Virus prompts recruitment drive for fruit pickers
Getty Images Scottish berry growers are looking to hire more than 3,000 fruit pickers to meet a shortfall in labour as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Angus Growers is targeting travel and hospitality workers facing redundancy as a result of the virus. It is anticipating a shortfall of 3,200 workers – almost 80% of […]
Great Fen wet farming experiment awarded £8m in funding
Henry Stanier The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £8m to the Peatland Progress project in the Great Fen, Cambridgeshire The UK’s first major experiment in “wet farming” has been awarded £8m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Peatland Progress aims work to safeguard biodiversity across the Great Fen in Cambridgeshire. Techniques will be used […]
Invest NI ‘missed opportunity’ over scheme flaws
Jayne McCormack BBC News NI Political Reporter BBC Alastair Hamilton has been the chief executive of Invest NI since 2009 There was a “missed opportunity” to raise early concerns about critical flaws with the RHI scheme, the head of Invest NI has said. Alastair Hamilton was giving evidence to the RHI inquiry. Invest NI is […]
Sugar tax on soft drinks raises £154m
Getty Images The new sugar tax on soft drinks has raised £153.8m since it was introduced in April, the government has said. The new tax is applied to soft drinks with a certain amount of sugar per litre. Health officials have warned that more action could be taken against the food industry unless it cuts […]
Could big-game fishing return to the UK?
Scarborough Museums Trust Lorenzo Mitchell Henry (left) with his British record catch, along with other prize fish landed off the Yorkshire coast Struggling to haul in a giant fish, Lorenzo Mitchell Henry finally reeled in a record-breaker, which weighed in at a mammoth 851lb (386kg). This monstrous beast, an Atlantic bluefin tuna, was not caught […]
Greenhouse gas emissions target missed in Scotland
Kevin Keane BBC Scotland’s environment correspondent Getty Images The Scottish government has officially missed its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Although total emissions fell by 3.3%, Scotland’s participation in the EU-wide Emissions Trading System (ETS) means adjusted emissions, used for setting targets, increased by 3.7%. It means Scotland has officially reduced its emissions by […]
How can an average family afford an electric car? And more questions
Getty Images The COP26 climate summit is under way in Glasgow – one of the biggest ever world meetings on how to tackle global warming. BBC News Reality Check correspondent Chris Morris answers some of your questions. You can send a question using the form at the bottom of this page. You don’t necessarily need […]
Jimmy Fallon among US talk show hosts supporting striking writers
Ian Youngs Entertainment & arts reporter Getty Images British comedian John Oliver showed his support at a “comedy writers’ rally” in July US TV’s late-night talk show rivals, who have been off air for four months during the Hollywood strike, have joined forces to host a new podcast to raise money for their writers and […]
Prezzo gives staff pay rise and Boxing Day off
Getty Images Prezzo has announced it will give its staff a pay rise next month and close all of its restaurants on Boxing Day. The Italian-themed restaurant chain said all 2,500 staff would see their wages go up by an average of 4%. It is the latest firm to announce such a move as the […]
Seed sales soar as more of us become budding gardeners
Tara Sutton Tala Sutton and her younger sister Sirena are growing plants in mid Wales Jere Gettle’s garden seeds company hadn’t seen anything like it before. “The biggest day we’ve had in our 22-year history was Monday, 30 March,” says the owner of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Mansfield, Missouri. “We had over 10,000 orders, […]