Yorkshire Post
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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Call to cut VAT on hospitality trade
ONE of Yorkshire’s most acclaimed chefs has warned that “there won’t be a hospitality industry in a few years’ time” if tax rises continue to pile up, and urged the Government to cut VAT as part of its business rates climbdown. Tommy Banks, who runs...
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MP in call to rethink business rates rise
LABOUR politicians in York are urging the Prime Minister to “avert a crisis” on the city’s popular high street and review the Government’s controversial business rates proposals. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, York Central MP...
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Snow highlights ‘reckless’ school bus policy, MP says
NORTH Yorkshire Council has been accused of being “reckless and short-sighted” with its new school transport policy, amid the blanket of snow and ice covering the region. The Conservative-run local authority brought in plans last year to restrict free...
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Power swap in Venezuela ‘has to be peaceful’
A “PEACEFUL” transition of power should be reached quickly in Venezuela, a Cabinet Minister has said after Donald Trump declared America will “run” the country until a new government is set up. Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones...
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Solar and wind help power a UK record
UK renewable energy set new records in 2025, a study has revealed, amid a raft of controversial wind and solar projects proposed for Yorkshire. The assessment from climate and energy publication Carbon Brief shows electricity demand rose one per cent...
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A hard ride in the showground
Men in the veterans race tackle the terrain at the Nidderdale Showground in Pateley Bridge yesterday. Over 200 competitors took part in the Novacross Cyclo-Cross event across a series of age-group races, from Under 9s to the Over 70s, taking in the...
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Chilly end to the year for Auld Lang Syne runners
A CROWD took on one of Yorkshire's most scenic fells in stride to start the New Year in great fashion. The Daleside Auld Lang Syne, hosted each year by the Wharfedale Harriers, saw close to 400 runners take part yesterday. The 6.7 mile race, reaching...
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Concern at surge in wildfires in region
THERE has been a huge increase in moorland and grassland wildfires in West Yorkshire in the last year, new figures have shown. The fire and rescue service recorded 1,094 grassland, woodland and crop fires this spring, six times the number in 2024,...
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‘Sex symbol’ actress and activist Bardot dies at age of 91
TRIBUTES have been paid after French actress Brigitte Bardot died at the age of 91. The film star and 1960s “sex symbol” earned worldwide fame as one of the most recognisable faces of post-war cinema but later withdrew from the showbusiness world to...
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‘Protection against flooding should not be a postcode lottery for North’
TEN years ago, Yorkshire’s Christmas was thrown into turmoil by the worst flooding to hit the county since the Second World War. Starting on Boxing Day, floods devastated more than 4,000 homes and 2,000 businesses as swollen rivers burst their banks...
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‘Never lose sight of wartime spirit’
THE King has used his Christmas message to urge the nation to “never lose sight” of the Second World War values of “courage and sacrifice” and community spirit. The monarch, 77, praised the “spontaneous bravery” of those who put themselves in “harm’s...
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Pilgrimage to be theme of King’s message in Christmas broadcast recorded at Abbey
THE King has chosen Westminster Abbey as the location for his Christmas broadcast, which will have the key theme of pilgrimage. Charles will deliver the fourth festive message of his reign on Christmas Day, and the second staged outside a Royal...
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Stonehenge sunrise on the shortest day
Visitors gather for the sunrise at Stonehenge as the winter solstice was marked. The ritual at the ancient monument draws many visitors, including druids, who aim to witness the sunrise at the site on the shortest day of the year. Stonehenge was built...
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Whitehall threat to region’s proposed trams network
CIVIL servants could overrule mayor Tracy Brabin and turn the proposed West Yorkshire mass transit system into a bus network, The Yorkshire Post understands. Ms Brabin has said she is “determined” to bring trams to connect Bradford and Leeds, and –...
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Pint of the black stuff for King
THE Prince and Princess of Wales have shared a new family photograph, chosen for the couple’s 2025 Christmas card – and it was taken by a Yorkshireman. The image, released on Kensington Palace’s social media, shows William and Kate sitting on the...
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Labour denies trying to hide report on farm profitability
LABOUR has denied it is “attempting to hide” Baroness Minette Batters’ review into farm profitability, with the substantial report due to be released this week just hours before Parliament’s Christmas recess. In April, the former National Farmers’...
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Poignant Chanukah ceremony in city
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Dan Cohen, lights a Chanukah candle on behalf of the City of Leeds, as part of the civic Chanukah celebration in the city. He earlier sent a message of “love and condolences” to people affected by the attack at a Chanukah...
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Scale of bed block problems revealed
HUNDREDS of thousands of days each year healthy patients are trapped in Yorkshire hospitals unable to be discharged because there is no space or funding in the community, new figures show. It is exacerbating a torrid situation for the NHS this winter,...
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King records message to back cancer campaign
THE King has broadcast a video message in support of the Stand Up To Cancer campaign. Charles’s pre-recorded message stressed the importance of cancer screening programmes to help early diagnosis, and was broadcast as part of the joint campaign by...
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Airlines join talks on new airport
OFFICIALS behind the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport have said there have been “very positive discussions with a number of airlines”, despite holiday giant Tui warning yesterday of a “challenging environment” for the industry. Talks with...
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After weeks of rain, hospepipe ban is lifted
AFTER what seems like weeks of incessant rain, Yorkshire Water has today lifted its hosepipe ban affecting over 5.5 million households. The ban was introduced five months ago on 11 July, after reservoirs dropped to just 30 per cent, following the...
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The Queen takes charge of Rivals 2
Queen Camilla holds a clapper board during a visit to the set of the series Rivals 2 in Bristol, to celebrate British television production, youth opportunity in the creative industries, and the legacy of her friend, the author of Rivals Dame Jilly...
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Super Sinfield bags more funds for MND charities
HIS physio says of him that his strongest muscle is his brain. Kevin Sinfield proved that again in spades as he splashed through the rain to finish his challenge of seven ultra-marathons in seven days to raise money for motor neurone disease (MND)...
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PM backs couple’s call to free their son
THE Prime Minister has backed a Shipley couple calling for the release of their autistic son, who has spent almost two decades in prison on an indefinite order for stealing a car, despite being sentenced to twoand-a-half years. Jimmy was handed a...
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