Revealed: cabinet split over NHS pay disputes piles pressure on Sunak

Health secretary Steve Barclay urges unions to lobby PM over improved pay offer for striking nurses and ambulance workers

The health and social care secretary Steve Barclay has privately urged trade unions to help him make the case to the Treasury and No 10 for extra money for nurses, ambulance workers and other NHS staff in an extraordinary twist to the escalating crisis over health service strikes, the Observer can reveal.

A serious cabinet split has opened up, with Barclay now wanting more money for all NHS staff except doctors – while Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, are refusing to budge from their insistence that no more can be offered.

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Ambulance workers accuse government of demonising them

In letter to Rishi Sunak, GMB union members say they feel ‘utterly betrayed’ by attempts to portray them as ‘uncaring about safety’

A group of ambulance workers has sent a furious letter to the prime minister saying they feel “utterly betrayed” by the government’s attempts to paint them as “uncaring about safety standards”.

Steve Rice, the head of the GMB union’s ambulance committee, sent Rishi Sunak a letter on behalf of ambulance workers protesting against the government’s plans to introduce anti-strikes legislation.

PA Media contributed to this report

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More than 70,000 staff at 150 UK universities to strike for 18 days

Industrial action to take place in February and March in dispute over pay, conditions and pensions

More than 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the UK will strike for 18 days between February and March in disputes over pay, conditions and pensions, it has been announced.

The University and College Union (UCU) said the precise dates of the action will be confirmed next week.

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Steve Barclay privately concedes he will have to increase pay offer to NHS staff

The U-turn may help to end wave of strikes, though funding it could require cuts to key services

Steve Barclay has privately conceded he will have to increase his pay offer to NHS staff, in a U-turn that may help to end the growing wave of strikes.

However, the Treasury has made clear he will have to find any new cash from within the existing health budget, raising the prospect of cuts to key services.

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Health unions refuse to give evidence to ‘rigged’ NHS pay review system

Officials from 14 health unions want to hold direct talks with ministers to agree pay rises for NHS staff

The system for setting NHS staff pay is under threat after health unions refused to submit evidence to the two bodies that advise ministers on how big annual increases should be.

The role and credibility of both the NHS pay review body (NHSPRB) and the review body on doctors’ and dentists’ remuneration (DDRB) have been brought into question by the move.

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Fire Brigades Union calls for ‘mass movement of resistance’ against anti-strikes bill – live

Legislation to be published today particularly aimed at firefighters; Shapps denies new laws would increase risks of strikes

The anti-strikes bill being published today is aimed particularly at firefighters. Fire and rescue is one of the areas where minimum service levels will definitely be set; in other areas, the government says mandatory MSLs will just be a last resort, because it is hoping the voluntary agreements can be reached. (See 9.21am.)

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said the bill was a “shameful attack” on democratic rights and he called for a “mass movement of resistance” against it. He said:

This represents one of the most shameful attacks on the democratic rights and liberties of working people in decades …

This is an attack on all workers – including key workers, who kept our public services going during the pandemic.

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Ministers to unveil anti-strike laws as disputes continue to paralyse UK

Business department says bill will enforce ‘basic’ level of service from different sectors during stoppages

Ministers are to unveil controversial new legislation designed to curb the effectiveness of strike action as industrial disputes continue to paralyse services across the UK.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has previously said the bill will enforce a “basic” level of service from different sectors if workers choose to strike.

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Strikes to go ahead – but ministers’ willingness to talk is a sign of progress

Some suggest political naivety played a role as No 10 admits it is taking a ‘new approach’ by discussing pay

At the end of talks over next year’s pay deal for NHS workers, which broke up without resolution on Monday, union negotiators told Steve Barclay: “You know we’re going ahead with strikes?” One of those in the room said the health secretary shrugged his shoulders in resignation. “I accept that,” he told them.

But the fact ministers sat down with unions to discuss pay at all is, in itself, a breakthrough. For weeks the government has been indicating that, while it would meet unions to avert further strikes, reopening this year’s pay deal was not an option.

