Rail strikes
Mail
Unions today moved to worsen and lengthen the upcoming rail strikes as members on CrossCountry, East Midlands and West Midlands trains were asked to walk out in action that could disrupt the Commonwealth Games.
The proposed industrial action by the TSSA, led by Manuel Cortes, would mean that disruption on Britain’s rail network planned for the end of June would also happen in July and into August.
Rail union TSSA has served notice to ballot hundreds more staff for strike action. They will vote next week for action in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security.
The union has warned strike action could take place on lines and at stations serving the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which runs from July 28 to August 8.
RMT strikes will already cripple services from June 21 to 26, London Underground will be affected by an RMT and Unite strike on June 21, while Aslef members on Hull Trains, Greater Anglia and the Croydon Tramlink will stage a series of walkouts between June 23 and July 14.
It came as Boris Johnson vowed not to ‘surrender’ to the rail unions as two more announced strike plots yesterday as part of a co-ordinated ‘summer of discontent’.
Telegraph
Agency workers could be brought in to break strikes under a “very fast” legal change being prepared by the Government in the face of a summer of chaos fuelled by “Marxist” barons, the Transport Secretary said.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Grant Shapps said ministers were drawing up legal changes that could take effect “during this particular dispute”, to protect the public from being “held to ransom” by strikes.
The planned changes are being worked on in addition to the Government’s plan to introduce separate laws requiring minimum numbers of rail staff to work during a strike, which were revealed by The Telegraph last month.
Mr Shapps is working with Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, whose officials are drawing up plans to remove a legal restriction introduced under Tony Blair that prevents employers hiring agency staff to carry out the work of staff on strike. Mr Shapps said the measures “would come in during this particular dispute, if it can’t be resolved”.c
The reversal, which was promised in David Cameron’s 2015 manifesto, would apply to all sectors – not just rail – in a move that is likely to significantly escalate a series of rows between ministers and trade unions.
On Friday, the British Medical Association (BMA) became the latest union to warn that unless its demands over pay are met, it will prepare for a strike ballot, while this week BT workers are to be balloted for what would be the first national strike at the former state-owned telecoms monopoly in 35 years.
Express
AGENCY STAFF could be called in to replace striking workers to break in the Union strike, a news report has claimed.
More than 40,000 staff at Network Rail and 13 train operators are expected to walk off the job, in what the union has described as the “biggest rail strike in modern history”. Grant Shapps said ministers were drawing up legal changes that could take effect “during this particular dispute”, to protect the public from being “held to ransom” by strikes, the Telegraph stated.
The planned changes are being worked on in addition to the Government’s plan to introduce separate laws requiring minimum numbers of rail staff to work during a strike, which were revealed by the broadsheet last month.
Mr Shapps is working with Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, whose officials are drawing up plans to remove a legal restriction introduced under Tony Blair that prevents employers hiring agency staff to carry out the work of staff on strike.
Mr Shapps said the measures “would come in during this particular dispute, if it can’t be resolved”.
BBC News
The government is preparing to repeal a legal ban that prevents agency staff filling in for striking workers.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the Sunday Telegraph a potential change in legislation could allow companies to hire temporary workers to cover some roles and prevent disruption.
Any intervention would not affect the rail strikes across Britain this month.
But Mr Shapps said changes could be brought in quickly to minimise future action in rail or other sectors.
A war of words between rail unions and ministers has been escalating since the RMT union announced three days of strikes, after talks about pay, terms and conditions, and redundancies fell through.
Mr Shapps said should the action continue then “further measures certainly would come in during this particular dispute, if it can’t be resolved”.
“We will be looking at the full suite of modernisation that’s required,” he told the Telegraph. “The country must not continue to be held to ransom.”
The transport secretary said any change could involve secondary legislation, which can be signed off by ministers “very fast”.
Times
Boris Johnson is backing plans to rip up trade union laws that prohibit employers from breaking strike action by drafting in temporary workers.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has been tasked with examining the proposal as union leaders prepare for a “summer of discontent” not seen since the 1926 General Strike, with industrial action expected to cause chaos on railways and roads and in airports.
