Babak Belurs

Kamis, 12 Januari 2023

GMB union to consider up to six more ambulance strike dates after failed talks with health secretary - Sky News

The GMB union will meet ambulance representatives on Monday to discuss up to six more strike dates, Sky News understands.

It comes after talks with Health Secretary Stephen Barclay failed to reach an agreement earlier this week.

On Wednesday, about 25,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales went on strike in a dispute with the government over pay.

Staggered walkouts by paramedics, call handlers, drivers and technicians from the Unison and GMB unions took place over a 24-hour period.

Union leader brands talks with minister a 'complete farce' - politics latest

NHS England warned some people would have to make their own way to hospital, while members of the armed forces and private providers were once again drafted in to help cover services - as was the case during the first strike in December.

Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, warned walkouts can lead to "pent-up demand" in the days afterwards.

If you are an NHS worker and would like to share your experiences with us anonymously, please email NHSstories@sky.uk

More strikes are scheduled, with nurses due to walk out next Wednesday and Thursday, and another ambulance strike the week after, on 23 January.

Despite no deal being reached following the talks with Mr Barclay on Monday, the health secretary did agree to look into a suggestion to backdate next year's NHS pay deal to this January.

However, it is understood representatives of the GMB union are set to meet again next week to discuss whether strike action by ambulance workers should escalate.

It comes as new NHS England figures show average ambulance response times in England last month were the longest on record.

In December, the average response time for ambulances dealing with the most urgent incidents - defined as calls from people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries - was 10 minutes and 57 seconds. The target is is seven minutes.

Strikes 'in protest at unsafe care'

The figures also showed a record 54,532 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments last month from a decision to admit to actually being admitted.

And the proportion of patients seen within four hours in England's A&Es fell to a record low of 65% in December.

Downing Street said the worst ambulance response times on record are "obviously unacceptable", but called on all unions to "step back from strike actions and continue discussions - which have in recent days been constructive".

Responding to the latest NHS England performance data, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: "The government has had months and months to address this but has not acted. They must row back on years of underinvestment in nursing, starting with an immediate pay rise.

"Nursing is saying enough is enough and standing up for their patients. Next week's strikes are in protest at unsafe care."

Talks 'collaborative', not 'confrontational'

Mr Barclay held further talks this morning with medical unions which were described as "constructive" by Professor Philip Banfield, chair of council at the British Medical Association (BMA).

Speaking after the meeting, Professor Banfield told reporters the tone of the meeting with Mr Barclay was "not confrontational" but "collaborative".

He said doctors feel they have been "driven" to the point of considering strike action because "no one is listening to us".

"We've got about six weeks, haven't we, to sit down and try and resolve the situation. None of our doctors want to strike, they would prefer that this was resolved before we got into that situation," he said.

Others present at the talks were representatives of the hospital doctors' union HCSA and the British Dental Association.

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The meetings came after 14 health unions announced that they will not be submitting evidence to the NHS pay review body for the next wage round while the current industrial disputes remain unresolved.

They have called for direct pay talks with ministers.

The government says most ambulance staff have received a pay rise of at least 4%.

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2023-01-12 12:11:15Z
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Rabu, 11 Januari 2023

Boris Johnson 'joked he was at most unsocially distanced party in UK' during No 10 lockdown party - Sky News

Boris Johnson joked he was at "the most unsocially distanced party in the UK" while attending an alcohol-fuelled Number 10 gathering during COVID lockdown, it has been claimed.

His spokesman did not deny the comment but said the then-prime minister had "worked constantly" to ensure the government did all it could to save lives and protect livelihoods during the pandemic.

ITV News reported the comments were made at a leaving party for communications director Lee Cain in November 2020, where a table was laden with alcohol and party snacks.

At the time, England was in its second national lockdown, with indoor gatherings banned except for "work purposes" and social-distancing rules imposed on workplaces.

Ambulance workers walk out - live politics updates

Mr Johnson will be under increased pressure now as a parliamentary investigation continues over whether he misled MPS about the "partygate" scandal.

Senior official Sue Gray, who led a report into the matter, said she was told the event was not pre-planned but occurred when "wine time Friday" events in Number 10 routinely took place.

Mr Johnson gave a leaving speech for Mr Cain and wine was provided, Ms Gray's report said.

