Liam Herbert

Donald, May the 4th be with you. And the 25th.

May the fourth be with you

Grateful to Times columnist Giles Coren for putting to the sword a local council pipsqueak for trying to put out of business a restaurant in the middle of nowhere where owner Ruth Hanson does all the kitchen prep herself, the washing up, the bookings, the till, payroll and then cooks it. The restaurant is called Hansom in Bedale, North Yorkshire. To give you an idea of its remoteness it’s 7 miles from Northallerton and 31 miles from York. So, on occasions, her husband Mark, who had a job of his own, gives up his evenings to chauffeur some guests to and from their homes. Coren points out when he reviewed the place last year ( he gave it a glowing recommendation) he had to hitchhike from Northallerton station. No Bedale train, no metro, no Uber hanging around at the corner. Enter Chris Doyle, licensing enforcement officer for N Yorkshire council, who has written to Ruth saying in his view Mark was operating a taxi service and that would require a raft of expensive and time consuming licences. Ruth responded that Mark was her husband, he was unpaid and there was no separate charge for the journey. Doyle said he didn’t care as there was deemed to be a commercial benefit and warned without a licence the council may take legal action. Coren has a great last paragraph; “ Yeah, you sue her, you absolute local heroes. “ You teach Ruth and Mark a lesson for being great at their jobs, for treasuring their customers, for trying to create a little joy and make ends meet in a collapsing world.” PS Thought you’d like to see what a Ruth menus looks like. This is called the Sunday Sharing Feast. Starters. Smoked Leek and Pickled Croque Monsieur Whitby Crab Crumpet Pickled cucumber, Garden herbs. Heritage beetroot, whipped goat’s Curd, Wild Garlic emulsion. Main Course Wensleydale chicken, Apricot and sage Wellington. Honey and mustard mash, buttered spring , cider sauce. Dessert Yorkshire rhubarb and ginger trifle. Cost; £55. With publicity thanks to Coren’s column and this tweet I suspect the queue will be out the door and Mark can have his evenings off again.

The solar panels destroyed by Israel's army are used to provide the Lebanese town of Debl with electricity, as well as supply power to its water station. The IDF says the actions seen in the video do not align with their values. 🔗 trib.al/PCHqQAT

Ofcom finally find their teeth down the back of the sofa and leap into action. Of course, it's to prevent a video critical of Reform UK being shown. Not any of the countless lies Reform spout, week in, week out on their own dedicated TV channel. Watch this — it's excellent.

This kind of misinformation could easily destabilise our whole society if (as is clear) we can’t trust what we see. This is probably one of the biggest challenges facing democracy today.

This is idolatry. 📸: @DailyCaller

I’m not a Catholic, but wouldn’t it be great if we could get #Ilovethepope trending as he’s plainly a good, decent, principled human being, and, on Musk’s platform, this will annoy a lot of powerful, evil people. Do please repost.

I have some concerns with your choice of picture for this story @BBCNews

Please, this groundless speculation unfairly invades his privacy and undermines the dignity of his office. Do better!

Pope Leo’s attitude to the Iran war is shocking says Melanie Phillips - proving how right Pope Leo is. thetimes.com/article/2123bc…

RETWEET if you stand with Pope Leo against Donald Trump!

Lebanon: A humanitarian disaster is unfolding. ▪️ Since the start of a major Israeli bombing escalation in Lebanon on 2 March 2026, over 2,000 people have been killed and more than 6,400 injured. ▪️The death toll is rising faster than during any previous war in Lebanon. ▪️Over 1.2 million people (approximately 20% of the population) have been displaced, leading to a critical food security crisis as supply routes are disrupted and towns and villages destroyed.

Israel’s Op. Eternal Darkness in Lebanon reminds me of filming in a Beirut hospital during the Israeli invasion of 1982. The doctors had to concentrate on the most life-threatening injuries, which were mostly internal. We filmed in the corridor outside the operating theatre. Each new stretcher paused so a line of young boys could grab the biggest chunks of shrapnel sticking out of the patients and yank them out under the direction of a nurse. The groaning of the victims as the shrapnel came out was something I can’t forget. Four decades on, similar things are happening yet again.

Lebanon is being destroyed. A country with a rich culture and beautiful ancient architecture. 1.1 million people (including 390,000 children) forced out of their homes by relentless bombardment. Towns and villages flattened. Infrastructures destroyed. Innocent civilians killed. There is absolutely no justification for this bombardment atrocity. It’s creating a humanitarian disaster.

@kateferguson4 They would need to can Capita as it's their fault it takes 14 months to process a soldier's application form. Bring back Army Recruiting Offices. Do it now. Also force all 18 year old males to register for military service - costs very little and pre-prepares for contingencies

There is no justification for the scale of bombing in Lebanon. None whatsoever. It’s is barbaric, inhumane and a violation of international law.

@cyclist_andyc Always love getting to York. Some great routes around there too

A walk around York this afternoon. Such a beautiful historical city.

@cyclist_andyc Back to the winter kit again 🙄

That’s nice for the Easter weekend 🤦🏻‍♂️

No one has ‘paid into’ the state pension. NI payments are spent by the government of the day, not put into a pot with your name on. Using these terms just perpetuates the myth that the state pension is a contributory scheme. It isn’t. It’s a non-means tested universal benefit paid for by current taxpayers.