Gender Recognition Reform Bill: Law to make it easier to legally change gender in Scotland passes overwhelmingly - The Scotsman

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1. Gender Recognition Reform Bill: Law to make it easier to legally change gender in Scotland passes overwhelmingly  The Scotsman
2. Controversial gender reforms passed by Scottish Parliament  The Independent
3. Sunak government threatens to block Scottish gender recognition law  The Guardian
4. Gender reform bill should be cause for celebration | HeraldScotland  HeraldScotland
5. Shame on the MSPs who voted to undo all the work of the feminist movement  HeraldScotland
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2022-12-23 06:57:43Z
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Travellers braced for misery at UK's busiest airports as Border Force workers strike - Sky News

Hundreds of thousands of air passengers face possible delays today as Border Force workers become the latest to go on strike.

More than 1,000 employees will walk out, affecting passport control desks at Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow airports, as well as the port of Newhaven in East Sussex.

The strike will last until early on Boxing Day, before another round from 28 December until early on New Year's Eve.

More than 10,000 flights are scheduled to land at those airports during those times and more than 250,000 passengers arriving on Friday have been warned to expect delays.

The airports said that most departing flights would not be affected, although some arriving passengers - particularly those who cannot use eGates - could face delays.

Royal Mail employees will also be on strike today, their fifth day of action this month, in what Royal Mail said was a "cynical attempt to hold Christmas to ransom".

The company has estimated that the strike, which will continue on Christmas Eve, has already cost it £100m.

National Highways workers in London and the South East will continue their four-day walkout that started on Thursday.

The workers, who plan, design, build, operate and maintain the roads, are following action by colleagues in Yorkshire and the Humber, northwest and northeast England.

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Hundreds of thousands of workers are striking over winter as unions seek pay rises in line with the rate of inflation to help shield their members from the cost of living crisis.

Read more:
Strikes every day before Christmas - which sectors are affected and why
Giving in to nurses on pay would 'stoke' inflation
Troops training at Heathrow and Gatwick before Border Force strikes

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2:49

'Government has refused to talk to us'

Rail workers to strike from Christmas Eve

Rail workers represented by the RMT union will strike from 6pm on Saturday until 6am on 27 December, while East Midlands Railway will be affected by a strike on 23 and 24 December by the Unite union.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency employees will strike today and tomorrow in northwest England, and Yorkshire and the Humber, with more strike action expected in other regions over coming weeks.

Hundreds of bus drivers in south and west London employed by Abellio will strike tomorrow, 27 and 31 December, before a further eight days in January in their pay dispute.

They have already taken 10 days of action in the past two months.

Further January strikes for NHS workers

Earlier this week, NHS staff were on strike, with nurses walking out on Tuesday and ambulance workers following them on Wednesday.

Pat Cullen, head of the Royal College of Nursing, said on Thursday that if she did not hear from Health Secretary Steve Barclay by the end of the day, she would announce further January strikes dates.

"The public is clear - as am I - that the way to avoid further strike action is for the government to stop prevaricating and repeating the same tired lines and step up to holding meaningful negotiations with me," she said.

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The government has refused to negotiate on pay, insisting it is accepting recommendations from independent pay review bodies.

Ambulance workers, represented by Unison, have already announced further strikes, with workers in London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East, and South West walking out on 11 January and 23 January.

Some 25,000 ambulance workers from Unison, Unite and the GMB unions walked out in co-ordinated strike action on 21 December - their biggest strike in 30 years.

Members of the GMB union at nine ambulance trusts are also preparing to strike on 28 December, while 1,000 union members in the Welsh Ambulance Service are set to announce strike dates in the new year.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: "It's only through talks that this dispute will end."

NHS trust leaders have warned that Christmas could be one of the most difficult the health service has seen, with strikes threatening to worsen an "already deeply challenging situation".

Last week, one in four ambulance patients in England waited more than an hour to be handed to A&E teams at hospitals, latest figures show.

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2022-12-23 07:07:30Z
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Rail fares in England to rise by up to 5.9% from March - BBC

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By Noor Nanji

Business reporter, BBC News

Regulated rail fares in England will rise by up to 5.9% from March, the Department for Transport has announced.

The rise is being capped at a level well below inflation, "to help reduce the impact on passengers", the transport secretary said.

Labour called the hike - which is still the second highest on record - "a sick joke", while a watchdog said passengers were not getting value for money.

Fares will officially rise on 5 March 2023.

Before the Covid pandemic, fares were raised in January each year, based on the retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation from the previous July.

Inflation is the rate at which prices rise, and the normal formula for fares is RPI plus 1%.

