| She may not have had the name recognition of Eddie Izzard and Paul Mason, two of her rivals vying to be Labour's candidate for the ultra-safe Sheffield Central seat at the next General Election. But Abtisam Mohamed, a human rights lawyer, community leader and local councillor, was the clear choice of local Labour members who chose her to succeed sitting MP Paul Blomfield in a patch won by the party with a whopping 27,000 majority in 2019. Actor and comedian Eddie Izzard was on the shortlist for the candidacy last night. She said whilst she was "disappointed" with the result, she "took a risk in standing" and does not regret it. Paul Mason, the former economic editor of Newsnight, was knocked out at an earlier stage. According to political commentator Michael Crick: "Barring accidents, Abtisam Mohamed is likely to be the Labour MP for Sheffield Central the next 25-40 years." Labour also chose its candidates this weekend for two nearby Tory-held seats it hopes to win at the next election. Labour councillor Dominic Beck was chosen in Rother Valley and lawyer Jon Pearce for High Peak in north Derbyshire. 
Postcode lottery for ambulance response times revealed The NHS target for responding to so-called category two calls, which cover things like heart attacks and strokes, is set at 18 minutes. But as data journalist David Dubas-Fisher reports for The Northern Agenda, heart attack victims in the North are left waiting over an hour for an ambulance on average. Find out how your local area fares in a searchable table here.  Response times for ambulances have climbed in recent years as the NHS comes under ever greater pressure
The local areas with the longest average waiting times for an ambulance have been revealed thanks to a freedom of information request by the Liberal Democrats. The figures show a postcode lottery, with patients in some areas waiting three times as long for life-threatening calls. The longest response time in the North is for St Helens, where the average waiting time for category two calls is one hour four minutes. Five other areas in the North have response times of over an hour, four of them are in Merseyside - Knowsley, Liverpool, Halton and Sefton. Two areas in the country did actually manage to hit the target - Carlisle (17 minutes), and Croydon (just short of 13 minutes). Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: "These heart-breaking figures show that in every corner of the country, targets are being missed and patients are being left waiting far too long for an ambulance to arrive. "This stark postcode lottery means that if you suffer a heart attack or stroke, your chances of getting to hospital on time depend on where you happen to live."
Why didn't protestors target fast food chain, asks top chef after sit-in stunt  Photo issued by Animal Rebellion of police speaking to activists from the group protesting in Manchester's Michelin-star Mana restaurant
With a Michelin Star, considered the most prestigious foodie honour, under its belt since 2019, Mana is one of the most in-demand restaurants in the North and has lengthy waiting lists for weekend tables. But it was getting attention for the wrong reasons this weekend as Animal Rebellion protestors staged a sit-in protest at the restaurant in the Ancoats area of Manchester, as Dianne Bourne reports for the Manchester Evening News. Fourteen people were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and have since been bailed. Video filmed inside the restaurant showed demonstrators holding mock menus aloft with the courses outlining the group's demands, such as 'support for farmers and fishing communities to transition to a plant-based food system'. Yesterday chef-patron Simon Martin told of the disruption the protest caused and thanked staff who worked tirelessly into the night to resume service for the full restaurant following the drama. He said: "Whilst everyone is entitled to their opinions and beliefs, we are confused as to why the protestors chose to target a restaurant that prioritizes sustainability and animal welfare, instead of a corporate fast food chain. "Mana has always been a highly sustainable restaurant, sourcing hyper local and sustainably produced vegetables from small businesses just like ourselves who abstain from GMOs, herbicides, and pesticides."
Attitudes towards Brexit in North East 'shifting more than any other region' Some 58% of North East voters wanted to leave the European Union back in 2016 - giving it the third-highest proportion of Brexit supporters of any English region. But it seems many are now changing their minds. The Brexit Tracker compiled by the UK in a Changing Europe research initiative asked voters whether the UK should join or stay out of the EU - first in February this year and then again in October.  The UK in a Changing Europe Brexit Tracker shows regional attitudes towards rejoining the EU. Graphic by Carly Holds
The results - which admittedly have a 5% margin of error - show a bigger increase in the number of 'rejoiners' in the North East than anywhere else, with the percentage rising from below 40% to above 60% in eight months. It's not the first study to show that support for Brexit in the North East is on the wane. Recently the Tony Blair Institute found similarly that views in the North East had shifted more than anywhere else in England. And a report by the Resolution Foundation said Brexit has damaged Britain's competitiveness, reducing productivity and workers' real wages in the years ahead, according to a new study – with the North East set to take the hardest hit. UK in a Changing Europe research associate Dr Alan Wager told us: "Voters in the North East have been hardest hit by Brexit, and have the lowest trust in politicians in Westminster - which may explain why they are particularly likely to take a dim view of how the Tories have gone about Brexit so far, and most likely to have shifted towards backing the idea of rejoining."
