6:36 am, December 20, 2023
NHS braces for junior doctors’ strike
The NHS is bracing for a difficult few days as almost half of the medical workforce in England are set to go on strike during one of the busiest periods of the year.
Junior doctors are to take to picket lines from 7am on December 20 to 7am on December 23 in a major escalation in the bitter dispute over pay.
Hospital leaders have described the walkouts as their ‘worst fears realised’ as they grapple with a rising number of people needing help with winter viruses, particularly norovirus.
Labour eye up Tory scalp after voters oust Peter Bone MP and trigger by-election
Prime minister Rishi Sunak is on course for a fierce battle with Labour in a new year by-election after MP Peter Bone’s voters backed a recall petition to oust him from the Commons.
North Northamptonshire Council confirmed on Tuesday that 13.2% of the electorate in Wellingborough backed a petition to recall their Westminster representative, passing the 10% threshold required for a by-election contest.
The petition had been prompted when Bone was handed a six-week suspension from the House of Commons after an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct. He has been sitting as an independent after losing the Conservative whip in the aftermath of the ruling.
Britain needs to ‘move on’ after ‘unprecedented’ cost-of-living support, PM says
Rishi Sunak said Britain needs to ‘move on’ from high spending and borrowing as he marked the ‘unprecedented’ support made available during the cost-of-living crisis.
The prime minister said he was ‘proud’ that, as of Wednesday, pensioner households had received up to £600 to assist with the raised cost of energy bills over Christmas.
But Sunak said, with the economy stabilising and inflation dropping, the UK needed to ‘move on from the high spending, high borrowing, and high tax approach that was necessary’ during the coronavirus pandemic and the energy crisis.
Lord Cameron to make case for sustainable ceasefire during Middle East return
Lord Cameron will head to Jordan and Egypt this week to make the argument for a sustainable ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Making his second trip to the Middle East since being appointed foreign secretary last month, officials said the former prime minister is looking to progress efforts on securing the release of all hostages by Hamas, stepping up aid into Gaza and putting a stop to rockets being fired into Israel by Palestinian militants.
The Cabinet minister said that, without Israel’s security being guaranteed, there could be no lasting peace or two-state solution.
Trump banned from Colorado ballot in historic ruling by state’s Supreme Court
A divided Colorado Supreme Court has declared former president Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the US Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot.
The decision sets up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the Republican nomination can remain in the race.
Coming from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors, the decision marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
Tuesday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Used car dealer Cazoo says it faces going under as it reveals new cash crisis
- Used car dealers slashing prices unnecessarily over fears of ‘disconnect’ between trade and retail values
- JLR launches insurance product for Range Rover customers in face of rising thefts
- Dacia rolls out new visual identity at 70% of UK dealers ahead of ‘exciting’ 2024
Hundreds of court files from Ghislaine Maxwell libel case to be published
The Duke of York’s alleged links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are set to come under further scrutiny with the release of hundreds of files from a defamation case.
US Judge Loretta Preska ruled on Monday that documents relating to more than 170 people who were either associates, friends or victims of disgraced financier Epstein should be made public.
The documents are part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls. The individuals who are set to be named in the documents will have 14 days to appeal against the judge’s decision – meaning they are likely to be released in early January.
Christmas shoppers warned by Cleverly to remain vigilant against terror threat
Christmas shoppers have been urged by the home secretary to remain vigilant against the threat of terrorism and go with their ‘instincts’ if they spot suspicious behaviour.
Police figures last month revealed that between October 7 and 25, following the Hamas attack on Israel, the anti-terror hotline received around 1,350 reports, more than twice the number of contacts compared to the same period last year. The number of reports with information useful to investigators went up by nearly four times to 200.
On Tuesday evening, James Cleverly visited the Christmas market at London’s Trafalgar Square to see Counter Terrorism Policing’s ‘winter vigilance’ campaign in action.
McLaren’s GTS builds on the GT experience
McLaren has revealed the new GTS which arrives as an updated version of the previous GT model.
The 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 now produces 626bhp in total, up by 14bhp over the previous GT. McLaren has also managed to shave 10kg off the GT’s weight, too, taking the total kerb weight for the GTS to 1,520kg. The GTS comes with a claimed 0-60mph time of just three seconds – 0.1 seconds less than the GT.
The exterior design of the GTS remains much the same as the GT’s as does the interior. Prices are expected to be announced shortly.
Weather
Bright spells in the east but it’ll turn cloudy for all parts later, reports BBC Weather. Rain will sweep across the north and a few showers might fall in the south. Another mild day with temperatures around 10 to 11 degrees.
A very windy night in the north with blustery showers. Drier but cloudier in the south with patchy rain.