However, the government said that "for this year only" rail fare increases for 2023 would be capped at 5.9%, well below July's RPI figure of 12.3%.

Like last year, the government is also freezing fares for January and February, so that passengers have more time to buy tickets at the existing prices.

• The train strike days in December and January
• Why are prices rising so much?

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the rise represented a "fair balance" between passenger and taxpayer needs, and described the move as "the biggest ever government intervention in rail fares".

"It has been a difficult year and the impact of inflation is being felt across the UK economy. We do not want to add to the problem," he said.

However, the increase to fares will be the largest since a 6.2% jump in 2012, according to analysis of Office of Rail and Road data by the PA news agency.

Labour said average fares had risen by 58% since 2010, twice as fast as wages.

"This savage fare hike will be a sick joke for millions reliant on crumbling services," said shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh.

"People up and down this country are paying the price for 12 years of Tory failure."

Prices are going up rapidly - and wages are not keeping up. People are getting poorer.

Meanwhile, anyone who has tried to use a train in the past couple of weeks will be well aware that the industry is not in good shape.

Some networks are better than others, but industrial action has caused disruption across the country.

So just imagine if you had to tell people right now they would have to pay 13% more for their tickets next year.

Because under the normal, RPI-linked formula, that's the magnitude of the increase we would be seeing. Obviously, it would cause uproar.

Capping the rise to 5.9% - a figure that is linked to earnings - might avoid that kind of political carnage.

But it is still the biggest increase in more than a decade, and some commuters will see their travel costs rise by hundreds of pounds.

And let's not forget - these are the regulated tickets. Unregulated fares may go up by a lot more.

Transport Focus warned that more needed to be done to improve the experience of passengers on the railways.

"After months of unreliable services and strike disruption, it's clear that too many passengers are not getting a value for money service," said its director, David Sidebottom.

"Capping fares below inflation and the delay until March is welcome and will go some way to easing the pain, but the need for reform of fares and ticketing in the longer-term must not be forgotten."

Regulated fares cover about 45% of fares, including season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long distance journeys and anytime tickets around major cities.

The rise affects England, and mainline services from England into Wales.

It does not apply to Transport for Wales trains, but their changes tend to match those made across the border.

Fares for rail services in Northern Ireland are set by state-owned operator Translink, which does not use RPI. The Scottish government has not announced its plan for next year yet, though it has said that peak fares on the publicly-owned operator ScotRail will be suspended for six months.

The pandemic saw a steep drop in the number of train passengers, as more people worked from home, and numbers have remained well below pre-Covid levels.

Rail passengers have also faced disruption due to a wave of strikes, with further industrial action planned over Christmas and in early January.

Workers are demanding pay rises that reflect the soaring cost of living, while also trying to stop job cuts and changes to working conditions.

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2022-12-22 16:38:41Z
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Ambulance workers in England to strike again in January - BBC

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By Philippa Roxby

Health reporter

Ambulance staff in five areas of England are to stage two further strikes in January, union leaders say.

The industrial action on 11 and 23 January is likely to heap more pressure on emergency care, which is already under serious strain.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said further strike action was in no one's best interest.

Unison leaders say the action is a direct result of the government's refusal to negotiate over pay.

Life-threatening calls to 999, as well as the most serious emergency calls, will still be responded to, they say.

Services in London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West will take action over pay and staffing.

The January strikes will each last for 24 hours from midnight, Unison says, and will involve all ambulance employees - not just 999 response crews.

Ambulance staff, including paramedics, call handlers and technicians, staged a strike in England and Wales on Wednesday, and are set to strike again on 28 December.

Three unions - Unison, Unite and the GMB union - were involved in the strike action.

"We are disappointed that some union members have chosen to take further strike action," said Mr Barclay.

He said the pay demands the unions were making "would mean taking money away from frontline services and cause further delays to treatment" and called for further strikes to be reconsidered.

• Why are nurses and ambulance staff striking?

Even before Wednesday's strike, a quarter of ambulances were delayed for more than an hour outside A&E, according to the latest NHS England statistics.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents trusts in England, said the prospect of prolonged strikes by more health unions in January was "incredibly worrying".

"There are no winners in this situation. Serious talks must take place between health ministers and unions, and fast."

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said no health workers wanted to go out on strike but holding talks was the only way the dispute would end.

She said accusing NHS staff of making a conscious decision to inflict harm on the public by taking action this week "was not the health secretary's finest hour".

"Neither was it a particularly smart move for Steve Barclay to falsely accuse health unions of failing to deliver a national emergency cover plan," she added.