Axing these restrictions, which could be done using secondary legislation, would make it easier for employers to provide limited emergency cover during strikes. Agency workers are unlikely to be able to fill skilled jobs, such as signal operators or train drivers, although it will give employers some flexibility to cover some roles.
Fuel prices
Mail
Drivers have been urged to ‘cut out shorter journeys’ by car as fuel prices continue to spiral, with one London filling station charging 249.9p for a litre of diesel – almost 67 pence above the national average.
The AA said motorists should ‘walk or cycle to save money’.
The average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts reached a new record of 183.2p on Thursday, according to data firm Experian.
That is an increase of 7.3p in just seven days.
The average cost of filling a typical 55-litre family car exceeded £100 for the first time on Wednesday.
The average price of a litre of diesel on Thursday was also a record, at 188.8p.
AA president Edmund King said: ‘This is the worst week of pump pain so far for drivers.
‘We would urge drivers at the moment to cut out shorter car journeys if they are able to do so, and walk or cycle to save money.
‘Almost one fifth of AA members are already doing this.
BBC News
Petrol prices hit record highs last week, with the cost of filling a typical family car passing £100.
Forecourt Eye, which works with 1,000 garages in the UK, said there was a 39% increase in non-payments since January.
These included motorists driving off without paying or claiming to have forgotten their wallet.
Nick Fisher, CEO of the digital debt recovery company that traces and track non-payers, said: “This is not a good thing for anyone as more theft is going on.”
He said forecourt theft had been rising month on month since Christmas, with a 19.5% spike in January and February, which he linked to the rising cost of fuel.
This was followed by another rise of 4.5% in March, 8% in April and a further 7% in May.
The soaring price of fuel is down to supply issues caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and a weak exchange rate between the US dollar and the UK’s sterling.
Mr Fisher said: “At the moment, we’re seeing a spike of people claiming to forget their wallets. Some people are trying to get away with it.
“Then there are people who fill up, they go buy a coffee and don’t pay for the fuel. And then there’s the others who put in £30 [of fuel] and just drive off.”
The British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS) is a non-profit organisation that campaigns to reduce fuel crime on UK forecourts.
Express
A MAJOR review of the fuel industry will be carried out to ensure motorists are not ripped off by predatory pricing.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has asked the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) to conduct an “urgent” investigation amid concerns that the 5p cut in fuel duty has not been passed on to customers at the pump.
The Government is alarmed by “wild fluctuations” in the prices at petrol stations only a short distance apart.
The average cost of filling up a car hit £100 last week. On Saturday, petrol cost on average 183.16p per litre and diesel 188.82p per litre.
A Whitehall source said: “We’re trying to keep as much of people’s hard-earned money in their back pocket as possible, but it’s frustrating that our £5billion fuel tax cut doesn’t seem to have been passed on everywhere – with prices always quick to go up but slow to come down. No one understands why the price for their fuel can be as much at 10p a litre dearer at the forecourt a village over, so we want drivers to be completely certain that the fuel retailers aren’t profiteering at their expense.”
The CMA will investigate the health of competition in the market and the Government is pushing for greater transparency about prices. An initial report is expected early next month.
Guardian
The record increase in fuel prices could spark a mass exodus of staff who rely on their vehicles for work, trade unions and drivers have warned.
On Thursday, the price of a litre of unleaded petrol hit 182.31p, meaning the cost of filling an average family car hit £100 for the first time. Some employees who need to drive for their jobs are spending as much as £350 a week on fuel and others are “paying to go to work”.
The GMB trade union warned that the increase had “crushed” its members and said that shortfalls of staff in the transport and healthcare industries were “only going to get worse as prices continue to shoot up”.
One community NHS worker told the Observer that the fuel price rise had outstripped the reimbursement they were given for petrol costs, so staff were now paying not just to get to work, but also to drive to patients’ houses to do their job.