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Junior doctors very likely to vote for strike, says BMA, as ministers hold meetings with health, education and rail unions – live

Medical union balloting 45,000 members from today over strike in March as ministers meet unions in effort to end disputes

Good morning. There are various meetings taking place today between ministers and union leaders representing workers in health, education and the rail industry after Rishi Sunak called last week for both sides to get around the table. This is quite a shift from the pre-Christmas position when ministers insisted it was up to management negotiators to take the lead in talks with unions. At the end of last week it was not clear whether this was mainly a presentational ploy (Sunak wants the government to be seen as “reasonable’”), or whether significant concessions might be in the pipeline, but yesterday, as my colleague Pippa Crerar reports, Sunak hinted it was the latter in his start-of-year interview with Laura Kuenssberg.

But it is quite possible that the strike crisis could get worse before it gets better. The British Medical Association is from today balloting 45,000 junior doctors in England on strike action and, if they vote in favour, a 72-hour strike is planned from March. This morning Dr Emma Runswick, the BMA’s deputy chair, told Sky News that the chances of a strike were “very high”. She explained:

[Health secretary] Steve Barclay’s planning to meet with us on Wednesday but only to discuss a very narrow set of things. He’s talking about the evidence that the government will submit to the pay review body. Unfortunately, they’ve already submitted their remit letter to the pay review body telling us and them that we only should receive 2% next year.

So, that’s another massive pay cut after we’ve had a pay cut this year, and for the previous 15 years. Again, another pay cut on top of the quarter pay cut we’ve already received, so I’m not optimistic … about the meetings, though we will go and we will negotiate if that is an available option to us.

We’re asking for the reversal of that pay cut [over the last 15 years]. So, mathematically, it might even be more and if we have another pay cut this year, it’ll be more again. So, we’re only asking for what we’ve had cut from us back.

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One-off payment ‘unlikely to avert teacher strikes in England and Wales’

Union chief welcomes hour-long meeting with ministers on Monday but says ‘months have been wasted’

A potential government offer of a one-off payment to teachers is unlikely to be enough to prevent upcoming strikes in England and Wales, the head of the biggest teaching union has warned ahead of talks with ministers on Monday.

Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said while talks with the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, were welcome, she was sceptical about what could be achieved.

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Most schools in England and Wales to shut for several days if teachers win strike vote

February and March closures will mean biggest shutdown for years if union ballots for action this week

Most state schools across England and Wales will have to close completely on several days in February and March if the country’s biggest teaching union votes for industrial action this week, the Observer has been told.

In what would represent a dramatic escalation of the chaos sweeping the public sector, and affect millions of working parents, the National Education Union (NEU) expects a ballot of its members, which ends on Friday, to approve action that would trigger the biggest shutdown of schools for many years.

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Only one in five British trains to run on final day of planned strikes

Industrial action over pay and working conditions has caused almost four weeks of disruption

The last day in the latest stretch of railway strikes has begun, ending a run of almost four weeks of continuous disruption caused by industrial action over pay and working conditions.

Only about one in five trains across Great Britain will run on Saturday as a 48-hour walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union concludes, with no early morning or evening services and a pared-back schedule on main intercity and urban lines.

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More than 2,600 ambulance workers from Unite to join existing strike

Industrial action on 23 January in England and Wales will coincide with strike by Unison members

More than 2,600 additional ambulance workers plan to strike in late January over pay, the trade union Unite announced on Friday.

Unite’s members will join colleagues belonging to Unison in striking on 23 January, with hospital bosses calling for “serious talks” between the government and unions to avoid “even more pressure on already overstretched NHS services”.

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Sunak invites unions to talks on Monday as senior Tory calls on government to improve pay offer to nurses– UK politics live

PM offers no hint he will compromise on pay offers as former cabinet minister says nurses key to dealing with NHS pressures

The journalist interviewing Rishi Sunak this morning did not press Sunak on excess deaths because he needed to ask some questions about Prince Harry’s memoir. But Sunak would not go near the topic.

Asked how he felt seeing the royal family “torn apart” by these claims and revelations, Sunak replied:

As you would expect, it is not appropriate for me to comment on matters to do with the royal family.

I wouldn’t comment on matters to do with the royal family. I would just say I am enormously grateful to our armed forces for the incredible job they do in keeping us all safe. We’re all very fortunate for their service.

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Union fury as Rishi Sunak unveils anti-strike laws for ‘minimum service levels’

Legislation will allow bosses of key public services to sue unions and sack employees who refuse to work

Rishi Sunak’s new anti-strike legislation to enforce “minimum service levels” in key public sectors including the NHS and schools has drawn a furious reaction from unions as the prime minister scrambles to get a grip on industrial disputes.