"It's time [he] stopped with the insults and fibs and called the unions in for proper talks about improving NHS pay."

The health secretary has repeatedly said that ambulance workers have already been given a pay rise recommended by an independent pay review body and that any further increase was unaffordable.

Mr Barclay is said to be keen to focus on settling next year's pay deal for NHS staff in England, from April 2023, but the unions say strikes are about this year's pay offer, which he is refusing to negotiate on.

The average earnings for ambulance staff in England were £46,643, figures from NHS Digital for April 2021 to March 2022 show.

Of this, £13,854 came from extra payments for things like shift work and overtime.

Workers classed as support staff - such as ambulance technicians and non-emergency ambulance drivers - had average pay of £29,139, of which £7,842 came from extra payments.

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2022-12-22 19:40:12Z
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NHS staff could be offered pay rise in spring as health sec rules out movement on current wages - Sky News

Health Secretary Steve Barclay is considering offering NHS staff a pay rise in spring in a bid to end strikes - but has ruled out any immediate movement on current wages.

The stalemate between unions and the government appeared to show no signs of abating on Thursday morning, following two days of historic action from nurses and paramedics.

NHS leaders have warned they are bracing for a surge in demand for emergency treatment as they urged ministers negotiate on pay to stop further walk-outs next year.

In a tweet on Thursday, Mr Barclay said his door "is always open to talk to trade unions about concerns around working conditions".

But he added: "We have an independent pay review body... and we will continue to defer to that process to ensure decisions balance the needs of staff and the wider economy."

The pay review body (PRB) has recommended pay rises of around £1,400 - about 4% - for most NHS staff, but unions say this is not enough to keep up with soaring inflation.

The government says it can't afford to make a new offer, but has not ruled out a new deal early next year.

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Health workers typically receive a backdated wage increase in the summer, even though recommendations are made by the independent Pay Review Body in April.

The Telegraph has reported that Steve Barclay, the health secretary, wants next year's PRB process to be sped up so any extra money can be added to pay packets at the "earliest opportunity".

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While this does not mean a new or "fast-tracked" pay offer, a source close to the cabinet minister told Sky News political correspondent Ali Fortescue that he is "keen to get moving" with the process and doesn't want it to be "bogged down" as it has been in the past.

The process of setting pay recommendations for next year is already under way and there is an "opportunity in spring to assess if pay rises are affordable", the source said.

But Unison's head of health Sara Gorton said: "Before embarking on the 2023 pay round, ministers need to accept they've not raised wages sufficiently to stop key staff from leaving the service this year.

"The pay review body process is no longer delivering for NHS staff or the government. Direct talks with ministers to solve wage issues are the way forward."

Unions - which have been calling for inflation-busting pay rises - have said they expect NHS workers to be offered a 2% increase next year, based on a letter sent by Mr Barclay to the PRB last month.

It comes after historic strike action saw thousands of nurses picket on Tuesday and ambulance staff stage their biggest strike in 30 years yesterday.

Health chiefs have stepped up calls for the government to negotiate with unions on pay as they brace for a challenging winter.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, told Sky News that the health service "coped as well as could be expected" during the strikes due to planning and the public making "less use of 999".

But he warned that the NHS "can't afford to drift into further industrial action across the winter" as he urged the government and trade unions to come to an agreement.

NHS 'paying price' for austerity

He said the NHS is "paying the price" for 10 years of austerity, the COVID backlog and not addressing workforce issues - as vacancies reach 130,000.

Mr Taylor said: "This winter is going to be incredibly tough, there's nothing we can do about that. But the industrial action adds to what is already a challenging situation, which is why, on behalf of leaders in the NHS, I repeat the call to the government to re-enter negotiations in good faith with the trade unions and to try to find a way of avoiding further industrial action across the winter."

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0:51

NHS facing 'real pressure' following strikes

Ministers have continually insisted pay negotiations are not up to them as the independent pay review bodies recommend what salary increases should be, and the government has accepted that.

The pay review bodies are made up of experts in their field without political affiliations who take evidence from a range of sources, including trade unions and staff.

Read more:
Strikes every day before Christmas - which sectors are affected and why
How A&E and other NHS services will be impacted

But last week, the GMB union - which represents tens of thousands of health workers - announced it was pulling out of the process used by the government to set NHS pay, as it questioned the independence of the PRB.

Some Tory MPs have also called on ministers to ask NHS pay reviewers to reconsider their recommendations as a way to end the strikes by offering higher rises.

The government has insisted higher pay offers are not affordable and the money would have to be taken out of frontline services.