Tiffany, another community health worker, said fuel now made up the largest chunk of her spending every month – nearly £250 – only £171 of which was reimbursed by the NHS.
NHS
Guardian
The number of calls for an ambulance in England have almost doubled since 2010, with warnings of record pressures on the NHS that are seeing A&E patients stuck in corridors and many paramedics quitting the job.
Ambulance calls have risen by 10 times more than the number of ambulance workers, according to a new analysis of NHS data. An increase in people seeking emergency treatment, GPs unable to cope with demand and cuts to preventive care are all being blamed for the figures.
The analysis, carried out by the GMB union, found that there were 7.9m calls in 2010-11. By 2021-22, however, the number had risen to 14m, an increase of 77%. Over the same period, the number of ambulance workers has risen by just 7%, heaping more pressure on staff.
While the figures represent all calls for an ambulance, some of which go unanswered and do not lead to a vehicle being sent, they reveal the increasing pressures that have led to claims that patient safety is being put at risk by ambulance waiting times. There has been a significant increase in the number of the most serious safety incidents logged by paramedics in England over the past year.
Rwanda flights
Mail
Campaigners and lawyers from Cherie Blair’s old chambers have lost a High Court bid to block the Government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda, paving the way for the first flight to go ahead on Tuesday.
Migrants due to be given a one-way ticket to the east African nation as part of Home Secretary Priti Patel’s bid to curb Channel crossings, as well as campaign groups and a union, had asked judges to block their upcoming deportation flight.
Judge Mr Justice Swift ruled against the claim and said: ‘I do not consider that the balance of convivence favours the grant of the generic relief.’
Home Secretary Priti Patel told MailOnline: ‘I welcome the court’s decision in our favour and will now continue to deliver on progressing our world-leading Migration Partnership.
‘People will continue to try and prevent their relocation through legal challenges and last-minute claims but we will not be deterred in breaking the deadly people smuggling trade and ultimately save lives.
‘Rwanda is a safe country and has previously been recognised for providing a safe haven for refugees – we will continue preparations for the first flight to Rwanda, alongside the range of other measures intended to reduce small boat crossings.’
BBC News
Campaigners against the government’s policy to send migrants to Rwanda say they will now take their fight to the Court of Appeal on Monday.
It comes after the High Court said the first flight to take asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda could go ahead.
About 31 people have been told they could be on that flight on Tuesday, with more planes to go later this year.
The Prince of Wales has been caught up in the row after two papers reported he had called the policy “appalling”.
The Daily Mail and the Times both reported that sources had said Prince Charles had made private comments in which he expressed his “disappointment” over the plan.
The prince is travelling to the east African country later this month to represent the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting being held in the capital, Kigali.
Tax
Telegraph
Government divisions over tax cuts were laid bare on Saturday night with sources close to the Prime Minister clashing over demands for immediate action.
Responding to mounting calls from MPs and ministers for urgent tax cuts to tackle the cost of living and boost growth, one source told MPs to “grow up” and stop behaving like they were in “nursery school”.
The source close to Boris Johnson said: “This isn’t ‘the Government has had a s— week, we need a reset, cut taxes’. This isn’t nursery school. This is grown-up politics, this is government.
“Three weeks ago, the party was screaming that it wanted a big bung to the general public, and now they are screaming about tax cuts. We have got to get back to grown-up politics where things happen slowly, sustainably and when they are doable.”
The source insisted that, while there was “no Tory in the land more committed to tax cuts than Boris … the money isn’t there to cut taxes now”.
The intervention will heighten fears that Mr Johnson considers himself unable to act on his party’s demands for tax cuts because of opposition by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor.
Smoking
Mail
Smoking rates are nearly eleven times higher in parts of England lagging most behind in the Government’s bold plan to eradicate the killer habit, MailOnline can reveal.
A quarter of adults are current smokers in Fenland in Cambridgeshire, the worst smoking rate in the nation.