A source who said they were in Downing Street at the time told the ITV podcast, Partygate: "I was working late - some music came on, the mumbling sort of rose, and there were loads of people stood around, but this time I came out because I heard the prime minister speaking and that's when I heard the quote: 'This is the most unsocially distanced party in the UK right now' and everyone was laughing about it."

As part of the police investigation into partygate, Mr Johnson was fined for attending his own birthday party in the Cabinet Room in Downing Street in June 2020 - but not for the leaving do a month earlier.

He is set to appear before the Commons Privileges Committee over comments he made to the Commons about partygate, when he insisted he believed rules were followed in Number 10.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: "During the COVID-19 pandemic Boris Johnson led our country through its most dangerous peacetime crisis in living memory.

"As prime minister during a 24/7 national emergency he worked constantly to ensure the government did everything possible in its power to save lives and protect livelihoods.

"Mr Johnson pays heartfelt tribute to the heroic frontline workers who battled the pandemic, many of whom lost their lives.

"Their service to our country will always be remembered.

"He is also incredibly grateful for the efforts of hard-working staff who were working in central government - the vast majority of them civil servants - who helped co-ordinate the UK's national response from 10 Downing Street, across Whitehall and throughout the wider UK government.

"Their work was crucial as they helped marshal the UK Government's response during a national emergency."

Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said the new revelations "confirm Boris Johnson's total disregard for the rules he asked us all to follow".

"He laughed and partied while the rest of the country suffered," she said.

Ms Chamberlain said Rishi Sunak needs "to give evidence under oath" to the partygate inquiry about what he knows.

The ITV podcast also reports whistleblowers told them staff "corroborated their stories" before filling out Metropolitan Police questionnaires about the gatherings.

And it claims only half of the parties that took place were investigated by Ms Gray.

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2023-01-11 11:43:48Z
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Uranium detected in package at Heathrow Airport - counter-terror police investigate - Sky News

A small amount of uranium was detected in a package that arrived in the UK at Heathrow Airport following a routine screening.

The Metropolitan Police said its counter-terrorism command unit was contacted by Border Force colleagues at the airport after the contaminated material was discovered on 29 December.

Counter-terror commander Richard Smith said the amount of contaminated material "was extremely small" and has been assessed by experts as posing no threat to the public.

The package was destined for Iranian nationals in the UK and arrived on a flight from Oman after originating in Pakistan, according to The Sun.

It was found in a shipment of scrap metal, the BBC reported.

Mr Smith added: "Although our investigation remains ongoing, from our inquiries so far, it does not appear to be linked to any direct threat.

"As the public would expect, however, we will continue to follow up on all available lines of enquiry to ensure this is definitely the case.

"However, it does highlight the excellent capability we and our partners have in place to monitor our ports and borders in order to keep the public safe from any potential threats to their safety and security that might be coming into the UK."

The material has been identified as being contaminated with uranium, the force said, and no arrests have been made.

Former head of the British Army's chemical weapons unit, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, told Sky News that it was "a concern" that the material has apparently reached the UK, having come all the way from Pakistan, but that he did not think the public should be overly worried.

He added: "I think it's excellent that the police and others have interdicted this and made it safe, but we must be on our guard because there are bad people out there who want to do us harm in this particular manner."

Speculating about the intent, he said "we must be open to the fact this might be some sort of terror type thing".

Mr Bretton-Gordon said while there is no indication that a group such as Al Qaeda were behind the incident, he argued it "has their trademark and fingerprints on it".

Whatever the origin, he said the material "absolutely shouldn't be on a commercial airliner".

The Met said officers are working with partner agencies to investigate the incident and ensure there is no risk to the public.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We do not comment on live investigations."

Uranium is a metal that exists naturally in the earth, but is harmful to humans because it is radioactive.

Heath Secretary Steve Barclay told Sky News that he hoped for more information in "due course" about the material seized at Heathrow.

He said: "Clearly there is an investigation under way and it is right that it looks at all the issues, and I'm sure it will report in due course."

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Selasa, 10 Januari 2023

NHS bosses fear impact of second ambulance strike - BBC

A paramedic gets into the back of an ambulance

By Nick Eardley and Nick Triggle

BBC News

The impact of Wednesday's ambulance strike in England and Wales is likely to be worse than that of the one before Christmas, NHS managers are warning.

