Category Archives: Politics

‘Unreasonable’ doctors should accept pay offer and not try to ‘chase’ inflation, minister says – UK politics live

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Education Secretary Gillian Keegan urges BMA to ‘look at’ pay offer as union says proposed increase fails to address years of underpay

Almost 1,000 workers at Gatwick Airport, including baggage handlers and check-in staff, are to strike in a dispute over pay.

Members of Unite employed by four private contractors will walk out for four days from 28 July and again for four days from 4 August, PA reported.

Our members at Gatwick airport undertake incredibly demanding roles and are essential to keeping the airport and airlines working, yet their employers somehow think it is acceptable to pay them a pittance.

As part of Unite’s unyielding focus on the jobs, pay and condition of its members, the union has drawn a line in the sand and is committed to eradicating the scourge of low pay at the airport.

It is a good use to have all kids in school.

That’s not what we want headteachers doing all of their days. But to be honest, right now, if that works to get somebody in school, it’s worth it.

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Minister calls for pay offer to be taken ‘seriously’ as doctors in England strike

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Health unions suggest industrial action likely to continue as Gillian Keegan defends 6% rise on the table

A senior cabinet minister has urged health unions to take the government’s pay offer “seriously”, after union bosses warned the proposed deal would drive doctors out of the profession and could lead to further strikes.

Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, defended the offer of a 6% pay rise for junior doctors a day after the government accepted the recommendations of the public sector pay review bodies.

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Pro-LTN councillors do not suffer at ballot box, research suggests

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Voicing support for traffic schemes has no statistically significant effect on re-election chances, study finds

Councillors who publicly declare support for low-traffic neighbourhoods do not suffer at the polls as a result, research suggests, indicating that the schemes might not be as politically divisive as is often believed.

The study also indicates that local politicians who openly express displeasure about LTNs do not suffer consequences in elections, although Labour councillors may benefit from a slightly positive effect.

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Rishi Sunak changes declaration again over private jet travel expenses

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Questions continue to be raised about £38,500 for travel to Tory events, now declared to be from millionaire Akhil Tripathi

Rishi Sunak has changed his expenses declaration over the funding of private jet travel to Tory events after questions were raised about why they were recorded as coming from a small company linked to a multimillionaire businessman.

Sunak’s latest declaration now names the donor of £38,500 to pay for air travel by the prime minister and staff as Akhil Tripathi, a British-Indian medical tech entrepreneur who made a fortune from an anti-snoring device.

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Rishi Sunak driving doctors out of NHS with pay offer, say union leaders

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Public service workers in England offered 5%-7% rises but departments must fund them from existing budgets

Health union leaders have reacted furiously to a warning from Rishi Sunak that his offer of a 6% pay rise this year was final and that “no amount of strikes” would change his mind, as they began their longest walkout yet in England.

The British Medical Association said the government was “driving doctors away” from the health service and had missed an opportunity to put a credible pay offer on the table to end strikes when it accepted all the recommendations of the pay review bodies.

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Who has been offered what? A breakdown of public sector pay deal

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The government has offered rises of between 5% and 7% to workers including teachers and doctors

Millions of public sector workers ranging from teachers to prison offers are in line for pay rises of between 5% and 7% as part of a government offer that could head off some strikes.

Before the announcement, ministers had stressed the need for “discipline” at a time of rising inflation. Rishi Sunak said pay increases could not “fuel the fire” of inflation running at 8.7%.

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Michael Gove claims work for no-deal Brexit made UK ‘match fit’ for pandemic

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Levelling up minister strongly denied work to leave EU hindered readiness for crisis at Covid inquiry

Michael Gove strongly denied planning for a no-deal Brexit weakened pandemic readiness and claimed it actually helped in evidence to the UK Covid-19 public inquiry.

Senior officials in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have previously told the investigation that as scores of civil servants were switched to planning for the UK to crash out of the EU, work to update and develop pandemic plans was sidelined.

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Committee report is rightfully scathing on UK’s China strategy

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The ISC’s warnings are unlikely to act as much of a brake on Britain’s approach to China

If there is one constant in the UK’s policy towards China over the past three decades it has been its short-termism and inconsistency, the scathing intelligence and security committee report on China rightly finds, comparing Britain’s endless course corrections with Beijing’s capacity to think strategically about how to advance the global interests of the Chinese Communist party.

If Downing Street thinks in terms of the next news bulletin, China has a planning cycle that in some of its documents takes it to 2049, as the ISC was told by one of its intelligence agency witnesses.

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Home care providers in England fear collapse over unpaid invoices

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One in five firms see risk of financial failure in next six months due to sums owed by NHS and councils

Dozens of home care companies in England fear collapse because invoices are going unpaid by councils and the NHS.

Hundreds of millions of pounds in unpaid bills are threatening parts of a care industry already stretched by a recruitment crisis and rising wages, according to research by the Institute of Health and Social Care Management (IHSCM).

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US and UK call for more gratitude from Kyiv after Zelenskiy’s Nato complaint

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Comments come after Ukrainian leader complained his country had not been given firm timetable for joining alliance

Britain’s defence secretary and the US national security adviser have suggested Ukraine ought to show more gratitude for the help it has received from the west, in response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s complaints that his country has not been issued a firm timetable or set of conditions for joining Nato.

Their unscripted remarks – at two different events on the margins of the second day of the Nato summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius – appeared to prompt a change of tack from the Ukrainian leader on Wednesday, who later said he was “grateful to all leaders of Nato countries” for their support and help.

