“A national walkout by nurses represents a “tragic day” for patients and for the NHS, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing has said as she pinned the blame for today’s strikes on the Government. Pat Cullen said ministers had refused to engage on the crunch issue of pay and as a result nurses had no choice but to go ahead with historic industrial action. Tens of thousands of nurses are going on strike for the first time across England, Wales and Northern Ireland today, with picket lines being set up at dozens of hospitals as the dispute over pay escalates. Thousands of NHS appointments and operations have been cancelled because of the walkout, with the health service running a bank holiday-style service in many areas.” – Daily Telegraph
“Union leaders, the rail minister and industry chiefs are scheduled for showdown talks on Thursday after industrial action on the rail network brought the UK to a standstill for the second day in a row. Only 20% of services were running as about 40,000 RMT members working for Network Rail and 14 train operators went on strike for a second day. A further 48-hour strike is scheduled for Friday. Rail passengers have been warned that trains will start much later than usual on Thursday, despite it being a non-strike day, with the first trains much busier than usual because of strike disruption.” – The Guardian
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: The economic case for holding firm against the strikers
“Anti-strike laws will be brought in to ‘protect lives and livelihoods’, Rishi Sunak has vowed – as nurses prepare to stage an unprecedented walkout. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Prime Minister said he was gearing up for a showdown with union bosses if they pressed ahead with efforts to wreck Christmas. Mr Sunak insisted ministers had acted ‘fairly and reasonably’ by accepting recommendations of independent pay review bodies that determine wages in much of the public sector. He also appealed to union leaders to call off action that will see rail workers, postmen, nurses, paramedics and airport Border Force staff walk out in the coming days.” – Daily Mail
Comment:
>Today: Profiles: The trade unions, a mere shadow now of their former greatness
“He outlines three policy areas which he calls three ‘buckets that I’m thinking about’. The first is economic repair. ‘We have done a good chunk of the beginning of that.’ The second is ‘reforming our public services, to make sure that they actually deliver for people’. And finally, perhaps the hardest challenge, is improving life for the next generation. ‘It’s about making sure we have the most exciting education system in the world, providing children and adults with the opportunities they need and making sure everyone has pride in their country, pride in their community,’ he says. ‘Those are the three buckets. In all of those, we can make a difference in the time that we’ve got.’” – The Spectator
>Today: ToryDiary: Sunak and the polls. He may have saved the party from extinction, but victory remains a Herculean task.
“Almost 70 Tory MPs backed a Bill that would have forced Rishi Sunak to ignore rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda. Backbench MPs – including three former Cabinet ministers; Priti Patel, Brandon Lewis and Simon Clarke – were among 69 Tories who backed the Bill to prevent the Rwanda policy being stymied by European court judgements. The Asylum Seekers (Removal to Safe Countries) Bill – which was introduced by Jonathan Gullis, the Tory MP – was defeated by 188 to 69 after the opposition parties and a handful of Tories voted against it. It had also been backed by Boris Johnson, although he did not vote.” – Daily Telegraph
More:
“Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has warned that inflation is the “No 1 enemy” with households and businesses facing another increase in borrowing costs when Bank of England officials meet to decide interest rates today. The central bank is expected to raise interest rates for a ninth consecutive time after lifting them by 2.9 percentage points from their historic low of 0.1 per cent last December to their present level of 3 per cent. Inflation fell from its 41-year high of 11.1 per cent in October to 10.7 per cent last month due to a slowdown in the growth of fuel prices, the latest Office for National Statistics figures show. The chancellor said inflation was the main enemy that “makes everyone poorer” and “it is vital that we take the tough decisions needed to tackle [it]”.” – The Times
>Yesterday: Richard Ritchie in Comment: Demands that western nations pay reparations for using fossil fuels are absurd
“The Foreign Secretary is set for face-to-face talks with a senior EU diplomat as London and Brussels look to intensify efforts to resolve the logjam over post-Brexit trade. James Cleverly will hold talks with European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Thursday about the impasse over the contentious Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol. The Foreign Office and European Commission confirmed the scheduling of the meeting. A commission spokesman said it was part of the “ongoing engagement” between the senior politicians on the trading arrangements that have created economic barriers on the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The ongoing dispute over the protocol is intrinsically linked to the current political instability in Northern Ireland.” – Daily Express
“An internal Whitehall survey has found evidence of bullying and harassment in Dominic Raab’s private office as Downing Street disclosed yesterday that five more complaints had been lodged against the justice secretary. Labour and the Liberal Democrats called for Raab to be suspended pending the outcome of an independent investigation into his behaviour commissioned by Rishi Sunak. This is now looking at eight complaints against Raab spanning his time as justice secretary, foreign secretary and Brexit secretary. The Times understands that senior officials in the Ministry of Justice are also examining the results of the department’s annual staff satisfaction survey.” – The Times
“Young voters on TikTok are at risk of election influence from the Chinese, the security minister has warned. The video sharing app will be used to “influence minds” of first-time voters, Tom Tugendhat fears. More than seven per cent of people now say that they get news from Chinese-owned TikTok. Mr Tugendhat told a Policy Exchange event: “For too long foreign interference has been slowly creeping into British democracy. He said he was worried by influence from “organisations whose editorial board is comprised of members of the Chinese Communist Party”. Social media has long been replacing traditional media like the BBC and ITV, but “foreign states hold considerable sway” over what is now being seen on screens, he said.” – The Sun
“Rishi Sunak is being urged by senior Conservative peers to step in and slash the size and scale of Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list. The list, which is being vetted by the House of Lords watchdog, is said to be causing consternation in Whitehall over its scale and the number of peers Mr Johnson wants to appoint. One MP said it was being described in Whitehall as a “fatberg” which is now delaying and preventing other MPs from being honoured with knighthoods and damehoods outside of the resignation honours list. A list containing as many as a dozen candidates for a peerage put forward by Mr Johnson was leaked last month, prompting concerns among senior Conservatives.” – Daily Telegraph
“Children in Scotland could stand for parliament and take political office, under plans unveiled by Nicola Sturgeon’s government to widen democratic “participation”. The Scottish Government has published proposals for the minimum age of candidates for Holyrood elections to be cut from 18 to 16, believed to be the lowest election age for a national legislature in the world. Asylum seekers could also be permitted to stand for the Scottish Parliament under the plans, which aim to deliver a pledge in the SNP-Green coalition deal to “promote active participation in elections by under-represented groups”. But the controversial move marks a huge departure from democratic norms in the Western world…” – Daily Telegraph