Meanwhile in the Humber, the region's port operator says more trade has been diverted there and away from Dover since Britain left the EU. Dafydd Williams, of Associated British Ports (ABP), told East Riding councillors trade had come to the Humber because land constraints in Dover made it harder to accommodate Brexit backlogs. But he added checks on EU goods due in 2024 could cause lorry traffic delays like those seen in Kent if space runs out for them in the Humber, as Local Democracy Reporter Joseph Gerrard writes.
Recruitment crisis threatens to undermine social care reforms The major reforms to social care unveiled by Boris Johnson - in which an £86,000 cap could be introduced on residents' care costs - have been put on hold by Ministers as they try and shore up the public finances. But local leaders have been told the charging reform was still government policy and had only been delayed until October 2025. And in North Yorkshire, one of the authorities to pilot the changes, the council has revealed major concerns about the scheme, including that it could leave the local authority needing to find tens of millions of pounds every year.  There are calls for immediate and significant action to deal with the growing social care crisis in North Yorkshire and nationwide
A report to a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council's care scrutiny committee tomorrow states the new system would mean bringing in more staff in a sector already facing a recruitment crisis, writes Local Democracy Reporter Stuart Minting. The scrutiny meeting also comes just days after Healthwatch North Yorkshire called for immediate and significant action to deal with the growing social care crisis and underlined concerns for the future of services in the county. Its chief officer, Ashley Green, said: "Despite the hard work and commitment from those delivering care and who commission services, the significant lack of qualified and available staff is having a devastating impact on the provision of care for those people who most need it most." The council report says the significant increase in the number of social care and financial assessments required with the new system would mean an increase in staffing, which it says would have been difficult to achieve. 
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Northern Stories  John Henry Sayers Jnr's Saye's To Go kiosk on Northumberland Street in Newcastle. He is pictured with Lyn Holmes and former Newcastle United player Malcolm Macdonald
- The son of notorious Tyneside hardman John Henry Sayers has lost a bid to sell wine and hot toddies on Newcastle's main shopping street. Councillors rejected plans from John Henry Sayers Jr to serve alcohol from his city centre food kiosk on Northumberland Street. Police alleged the proposal would leave the Saye's To Go stall "vulnerable to serious organised crime" and may have been an attempt for the well-known family to gain "legitimacy". At a Newcastle City Council licensing hearing, it was claimed that Mr Sayers Jr was being "unfairly treated" by city authorities and that it would be "wholly wrong" to deny him an alcohol permit on the basis of his father's history in the city's criminal underworld.
- A proposal by a Cumbrian MP to allow vulnerable prisoners to be released up to two days earlier if due to be released on a Friday has passed its first Commons hurdle. The Government conceded in the summer that for some ex-offenders a lack of time to access services before they close for the weekend is "increasing the likelihood they will commit further crimes". Conservative Barrow and Furness MP Simon Fell put forward a private member's bill to legislate for a change he said would allow some vulnerable people to be released up to 48 hours earlier if they were due to be released on a Friday.
- Prescot shopping centre has been bought by Knowsley council for £1.3m. The shopping centre had been run by the Groupe Geraud UK for some time and was suffering from low occupancy and deteriorating conditions. The council confirmed last week that after a period of negotiation it had agreed to acquire the shopping centre from Groupe Geraud UK for £1.3m. The deal includes the former Stephenson's Printworks as well as more units on Eccleston Street and Market Place as well as the shopping centre car park – which Knowsley Council said has now been fully reopened.
- The path appears to be clearing for County Durham to join a multi-billion devolution deal that will create a new North East mayor. A massive deal that would reshape the region's political landscape and deliver a raft of new funding and decision-making powers has been shrouded in uncertainty for weeks. But councils could now finally be edging towards a resolution on the agreement, which would potentially see a mayor elected in 2024 to govern a massive area that could stretch all the way from Berwick to Barnard Castle.
- The company behind the controversial Preston New Road fracking site in Fylde, Lancashire, wants two more years before it has to fully decommission the wells it drilled on the rural plot. Cuadrilla has announced that it intends to apply for permission to extend "the currently approved period for the completion of all works" at its Little Plumpton operation. Although the move would not permit any further drilling or fracking at the site – approval for which has now expired – campaigners and the county councillor for the area have questioned the need for the time extension.