Thousands of paramedics and support staff will walk out for the second time this winter, in the dispute over pay.

NHS Providers said this strike would be harder to cope with, as the government raised fears over the lack of a national deal on emergency cover.

But union leaders said life-and-limb cover would be provided.

Under trade-union laws life-preserving care must continue.

But there is no formal agreement of what that involves and so it has been left to local services to agree their own arrangements with the unions involved, the GMB and Unison.

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The highest-category calls, for immediately life-threatening emergencies such as cardiac arrests, will be covered - but not every emergency in the next category down, which includes heart attacks and strokes, will be provided for.

Government sources involved in contingency planning said the lack of agreement over emergency calls was a concern.

They said this could be covered by the minimum-service legislation ministers are considering introducing.

What calls will ambulances answer on strike day?

Ambulance outside The Royal London Hospital

But union leaders said detailed plans were in place to ensure lives were not put at risk, including exemptions for some union members expected to work during the walkout.

Services will also bring in other NHS staff, alongside the military, to provide support. London Ambulance Service has confirmed it aims to get to all heart attacks and strokes.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: "Last time, staff didn't hesitate to leave picket lines when someone's life was in danger.

"After a decade of refusing to bring in minimum staffing levels, it's ironic that the government is only prepared to do so during a strike.

"Every other day of the year, ambulance crews are stuck queuing for hours outside A&E departments and hospital staff are rushed off their feet. But the government isn't interested in minimum staffing levels then."

'Significant disruption'

Miriam Deakin, of NHS Providers, said her members were worried because Unison was telling call handlers and ambulance dispatchers, who remained in work during the previous strike, to walk out also.

"With more staff expected to strike this time, the NHS is in an even more precarious position," she said.

"Since the last strikes, delays transferring patients from ambulances to hospitals have got worse, as pressure across the whole of the NHS increases.

"Trust leaders are working hard to minimise the impact on patients and to support staff during the industrial action - but they are braced for another day of significant disruption and knock-on effects."

I worry we're killing people - 999 call centre worker

Alongside paramedics, 999 call centre workers will also going on strike. One ambulance dispatcher, who wishes to remain anonymous, says for them there is no other option.

"The job is crushingly depressing, stressful and embarrassing," the dispatcher says. "I feel so destroyed. The feeling of saving lives has been taken over by how many can we not kill."

They say the most frustrating issue is the number of crews stuck outside hospital waiting to hand patients over to accident-and-emergency staff.

"I know going in that I will have to dispatch ambulance crews to hospitals to take over from other ambulance crews who have been outside for 12 hours," the dispatcher says.

"It just means we don't have those crews available to respond to calls and it exacerbates our shortness of resources by 10-fold, 100-fold.

"I never thought I'd leave the NHS - but I'd take a job at Aldi. I'd take a job cleaning. The thought of going in and having to manage those calls just fills me with absolute dread."

Some of the walkouts will start from 00:01 but the duration and scale of the disruption will vary across different parts of England and Wales.

Only the East of England Ambulance Service will remain unaffected, as neither union obtained a strike mandate in the ballot there.

But Unison, the biggest union in the ambulance service, has a mandate for walkouts in only half of the 10 regional services in England.

Between them, the two unions represent about two-thirds of ambulance staff.

Life-threatening emergencies

During the last walkout, on 21 December, the service saw a lower number of calls than normal.

NHS medical director for secondary care Dr Vin Diwakar said: "The message from the NHS to patients is clear - if you need emergency care, please come forward.

"This means continuing to call 999 for life-threatening emergencies as well as using 111 online for other health needs, where you will receive clinical advice on the best next steps to take."

The walkout comes after ambulance staff along with other NHS workers were offered a pay rise averaging 4.75%. All were guaranteed an increase of at least £1,400 a year - more than 7% for the lowest paid.

Unions wanted an above-inflation pay rise, saying low pay was contributing to high vacancy rates and the problems the ambulance service was facing responding to emergency calls.

It is taking two to three times longer than it should to answer emergency calls such as for heart attacks and strokes.

NHS unions met with Health Secretary Steve Barclay on Monday - but no agreement on pay was reached.

Ambulance staff in Northern Ireland have also been on strike, while in Scotland the unions have a mandate for action but no dates have been set.

Other NHS unions have also started striking or are planning to. Royal College of Nursing members will walk out on Wednesday and Thursday next week.

