliament next year. Reform insiders were left buoyed at getting one in four votes at the Hamilton by-election last week, despite coming third. Mr Farage's embrace of Port Talbot's steelmaking past is the latest sign that he is adopting an economic agenda deliberately designed to grab political territory vacated by Labour. The Reform leader called for the nationalisation of British Steel earlier this year, weeks before government ministers announced the move. He has also called for the two-child benefit cap to be lifted and for the cut to winter fuel payments for pensioners to be reversed in full, aligning himself with many Labour MPs. Both measures have since been adopted by the Government. The focus on economic interventionism has seen him position the party to the Left on these matters with Sir Keir Starmer's party, as Reform targets disillusioned working-class voters. Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England economist, said that Mr Farage had become a 'tribune' for the views and frustrations of working-class Britons. Mr Haldane told The Guardian: 'What is certainly true is Nigel Farage is as close to what the country has to a tribune for the working classes. 'I don't think there's any politician that comes even remotely close to speaking to, and for, blue-collar, working-class Britain. 'I think that is just a statement of fact, and in some ways that underscores the importance of the other parties doing somewhat better to find a story, to find a language and to find some policies that speak to the needs of those most in need.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
The winners and losers in Labour's first spending review
When Rachel Reeves publishes the government's spending review on Wednesday, the stories the Treasury will want to tell are the energy, transport and other infrastructure projects that will get a share of the big boost in capital funding – £113bn. They will argue that cash, freed up by the change to the fiscal rules in the budget, could only have happened under Labour and was opposed by the Tories and Reform. But the capital spending cannot stop expected cuts in day-to-day spending, meaning extremely tight settlements for departments, with savings expected from policing budgets, local government, civil service cuts, foreign aid, education and culture. Treasury sources said they would still spend £190bn more over the five-year parliament than the Conservatives' spending plans – meaning more than £300bn will be distributed among departments. Real-terms spending will grow at an average of 1.2% a year over the three years that the spending review period covers, a significant drop from the first two years when it will be 2.5%. Even that figure does not tell the full story because of the disproportionate boost being given to defence and the NHS – and has led the Institute for Fiscal Studies to warn that the spending commitments will require 'chunky tax rises' in the autumn, when coupled with other expected priorities such as restoring the winter fuel allowance to more pensioners and action on child poverty such as ending the two-child benefit limit. Here are some of the key offers from the spending review – and the rows over cuts. The biggest row of the spending review has been between Reeves and the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, over policing, which one source describes as being a 'huge headache'. Cooper has brought out the big guns to make her case, first with a letter from six police chiefs who warned that without more funding the government would not meet its manifesto promises on crime. Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan police, and other senior police officers have also written to the prime minister to warn him that investment was need to prevent some crimes being routinely ignored. It is understand the policing budget will not face real terms cuts but the level of spending is still under discussion. The Home Office is under strain as a major spending department that is key to some of the most ambitious manifesto pledges – including halving knife crime, police recruitment, reducing violence against women and girls as well as dealing with monitoring offenders who will be released earlier due to sentencing changes. The other major spending review row is over deep dissatisfaction from Angela Rayner – the deputy prime minister and housing secretary – with the level of funding for social homes in the spending review, making her one of the last remaining holdouts in negotiations with the Treasury over departmental spending settlements. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been battling for more funding for the affordable homes programme as well as trying to preserve cash for local councils, homelessness and regional growth initiatives. The Treasury had previously put £2bn into affordable housing, described as a 'down payment' on further funding to be announced at the spending review, which Reeves said would mark a generational shift in the building of council homes. However, the next phase of funding has caused a major rift with Rayner – and more so because capital spending on infrastructure such as housing is meant to be a priority. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, is said to have been holding out for a big capital injection to fund flood defences. The autumn budget said the government was facing significant funding pressures on flood defences and farm schemes of almost £600m in 2024-25, and that those schemes would have to be reviewed for their affordability. Sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed a post-Brexit farming fund would be cut in the review. Labour promised a fund of £5bn over two years – from 2024 to 2026 – at the budget, which is being honoured, but in the years after that it will be slashed for all but a few farms. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, had a long fight to keep cash for a major programme of insulation, which was a key part of the government's net zero strategy. However, there are reports suggesting other schemes could be scaled back to protect the insulation programme. At the October budget, Reeves announced £3.4bn over three years for household energy efficiency schemes, heat decarbonisation and fuel poverty schemes. The government responded to concerns expressed at the time calling the sum the 'bare minimum' and promising a spending uplift at the review. Miliband's department is expected to get significant capital investment in energy infrastructure including nuclear – with the government poised to give the go ahead to the Sizewell C nuclear plant. The chancellor has already announced £15bn in transport spending across the north of England, funds which she said fulfil promises made by the Conservatives to the country but which the party had no way to pay for them in its own plan. Wes Streeting's department is set to be one of the big winners of the spending review and it will lay the groundwork for the NHS 10-year plan, which will be published imminently after the spending review. The department will get one of the biggest boosts to funding as others face real-terms cuts. The funding for the plan prioritises three key areas, moving care from hospitals to communities, increasing the use of technology, and prioritising prevention. No 10 and Streeting hope that the 10-year plan will contain major commitments and a positive story that the government will finally be able to tell properly on improvements to the health service – though any good news could be scuppered by the ballot for strike action by resident doctors. Still, Streeting's department was one of the last to settle formally with the Treasury due to negotiations over drug prices, though departmental sources downplayed any specific row. Any child in England whose parents receive universal credit will be able to claim free school meals from September 2026, the government has said. Parents on the credit will be eligible regardless of their income. The government says the change will make 500,000 more pupils eligible. A Department for Education (DfE) source said it was the best measure outside welfare changes to address child poverty and that the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, had consistently fought to protect school food programmes through each round of spending negotiations. But schools budgets will be squeezed. Teachers will get a 4% pay rise next year, with additional funding of £615m. But schools will still have to fund about a quarter of the rise themselves – a total of £400m from their current budgets. Phillipson has tasked the DfE with finding savings in schools budgets, such as energy bills. Savings will also come as the government is removing public funding for level 7 apprenticeships, which has drawn criticism from skills experts. The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, was one of the first to reach her settlement to allow her to announce a £4.7bn plan to build three new prisons starting this year, part of a 'record expansion' as the government attempts to get to grips with the prison crisis. The early announcement was essential because it came alongside an announcement that the government would put a limit on how long hundreds of repeat offenders can be recalled to prison amid Whitehall predictions that jails will be full again in November.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Top 10 fastest-selling used cars last month with bargain hatchback topping the list… and a shock runner-up
THE top 10 fastest-selling motors last month have been revealed - and the car ranked in second place is somewhat surprising. Data from Motors shared this week showed that used examples of the evergreen Vauxhall Corsa were the quickest out of the door of dealerships across the country in May. 2 On average, a Corsa that's roughly six months to a year old stood on a forecourt for just 8.6 days before it was snapped up. The much-loved hatchback, which, on average costs between £11,000 and £14,000 second-hand, was followed, perhaps surprisingly, by the Ford Explorer in second place. Nearly-new examples of the pure-electric family SUV sold after 11.6 days on average - which the experts at Motors believing the Explorer's popularity was down to its 'keen pricing'. Still, the Explorer's place on the list is by far the most eye-catching, compared to others. The full top-10 list can be found below. Fastest selling used cars in the UK in May 1 - Vauxhall Corsa Age: 6 Months to 1 Year Fuel Type: Petrol Mileage: Less than 5k Miles Average Days to Sell: 8.6 2 - Ford Explorer Age: Less than 6 Months Fuel Type: Electric Mileage: Less than 5k Miles Average Days to Sell: 11.6 3 - MG HS Age: 1 Year to 2 Years Fuel Type: Petrol Mileage: 10k Miles to 20k Miles Average Days to Sell: 11.7 4 - Seat Ateca Age: Less than 6 Months Fuel Type: Petrol Mileage: Less than 5k Miles Average Days to Sell: 13.1 5 - Peugeot 2008 Age: Less than 6 Months Fuel Type: Petrol Mileage: Less than 5k Miles Average Days to Sell: 13.2 6 - Toyota Yaris Age: 2 Years to 3 Years Fuel Type: Hybrid Mileage: 10k Miles to 20k Miles Average Days to Sell: 14.7 7 - MG HS Age: 1 Year to 2 Years Fuel Type: Petrol Mileage: 5k Miles to 10k Miles Average Days to Sell: 14.8 8 - Vauxhall Corsa Age: 3 Years to 4 Years Fuel Type: Petrol Mileage: 20k Miles to 30k Miles Average Days to Sell: 16.0 9 - Peugeot 208 Age: Less than 6 Months Fuel Type: Petrol Mileage: Less than 5k Miles Average Days to Sell: 16.2 10 - Nissan Qashqai Age: 3 Years to 4 Years Fuel Type: Petrol Mileage: 10k Miles to 20k Miles Average Days to Sell: 17.9 Motors also revealed that dealer inventories averaged 52 units during May with the average price of a used car on their platform at £17,197. Overall, dealers were forced to trim their prices to get stock off of their forecourts. Commenting on the data for May, Motors marketing director Lucy Tugby told Car Dealer Mag: 'Other nearly new cars in our Top 10 include the Seat Ateca, Peugeot 2008 and Peugeot 208, suggesting competitive pricing as dealers moved to clear their stocks to avoid competing with promotions on new cars. 'The fast sales were achieved despite our May Market View analysis tracking a monthly increase in days to sell from 29.3 to 30.3.' OUT WITH THE OLD We're almost at the halfway point of 2025 in what's been a whirlwind six months or so in the motoring world. Ford puma E The UK is in the midst of a transition to electric vehicles which comes with new regulations and economic pressures, while the industry continues to adapt to changing consumer behaviour. Elsewhere, the Ford Puma remains the nation's favourite motor while Tesla's favouritism begins to dip, and Nissan's problems are going from bad to worse. We've also had some exciting car releases, from the Alpine A290 hot hatchback and Dacia Bigster SUV, through to the outrageous Aston Martin Valhalla. We've also learned of the demise of some of our favourite models - ready to drive off into the sunset. Here are some of the biggest nameplates reaching the end of their production runs that have been announced this year.