- A residents' group has been set up to fight an energy firm's plans for a major solar farm across 360 acres of countryside straddling the border of Wakefield and Kirklees. Boom Power is about to submit an application to Wakefield Council to install solar panels in farmland in the Overton, Middlestown, New Hall and Grange Moor areas of the city. The company has already been granted permission by Kirklees Council to build a solar farm on 210 acres of land at Low Farm, Flockton. A third application to access the National Grid on land near to Horbury Bridge has also been approved. The Save Sitlington group has been set up by residents in opposition to the latest scheme.h herself and Cleveland Fire Authority representatives for further discussions.
The new hospitals development that can turn Leeds into the next Silicon Valley In his plan to rebuild the economy, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he wanted Britain to get better at turning world-class innovation into world-class companies and become the world's next Silicon Valley. There can't be many better opportunities than the Innovation Village in Leeds to turn this vision into reality and deliver on key election pledges at the same time. Our project to build two new state-of-the-art hospitals in one building on the site of the historic Leeds General Infirmary will free up prime real estate for a new science park at the heart of one of the largest medical, academic and industrial establishments in Europe, a place for entrepreneurs to transform the latest breakthroughs in healthcare into the next generation of high-tech start-ups and scale-ups. We will be healing our economy as well as our population, levelling up the UK and helping to fulfil the biggest hospital building programme in a generation. Yes, we are facing extraordinary challenges at a local, regional, national and international level, but with targeted investment we can overcome these and create new wealth, health and prosperity for the future and put Leeds on the map as a world leader in health tech. By background, I'm a Yorkshire businesswoman. I founded and led a number of successful enterprises before dedicating myself to public service. As a former entrepreneur, I know that you need to invest for growth and put your capital at stake if you want to reap the rewards.  The plan for Leeds General Infirmary will free up prime real estate for a new science park
With our scheme in Leeds, the returns are likely to be substantial. The Innovation Village can create 4,000 new jobs and an economic boost of nearly £13 billion, according to latest independent analysis revealed this month by accountancy firm PwC. We take inspiration from our heritage. The LGI was the world's first civic hospital, designed on the advice of Florence Nightingale and completed under the exacting eye of the architect George Gilbert Scott. It can claim a number of national and international breakthroughs including the UK's first kidney and hand transplants and is the birthplace of modern emergency medicine. But over the decades, the old Victorian building has become unsuited to current and future needs. In contrast, our new hospitals – one for adults and one for children with a centralised maternity centre – will incorporate the most advanced treatments, technologies, innovation and research and will change the way we think about patient care in the 21st century. Our hospital development site is clear and ready to go when we get the green light and this will unlock five hectares of land for healthcare innovation, commercialisation, and education. Our work is attracting interest from institutions and corporations across the world, wanting to see how they can get involved. We are building on strong foundations as one of the largest medical, academic and industrial establishments in Europe. Leeds is home to some of the UK's most exciting and innovative health tech companies. There are nearly 600 health tech companies in our region, start-ups as well as scale-ups.  Dame Linda says Leeds is at the vanguard of research and innovation, nationally and internationally (Image: Welcome To Yorkshire)
One third of our top 50 businesses are in the sector. Our regional health tech ecosystem accounts for combined revenues of nearly £5 billion and 13,000 jobs. That's the commercialisation of innovation in action. Leeds is also a major decision-making centre for national health policy with six significant government health offices including NHS England, NHS Digital, NHS Leadership Academy and the newly formed Health and Social Care Hub. And Leeds is at the vanguard of research and innovation, nationally and internationally. With world-class universities on our doorstep, we are pioneering new treatments, advancing preventative medicine and tackling health inequalities. We are the leading acute trust for recruiting patients into research, meaning that thousands of people get the chance to benefit from the latest approaches to healthcare. We are sitting on a goldmine in Leeds and other countries are starting to notice. Our Innovation Pop Up, launched at the old Gilbert Scott Building a year ago, has fostered trade links with countries including Norway, Spain, Canada, Switzerland and the United States. We are proud to be founder members of the Leeds-Israel Innovation Gateway, a new partnership to combine our strengths in health tech. I recognise the government has a difficult job to do in balancing the books. When I joined Leeds Teaching Hospitals as chairwoman in 2013, we had financial challenges. But with a phenomenal team effort we turned it around. Today, we are one of the best-performing acute trusts in the country. I believe that Britain can absolutely do the same, by building on its strengths and backing cities like Leeds that are transforming world-class innovation into world-class companies. This really will heal our economy as well as our population.
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