The law, which the government plans to introduce in the coming weeks, will allow bosses in health, education, fire, ambulance, rail and nuclear commissioning to sue unions and sack employees if minimum levels are not met.

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Keir Starmer to promise ‘completely new way of governing’ in major speech – UK politics live

Latest updates: Labour leader to say he plans to move away from the ‘sticking plaster politics’ of short-term decision making

Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, which represents train drivers, told the Today programme this morning that he did not think the anti-strike legislation proposed by the government (see 8.48am) would make life harder for his union.

He suggested the law would lead to unions like his having to organise strikes across more localised units, instead of nationally.

If we’ve got to sit down in 15, 20 or 30 different undertakings and agree different levels of [minimum service], all it means is that we put more strikes on to pick up the shortfall, create greater strife, the connectivity of the railway falls apart, the logistically it’s impossible.

There have been minimum [service] levels in European countries for several years. They have never been enacted because they don’t work.

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Labour dismisses Rishi Sunak’s five new pledges as mostly ‘so easy it would be difficult not to achieve them’ – as it happened

Prime minister urges public to judge him on whether he delivers on new pledges but Labour says most ‘were happening anyway’. This blog is now closed

Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, has issued a statement welcoming the government’s proposal to abandon the privatisation of Channel (without actually putting it in those terms). She says the government should never have floated the plan in the first place, and that it has been a “total distraction” for the broadcaster. She says:

The Conservatives’ vendetta against Channel 4 was always wrong for Britain, growth in our creative economy, and a complete waste of everyone’s time.

Our broadcasting and creative industries lead the world, yet this government has hamstrung them for the last year with the total distraction of Channel 4 privatisation.

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Only one in five UK train services to run on second consecutive day of strikes

Passengers advised to travel only if necessary on Wednesday, although No 10 and Network Rail optimistic about reaching deal

UK strike calendar: service stoppages in January

More disruption awaits commuters returning to work after the Christmas break on Wednesday, the second of five consecutive days of rail strikes.

Once again, much of Britain’s rail network will not be operating, with only about a fifth of trains expected to run, leaving only a skeleton service for commuters on some urban and intercity lines.

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No 10 says NHS is getting ‘funding it needs’ and refuses to accept service is ‘in crisis’ – UK politics live

Downing Street says NHS is receiving funding it needs despite Royal College of Emergency Medicine saying ministers are in denial

Earlier today the vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said ministers were in denial over the extent of problems facing hospital A&E departments. (See 11.19am.) At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the prime minister’s spokesperson tried to avoid sounding complacent, but he did claim the NHS has the funding it needs this winter. He told journalists:

We are confident we are providing the NHS with the funding it needs, as we did throughout the pandemic, to deal with these issues …

We have been upfront with the public, long in advance of this winter, that, because of the pandemic and the pressures it’s placed in the backlog of cases, that this would be an extremely challenging winter. And that is what we are seeing.

We have continued to put billions of pounds of additional funding into the NHS – £7.5bn for adult social care and for delayed discharge over the next two years. And there’s £14.1bn in additional funding to improve urgent and emergency care and tackle the backlogs.

This is certainly an unprecedented challenge for the NHS, brought about by a number of factors.

Could Johnson really win a parliamentary ballot? Or might Conservative members impose him on unwilling Tory MPs (which proved less than successful in the case of Truss)? Above all, is it likely that he would stand in the first place? For all his reputation for recklessness, Johnson has a prudent streak. Both last year and in 2016 he decided not to stand, bruising the feelings of some of those who had invested hope in his candidacy …

It’s possible that a reinstalled Johnson could confound his critics, as he has done so many times before, and win the Conservatives a fifth term. Let Sunak do the hard work, Johnsonians will say – the tax rises, the spending cuts. Then their man can breeze in with his unquenchable optimism, cut taxes and cheer Britain up. Really?

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Strikes, elections and Dominic Raab: Rishi Sunak’s headaches to come in 2023

PM has reinstated ‘boring government’ but smooth relations with backbenchers are unlikely to last

At the end of one of the most tumultuous years of politics in decades, Rishi Sunak is confident he has successfully managed to calm Tory MPs and – in the words of one senior aide – “bring back boring government”.

He has sought to kick some controversial pieces of legislation into the long grass, performed quick U-turns and managed to satiate a parliamentary party with a seemingly unquenchable thirst for regicide.

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