Train strike March 2023Train strike March 2023

News Round-Up

Mar 18: Rail workers on strike today; Junior doctors’ strike halted; Arrest warrant for Putin; Lineker returns to MOTD

Here are the headlines on Saturday, March 18

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Time 6:50 am, March 18, 2023

Train passengers face disruption as rail workers strike in pay and jobs row

Train passengers will face fresh disruption on Saturday because of another strike by rail workers in the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at 14 train operators will walk out, crippling services across the country. Passengers were warned to check before they travel, with trains due to start later and finish much earlier than usual – typically between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

It is expected that nationally between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of train services will run but there will be wide variations across the network, with no services at all in some areas.


Junior doctors’ leaders to halt strikes and enter pay talks

Junior doctors’ leaders have become the latest union to agree to suspend industrial action and accept an offer of pay talks with the government.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the British Medical Association had agreed to enter negotiations on the same terms as unions representing nurses, ambulance staff and other NHS workers in talks which concluded this week.

‘We deeply regret that over 175,000 appointments and procedures were cancelled this week, despite our offer to start formal talks on the condition strikes were paused,’ a DHSC spokesman said. ‘However we are pleased the BMA has now accepted our offer to enter talks based on the same terms as with the agenda for change unions – which concluded positively this week.’


Arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes in Ukraine welcomed in UK and US

US president Joe Biden has joined Britain in welcoming the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine.

Biden said Putin had ‘clearly committed war crimes’ and the warrant, although not recognised in the US, was ‘justified’ and made ‘a very strong point’.

The Hague-based ICC said it was issuing the warrant for the arrest of the Russian leader over the alleged abduction and deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Braverman doubles down on Rwanda deal ahead of first visit as home secretary

The home secretary has reaffirmed her commitment to the controversial Rwanda deportation policy as she is set to visit the country while the £140m deal remains embroiled in legal battles.

Suella Braverman said the plan ‘will act as a powerful deterrent against dangerous and illegal journeys’ ahead of her trip to the African nation on Friday.

The visit will be her first to the country as home secretary after her predecessor Priti Patel signed the agreement in April last year in a bid to deter small boat crossings.

UK economy expected to be second-worst in G20 this year – OECD

The UK’s economy is expected to perform the worst out of any Group of 20 (G20) economies apart from Russia this year and next, new analysis has suggested.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that it expects a 0.2 per cent fall in UK gross domestic product (GDP) this year, followed by a rise of 0.9 per cent next year.

It is worse than all countries but Russia, whose GDP is forecast to dip 2.5 per cent this year followed by a 0.5 per cent drop in 2024, the organisation’s economists said.


‘I’m back!’: Trump posts on Facebook after two-year ban

Former US president Donald Trump has returned to Facebook after a more than two-year ban.

‘I’M BACK!’ Trump posted on the site weeks after his personal account was reactivated. He also shared an old video clip in which he said: ‘Sorry to keep you waiting. Complicated business.’

Trump posted the same clip on YouTube, which announced on Friday that it, too, was welcoming him back.

Friday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed

Gary Lineker returns to present BBC’s FA Cup coverage after impartiality row

Gary Lineker will return to TV screens to present live coverage of the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester City and Burnley on Saturday.

It will mark the 62-year-old broadcaster’s first appearance on the BBC since he was told to step back from hosting Match Of The Day in a row over impartiality.

Lineker was taken off air last week for a tweet comparing the language used to launch a new government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany.

Diesel drivers ‘not benefiting from fuel duty freeze’

Diesel drivers are not benefiting from the fuel duty freeze as retailers’ profit margins have soared, according to analysis.

The RAC said major fuel retailers are refusing to cut pump prices in ‘any meaningful way’ despite wholesale diesel costs – the price they pay for fuel – falling to a 15-month low.

During the past four weeks, average wholesale prices have fallen by 10p per litre but this has yielded just a 3p-per-litre cut at the pumps, the motoring services company calculated. Diesel is currently priced at an average of £1.66 per litre at UK forecourts.

Weather outlook

A day of cloud, the odd spell of sunshine and scattered showers for the vast majority of the country, reports BBC Weather. These showers could turn heavy and thundery this afternoon.

Tonight, a band of rain will push through Wales, northern and central England. Clear elsewhere.

James Batchelor's avatar

James – or Batch as he’s known – started at Car Dealer in 2010, first as the work experience boy, eventually becoming editor in 2013. He worked for Auto Express as editor-at-large and was the face of Carbuyer’s YouTube reviews. In 2020, he went freelance and now writes for a number of national titles and contributes regularly to Car Dealer. In October 2021 he became Car Dealer's associate editor.



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