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2023-01-10 18:21:56Z
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Anti-strikes bill 'will protect lives and respect right to strike', Business Secretary Grant Shapps says - Sky News

Introducing mandatory minimum levels of service during strikes will protect people's lives while respecting workers' rights to stage walkouts, the business secretary has said.

Grant Shapps told Sky News the anti-strikes bill he will introduce to parliament today will ensure there is no longer a "postcode lottery" for the public as key workers take action.

The bill, if it gets made into law, will mean some trade union members would be required to continue working during a strike.

More questions over MP' funding - live politics updates

Unions have said it is "an attack on the right to strike" and Labour said it would repeal it as it warned the legislation could result in NHS staff being sacked.

Mr Shapps told Sky News' Kay Burley at Breakfast: "It works in places like France and Italy and Spain, Germany, other places have minimum service or in some cases with the NHS safety type levels, which mean that if you call an ambulance, for example, you know that it will turn up if it's a heart attack or stroke."

He said during the nurses' strikes before Christmas they agreed on a national level of service so there was a "guarantee" those most in need would be served by nurses.

The ambulance unions only agreed that on local levels, however, so there was a "regional or postcode lottery", he said.

"That's the thing we want to avoid," he said.

"And that's why today I'll introduce a minimum safety levels and service levels for key public services to make sure that we don't end up in a situation where people's lives are put at risk whilst still respecting the right to withdraw labour and strike."

Read more: Who is striking and when?

'Unworkable'

Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth said he thinks the legislation is "unworkable".

"Under these proposals, the government are saying we'll sack you," he told Sky News.

"I just don't think this is a sensible approach when we know our National Health Service is on its knees and people are waiting to get treatment and our A&E departments are totally overwhelmed."

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents all unions, said the bill is the "latest attack on the right to strike" and said it would make it harder for disputes to be resolved.

Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said: "That's undemocratic, unworkable, and almost certainly illegal."

Mr Shapps' bill is being introduced the day before ambulance workers who are members of the GMB and Unison unions go on strike after talks with the health secretary broke down on Monday.

Ambulance workers from Unison and Unite are set to strike again on 23 January, while nurses with the Royal College of Nursing union have said they will strike on 18 and 19 January.

Minimum services law extension

The Conservative's 2019 election manifesto already promised a minimum service law for public transport, with a bill introduced to parliament in October.

Now, the government wants to extend that requirement to five other areas - the NHS, education, fire and rescue, border security and nuclear decommissioning.

Under the law, employers could issue a "work notice" laying out the workforce they need so employees on the list would lose their right to protection from unfair dismissal if they went on strike.

Consultations over what exactly the minimum levels would be are set to begin soon and further details are due to be published next week when a second reading takes place in parliament.

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2023-01-10 08:15:00Z
1723260830

UK space launch: Historic Cornwall rocket launch ends in failure - BBC

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By Jonathan Amos

BBC Science Correspondent, Newquay

The first ever satellite mission launched from UK soil has ended in failure.

A jumbo jet operated by the American Virgin Orbit company carried a rocket out of Newquay, Cornwall, to release it high over the Atlantic Ocean.

The rocket ignited and appeared to be ascending correctly. But word then came from the company that the rocket had suffered an "anomaly".

The satellites it was carrying could not be released and were lost.

Cosmic Girl, the carrier 747 jet, returned safely to base.

As it happened: UK space mission suffers rocket 'anomaly'

The mission had been billed as a major milestone for UK space, marking the birth of a home-grown launch industry. The ambition is to turn the country into a global player - from manufacturing satellites, to building rockets and creating new spaceports.

Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency, Ian Annett said it shows "how difficult" getting into orbit actually is - but predicted further launches within the next 12 months.

"We get up, we go back, we try again, that's what defines us," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Matt Archer, the agency's launch programme director said the issue occurred in the upper segment of the rocket.

"The second-stage engine had a technical anomaly and didn't reach the required orbit," he explained.

"That's now part of an investigation by Virgin Orbit and a number of government departments," he told BBC News.

Mr Archer could not confirm whether the rocket had fallen back to Earth but said that if it did, it would have come down over unpopulated areas.

The satellites were insured so their manufacturers and operators will be compensated.

The Virgin Orbit system is relatively new. It's only been in operation since 2020.