There was no sign of the stalemate ending last night, as Unite general secretary Sharon Graham accused Mr Barclay of a "blatant lie" for saying ambulance unions had taken a "conscious decision" to inflict harm on patients.

Further ambulance strikes are planned next week, with unions threatening more action next year unless there are moves on pay talks.

Workers across several other industries are also set to strike in the build-up to Christmas.

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2022-12-22 12:21:18Z
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Ambulance strike: Warning of very challenging days ahead - BBC

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By Philippa Roxby

Health reporter

Hospitals were quieter than normal during Wednesday's ambulance strikes, but Thursday is likely to be "very challenging" with lots of patients turning up, health bosses say.

Only the most serious 999 calls were responded to.

But there was no evidence of people going to A&E in taxis or their own cars, NHS Providers told the BBC.

Thousands of paramedics, call handlers and technicians took action in England and Wales on Wednesday.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, mental-health trusts and ambulance services in England, said it was still too early to know the full impact of the strike, but she said category-one calls - which are life-threatening situations - "had been answered".

• Blame game escalates over ambulance strike
• Poor pay damaging our health - ambulance worker
• What calls will ambulances answer on strike day?

And she said she had heard talk of union members "coming off the picket line" to answer those calls.

But she warned of a rebound effect over the coming days as large numbers of people turn to the health service, pushing up demand to levels similar to the day after a bank holiday.

Thursday and Friday were going to be "incredibly difficult days across the NHS because there is a lot of unseen demand and risk out there", she said.

She said people changed their behaviour on Wednesday, heeding the call not to use services.

"But some will have chosen not to use them at all, even though they need them," she added.

People were also being urged to use their own transport or take a taxi to get to hospital. But Ms Cordery said that "as far as we can tell", people had not been attending A&E in taxis or by their own vehicles.

PA Media

Andrew Morgan, chief executive of United Lincolnshire Hospitals, said there had probably been more walk-ins on Wednesday.

This can create "more of an issue" because staff do not know people are coming in or what is wrong with them, he said.

Mr Morgan also said Thursday could be a "very difficult day" - predicting that people who thought they should not call an ambulance or should stay away from emergency departments on Wednesday would come in.

A spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service - one of nine where industrial action was taking place in England - said there had been a reduction in calls and staff were grateful to the public for heeding advice to call 999 only in life-threatening situations.

Unions had agreed that ambulance workers would respond to category-one 999 calls and the most serious category-two calls (emergencies, including strokes and major burns) during strikes, but there would be no guarantee of a response to less urgent calls, such as falls.

This prompted Health Secretary Stephen Barclay to accuse unions of taking a conscious decision to inflict harm on patients - an accusation that Unite union leader Sharon Graham said was a "blatant lie".

"The unions have negotiated critical cover, including 999 calls, at a local level with hosts of NHS trusts. That is how it is done," she said.

Rachel Harrison, the GMB's national secretary, said: "In trying to smear decent, hardworking ambulance staff, the government is showing just how out of touch it is with reality.

"Instead of issuing ever more extreme statements that offend both NHS staff and the public, the government needs to grow up and get round the table."

The strikes come at a time when the health service is already under immense pressure.

Lengthy ambulance response times, long delays to hand over patients at A&E departments, and patients not being discharged quickly enough from hospital when they are ready to go home are creating a 'flow' problem, experts say.

Ambulance waits for calls classed as emergencies have doubled in two years - from an average of around 20 minutes to more than 40 minutes. The target is 18 minutes.

There are also record-high numbers of people waiting for operations - now seven million in England alone - an issue that has been made much worse by the Covid pandemic.

Ambulance workers in England and Wales are demanding a pay rise above inflation which they say will improve morale and help prevent staff, faced with rising pressures, from leaving their jobs.

Government ministers though say most ambulance staff have received a pay rise of at least 4%, taking average earnings to £47,000. A further pay increase would mean taking money from frontline services, they added.

More strikes loom

But unions say that unless the government agrees to meaningful pay talks, industrial action could escalate in the new year.

Ambulance staff from the GMB union are already set to walk out in England and Wales again next week, on 28 December.

And Unison - the largest ambulance union with 30,000 members - plans to re-ballot members in Wales and half the ambulance services in England after the turnout in the original vote narrowly missed the 50% threshold required for industrial action.

Fresh votes have also taken place or are planned by the GMB and Unite unions raising the possibility of further - and more widespread - strikes in the new year.

In Scotland, Unison and Unite previously called off ambulance strike action following pay talks.

The GMB union voted to reject a pay deal from the Scottish government - but it did not strike on Wednesday because it was still considering its next steps, and it says it hopes strike action will not be necessary.

