6:53 am, February 6, 2023
NHS faces biggest strike yet as nurses and ambulance crews walk out
NHS leaders have warned the service is facing its worst day of disruption yet as tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance staff in England are set to walk out in support of pay claims.
Monday’s industrial action – expected to be the biggest strike in the history of the NHS – marks the first time the two groups have staged stoppages on the same day during the current wave of disputes convulsing public services.
It prompted NHS Providers – which represents trusts – to urge the public to use emergency services ‘wisely’ as it warned the whole service was approaching a ‘crunch point’.
Scotland’s teachers set to walk out again in rolling strike campaign
Teachers in Scotland are set to strike for the final time as part of their recent campaign of walkouts – but more action is on the horizon with no new pay offer from Holyrood.
Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union in Inverclyde and Shetland will take to the picket lines on Monday, with most primary and secondary schools set to be shut.
Teaching unions have demanded a 10 per cent pay rise for their members, but the Scottish government has ruled this out as unaffordable and have offered a five per cent salary increase. The 16-day wave of walkouts, which have affected schoolchildren the length of Scotland, has not seen education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville and local authorities buckle, and the unions have warned industrial action would continue.
Truss points the finger of blame for failed economic growth plan
‘I am not claiming to be blameless in what happened,’ says Liz Truss as she set out for the first time her detailed defence of her turbulent and short-lived premiership.
Nevertheless her article for The Sunday Telegraph yesterday (Feb 5) is hardly the mea culpa that some might have expected following her chaotic 49-day tenure in No 10. Over the course of 4,000 words she identifies a series of culprits far and wide who, she argues, led to her government being made a ‘scapegoat’ for longstanding economic woes.
With Truss promising further interventions in the coming days – including a full, sit-down television interview – No 10 will be watching closely to see if it leads to a renewed push for tax cuts in the run-up to next month’s Budget.
Powerful earthquake kills at least 195 people in Turkey and Syria
At least 195 people are dead after a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southeast Turkey and Syria early on Monday.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management agency said the quake killed at least 76 people in seven Turkish provinces. The agency said 440 people were injured.
Meanwhile, the death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed to 99, according to Syrian state media citing the Health Ministry. In addition, at least 334 people were injured. Earlier, 20 people were reported killed in rebel-held areas of the country.
Apprenticeship levy not fit for purpose, says Labour
Labour wants to create a new body to increase the skills of the British workforce and boost apprenticeships.
The party said the government’s apprenticeship levy system is failing to provide enough skilled workers for 40,000 manufacturers, and pledged to change the way the levy is spent and to create a new body called Skills England.
Sir Keir Starmer is set to unveil his plan to change the apprenticeship levy to a ‘growth and skills levy’ at a new Stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) research centre in the south west alongside shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Cost of maintenance for ‘crumbling’ hospitals passes £1bn
The cost of maintenance work on England’s hospitals exceeded £1bn last year, data shared by ministers has revealed.
Some £1,013,000,000 was spent on maintaining the hospitals estate in the 2021/22 financial year, according to the NHS’s annual Estates Returns Information Collection. This was up from £987m in the previous year, and from £890m in 2017/18.
The information, shared by health minister Will Quince, appears to show investment in the backlog of maintenance has also risen dramatically.
EU bans Russian diesel and other oil products over Ukraine
The EU has imposed a ban on Russian diesel fuel and other refined oil products, slashing energy dependency on Moscow and seeking to further crimp the Kremlin’s fossil fuel earnings as punishment for invading Ukraine.
The ban comes along with a price cap agreed by the Group of Seven allied democracies.
The goal is to allow Russian diesel to keep flowing to countries such as China and India and to avoid a sudden price rise that would hurt consumers worldwide, while reducing the profits funding Moscow’s budget and war.
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Weekend Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Used car dealer closes after 30 years citing ‘failing Jaguar Land Rover’ models cost it £198,000
- Tesla boss Elon Musk cleared of wrongdoing by jury over 2018 tweets that investors claimed cost them billions
- Classic Porsche dealer to stand trial for fraud over £40,000 sale of 911 Targa
- Three men arrested after cars worth more than £30,000 stolen from family-run dealership in daytime ram-raid
Walking and cycling routes to get £200m boost
Walking and cycling routes in England will be boosted with a £200m fund to make crossings and junctions safer, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced.
Schemes could also include more paths in rural areas, new routes for children to walk to school and more inclusive street designs to support people using wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
Government agency Active Travel England is inviting local authorities outside London to apply for a share of the investment.
Drivers turn off car heating to help cut fuel consumption, says survey
One in six drivers (16 per cent) turn off their car’s heating in an attempt to save on fuel costs, a new survey suggests.
The poll of 2,000 British drivers commissioned by Vitality Car Insurance indicated that not driving too fast is the most common method of trying to reduce fuel usage, with 55 per cent doing so.
Other ways of cutting petrol and diesel bills include keeping tyres inflated to the correct level (51 per cent), removing unnecessary items (29 per cent) and keeping windows closed (22 per cent).
Weather outlook
A mostly dry and settled day for large parts of the country, reports BBC Weather, with plenty of winter sunshine. In the north-west, however, it’ll turn cloudy and breezy with the odd chance of rain.
Tonight will keep the same picture with cloud and rain for the north-west, and clear and dry spells for the south.
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