The day I enlisted in the Asparagus Army: JANE FRYER joins Britain’s new Land Army in the fields

Bruce Kerr is a third-generation farmer in Suffolk, with 150 of his sandy acres dedicated to early asparagus.  Each year, 90 experienced pickers will gather 500-600 tonnes of plump green spears from his land between the beginning of April and June 21, when the season ends. They’ll pick from 6am to 6pm, with just 60 minutes’ … Read more

Land Army volunteers are left without jobs as plan to get Brits picking crops falls flat

Farmers who have received death threats for flying in potato pickers from Eastern Europe hit back today, saying ‘What else could we do – British people haven’t wanted this sort of work for decades.’ Fearing spuds, strawberries, plums, parsnips, rhubarb and other crops will rot in the fields, planes were chartered to bring Romanian workers … Read more

The Rolling Stones land their first ever Number One on iTunes with ‘Living in a Ghost Town’

The Rolling Stones have rocketed to the top of the iTunes chart more than 40 years after their last number one hit. The single ‘Living In A Ghost Town’ – the band’s first for eight years – beat stars including Travis Scott, The Weeknd and Drake to the peak of the US table. The legendary … Read more

Land Rover’s new plug-in hybrid Discovery Sport and Evoque

Its 4x4s have long been known for their thirstiness, but now Land Rover is launching two more frugal hybrids models that will run up to 41 miles on battery power. The new Discovery Sport and Evoque plug-in hybrids follow in the footsteps of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport PHEVs.   The electric-only range of … Read more

Jaguar Land Rover furloughs half of its UK workforce due to coronavirus

Jaguar Land Rover have furloughed half of its entire UK workforce – up to 20,000 workers – due to the coronavirus outbreak. The automotive manufacturer said they ‘furloughed all roles that are not critical during this temporary period of disruption.’ Its board and leadership team will also deferring salary payments from May for three months, … Read more

Farm boss spent £40k flying 150 Romanian fruit pickers to UK to teach Brit land army how it’s done

A farming boss says his company had spent £40,000 to fly 150 experienced Romanian farm workers to the UK to teach unskilled British fruit and vegetable pickers how to harvest.  Anthony Gardiner, boss at G’s Growers, says the situation was getting desperate because their regular land army of foreign workers are locked down in their … Read more