Did you contact your MP demanding Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s top aide, to be sacked?

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones has reportedly called for Mr Cummings to resign or be sacked saying he broke the guidelines- the Stray Ferret cannot remember a time when Mr Jones went against the government whip like this. Was he reacting to the demands of his constituents and his inbox bombarded?

There has been no word from Ripon and Skipton MP, Julian Smith. He was appointed Chief Whip in Theresa May’s government from 2017 to July 2019.

Mr Cummings is the centre of a political storm after it was revealed that he travelled from London to Durham with his wife and four year old child during lockdown, when his wife had covid symptoms. One report alleges a witness saw Mr Cummings in Barnard Castle, more than 25 miles from Durham on 12 April.

The prime minister said yesterday at the 5pm coronavirus briefing that he held “extensive” discussions on Sunday with Mr Cummings, who he said “followed the instincts of every father and every parent – and I do not mark him down for that”.

But despite Boris Johnson’s briefing and senior cabinet members publicly supporting Mr Cummings – a number of backbench MPs have started to call for him to resign. A reflection perhaps of the public mood in their constituencies.

“I’ve had enough” Ali Farr told the Stray Ferret after her wedding plans have been left in ruins.

Ali, a community nurse in Knaresborough and Boroughbridge, and her partner, Ben Cross, a paramedic, had planned to hold their wedding reception at the St George Hotel on May 1st.  More than a hundred guests were due to arrive from as far away as Singapore and Australia. Then lockdown struck and the date was cancelled.

So Ali and Ben re-arranged the whole thing -on the anniversary of day they got together 12 years ago, New Years Eve.  It meant moving everything, it was more expensive and they had to sacrifice the wedding ceremony at St John’s Church. Then a few days ago, Ali  heard the St George had gone into administration:

“I’ve had no correspondence from anybody. We’ve already paid £5,000 – most on credit cards but I think the £800 deposit will be lost because we booked it on a debit card two years ago.

“My dress is at the seamstress, I’ve got the bridesmaid’s dresses, the boy’s suits, I’ve paid a lot of money for the entertainment, the photographer, the videographer and a car.

“I’ve had enough. You don’t know what’s going to happen do you? It’s just tough.”

Throughout the crisis Ali and Ben have been working on the front line of healthcare.

“I am a nurse, Ben’s a paramedic, we’ve got a little girl. We’ve worked throughout the crisis as key workers.

My would-be guests have been lovely – on May 1st they made a video for us. On the day we had a cake to cut, we gave each other a present on the morning and my little girl threw some petals around – she was supposed to be our flower girl. “

Ali and Ben’s guests held a zoom celebration for them to cheer them up

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NHS figures released today report one further death of a patient who tested positive for coronavirus at Harrogate District Hospital. It brings the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic to 61.

A further 147 people, who tested positive for the coronavirus, have died- 27 were in Yorkshire and North East.  It means the number of reported deaths in hospitals in England to 25,691.

Patients were aged between 43 and 98 years old.  Five of the patients had no known underlying health condition.

Harrogate District Hospital has discharged a total of 104 patients after treatment for coronavirus since the start of the crisis. Outside the hospital, there have been 51 deaths from coronavirus in care homes in the district.

Harrogate’s White Watch delivered war veteran Jack Rushton a surprise roast lunch and birthday cake today to celebrate his 96th birthday. John Rushton, known as Jack, survived the D Day landings and has lived in Beech Road in Harrogate since the 1970’s.

Last Sunday, White Watch made 50 roast lunches for people in need .,  much of the food then was supplied by Bruce Reid, the watch manager.

Today Bruce and his team made 89 meals and, this time, a whole of host of organisations donated food. Community group, Covid- Cooperation Harrogate, helped with deliveries.  Jack though was an exception, Bruce said:

“We haven’t done any deliveries- but we thought we’d bring Jack his lunch as it would be a nice gesture”.

Bruce Reid, watch manager delivering Jack his lunch

Neighbours clapped and Happy Birthday played through a tannoy as Jack received his birthday surprise. Jack said he didn’t what his neighbours had plotted for him but he had a suspicion  “it had something to do with lunch”. He told The Stray Ferret..

“I can’t believe they’ve done this for me- I’ve not done anything special”

But his grandson, Ben Rushton, begged to differ and said he was proud of him.

“What people don’t realise is that as well as being being a war veteran, my grandfather worked in public service all his life – in the finance department at Harrogate College. He’s contributed to the youth of Harrogate – it’s nice for him to get something back”

Asked what felt about being 96 years old Jack said  “Well, I’ve had a reasonable carry on….”

Today’s figures show 2 more patients with coronavirus died at the hospital over the last few days – one on the 21st May , the other yesterday. It means the total number of deaths at the hospital has now risen to 60.

This week Harrogate District Hospital said it had discharged a total of 104 patients after treatment for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

Outside the hospital, there have been 51 deaths from coronavirus in care homes in the district.

ONS figures today showed a further 157 people in England, who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 25,544.

Patients were aged between 12 and 100 years old.  Seven of the 157 patients had no known underlying health condition.

SLG, the group which owns Country Living Hotels went into administration last night- blaming the impact of covid-19.

Described as “mid-range”, St George Hotel sits at the heart of Harrogate, opposite the Royal Hall- it’s Edwardian building is grade II listed. All staff will now be contacted by the administrator.

Specialist Leisure Group operated a range of travel and holiday businesses and specialised in the over-50’s market.  Across the whole group 2,500 jobs have been lost and 64,000 bookings cancelled.

Companies operated by Specialist Leisure

In a statement it said:

The Specialist Leisure Group entered Administration on 22 May 2020. All tours, cruises, holidays and hotel breaks booked with the Specialist Leisure Group have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled. All hotels trading as Bay Hotels, Coast & Country Hotels and Country Living Hotels will not reopen.

