Georgina Hayden’s recipe for spring onion flatbreads with smoked salmon
Yoghurt flatbreads make a weekly appearance in our kitchen, because they are so effortless and versatile.If I have forgotten to pick up a loaf, I will often panic-make them for breakfast or packed lunches.While they are great on the side of stews, soups and curries (or on the barbecue, if that’s the way the weather is going), I’ve made them the hero in this elegant but easy brunch/lunch-style setup.You can make one flatbread per person (as instructed), or you could make multiple mini ones that are almost like little herby pancakes.The dill-spiked cream cheese, however, is a must with smoked salmon.
Prep 5 min Cook 30 min Serves 4250g cream cheese 2 dill pickles, finely chopped, plus 1 tbsp pickle brine1 lemon Sea salt and black pepper250g self-raising flour 250g natural yoghurt ½ bunch spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced1 small bunch dill, leaves picked and finely chopped2 tbsp olive oil 150g smoked salmonIn a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, chopped pickles and a tablespoon of the pickle brine.Finely grate in the lemon zest, squeeze in the juice of half the lemon, then season well and stir to combine.In a larger bowl, mix the flour, yoghurt, most of the sliced spring onions and most of the dill.Season and mix again until you have a dough; add more flour, if need be.Divide the dough into four, then roll out each piece into a round, roughly 1cm-thick flatbread.
Rub each one with a half-tablespoon of olive oil.Put a large frying pan (or griddle pan, if you have one) on a medium-high heat, then, one by one, cook the flatbreads for about two minutes on each side, until fluffy, cooked through and charred in places.Wrap the cooked breads in a clean tea towel while you repeat with the remaining dough.Serve the flatbreads topped with the pickle-spiked cream cheese and smoked salmon, and garnish with the remaining spring onions and dill.
MPs should not do media work that ‘monetises’ their role, says government
The government has backed proposals to stop MPs taking second jobs they have been offered because of their role in parliament, and expressed concern that some paid media roles allow them to “monetise” their privileged positions.It set out its detailed thinking on how the rules could be tightened on MPs’ outside interests in evidence to the House of Commons standards committee.The policy statement said it supported asking MPs to sign up to certain principles, as suggested by the parliamentary standards commissioner, Daniel Greenberg.In particular it favours a draft principle saying: “Members are expected not to accept offers of paid outside interests that are made, or that a reasonable observer might think are being made, primarily because of their membership of the house.”The government also said it had concerns about some instances in which MPs were paid by the media
Badenoch declines to criticise Jenrick over Reform coalition comments – as it happened
Kemi Badenoch has not criticised Robert Jenrick, or disciplined him, over his comments about the possible need for a Conservative/Reform UK “coalition” by the time of the next election. (See 9.04am.)Speaking at a post-PMQs briefing, Badenoch’s spokesperson said the Tory leader “agrees” with Jenrick that that “we need to bring centre-right voters together”.Asked about Badenoch’s reaction to the Sky News report about what Jenrick said, Badenoch’s spokesperson said:She took his words at face value
Russia imposes sanctions on 15 UK MPs over ‘hostile statements’
Russia has imposed sanctions on 15 UK MPs and six members of the House of Lords, banning them from the country over what it called “hostile statements and unfounded accusations” about Moscow.The Russian foreign affairs ministry published a statement on Wednesday accusing the UK of “fabricating anti-Russian narratives” and attempting to “demonise” the country.The ministry announced sanctions against 21 British politicians from across the political spectrum, targeting parliamentarians who have called for frozen Russian assets to be seized and used to fund Ukraine’s war effort.Those hit with sanctions include Labour’s Phil Brickell, Jeevun Sandher, Johanna Baxter and Blair McDougall, and the Liberal Democrats’ Alistair Carmichael, Chris Coghlan, Helen Maguire and James MacCleary.Stephen Gethins, of the Scottish National party, and Jim Shannon, of the Democratic Unionist party, are also on the list
Labour must do the right thing on two-child benefit cap | Letters
If ministers are “privately ruling out” scrapping the two-child social security limit in part because polls suggest that voters support it, that is profoundly depressing (Ministers privately ruling out scrapping two-child benefits cap, 21 April). Tony Blair once observed that politicians face a tension between wooing and leading the electorate. This is an issue on which to lead.If voters see the two-child limit as “a matter of fairness”, as claimed, we have a responsibility to explain why it is so unfair on children and on their parents, both in and out of work. While lifting the two-child limit is not a sufficient condition for eradicating child poverty, it is a necessary condition
UK overtures to China worry Hongkongers | Letter
As a Hongkonger with a British national (overseas) – BNO – passport who is now living in Britain, I read your editorial about the UK’s evolving position on China with both personal and political weight (The Guardian view on UK-China relations: a dilemma made sharper by Brexit, 16 April). For many of us who left Hong Kong following the imposition of the national security law, the threat from the ruling regime was not abstract – it was immediate, personal and existential.Our migration was not simply a search for better opportunities but a necessary departure from a city whose freedoms were being rapidly dismantled.The UK’s cautious recalibration of its relationship with Beijing raises complex emotions. On one hand, I understand the economic pressures that compel governments to engage with China
Scottish Greens table amendment to scrap king’s stamp duty exemption
Opposition politicians in Scotland have called for King Charles to lose his unique exemption from paying stamp duty on his property transactions.The Scottish Green party has tabled changes to a housing bill which would require the king to pay tax on any new property he buys in Scotland in the same way as all other property buyers would.Under a longstanding convention, British monarchs are exempt from paying taxes, including on their personal income, shareholdings, inheritances, property transactions or business income from their extensive private estates.However, the king voluntarily pays the standard rate of income tax on some of his personal income, and capital gains tax. The royal household would not comment on the Scottish Green proposals but said he also pays local property rates voluntarily
Prison officers in England and Wales to use pepper spray at young offender institutions
The ridiculous notion of ‘illegitimate’ children lingered for too long | Brief letters
Over 150,000 more people in England have ME than previously thought, study finds
People with autism and their families: share your views on Robert F Kennedy Jr’s comments
The Vivienne’s sister speaks out about drug use ‘stigma’
Patient satisfaction with GP services in England has collapsed, research finds