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Rayner attacks Tories over ‘mortgage bombshell’ as Sunak misses PMQs again – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our UK political coverage here

Civil service chief Simon Case said the last five years had seen a deterioration in relations between officials and politicians, although he added the situation had improved since Rishi Sunak became prime minister, PA News reports.

The cabinet secretary told MPs:

The last five years or so have seen, I think, an increased number of attacks on civil servants individually and collectively by significant political figures which has undoubtedly undermined the good functioning of government.

I’m very happy to say that under this prime minister things have changed very significantly.

Obviously I don’t agree with a characterisation which is insulting, dehumanising, totally unacceptable.

It would surprise me if current ministers were using this language, not least because if they were it would indicate something akin to self-defeating cowardice.

Yes, was aware of those communications and have flagged them to both the chief whip and Speaker of the House.

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Teachers in England vote for strike action in autumn over pay

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Members of NASUWT give ‘largest mandate in a decade’ for action over pay, workload and working hours

Members of the NASUWT teachers’ union have voted in favour of industrial action over pay and workload, raising the prospect of mass strikes and widespread disruption across schools in England this autumn.

After months of stalemate with no progress over teachers’ pay, NASUWT members voted decisively for industrial action, with 88.5% of eligible members voting to support strike action and 94.3% supporting action short of strike.

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Zelenskiy forced to recalibrate to avert Nato summit falling-out

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Ukrainian president’s frustration threatened to overshadow meeting – and did not go unnoticed by other leaders

It was, by the standards of international summits, an undiplomatic intervention. A clearly frustrated Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted that Nato allies were showing Ukraine disrespect, that they were discussing his country’s hopes of joining the military alliance without him. “It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to Nato nor to make it a member of the alliance,” he wrote.

The outburst was certainly last minute, coming less than an hour before Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Nato other’s 29 leaders were due to sign off a final summit declaration on the topic. It turned out to be a communique that did not spell out a timeline by which Ukraine could join, nor a list of conditions it would have to meet, nor even extend an invitation to join at an unspecified future date once the war with Russia is over.

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Senior Tories attack illegal migration bill as Lords amendments overturned

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Theresa May and Tim Loughton among more than a dozen backbench Tories criticising bill

Rishi Sunak’s immigration bill was heavily criticised by senior Conservative MPs as the government overturned amendments made by the House of Lords.

Theresa May and Tim Loughton were among more than a dozen backbench Tories seeking further changes to the illegal migration bill, which the prime minister says is crucial to stopping small boats from crossing the Channel.

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No extra money for public sector pay rises, Jeremy Hunt tells ministers

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Chancellor thought to have ruled out providing extra cash if PM decides to accept pay review bodies’ recommendations

Jeremy Hunt has told ministers there will be no extra money to give millions of public sector workers an average 6% pay rise, potentially leaving departments facing a difficult choice between raising salaries or cutting frontline services.

The Guardian understands the chancellor has ruled out providing a further cash injection beyond what is already budgeted if Rishi Sunak decides to implement the recommendations of independent pay review bodies, which are expected as soon as Thursday.

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Zelenskiy fails in effort to secure invitation to join Nato at Vilnius summit

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Leaders of military alliance sign off on declaration that does not give Ukraine firm membership timetable

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has failed in a last-ditch effort to secure an invitation for Ukraine to join Nato after leaders of the 31 countries signed off on a declaration that did not give a firm timetable or clear conditions for its eventual membership.

The frustrated Ukrainian president had accused Joe Biden and other leaders present at a summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, of showing disrespect and complained that there was “no readiness” to invite his country to join.

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Australian PM hands Sunak picture of Bairstow stumping at Nato meeting

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Anthony Albanese tries to ambush UK counterpart, but Sunak was ready with image of England team at Headingley

The Australian prime minister tried to ambush his British counterpart at the Nato summit with a picture of the controversial stumping of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow in the Ashes cricket series.

Rishi Sunak was unexpectedly prepared, and produced from his official portfolio his own photo of England’s Mark Wood and Chris Woakes celebrating getting the winning runs at Headingley on Sunday, giving the host nation their first victory after two consecutive Australian wins.

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Labour urged again to vow to scrap Tories’ two-child benefit limit

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Exclusive: Data shows policy, deepening poverty among low-income families, affects about 1.5 million children

Labour has come under fresh pressure to vow to scrap the two-child benefit cap after it emerged one in four children in some of England and Wales's poorest parliamentary constituencies live in families left at least £3,000 a year out of pocket as a result of the policy.

The party’s stance on the policy, which critics say has been a major driver of deepening poverty among low-income families, is estimated to affect about 1.5 million children and is seen by some in Labour as an indicator of the strength of its determination to tackle child poverty.

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New North Sea oil and gas fields ‘will not meet UK’s energy needs’

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Plans would only supply Britain with fossil fuels for an additional three weeks a year, analysis finds

New oil and gas fields in the North Sea would produce only enough gas to satisfy the UK’s needs for a few weeks a year, with a minimal impact on energy security, analysis has found.

Fields now under consideration would supply at most an additional three weeks of gas a year to the UK, from 2024 to 2050, even if none of the gas was exported.

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Housing asylum seekers on barge may only save £10 a person daily, report says

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NGOs behind report suggest minimal savings for Home Office if Bibby Stockholm barge used in place of £5.6m-a-day hotels

Controversial plans to house asylum seekers on a barge to reduce reliance on expensive hotels will save less than £10 a person a day, according to a report.

The report, Bibby Stockholm – At What Cost? from the NGOs Reclaim The Seas and One Life To Live, provides the first detailed estimated costings of the Bibby Stockholm, the barge the Home Office is planning to use in Dorset to accommodate asylum seekers.

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