Nurses’ leader blasts Steve Barclay over ‘disgraceful’ use of legal action to stop strike

Pat Cullen attacks health secretary’s attempt to prevent 48-hour action in England as ‘frightening for democracy’

The leader of the Royal College of Nursing has said a legal attempt by the health secretary to block next weekend’s strike in England is “frightening for democracy and very frightening for trade unionism”.

Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN, said it was “disgraceful” that Steve Barclay was attempting to thwart the strike via the courts, and said nurses would “not be bullied into silence”.

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Rapper Aitch inspired by sister to skydive for Down’s syndrome awareness

Musician cheered on during jump by his sister Gracie, who has the condition and regularly features in his work

Rapper Aitch has skydived to raise money and awareness for Down’s syndrome, inspired by his sister Gracie, who has the condition. Gracie, 13, regularly features in the Manchester-born rapper’s music and recently joined her brother in the video for his latest single, Round 2.

Although the skydive had been scheduled to take place in March to coincide with Down’s syndrome Awareness week, windy conditions postponed the jump.

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Avian flu outbreak in the Gambia threatens birds on East Atlantic Flyway

Hundreds of dead birds found in past three weeks as conservationists call for international funding to help stop the disease spreading on migration routes

An outbreak of avian influenza in seabirds in the Gambia could affect vast numbers of birds migrating along the East Atlantic Flyway, unless international funding is secured, warn conservationists.

Teams from the West African Bird Study Association (Wabsa), the Gambia’s Department of Parks and Wildlife Management, and UK-based NGO Conservation Without Borders have buried hundreds of dead birds over the past three weeks, including some ringed birds from Europe.

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RCN head accuses Barclay of issuing ‘blatant threat’ with legal action over strikes

Pat Cullen said health secretary’s attempt to block 48-hour nurses’ strike was ‘cruel’ and ‘unacceptable’

The health secretary’s legal challenge against the Royal College of Nursing’s forthcoming strike is a “blatant threat”, the union’s leader has said.

Steve Barclay’s decision to refer to the courts, revealed on Friday, is the latest twist in the long-running saga over pay between nurses and the government.

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Steve Barclay accused of trying to ‘bully and silence’ nurses through legal threat

Exclusive: RCN union hits back after health secretary attempts to prevent planned May Day strike

Health secretary Steve Barclay has been accused by the Royal College of Nursing of trying to “bully and silence” nurses after the government issued legal papers in an attempt to block a planned May Day strike, describing it as unlawful.

A “pre-claim” letter was issued in Barclay’s name on Friday, demanding the RCN cancel industrial action planned for 30 April to 2 May.

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Three strikes: NSW falls behind rest of nation as Queensland reforms drug possession laws

Queensland health minister says progressive changes will open up pathways for people to receive treatment

New South Wales will become the only state that doesn’t allow cautions for people possessing drugs after Queensland moved to mandate a three-strike system.

Doctors, police and drug reform advocates are welcoming reforms, passed on Thursday night, that will see Queensland take a more progressive approach to policing the personal consumption of illegal drugs.

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Dominic Raab bullying claims: deputy PM refusing to resign after reading report – as it happened

Dominic Raab denies wrongdoing after report on his behaviour delivered to Rishi Sunak this morning

Today’s announcement by the Association of School and College Leaders that it is to hold a formal ballot for national strike action for the first time in its history (see 9.49am) marks a significant development in the ongoing dispute between teachers and the government.

Up until now only members of the National Education Union (NEU) have taken strike action in England, with five more days of strikes planned for later this term. In addition a fresh ballot is to be held to provide the NEU with a mandate for further strike action up until Christmas.

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Untrained cosmetic ‘surgeons’ could face jail time under Queensland reforms

State government’s move follows agreement of nation’s health ministers to reform the industry

Cosmetic “surgeons” with no recognised medical training face a range of new penalties in Queensland after an overhaul of industry regulations.

The state will introduce tough new legislation after health ministers across the country agreed to a national approach to reform the burgeoning industry.