David Waddington, Land and New Homes Director for Linley and Simpson, writes for The Stray Ferret and says lockdown has had a surprising effect on the market: 

Who would have guessed? Never have estate agents and property advisers had it so good since the Brexit referendum in June, 2016.
An unlikely phenomenon you would think, with only a small proportion of the folk returning to work following the COVID-19 outbreak. A number of sources are reporting enquiry levels at a new high with multiple offers against individual properties, sales on homes that have been marketed for a number years, and new developments receiving unprecedented requests to view.

So, when all we hear about is economic Armageddon, what’s going on?

I think the pent up demand is fuelled by a couple of factors:
Firstly, being cooped up in one’s home for 8 weeks is a sure way to test any relationship, an opportunity to buy bigger, downsize, or at least a change of environment to preserve sanity.
Secondly, whilst many have struggled financially, others have remarkably saved money and with the cost of borrowing being so low, the time seems right for aspiring buyers.

Economically the country is faced with a number of challenges, how do they pay for the furloughing of over 6 Million people? This is heightened by a surge in borrowing in the UK by £62.5bn in April, but putting this into context, the war debt was only concluded within the last ten years, so what’s the rush to pay it back?  Income tax however is likely to increase, but whilst we are all so indebted to the NHS, the metaphorical pill should be easy to swallow.

Worrying times we know, but such headline grabbing snap-shots need to be balanced against low inflation and still very cheap mortgage borrowing, assuming that your loan to value is on the right side of 75%.

Estate agents though are having to calm the storm by ensuring that social distancing requirements are observed.
Within the new homes sector, open days with hoards of people are now a thing of the past but properly managed, social distancing arrangements can be arranged for buyers. A recent campaign for a new apartment scheme in Harrogate has resulted in twenty back to back appointments over a two day period, giving each party a private dedicated slot of half an hour to inspect without the need for a shiny suited estate agent asking irrelevant questions. Following each viewing, the property is cleansed, with door handled wiped within a 15 minute window, to allow for the next party to view.

One social distance advantage though….the removal of the luke warm Prosecco and vol-au-vents.

Here in the Harrogate region, we have a strong sense of belonging to the finest area of God’s creation. It has inspired many to look to a new home, to enhance their home life, whilst being comforted by the familiarity of an area that is already enjoyed.

The temporary bollards put up to widen James Street in Harrogate to help give space for social distancing have served to reignite fierce opposition to a plan to permanently widen the pavements by losing the on street car parking.

A £7.8m pot from the Transforming Cities Fund was secured in March to create a “gateway”  to connect the bus and railway stations with the town centre making it easier for walkers and cyclists.

The plan fits into a wider strategy for Harrogate drawn up by the borough council in its 2016 Town Centre Strategy and Masterplan. It states:

The council’s preferred option is for the full pedestrianisation of James Street. This option will serve to link the public realm schemes at Prospect Square and Station Square.

The gateway scheme though is still subject to extra funding by the county and district councils and further consultation.

Artists impression of the station square and the top of James St from the town centre masterplan 2016

The loss of on street parking or any pedestrianisation of James St is fiercely opposed by retail group, Independent Harrogate. Yesterday in its mission statement, it argued the plan is out of date and that, post coronavirus lockdown, the town is facing such a serious economic crisis, reducing any on-street parking would be a disaster. It urged the councils to:

listen to their business rate payers and to address the damaged fundamentals of Harrogate before proceeding with their long-term vision; and then do so in consultation with Independent Harrogate’s members and all businesses who trade there.

Cllr Don Mackenzie, the county council’s Executive Member for Access told The Stray Ferret that their aim was to keep everyone onboard and to make it easier for shoppers:

“North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council both know that when you talk about pedestrianisation some people get anxious. Some are in favour, others see it as terrible. At this stage re-allocation of the road means taking away car parking spaces and widening the pavements.”

When the consultation starts it’s hard to see how either council will be able to win Independent Harrogate over without significant changes to the proposals.

The money awarded to the project in March has to be spent within 3 years.

Today’s figure bring the total number of deaths at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust to 58. One patient died on Monday, the other yesterday.

NHS England has today reported 166 deaths across the country- patients were aged between 33 and 99. 37 of those deaths were from the North East and Yorkshire region.

The trust announced last Thursday that it had treated and discharged 97 patients with coronavirus since the outbreak began.

Outside the hospital, the latest information from the ONS shows there have been 51 deaths in care homes in the district.

The organisation has reported that its Covid-19 patient notification system was not operating for a period of time on Saturday, meaning some of the deaths reported during that time may come through in data released later this week.

Firefighters from Harrogate’s White Watch have cooked more than 50 Sunday roasts for local people. Bruce Reid, the watch manager, told The Stray Ferret that he decided to get cooking when he realised he’d be working both this Sunday and next Sunday.

Bruce said he arrived for work early this morning with an idea of how many meals he could cook but it snowballed..

“I got into work at 8am this morning with an idea that I’d cook around 28 meals but then the whole thing grew and by the time we’d finished we had produced 52. I’d like to thank Susie Little from Covid-Cooperation Harrogate for getting in touch and offering to help with deliveries – we’d have been pulling our hair out without her help”

From the left: Andrew Spence, Dave Spenceley, Mat Clough, Val Granger and Bruce Reid

Lunch was the full monty — roast beef, yorkshire puds, roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, parsnips and cabbage. The lunches were donated to people in need who fitted a set criteria- either medically or financially.

Bookers donated one joint of beef – the rest was paid for my Mr Reid himself.