r/yorkshire

I’m from India and ever since watching phantom thread I’ve wanted to visit Whitbyso I’m finally planning solo trip this october.
I’m thinking of 5 days itinerary and would love to know if this sounds reasonable or if I’m overdoing/underdoing it.
I’m also into photography, British food and the pints so any recommendations are very welcome.

Day 1, Whitby Harbour, Old Town, 199 Steps, St Mary’s Church
Day 2, Whitby Abbey & cliff walks
Day 3, North Yorkshire Moors Railway or Robin Hood’s Bay & Sandsend
Day 4, Beach, promenade & boat trip
Day 5, North York Moors scenery
Would really appreciate any advice or suggestions :)

Hello All..

I am looking for someone... His name is mark debnam and I used to work with him in York at a care company... He was at Uni at the time training to be a social worker...

Any help????

In his first major speech since launching his bid to replace Sir Keir Starmer, Burnham pledged to redistribute power across the UK. He said he would use what he had learned in almost a decade as Mayor of Greater Manchester to spread success to "every post code of the UK".

Central to that plan was a commitment to devolving power to local communities and away from senior civil servants in Whitehall, which he said had "blocked" progress in Manchester.

"It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down - it can only be nurtured from the bottom up," he said.

What has he promised?

While Burnham did not spell out what powers might be given to which areas, he suggested regions could expect to see "greater public control of essential services" such as water, energy and transport. He also promised to deliver the biggest council house building programme since the post war period, and focus was on post-16 education, giving mayors more power to ensure they are "growing a workforce" to match the job market in their area.

But perhaps the most headline-grabbing idea was to create a new Downing Street team based in Manchester and labelled 'No 10 North'.

How that works with the 'original' Downing Street remains to be seen, but it seems the idea would be to support regions in reforming essential utilities, to help bring costs down and provide greater public control of services.

Is it achievable?

Andy Mycock, chief policy fellow at University of Leeds, has studied devolution and said for a lot of the plans to work local government would need rebuilding.

"This radical form of devolution across all parts of England is going to be hugely constrained by the capacity of local government and combined authorities to be able to deliver," he said.

He pointed to the relatively new combined authorities in York and North Yorkshire and Hull and East Yorkshire, saying they were "only just starting to find their feet".

He said the idea they would be able to take on "huge amounts of new powers and deliver on them effectively" would require "a substantial reorganisation of the civil service".

He added that after 15 years of austerity, when local councils have seen hundreds of millions of pounds stripped from their budgets, there would need to be a "large amount" of funding in local government to replace the staff lost.

What could it mean for Yorkshire's mayors?

Yorkshire's Labour Mayors have welcomed Burnham's plans to "take power out of the centre"

Yorkshire has three directly elected Labour mayors in North, South and West Yorkshire, while Reform UK's Luke Campbell holds the position in Hull and East Yorkshire.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given what he was about to say, the Labour trio of David Skaith, Oliver Coppard and Tracy Brabin had front row seats for Burnham's speech, and have all welcomed his promises.

Each of them faces their own challenges and priorities and will all be looking to Burnham to hope his plans help meet those.

In West Yorkshire, Brabin has continually pledged to have "spades in the ground" for the mass transit system she believes will get the region moving better, but those plans have were delayed in December 2025 following a government review.

However, if powers around transport and infrastructure were handed to local mayors, instead of final approval resting with the Department of Transport, perhaps it could be approved locally.

Brabin said "people are desperate for change" and that "transferring more powers to Mayors who know their regions best, will help us lower the cost of living, regenerate our high streets and enable good growth across our region".

Burnham has also spoken about giving regional mayors more power over employment support schemes, and greater "in work" mental health support.

In South Yorkshire, Coppard told the BBC it was "undeniable" mayors like him should have more power.

He said the region faced a "massive" challenge around the number of people not in employment, education or training - known by the acronym Neets - and welcomed the proposed shake up of post-16 education.

In North Yorkshire "affordable housing" is a crucial issue in many parts of the county, so perhaps Burnham's words about the biggest council house building programme since the post war period will hit home here... (more details in article)

Had my partner play the game "Thank Goodness You're 'Ere". He finally understands enough to get the jokes. Give me your best Yorkshire memes!

As the commercial case continues to fall apart, climate campaigners say the whole of South Yorkshire will have to be in negative carbon emissions to balance out reopening.

Met a few people who moved away for work and came back within a few years and they all say the same thing about not being able to settle elsewhere. Is that actually a Yorkshire thing or just what people say about wherever they grew up. Has anyone genuinely found somewhere they preferred or does it always pull you back?

Labour MP Richard Burgon has called out Nigel Farage for failing to turn up to a debate about MPs’ second jobs, after records showed he earned the equivalent of £22,500 an hour promoting a gold dealer.

The latest register of members’ interests, published on 29 June, found that Farage had taken £270,000 for promoting Direct Bullion for four hours per month for three months.

The MP for Leeds East, who organised the Westminster Hall debate on banning MPs from having second jobs, said he was “disappointed” that the Reform leader had failed to show up.

He said he had written to a letter to Farage on Monday, inviting him to attend the debate and explain why MPs should be allowed “to rake in vast sums from second jobs”.

Burgon said: “Yesterday, it came to light that he has been getting paid £22,500 an hour promoting a gold dealer. That takes his second job earnings to approaching £2 million in just two years since the general election.”

He added: “More than £22,000 per hour for a man who last year argued that a minimum wage of £10.85 per hour for young people in his constituency, in my constituency, in constituencies across the country may be ‘too much’.”

Whether it's the distances, the weather, the hills or just how many different accents there are. What catches people out the most?

A council has voted to cut its school uniform fund by £1.3m and restrict eligibility to fewer families.

Reform UK-led Wakefield Council recently announced that financial support for buying uniforms would only be available to "those who need it most", including children eligible for free school meals and families experiencing hardship.

Rachel Speak, leader of the council's Liberal Democrat group and a Knottingley & Ferrybridge councillor, had tabled a motion calling for the previous scheme to be reinstated but this was rejected at a full council meeting.

The revised £700,000 scheme replaces a £2m fund approved by the previous Labour administration, which provided vouchers to all parents.

Council leader Karl Johnson called the previous scheme "reckless".

Matthew Caton, the council's cabinet member for children and young people, previously said: "Targeting the limited funding we have directly towards the children and families who need it most is common sense and what any responsible council should be doing.

"The universal giveaway we inherited from the previous administration was never the best use of public money.

"The scheme we're putting in place will provide support that is deliverable and good value and it enables us to invest in other essential local services to improve the lives of our residents."

At the meeting, Caton added that assessing the eligibility of families in need of support would be done on a "case-by-case" basis.

Under the revised plans, families who are deemed eligible will be offered £30 per child.

Labour lost control of the council in May's local elections after Reform took 58 out of the 63 seats.

Speak, who works at the Ferrybridge Community Centre, said she did not believe the new-look council had had time to assess how many families needed the support.

"Working people on minimum wage need the support as much as people who live on benefits too," she said.

"They all need the support, not just one or the other.

"When I was at school, people who couldn't get the right uniform or their parents couldn't keep up with the cost were the ones that got bullied."

Caton added that the council was committed to reducing overspending.

He said: "By reducing the cost of this scheme by £1.3m we can repurpose our resources into local services to improve our communities."