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ACTU will not push for spot on RBA board as review released – as it happened

This blog is now closed

Bandt: if budget can afford stage-three tax cuts it can afford to lift Australians out of poverty.

Bandt is also highly critical of the government as it appears set to reject a call from its very own expert advisory panel to raise the jobseeker rate. He says if the budget can afford to keep stage-three tax cuts, it can afford to lift Australians out of poverty:

Everyday people are not causing inflation. They are the victims of inflation. Now, Labor has found over a quarter of a trillion dollars for tax cuts for billionaires and politicians that can’t lift people out of poverty.

Labor’s not making hard choices in this budget, they’re making everyone else make hard choices, like whether to pay for the rent or whether to put food on the table.

We’ll have a look at all of the recommendations of the review, and the government’s response when it’s released fully but a major party stitch up isn’t going to fix the inflation problem.

We need more than just outsourcing the issue of tackling inflation to the RBA, which is what Liberal and Labor want to do. We know that it is excessive profiteering that is driving higher prices and inflation in this country. It’s not the everyday people.

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ACT becomes first Australian jurisdiction to offer free universal access to abortions

The healthcare program will be available for surgical and medical abortions up to 16 weeks’ gestation

The ACT has become the first Australian jurisdiction to offer free universal access to abortion services, prompting calls for the rest of the country to follow suit.

From Thursday, ACT residents who wish to access abortion healthcare will be able to do so without charge, regardless of whether they have a Medicare card.

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Colin Beattie ‘steps back’ as SNP treasurer following arrest amid party finance investigation – as it happened

This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story here

PMQs is starting in five minutes.

The Cabinet Office has just published the revised list of ministers’ interests. This is the document that is supposed get updated every six months, but which has not been updated for around a year – partly because it’s the job of the No 10 independent adviser on ministes’ interests (aka, the ethics adviser), and for months the post was empty because two of Boris Johnson’s resigned, and then he gave up trying to find a replacement.

The prime minister’s wife is a venture capital investor. She owns a venture capital investment company, Catamaran Ventures UK Limited, and a number of direct shareholdings.

As the prime minister set out in his letter to the chair of the liaison committee on 4 April 2023, this includes the minority shareholding that his wife has in relation to the company, Koru Kids. The guide to the categories of interest (section 7, pages 4-6) sets out the independent adviser’s approach to the inclusion of interests declared in relation to spouses, partners and close family members within the list. The prime minister’s letter of 4 April is available at https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/38992/documents/191876/default/

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‘They are despairing’: climate crisis weighs heavy on mental health of young Australians

Report shows anxiety over the environment is prominent among teenagers, such as Ruby Bron who feels ‘helpless’ about future

Ruby Bron feels “helpless” and “anxiety-ridden” when she thinks about the future and the irreversible damage occurring because of the climate crisis.

The 17-year-old Sydney student says without drastic action to cut emissions, her generation will be left to deal with the climate crisis in an increasingly damaged and volatile world.

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Sickness drags down UK economy as job vacancies go unfilled

Rishi Sunak wants growth, but ONS figures show rising levels of inactivity because of ill-health

Unwelcome though it is for a government facing strikes by doctors and nurses in the months ahead, the message from the latest labour market figures is clear: Britain is already the sick man of Europe.

More than 2.5 million people who are economically inactive cite long-term sickness as the reason why they are not looking for a job – and the number is rising sharply.

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Australia news live: Labor will not lift jobseeker despite recommendation for ‘substantial increase’ to base rate

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Joyce describes Indigenous voice as ‘a consultative power by selected group’

Joyce says the voice will affect all Australians, not just Indigenous Australians, because a selected rather than elected body will move away from the democratic process.

It is a massive change to how democracy works because we’re now dealing with a consultative power by selected group, not an elected group … and that move away from the democratic process.

What I’m asking you is that you say on one hand that there’s no legislation … But you also make a claim about a model which doesn’t exist, you can’t have it both ways.

