Latest news with #Shrove
Washington Post
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Hurling oranges, swimming in sea-foam and more of the week's best photos
Flipping pancakes ahead of Shrove Tuesday in England; competitors fight for the ball during the annual Royal Shrovetide Football match; Palestinians gather for a communal iftar amid rubble in Rafah, Gaza Strip; a contentious meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump. See 11 of the week's most interesting images from around the world, as selected by Washington Post photo editors.
The Independent
04-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Farmers warn government they ‘won't back down' as thousands fill London for Pancake Day Rally
Thousands of farmers descended on central London for a ' Pancake Day rally', where they vowed that they would not stop protesting against the government's inheritance tax policy. The largely good-natured demonstration on Tuesday turned angrier as the protestors - following behind a large green combine harvester as songs blasted from a loudspeaker - passed the Houses of Parliament, with crowds chanting: 'We won't back down.' It was the fourth time in four months that farmers have flocked to Westminster to protest against the Labour government's plans to introduce a 20 per cent inheritance tax rate on farms worth more than £1m - bringing to an end the previous 100 per cent tax exemption on all family farms that had been passed down. But after hundreds of tractors filled up the Whitehall in previous rallies, protestors were ordered by Metropolitan Police not to bring any unauthorised vehicles or risk facing arrest. Seven farming vehicles were permitted. Pancakes were a hot topic at the Shrove Tuesday rally, with protestors making clear on their placards that there can be no pancakes without British farmers. Speaking from on top of a combine harvester, shortly after a farmer had been throwing pancakes into the crowd, National Farmers' Union president Tom Bradshaw said farmers 'will not go away'. Significant anger was directed towards the Labour government, with chancellor Rachel Reeves the subject of numerous angry placards. The government has refused to budge on the policy despite calls to U-turn from farmers and opposition MPs. After a petition calling for the move to be scrapped reached more than 150,000 signatures, the government said there was an 'urgent need to repair the public finances in as fair a way as possible' and the 'reform of the reliefs strikes the right balance'. Elizabeth Hilliard, 64, the editor of a gardening magazine, said: 'Obviously they hate farmers. I think the political elites just sneer at ordinary people, and they claim that they're ill informed, uneducated, stupid. They're the opposite, absolute salt of the earth.' Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told The Independent it was 'absolutely heartbreaking' to see the impact of the policy on farmers' livelihoods, and demanded that the government reverse the policy. Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment minister, described it as a 'dreadful, vindictive' policy which will 'break family farming as we know it'. She added: 'Families are having conversations about whether the family can afford for [their] elderly relative to live beyond April 2026, because if they live past that date, that means that their family will get hit with a ginormous inheritance tax bill.' Emma, 48, said she has heard of elderly farmers who would prefer to die now than wait until inheritance tax changes come into force in April 2026. 'We're already hearing of people that have already taken their own life because of the situation,' said the farmer from Staffordshire, whose father passed the farm to her mother when he passed away five years ago. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and other Conservative politicians were among those who attended Tuesday's rally. The Government says that the actual threshold before paying inheritance tax could be as much as £3 million, once exemptions for each partner in a couple and for the farm property are taken into account. Downing Street has repeatedly said it is 'confident' that the majority of farms will not be affected by the reforms, with Treasury estimates finding that some 27 per cent of estates claiming agricultural property relief (APR) were above the £1 million threshold in 2021/2022. This would mean that three-quarters of farms would not see their tax hiked and the changes would see around 500 estates pay inheritance tax per year, Treasury estimates found. On Monday, a third Labour MP came out to publicly oppose the measure. Speaking to The Times, Mid and South Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell said it is 'embarrassing to say you're going to do one thing and then do another'.
