6:37 am, April 25, 2023
Government confirms legal action against RCN over May strike
The government has confirmed it is launching legal action against the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) over a planned strike in the long-running dispute about pay.
Health secretary Steve Barclay said he was ‘regretfully’ applying to the High Court to declare the walkout planned for May 2 unlawful.
RCN members working in the NHS in England at workplaces with a strike mandate are preparing to take 48-hour industrial action from 8pm or the start of the night shift on April 30. But Barclay said NHS employers had contacted him asking him to check the legality of the action because the strike mandate runs out on May 1.
Government considers evacuation options as US announces Sudan ceasefire
The government continues to consider ‘all possible options’ as calls grow for the evacuation of British citizens from Sudan after the US said a 72-hour ceasefire had been agreed by warring sides.
The three-day reprieve announced by secretary of state Antony Blinken on Monday night has raised hopes of rescue efforts in the country after a defence minister earlier warned it was ‘too dangerous’ to send British troops in to lead such a mission.
James Heappey had said any plan to deploy armed forces in Khartoum would be ‘unhelpful and unrealistic’ but sought to assure ‘a number of other options’ were discussed in Rishi Sunak’s emergency Cobra meeting on Monday.
Isolating China is ‘a betrayal of national interest’, Cleverly to say
James Cleverly will claim isolating China is a ‘betrayal’ of the national interest in a speech setting out the government’s position on Beijing.
The foreign secretary will say the UK must engage directly with the country in order to promote stability in a keynote address to the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet in London. He is set to deny China should be classed as a ‘threat’, arguing its scale and complexity cannot be reduced to one-word descriptions.
Cleverly will break from tradition by dedicating the speech – which foreign secretaries typically use to set out their views on a broad range of foreign policy issues – entirely to talk of Beijing.
Yousaf: Finding auditor to meet SNP accounts deadline will be challenging
Scotland’s first minister has said it will be ‘challenging’ to arrange an auditor to process the SNP’s accounts in time to meet the May 31 deadline.
Humza Yousaf’s comments come after Stephen Flynn MP, the head of the SNP’s Westminster group, warned it could miss out on more than £1m if it fails to file accounts by the end of May.
In an interview with the BBC, Yousaf said he is ‘going to work towards meeting the deadline’ but stressed: ‘It’ll be challenging. I won’t pretend otherwise. There is the ability to ask for an extension if required. We’re not in that space yet.’
Labour to force vote on opposition bill to end sewage dumping
Tory MPs have been told they face ‘judgment day’ as Labour plans to force a binding vote on draft legislation aimed at bringing an end to sewage dumping.
The party said it will table an Opposition day motion in the House of Commons for a debate on the Water Quality (Sewage Discharge) Bill, introduced by shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon.
The private members’ Bill seeks to impose legally-binding reduction targets and automatic fines for companies found to be dumping waste in rivers and the sea. Labour said the debate and vote on Tuesday would give Tory MPs an opportunity to support draft legislation that will put an end to sewage dumping ‘once and for all’.
Monday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Motor trade titans Peter Vardy and Peter Waddell to headline Car Dealer Live 2024
- Family-run car dealer group Swansway clocks up £22.3m profit in 2022
- Shortage of water could be the next crisis for the car industry, warns Seat boss
- Snakes alive! Car dealer delivery driver is confronted by slippery customer
- Shoreham Vehicle Auctions raises more than £40,000 for children’s hospice with week of special sales
Latest hearing in Duke of Sussex’s legal battles with UK press
The latest hearing in a number of legal battles being fought by the Duke of Sussex against UK press organisations is due to take place at the High Court in London.
Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.
NGN will ask a judge to throw out the case, as well as a similar claim brought against the publisher by actor Hugh Grant. Lawyers for the publisher are expected to argue at a hearing on Tuesday, before Mr Justice Fancourt, that Harry’s claim was made too late and should be struck out.
Bank holiday traffic warning as 17.2m trips expected this weekend
Road congestion is expected to be worse during the upcoming early May bank holiday weekend than for the coronation.
The RAC estimated that 17.2m leisure trips will be made by car in the UK between Friday and Monday, making it the busiest early May bank holiday weekend since 2016.
That is compared with 14.6m for the coronation weekend. The reduction in journeys is believed to be due to millions of people staying at home to watch the royal events on television.
Weather outlook
A chilly start but it’ll be a day of variable cloud and sunny spells for the south, with the chance of an odd shower. Showers are more likely in the north where these may be wintry in far northern areas. A high of 12 degrees celsius.
Tonight, isolated showers in the north and clearer in the south. Patchy rain and thicker cloud will develop in the south-west later.