For comparison, the rate stands at just 2.3 per cent in Ryedale, a rural area in North Yorkshire.
Our analysis comes after Health Secretary Sajid Javid was yesterday urged to adopt tougher anti-smoking policies, including one that recommended making lighting up in pub gardens illegal.
Other bold proposals included hiking the age limit for purchasing cigarettes in England by 12 months every year until no-one can legally buy tobacco products, prohibiting supermarkets from selling cigarettes and forcing TV shows and films featuring smoking scenes to be rated 18+.
Mr Javid is said to be ‘minded against’ accepting the most extreme recommendations, although he publicly said ministers would ‘carefully consider’ all 15 policies made in an independent review.
Covid
Mail
England’s Covid outbreak has risen in size for the first time since March, according to official figures that have prompted doom-mongering experts to warn the next wave is on its way.
Analysts at the Office for National Statistics, tasked with tracking the virus in the post-pandemic era, estimate 797,500 people were infected on June 2.
The figure – which suggests one in 70 people are currently infected – is up roughly 1.7 per cent on the previous projection and marks the first increase since before free testing was axed at the end of March. Back then, cases breached 4.1million — a pandemic high.
Separate NHS statistics show admissions are also rising, in another sign that the virus is bouncing back. Experts fear it could put more pressure on an already overwhelmed health service.
Despite the uptick sparking alarm in certain quarters, Boris Johnson pledged not to reinstate any economically-crippling restrictions when he made the decision to treat Covid like flu in the spring.
Statisticians believe the increase is due to the spread of BA.4 and BA.5, Omicron sub-variants thought to be even more infectious.
A similar increase in cases was observed in Northern Ireland, and while a rise in cases was also seen in Wales and Scotland the ONS described this as being ‘uncertain’.
Russia
Express
VLADIMIR PUTIN has been dealt a significant blow as an entire battalion of troops refused to continue taking part in the war after suffering huge losses.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported that members of a motor rifle brigade from the 1st Army Corps of the Russian Armed Forces refused after defeats in Kharkiv Oblast, in the east. This follows reports that Russian soldiers are attempting to set up “sham marriages” in order to get out of Ukraine. Analysts have claimed that Russian troops are “morally depressed” and could soon run out of combat-ready units.
Green agenda
Times
Boris Johnson has scaled back plans to rewild the country as the government retreats from the green agenda to focus on the cost of living crisis.
Ministers last year announced a post-Brexit scheme that would pay farmers up to £800 million a year — a third of the farming budget — to transform agricultural land into nature-rich forests, coastal wetlands, peatlands and wildflower meadows.
But the fund, called the landscape recovery scheme, has been quietly slashed to just £50 million over three years, less than 1 per cent of the budget.
How about Johnson getting off his fat arse and doing some work for a change and engaging with the RMT and TSSA to sort out the impasse rather than talking in terms of not giving in to Unions and employing agency staff to do the work of those on strike and other pie in the sky talk that he comes out with. Unlike him who can call up the government vehicle pool and and a driver at the drop of a hat to transport him here there and everywhere at our expense, the rest of us have to endure the problems that an extended rail strike will cause. In his eyes it is far easier to do nothing and wind up the Unions and the railway staff who may have genuine concerns. Just another reason why we have to be rid of this oaf and get someone in Downing Street who is not afraid to confront problems head on, and got things done If only he treated the European Union with the same level of disrespect then we might all be in better place rather than bending over backwards to give in to their demands. Really getting annoyed about this utter fool of a supposed prime minister we are lumbered with.
Sorry Colin Hussey, I no longer agree with getting rid of him. The alternatives on offer within that party are even worse. As are the other Main Stream Parties.
