Streeting invites doctors for fresh talks next week
Streeting's letter said it was "ironic" the BMA was asking for talks, pointing out he had never left the negotiating table.The talks ended last Tuesday when the union confirmed its five-day walkout was going ahead.It was the twelfth strike since spring 2023, but the first under Labour.
'Squandered goodwill'
Shortly after the election, Streeting reached a deal with resident doctors that saw a pause to industrial action.It led to a 22% increase in pay over a two-year period. They have been given another 5.4% average rise this year, but the BMA renewed strike action arguing that was not enough since pay was still a fifth lower than it was in 2008.In his letter on Wednesday, Streeting said the latest strike action was "deeply disappointing" and "entirely unnecessary" given talks that had started could have made substantive improvements to the working lives of doctors.He said the strike had had a detrimental impact on patients.And Streeting added: "Your action has also been self-defeating, because you have squandered the considerable goodwill you had with me and this government."But he said his door remained open, adding he was happy to meet early next week.It is not yet clear the scale of disruption to health services caused by the latest strike.The NHS has attempted to keep most of the non-urgent work going, such as knee and hip operations.Some hospitals reported they were able to do more than 80% of their normal activity – previously it had been as low as 50%.Resident doctors represent nearly half the medical workforce and range from doctors fresh out of university through to those with up to a decade of experience.
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Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Corbyn strikes again as Labour lose their first councillor to the former leader's ultra-left party founded with Zarah Sultana
Labour have lost their first councillor to the ultra-left party former leader Jeremy Corbyn recently founded with dissident MP Zarah Sultana. Grace Lewis, 22, defected from Sir Keir Starmer 's party on Friday to join the new political grouping - which at present is only a 600,000-person-strong mailing list. Ms Lewis, a vocal pro-Palestinian voice on Coventry City Council, represents the ward of Westwood in the southwest of the city. In a post on social media she laid into Labour's record in government, citing Sir Keir's raid on winter fuel payments, cuts to disability allowance and the party's retention of the two child benefit cap. In the statement she said: 'Today, after 5 and a half years, I resigned my Labour Party membership. I will now serve the residents of Westwood on Coventry City Council as an Independent. 'The Labour Party promised 'change', yet since entering government, Labour has cut support for disabled people, kept the Tories cruel Two Child Benefit cap and slashed Winter Fuel Payments - driving record numbers into poverty. 'Rather than address the real crises facing people in our city, they have chosen the side of the rich and powerful. 'They have joined Reform in targeting minorities, including migrants and trans peple, all whilst being atcive participants in the genocide in Gaza, ramping up spending on war, and arming Israel - criminalising peaceful protestors in the process.' Coventry councillor Grace Lewis, 22, (pictured) is the first serving Labour politician to defect to Your Party, the new political grouping formed by former leader Jeremy Corbyn and ex-MP Zarah Sultana Ms Lewis was elected in the City Council Elections on May 2, 2024, two months before Sir Keir Starmer's 'loveless landslide' at that year's General Election. 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In another graduation picture she can be seen holding a hand-painted banner with two other students that reads 'Free Palestine'. In the Instagram caption accompanying the photo she wrote: 'My degree may be over, but Warwick's complicity is not #freepalestine.' Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana's movement has the website with a welcome message saying 'this is your party'. Already 600,000 people have signed up to the party's mailing list, although the name is only a placeholder, with Mr Corybn suggesting the members will be handed the final say. Government ministers who used to sit alongside Mr Corbyn in the House of Commons mocked the 'chaotic' launch of the veteran MP's new party. Yet Mr Corbyn shrugged off the criticism and said there had been an 'enormous' response to the launch. Speaking during a visit to a bin strike picket line in Birmingham on Jult 25, he pointed out that hundreds of thousands had already flocked to the new outfit. 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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Keir Starmer must fight for UK drug firms
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
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Brits shouldn't be signed off work for anxiety and depression, says former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt
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