The Independent
04-03-2025
- General
- The Independent
Flipping the script: Two new pancake recipes for Shrove Tuesday
Arguably you can't go too wrong with the classics on Shrove Tuesday. Golden, lacy-edged pancakes doused in sugar and lemon are, of course, simple and delicious. Come 4 March, most of us will be whisking together 100g plain flour with two eggs, 300ml whole milk, a decent pinch of salt and a tablespoon of vegetable oil, then resting the batter for half an hour before popping ladlefuls into a hot buttery pan. But sometimes, you just want to mix things up. Maybe you fancy a change. Maybe you don't want to have to deal with the drama of the flip going wrong and dinner ending up stuck to the floor. Maybe you don't want to just eat a tonne of pure batter and sugar for supper (no judgement). So, whether you're looking for a savoury pancake option that'll actually fill you up, or you want (whisper it) an American-style pancake you can just chuck in the air fryer, we have the recipes for you. Sweet: Blueberry pancakes done in the air fryer 'These pancakes are super thick and fluffy and so easy to make. They're bursting with sweet, juicy blueberries, and they're absolutely delicious,' says Eloise Head, author of Fitwaffle's Easy Airfryer. Makes: 6 Special equipment: Six 10cm silicone moulds Ingredients: 80g (5tbsp) full-fat (5%) Greek yoghurt 150ml semi-skimmed or skimmed milk 1 medium egg 15g salted butter, melted 1 tbsp maple syrup 120g plain flour 1 tbsp caster sugar ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda Good pinch of salt 100g fresh blueberries Cooking oil spray To serve (optional): Fresh berries Whipped cream Maple syrup, for drizzling Method: 1. In a large bowl, using a balloon whisk, mix together the Greek yogurt and milk until combined, then add the egg, melted butter and maple syrup and whisk until smooth. 2. Add all the dry ingredients and fold in until smooth and lump-free, then fold in the blueberries. Leave the batter to rest for 15 minutes. 3. Preheat the air fryer to 160C (320F). 4. Spray the silicone moulds with oil making sure the base and edges are coated so the pancakes don't stick. 5. Scoop half a cup of batter into each mould and smooth it out evenly. 6. Air fry for eight to 10 minutes, then carefully flip them over out of their moulds and cook for another three to four minutes until golden brown and cooked through. 7. Serve straight away with your favourite toppings, if using. I love to use berries, whipped cream and maple syrup. Enjoy! Recipe from 'Fitwaffle's Easy Airfryer' by Eloise Head (Ebury Press, £22). Savoury: Vegetable pancakes with a chilli crisp egg 'This vegetable pancake has its origin in Korea (where they're known as yachaejeon) and is the perfect dish to use up odds and ends of any vegetables you have lying around,' says Eleanor Wilkinson, author of One Pot, One Portion. 'Cabbage, spring onions, carrots and courgettes work really well and provide a nice balance of moisture and crunch, but peppers, potatoes, mushrooms or leafy greens are good alternatives. Depending on the vegetables you use, you may need more or less water to make the light batter so adjust as necessary.' Makes: 1 Ingredients: 200g vegetables (eg 50g carrot, 50g spring onion, 50g cabbage, 50g courgette), sliced into matchstick-size pieces 60g plain flour 2 tsp sesame seeds 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp rice wine vinegar Big pinch of salt At least 60g water 2 tbsp sesame oil 2 tsp chilli oil 1 egg To serve: Sriracha, sweet chilli sauce or soy sauce and rice wine vinegar mix Method: 1. Add the vegetables to a bowl along with the flour, sesame seeds, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, salt and the water. Stir this all together until well combined. You are looking for every piece of vegetable to be lightly coated in batter, so if any are looking a bit dry you can add some more water. This will depend on the vegetables you use and how much moisture they have. 2. Grab a large frying pan and add the sesame oil. Let this heat gently over a medium heat, then add in the vegetable mixture. Press it down into a flat layer in the pan and let it cook for five minutes on one side. After five minutes, it should be golden brown and crisp on the bottom, so take a spatula and quickly but confidently flip the pancake over. Cook for another five minutes on the other side until it's also golden and crisp. 3. Once cooked, tip or flip the pancake onto a plate and put the frying pan back on the heat. The pancake will crisp slightly as it cools. 4. Meanwhile, add the chilli oil to the pan and crack the egg on top. 5. Fry for a few minutes until cooked to your liking, then place on top of the pancake. 6. You can finish this with sriracha or sweet chilli sauce, or make a dipping sauce with equal parts of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.
