Prime minister facing industrial action records calls thanking public sector workers for ‘sacrifices’
Rishi Sunak has chosen to record phone calls with public servants in which he thanks them for their “selflessness” rather than broadcast a Christmas message to the nation.
The prime minister made apparently surprise calls to four workers and the crew of a naval ship to express his gratitude for their “sacrifices” after an “extraordinary year”.
Continue reading...Experts say ‘year after year we see abuse ramp up in December’ and it’s up to men to stop gendered violence
A sharp rise in the number of women allegedly killed by men has prompted calls for greater investment in family and domestic violence prevention ahead of the dangerous Christmas period.
At least 10 women have been killed this month in Australia, more than three times the average rate of one woman per week.
Continue reading...Take care using candles and electric heaters, fire authorities warn, as Ofgem reveals gas and electricity bills are up by 86%
Fire authorities have urged householders to take care when using candles, wood burners and electric heaters to cut energy bills this Christmas after a spate of recent house fires.
Flat fires in Uxbridge and Harwich this month were caused by candles; fire chiefs in Cumbria, Hereford and Worcester reported more fires as householders used unswept chimneys and candles; and last month in Wakefield a blaze was caused by a tumble dryer being used overnight to save money.
Continue reading...‘Don’t mingle’ advice comes as UK Health Security Agency says scarlet fever and strep A infections continue to rise
Flu and Covid are on the rise in England, with experts stressing the importance of vaccination and warning that people who feel unwell should stay at home rather than mingling with others during the festive season.
The figures come as cases of scarlet fever and strep A infections continue to rise.
Continue reading...Judge at Cardiff hearing rejects families’ complaint, saying relationships curriculum does not advocate any one gender identity
A group of parents has lost a legal challenge against the teaching of children about gender identity and sex in primary schools across Wales.
Campaigners launched a judicial review in the high court against the Welsh government’s new relationships and sexuality education (RSE) curriculum, which they depicted as “dangerous” and “woke”.
Continue reading...Unison members to take industrial action on 11 and 23 January in dispute over pay and staffing
Ambulance workers across England will stage two further strikes on 11 and 23 January in the dispute over pay and staffing, Unison has announced.
Members of the union in five ambulance services in England will take industrial action.
Continue reading...Party sees identifying 50-year-old male home-owners as key to electoral success
You’ve met Mondeo Man and Worcester Woman, now meet the key swing voter Labour hopes will win them the next election: middle-aged mortgage man.
Party insiders say they are being ruthless about targeting exactly the kind of voters they believe will put them back into power, homing in on people who previously lost faith with Labour but have been personally affected by the spike in interest rates caused by Liz Truss’ “mini-budget”.
Continue reading...Campaign to stem the spread of the disease takes place against a backdrop of political chaos, gang violence and fuel shortages
Haiti has received its first shipment of cholera vaccines since an outbreak was declared more than two months ago.
The first of the 1.1m doses, delivered last week, will be distributed in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas in the hope of stemming the spread of the disease, which has been aided by political instability and lawlessness.
Continue reading...Vote on law that would remove need for diagnosis of gender dysphoria to obtain gender recognition certificate pushed back after fraught debate
The final vote on the Scottish government’s long-awaited changes to simplify how someone can legally change gender has been delayed until Thursday after two days of fraught, chaotic and sometimes emotional debate among MSPs.
With discussion of more than 150 amendments continuing late into Wednesday night, the decision was taken by Holyrood business managers to re-schedule the crunch vote for Thursday afternoon rather than have the session run on into the early hours.
Continue reading...Doctors warn of a backlog of patients and ‘deteriorating health’, with calls to 999 down 25% during paramedics’ 24-hour stoppage
The NHS is bracing itself for an influx of patients between now and Christmas after thousands of people deferred seeking treatment during the ambulance workers’ strike on Wednesday.
Senior doctors are warning that the decision by many people in England and Wales not to request help while paramedics were staging a 24-hour stoppage will leave the NHS struggling to cope at a time when hospitals would traditionally be scaling back their services for the festive break.
Continue reading...Alameda county in the San Francisco Bay Area adopts measure amid worsening homelessness catastrophe
A California county has become the first in the nation to pass a law banning landlords from conducting criminal background checks on applicants, a significant move meant to curb housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people.
The Alameda county board of supervisors in the San Francisco Bay Area voted Tuesday to adopt a Fair Chance housing ordinance, which would prohibit landlords in private and public housing from using criminal records when considering prospective tenants. While a few cities have passed similar measures, and at least two counties have adopted partial restrictions, Alameda is the first county in the US to broadly prohibit this practice, advocates say.
Continue reading...Ambulance workers and other NHS staff strike for between 12 and 24 hours in England and Wales
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Barclay is doubling down on his refusal to negotiate on pay and told staff struggling now that they should “look forward” to next year’s pay process.
We’re already three quarters of the way through this year. So, what you’d be saying is, go all the way back retrospectively to April to unpick what has been an independent decision by the pay review body.