Northern Ireland's ambulance service held a 24-hour strike on 12 December.

Have you been affected by the strike? Are you an ambulance worker? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.

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2022-12-22 05:21:15Z
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Zelensky's wartime address to Congress comes 81 years after Churchill did the same - BBC

Library of Congress

By Kayla Epstein

BBC News, New York

A ruthless war had consumed Europe, with neighbours trading bombs and bullets for what felt like an eternity. In the midst of the conflict, one celebrated leader made a dangerous journey across the Atlantic to appeal directly to the United States' most powerful leaders.

It was December 1941, when Winston Churchill stood before the US Congress and delivered a 30-minute speech that would go down in history as one of the most important visits to Washington by a foreign leader.

Eighty-one years later, nearly to the day, Congress welcomed yet another high-profile wartime leader, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country has endured 10 months of bombardment from Russia. As he prepares to take the podium in Washington, the history of Mr Churchill's own decisive address looms large over the proceedings.

"Another historic leader addresses the Congress in a time of war," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted on Wednesday, "with Democracy itself on the line."

Churchill takes Washington by storm

World War Two had already elevated Mr Churchill to a global household name, synonymous with Britain's determined efforts to fend off Nazi Germany.

When he arrived in Washington in December 1941, the conflict had just arrived on America's doorstep. Less than three weeks prior, Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt had declared war on the country, marking the US's belated entry into WW2.

His presence in Washington caused a flurry of excitement. He held a press conference with Mr Roosevelt and even participated in the lighting of the national Christmas tree. "Americans have caught on to one of Winston Churchill's major characteristics - his ability to thrill a crowd," The Washington Post reported.

But the marquee event was his 26 December 1941 speech to Congress, which took place in a US Senate chamber overflowing with lawmakers, cabinet officials, and dignitaries (Ms Pelosi's father, Representative Thomas D'Alesandro Jr, was serving in Congress at the time).

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After a hearty welcome, Mr Churchill took the dais, whipped out his spectacles, and began one of the most important speeches of his career. The prime minister offered words of flattery and friendship to the United States, invoking the strong relationship and cultural similarities between the two global powers. But he soon moved on to more sombre subjects.

"You do not, I am certain, underrate the severity of the ordeal to which you and we have still to be subjected," Mr. Churchill said. "The forces ranged against us are enormous. They are bitter, they are ruthless."

He proceeded to paint a harsh picture of the Axis powers.

"The wicked men and their factions, who have launched their peoples on the path of war and conquest, know that they will be called to terrible account if they cannot beat down by force of arms the peoples they have assailed. They will stop at nothing," Mr. Churchill said. "They have a vast accumulation of war weapons of all kinds. They have highly trained and disciplined armies, navies and air services. They have plans and designs which have long been contrived and matured. They will stop at nothing that violence or treachery can suggest."

While he warned a "time of tribulation was upon us," he sought to project optimism that the Allies, now with the help of the United States, could turn their fortunes around in the coming three years.

Of their Axis enemies, Mr Churchill declared that "they do not realise that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget." He had to pause his speech, due to raucous applause.

Library of Congress

"Here we are together," Churchill said, "Defending all that to free men is dear."

The prime minister's speech received rapturous coverage the next day. "CONGRESS THRILLED," declared the New York Times, which described "wild bursts of enthusiasm and chuckles of mirth" from the audience.

Zelensky follows in Churchill's footsteps

Eight decades later, Mr Zelensky's surprise visit to Washington has generated a similar flurry of coverage and anticipation. In echoes of Mr Churchill's own itinerary, he first met with President Joe Biden before making his way across town to the US Capitol.

Like Mr Churchill, Mr Zelensky's relentless public presence throughout Ukraine's war with Russia has made him a hero to those supporting his country's cause. In a March video address to Congress in the early days of Russia's attack, Mr Zelensky brought lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to tears.

He also hopes to cement a similar tone of unity with the US, but this time in a bitterly divided Washington. Mr Zelensky faces a far more divided Congress than perhaps Mr Churchill encountered, and growing opposition from some Republicans to the United States' significant military and financial support to Ukraine.

The stakes could not be higher for Mr Zelensky as he's expected to ask for even more as the war with Russia drags on through a brutal winter. With history serving as his guide, however, Wednesday's speech may yet prove to be a pivotal moment in the conflict.

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2022-12-21 22:09:59Z
CBMiM2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLXVzLWNhbmFkYS02NDA1OTc3N9IBN2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLXVzLWNhbmFkYS02NDA1OTc3Ny5hbXA