I am not talking about him being replaced by MP’s within the Conservative Party that we already know about. I agree replacing Johnson with Liz Truss who is about as tactful as a wasp and has a loose cannon of a mouth would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. And as for Tom Tugendhat, well I give totally up. He is the MP who represents the constituency where I live. He is a career politician of the worst type, campaigned to remain in the EU even though the constituency was a ‘Leave’ one, says to anyone who listens that he was in the Army, but in fact was in the Reserve Army (formerly known as the Territorial Army). I take the view that there must be a handful of MP’s in the parliamentary Conservative Party that hitherto we haven’t heard from, who may have the necessary attributes to be party leader and prime minister, and are presently just biding their time. I would be be surprised if there isn’t, but if that is the case, then we should truly be very worried indeed about the future. Personally I feel if Johnson continues on his present trajectory, the Conservative Party will be wiped out at the next general election, the victors of which wont be Kier Starmer and the Labour Party because they are just as dire as Johnson and the Conservative Party, but the Liberal Democrats will become the party of government and that is what I feel is coming down the line.
Rwanda flights:
Thankfully the legal challenges failed. Do the numpties mounting those challenges not realise that all we need to do is convince the illegals that they will be deported to Rwanda so must apply for asylum in France or, as the rules require, the first safe country they enter.
Jack Thomas. Thankfully, as you say they have failed. The reason they mounted those challenges was that they were paid to do so.
Petrol. What’s needed is an electric car and solar PV panels.
A setup I’ve had for ten years.
Zero fuel cost.(As with all renewable technologies.)
Harryagain, what is it like to be perfect in every sense of the word?
You’ll never know!
In truth I think you are Walter Mitty mark 2 to be honest. And you are right, I’ll never know what its like to be 100% perfect.
Yes but I don`t think smarty pants tells you how long all this programme of improvement has taken, nor the cost which I believe he has done a lot of it himself (what would tradesmen have charged?) and I think his house insulation improvements have included demolishing and rebuilding and remodelling the whole ftontage of his property.
Did he ever get his book published?
With regard to the Covid update I recommend that readers take the time to review the antics of our protectors when it comes to injecting our children with Gene Therapy Treatments!
My comment to a TCW article relating to the number of children killed by the injectates and maimed is below.
The article was taken down! See TCW ‘best articles of the week’ for feedback from readers of that article and its disappearance.
“Don’t worry, June Raine the head of the MHRA was featured on the UK Column last Thursday. Her big plan is to shorten the ‘testing’ of new ‘ drug responses’ using AI and to quote ‘Fix it while Flying’!.
Jeez the woman should be arraigned.”
see UK Column Thursday 9th June @ https://www.ukcolumn.org/vi…
at 1:04:00
Follow the link to see what a horses mouth looks like!
These people need to be prosecuted for assault or, if deaths occur, manslaughter. Of course they need to lose their doubtless well-paid jobs.
A duff link. As I expected.
J Butties. I have no kids/grandkids but I totally agree with you.
No one is ever going to jab me again so long as I can resist.
Quite apart from the ‘Gene Therapy’ aspect, I believe the whole idea of vaccination has been taken too far, because of course it makes money for global pharma.
Originally there was some sense in triggering an immune response to a mild dose so that it was armed, ahead of being challenged by a more serious threat.
But now it seems to me that people have been hoodwinked into thinking that the needle can protect them from every little minor disruption to their lives.
Indeed Pauline. Despite my advice, my wife was persuaded by family members to get jabbed and has suffered bouts of severe headaches since. I’ve had a lot of jabs in my lifetime, particularity when going to work overseas, but won’t be having any more.
Times:- “Boris Johnson has scaled back plans to re-wild the countryside…”
Remember Hillary (Veggie) Benn. He was the Defra minister under BLiar/Brown. Twice he said that British Farmers should produce more food…and twice the mandarins in his department made it more difficult. He was followed by Caroline Spellman (one of “Call-me-Dave’s” dollies) She said the same thing… with the same results.
The ignorance of those in Westminster/Whitehall is abysmal. If our Fat Controller decides in June that we need more wheat, potatoes and veg it will be next summer before they are ready to eat. If it’s beef he wants… allow at least three years.