But we’re already now under way in terms of next year’s pay review process, the remit letters have gone out.
It took place in February and the world was a rather different place in February and therefore I think some of the evidence they considered was probably out of date by the time it was published. Because the process is very slow, the decision is a bit lagged.
I think [ministers] should ask the pay review body to reconsider what they did last year, and not reopen last year, because I think it’s too late to do that, but actually say I want you to do a very quick turnaround for this year’s recommendations and I want you to take account on anything you might have missed last time round.
No, it reflects the very different action we’ve seen from these trade unions – the GMB, Unite and Unison – compared to what we saw from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), where we agreed national exemptions in terms of what would be covered by the RCN, whereas the three unions striking today have refused to work with us on a national level.
Life and limb cover will be provided. The last thing that our members want to do is put patients in harm’s way … The government has to play their part, they have to come to the table and talk to us. Our members want a resolution to this.
Continue reading...The SNP’s proposals including making it easier to get a gender recognition certificate polarised national politics and provoked angry debates over rights
When Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, pledged to reform gender recognition laws at a LGBTQ+ leaders’ hustings before the 2016 Holyrood elections, she could not have envisaged the escalating toxicity and political polarisation that would ultimately surround her plans, nor the personal toll it would exact.
The proposals to bring in a system of self-declaration for individuals wishing to change their legal gender has led to multiple protests outside the Holyrood parliament, booing the avowedly feminist first minister as a “destroyer of women’s rights”. It has prompted the SNP’s biggest ever backbench rebellion and brought Sturgeon head to head with another of Scotland’s best-known women, the Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who on the eve of the final vote described the gender recognition reform bill as “the single biggest rollback of women’s rights in our lifetimes”.
Continue reading...Bodies representing NHS care in England also call for Rishi Sunak intervention but PM refuses to budge on pay
NHS leaders have urged the public to avoid risky activity on Wednesday for fear they may be left helpless and unable to reach A&E during the ambulance strike.
The industrial action by staff across England and Wales comes as the ongoing pay dispute between ministers and NHS workers looks poised to descend into an increasingly bitter and disruptive war of attrition that could go on for months.
Continue reading...Charity documents experiences of some of England’s 121,000 children housed in temporary accommodation
Children in temporary accommodation are living in cramped conditions and alongside former prisoners, in hostels up to 55 miles away from school, according to a leading housing charity.
One 16-year-old from Manchester, who is sharing a single room in an emergency B&B with her mother and two sisters, described having to study sitting on the toilet, her textbook propped on her knees, to revise for GCSEs. “It’s so cold in there my legs go numb after 10 minutes,” she said.
Continue reading...Crunch vote looms after debate prolonged by disruptions, attempted delays and uncertainty over possible amendments
Transgender 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland are set to be able to apply to change the sex on their birth certificate for the first time as MSPs debated long into the night the Scottish government’s controversial gender recognition reforms.
The marathon session took place amid chaotic scenes at Holyrood, including disruption from the public galley, uncertainty over whether certain amendments opened the bill to legal challenge, and attempts to delay proceedings into the new year.
Continue reading...Tuesday’s strike goes ahead as Royal College of Nursing highlights low pay
Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on strike on Tuesday in an ongoing dispute with the government about pay and concerns about patient safety.
Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) took part after it balloted its members in October. It has said that low pay is the cause of chronic understaffing that is putting patients at risk and leaving NHS staff overworked.
Continue reading...Ghanaian photographer’s crowdfunded project won support of Humans of New York author and boasts more than 30,000 books
The largest photography library in Africa has opened in Ghana’s capital, Accra, showcasing the work of the continent and diaspora’s forgotten, established and emerging talent.
Founded by Ghanaian photographer and film-maker Paul Ninson, the Dikan Center houses more than 30,000 books he has collected. The first of its kind in Ghana, a photo studio and classrooms provide space for workshops while a fellowship programme is aimed at African documentarians and visual artists. An exhibition space will host regular shows, the first of which is Ahennie, a series by the late Ghanaian documentary photographer Emmanuel Bobbie (also known as Bob Pixel), who died in 2021.
Continue reading...Patients with serious conditions and injuries will have to get themselves to A&E, NHS chiefs say
Thousands of patients who have had strokes, heart attacks or broken bones will have to get themselves to A&E on Wednesday when ambulance staff strike over pay, NHS bosses have warned.
The disruption is expected to last for up to three days, with crews not reaching some patients who called 999 on Wednesday until Thursday or Friday.
Continue reading...Mere commitment to discuss pay, so far refused by health secretary, would now be insufficient
Ambulance staff would require a definite commitment from ministers on pay rather than just a promise of talks to call off their planned strike on Wednesday, according to a union leader who said trust had largely broken down with the government.
Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison, one of three unions involved in the strike by ambulance crews in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said even a commitment to discuss pay, thus far refused by the health secretary, Steve Barclay, would now be insufficient.
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