It suffered a failure on its maiden outing but this was followed up by four successful flights.

Dan Hart, the CEO of Virgin Orbit, said: "We are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve. The first-time nature of this mission added layers of complexity that our team professionally managed through; however, in the end a technical failure appears to have prevented us from delivering the final orbit.

"We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions, and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process."

Rockets have been sent to space from the UK before, but not to put satellites in orbit. Those earlier efforts were part of military exercises or for atmospheric research, and the vehicles involved came straight back down.

Internationally renowned for making satellites of all sizes, the country's space industry has always had to send its products to foreign spaceports to get them into orbit.

Adding a launch capability means the sector will in future be able to do everything from first design through to mission operations.

More than 2,000 spectators and VIPs had gathered at Cornwall Newquay Airport to watch the 747 leave. They drifted away as news filtered through that something had gone wrong.

Monday night's failure is a blow to all those involved: Virgin Orbit, the satellite owners and Spaceport Cornwall which organised the flight.

"It's been really emotional," said Melissa Thorpe, who heads the spaceport.

"We put so much into this, everybody has, so it is absolutely gutting. But it's space and the cliché is it's hard. We know it's hard."

She added that the first part of the mission - the drop from the plane - had gone to plan and she was confident they would be able to embark on another mission in the "near future".

Mr Hart from Virgin Orbit went to commiserate with his team in Cornwall, accompanied by UK science minister George Freeman.

In a tweet, the minister made reference to the famous quote from 1960s US President John F Kennedy: "We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard."

Senin, 09 Januari 2023

Virgin Orbit's 'Cosmic girl' launches from England's Cornwall in UK first - CNN

London CNN —

Virgin Orbit’s modified Boeing 747 jet — dubbed ‘Cosmic Girl’ — launched on Monday from the English town of Newquay, Cornwall, 245 miles west of London in a first launch for the country from UK soil.

The modified Boeing 747 jet will fly to about 35,000 feet before releasing a rocket strapped under its wing.

The rocket will travel to between 310 and 745 miles (499 and 1199 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface and then release nine satellites into the Earth’s low orbit.

The launch marks a first for Virgin Orbit — a subsidiary of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group — of commercial satellites from western Europe, and the first launch for Virgin Orbit outside the United States.

Since January 2021, the American company has conducted four successful launches from the Mojave desert in California.

Virgin Orbit’s ‘Cosmic girl’ is set to return to base approximately between 7 pm ET to 8 pm ET on Monday.

Dan Hart, chief executive of Virgin Orbit, described the UK mission as a “historic endeavor.”

“This launch represents the opening of a new era in the British space industry and new partnerships across industry, government, and allies,” he said in a statement released Friday.

A repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft carrying Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket.

Ben Birchall/Press Association/AP

The satellites are owned by seven customers, including private companies and government agencies. Among other things, they will be used for preventing illegal trafficking, smuggling and terrorism, the company said in Friday’s press release, as well as for reducing the environmental impact of production.

The mission, named “Start Me Up” after the Rolling Stones’ 1981 song, is a joint venture between Virgin Orbit, the UK Space Agency, Cornwall’s local government and the UK’s Royal Air Force.

‘A new era’

The launch marks a key milestone in the United Kingdom’s growing commercial satellite sector.

The country has been working on commercial spaceports for several years in a bid to capture a bigger share of the rapidly growing global space market, which Morgan Stanley estimates could be worth over $1 trillion by 2040.

The country’s £16.5 billion ($20 billion) space industry directly supported about 47,000 jobs between 2019 and 2020, according to the latest available government figures.

Ian Annett, the UK Space Agency’s deputy chief executive, said Friday that the launch signaled a “new era” for the UK’s space industry, “putting [it] firmly on the map as Europe’s leading destination for commercial small satellite launch.”

“The development of new orbital launch capabilities is already generating growth, catalyzing investment and creating jobs in Cornwall and other communities across the United Kingdom,” he added.

— Hanna Ziady contributed reporting.

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2023-01-09 22:24:00Z
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Kamis, 12 Januari 2023

Rabu, 11 Januari 2023

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Selasa, 10 Januari 2023

'Significant disruption'

I worry we're killing people - 999 call centre worker

Life-threatening emergencies

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Senin, 09 Januari 2023

‘A new era’