6:45 am, March 14, 2023
Junior doctors’ strike enters second day
Thousands of junior doctors have entered a second day of walkouts as health leaders warned that the NHS is facing ‘high pressure’ as a result of the strikes.
Tens of thousands of appointments and operations are expected to be cancelled as a result of the 72-hour strike in England, which began on Monday morning.
More than 100,000 appointments have already been postponed this winter after nurses and other health workers took strike action in a dispute with the government over pay, according to NHS figures.
Aukus sub deal will help maintain security and keep oceans free, Sunak says
The UK, US and Australia will work together ‘keeping our oceans free’ with a new generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines, Rishi Sunak said.
The prime minister said the Aukus partnership would deliver ‘one of the most advanced’ submarines ‘the world has ever known’, creating thousands of jobs in British shipyards.
The new SSN-Aukus submarines will be in operation for the Royal Navy by the late 2030s under the plan, and will also give Australia its first nuclear-powered capability as it seeks to counter Chinese activities in the Pacific.
Illegal Migration Bill passes first Commons test amid pleas from MPs for changes
Controversial asylum proposals have cleared their first Commons hurdle amid pleas from Tory MPs for amendments to protect trafficked women, children and modern slavery victims.
The Illegal Migration Bill aims to stop people claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means, although it has been denounced by the UN’s refugee agency as an effective ‘asylum ban’.
The House of Commons voted 312 to 250, majority 62, to give the Bill a second reading.
Body of man recovered from scene of explosion in Swansea
The body of a man has been recovered from the scene of a suspected gas explosion in Swansea, police said.
Emergency services were called at just after 11.20am on Monday to a blast at an address on the junction of Clydach Road and Field Close in Morriston.
The man had previously been unaccounted for and his family have now been informed, according to South Wales Police. Three other people were taken to hospital after the blast, with images from the scene showing one house collapsed and another badly damaged.
Gary Glitter returned to custody after breaching licence conditions
Paedophile pop star Gary Glitter has been recalled to prison following a breach of his licence conditions less than six weeks after being released.
The 78-year-old, who had a string of chart hits in the 1970s, had been freed in February after being jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.
He was automatically released from HMP The Verne – a low-security category C jail in Portland, Dorset – following eight years behind bars, having served half of his 16-year fixed-term determinate sentence.
Monday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Constellation boss reveals Cinch’s strong start to 2023 – and hints at more deals to come
- Drive Motor Retail adds Hyundai to portfolio and increases MG coverage after swift purchase of Minstergate
- Car supermarket boss Peter Waddell reveals he’s bought 70 vans previously owned by online used car dealer Cazoo
- Pendragon investor calls for boardroom change after accusing directors of being ‘distracted’ by takeover talks
- £235k Ferrari F8 sets new record for used car platform Motorway
BBC apologises after Gary Lineker reinstated as presenter following tweet row
The BBC has apologised after an impartiality row over a tweet by Gary Lineker ended with the presenter reinstated as the host of Match of the Day.
Director-General Tim Davie said he recognised ‘the potential confusion caused by the grey areas of the BBC’s social media guidance’ following a ‘difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters, and most importantly, our audiences’.
Lineker thanked his fellow presenters and pundits for their ‘remarkable show of solidarity’ after a number pulled out of BBC shows at the weekend when the former England striker was told to step back from hosting the show.
UK bank stocks sink deep into the red in aftermath of SVB collapse
London’s FTSE 100 index sank into the red and US banking stocks saw sharp declines amid the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), sparking fears across Wall Street that interest rate rises may be crippling the banking sector.
It comes despite emergency action in the US to protect customers and a rescue deal in the UK cheered by concerned tech firms.
The top index closed 2.58 per cent lower on Monday, with more than £50bn wiped off the value of the stock exchange over the course of the day. At one point in the day’s trading, the FTSE 100 tumbled by more than 2.6 per cent, meaning that it suffered an even steeper decline than at any point following September’s mini-budget, which had been described as the ‘worst day ever seen in the markets’ by one analyst.
Weather outlook
Showers in the south-east will clear later on leaving plenty of sunshine, reports BBC Weather. Meanwhile, the north will see snow showers which will sink southwards during the day, although these will fall as rain.
Tonight south-east areas will hang onto the rain while north-western Scotland will see wintry showers. A cold and icy night.