Agricultural production can be turned off, like a tap. Turning it back on is a slow and lengthy process.
If Boris really means what he says, he is going to have to get used to sleeping in the spare bedroom.
Rail strike. I recall that Ronald Reagan sacked all of the air traffic controllers who refused to go back to work in 1981. Strikers had to reapply for their jobs. No more strikes took place after that I believe.
Times:- “Boris Johnson has scaled back plans to re-wild the countryside…”
Remember Hillary (Veggie) Benn. He was the Defra minister under BLiar/Brown. Twice he said that British Farmers should produce more food…and twice the mandarins in his department made it more difficult. He was followed by Caroline Spellman (one of “Call-me-Dave’s” dollies) She said the same thing… with the same results.
The ignorance of those in Westminster/Whitehall is abysmal. If our Fat Controller decides in June that we need more wheat, potatoes and veg it will be next summer before they are ready to eat. If it’s beef he wants… allow at least three years.
Agricultural production can be turned off, like a tap. Turning it back on is a slow and lengthy process.
If Boris really means what he says, he is going to have to get used to sleeping in the spare bedroom.
dickatbarn. My goodness me are you suggesting that Carrie wears the trousers? What a shocking untruth (NOT). How dare you!
Actually, I really hate everything about that woman. I feel it more every time I see a picture of her face.
We should have prevented her moving into No. 10 as his mistress.
We didn’t bl**dy well vote for all that green c**p did we. We voted to get Brexit done.
And we aint even got that proper.
Indeed Pauline.
Fully agree with you about Carrie Johnson and you summed up her face very well except for one thing. You forgot to mention that it always seems to have a smirk on it.
Express:- “VLADIMIR PUTIN has been dealt a significant blow…”
“Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported that …”
Well now! With two such reliable “sources” it must be true. Oh! Pull the other one. Try :- https://thesaker.is/ for an alternative view.
Richard Mawdsley +1
RW, I Add the following to your Saker recommendation,
https://www.moonofalabama.org/ ,
https://sonar21.com/ ,
https://rumble.com/c/c-1459863 and
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2022/06/another-no-shit-post.html
(Andrei Martyanov) who describes our Peacocks thus
“But then again, what do you expect from London where the prime minister is, obviously, not a very bright fellow and foreign secretary is a certified idiot.”
Viv would also add IEarlGrey to that list I suspect (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtMGV3SHfVfiAt_w8lnmI8g).
Non of these are currently blocked for access by HMgOV (small g) as yet. Use a VPN to access those that are blocked such as RT etc.
Sorry Butties I`ve only had the opportunity to read the moonofalabama so far, but that is pretty well to the point and damning of the US Government and Intelligence services who are leading Biden et al up the garden path, pointing out such is Russian overall power that they will not be pushed out of the Donbas or even belittled and that there must be a negotiated solution, starting now before it is too late.
Richard Mawdsley…….the Daily Express these days is nothing more than a comic. One has to treat every supposed news story it prints with a very large pinch of salt indeed. And its use of the English language gets worse or should I say got worse up to the point where I stopped buying it. Its yearly claims that we are going to suffer minus 20 temperatures and be deluged with 20 feet snow drifts are laughable in the extreme. About the only believable thing in the Daily Express is the Adventures of Rupert Bear (well sort of)
At last.
At last our politicians are up against the problems that the numpty Ted Heath faced in 1969, and we and the Civil Service have no ideas and they have to pay off their own, and the business is broke.
” I’m sorry old chap, but we’ve sold off your assets cheap to invest in low tax countries. ”
” We really don’t care. We’ve invested it in the new Right Wing governments with your actual plans and low taxes and working workers, better ideas, and none of your waste upon waste upon mountains of waste of taxes and fraud. Called government or corruption.””..
.” Sorry old chap, we have to compete as well you know. We can’t just thieve it like we used to. you know ” ” and we need it to finance the bright young kids going elsewhere and for heavens sake man, do something useful.”