In all the narrative from Mr Pearson, to his Ms Langton, to the Calma Langton report, they talk about selection, not election.

So then you do think you’ve got a model?

Then let us see the legislation.

I just don’t believe that we should be inserting a racial clause into our constitution in 2023.

Tick the box that you believe in racial differentiation. You’ve just ticked the box that you believe in racial differentiation.

It’s the form that it comes in. I’ve got no problems with the statement of fact that Indigenous Australians were the first people in Australia.

I’ve got no problems with the constitutional recognition referendum on the premise that we see the details first … I’m talking to about a more proper and pertinent alternative approach, which means that we get all the details not some of the details, we see the legislation before we vote, we don’t get a blank check. And we also make sure that we see the proper legal opinion before we vote not someone’s opinion of the opinion, which is what Mr Albanese is going to give us.

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Experts urge Victoria to provide promised CBD safe injecting room or risk further harm to vulnerable people

Andrews government bought a Flinders Street site for $40.3m in 2021, but it has sat empty since

Victoria risks falling behind the rest of the world if it fails to expand on the success of its safe injecting room in Richmond, according to the head of an international harm minimisation group.

The executive director of London-based Harm Reduction International, Naomi Burke-Shyne, is in Melbourne for the organisation’s annual conference and has called on the Andrews government to provide a promised second safe injecting facility in the CBD.

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Government to target ‘criminal syndicates’ and ‘shoddy therapies’ in NDIS fraud crackdown

Bill Shorten wants to stop practices that treat people like ‘cash cows’ as he reveals taskforce had 1,700 tipoffs in a month

The Albanese government will target “unethical practices” and “shoddy therapies” as it broadens its crackdown on fraud against the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Bill Shorten has revealed.

The government services and NDIS minister will on Tuesday call for an end to practices that treat disabled participants like “cash cows”, such as pressuring them to pay for services they don’t need or that are not in their plan.

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‘Buckling’ NHS fails to treat 250,000 children with mental health problems

Exclusive: child mental health crisis deepens with one-third of all referrals denied help

A quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS as it struggles to manage surging case loads against a backdrop of a crisis in child mental health.

Some NHS trusts are failing to offer treatment to 60% of those referred by GPs, the research based on freedom of information request responses has found.

In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. You can contact the mental health charity Mind by calling 0300 123 3393 or visiting mind.org.uk. YoungMinds is at youngminds.org.uk.

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Democratic senators condemn federal judge’s ruling to block abortion drug

Lawmakers from New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin decry the ruling, now on hold by supreme court until at least 19 April

Top Democratic senators across the US are pushing back after a federal judge in Texas decided to block the FDA-approved abortion drug mifepristone.

On Sunday, the New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand criticized as an “outrage” Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s decision, which is currently halted until at least Wednesday 19 April by the supreme court.

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Rishi Sunak appears ready to try to tough out further wave of NHS strikes

High-risk tactic increases likelihood of combined stoppages by nurses and junior doctors in England

Rishi Sunak appears set on trying to face down unions in a high-risk strategy to tough out a renewed wave of NHS strikes in England that health service leaders warned were unsustainable and could put patient safety at risk.

With the prime minister and his health secretary, Steve Barclay, seemingly offering no fresh concessions for nurses or junior doctors, they risk the possibility of combined strike action, a scenario one NHS leader said would put the health service “into uncharted territory”.

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Company advertising and selling bubblegum-flavoured cannabis vape products in Australia under investigation

Exclusive: Ethically Enhanced website sold Hubba Bubba-flavoured vapes containing cannabidiol, as owner of bubblegum brand considers legal action

A company advertising brightly packaged Hubba Bubba-flavoured cannabis vape products to Australians through sponsored TikTok posts and selling them without checking for ID or requiring a prescription is being investigated by the country’s drug regulator.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration confirmed it was investigating the content and owners of the Ethically Enhanced website, which sells vapes containing cannabidiol under the name Temple CBD Australia. A TGA spokesperson said the regulator would now “determine the most appropriate regulatory action”.

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