Harrogate springs into action and Sheffield’s on the ball
The Harrogate Spring Flower Show, the first big event in the gardening calendar will take place at The Great Yorkshire Showground from Thursday and will run until Sunday. Packed with top producers, expert advice and stunning floral displays, this year has a full programme of talks and demonstrations. The show is introducing a new Secret Shed display, which will feature a series of sheds. Behind the door of each will be a display and story.
Cash prizes of £300, £200 and £100 will be up for grabs for the best three. The show will take place at the Great Yorkshire Showground.
On Wednesday, the Prince of Wales will attend commemorations for the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux centenary. The battle was a crucial turning point in the First World War. Captured by the Germans on April 24, it was a strategically important town on the Western Front. The British/Australian counter-offensive the following day saw it retaken but not without the loss of over 2,400 soldiers. The event is being held on Anzac Day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars.
The Prince will then proceed to an official breakfast to meet with representatives from 17 invited nations who fought on the Western Front.
If anyone at Facebook thought the worst of their recent troubles was over, then Wednesday could see them slip back into controversy as the company announces its quarterly profits. In January 2017, three-monthly profits were buoyant at £3.8bn and even last quarter, when they paid an additional £2bn in taxes in the US, they were over £3bn. The recent scandals over how it allows third party ‘apps’ to use its customers data have brought withering criticism.
So, whether their profits are higher or lower, the knives will be out once more. One saving grace is they won’t be alone. Google (or Alphabet as its parent company is now known), will post its quarterly profits on Monday and Microsoft will post theirs on Thursday. All will involve the word ‘billions’.
A Bill to prohibit charging for car parking at NHS Hospitals for patients and visitors will have its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday, having had its first reading in September. Tory MP Peter Bone also wants to make provision for NHS Hospitals to be exempt from business rates. Previous attempts to bring forward a law to force hospitals to exempt certain people from charges have failed, including one made by Labour MP Julie Cooper in 2015. In February this year, the National Health Executive, warned that if parking charges were to be abolished completely, NHS trusts in England would need to find over £200m.
Sunday will mark the 25th anniversary of the announcement that Buckingham Palace was to be opened to the public. It was confirmed the public would be allowed inside the Palace in the summer of 1993 for an adult entrance fee of £8. Today it costs £24.
All eyes will be on Sheffield this week (and it’s got nothing to do with trees), as the 2018 World Snooker Championships get underway.
The 17-day tournament, which began in 1927, has been held at The Crucible since 1977.
The final will be played over May 6th and 7th with the winner receiving a prize fund of £425,000.