Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Junior doctors to strike in April over UK government's pay offer

Health minister Steve Barclay said talks had been scuppered because unions were demanding a 35 per cent pay rise as a pre-condition of the negotiations

Junior doctors to strike in April over UK government's pay offer

Unions representing junior doctors in England have announced a four-day strike next month, citing the government's failure to offer a credible new pay package.

This move comes as workers across several sectors in Britain are demanding higher wages to keep up with the escalating inflation, with strikes happening regularly in schools, railways, and hospitals.


The joint chairs of the British Medical Association's junior doctors' committee, Vivek Trivedi and Robert Laurenson, stated that they will not stop until they receive the compensation they deserve, and that they will take their demands to the picket line if the government does not respond to them in person.

The walkout will begin at 0659 GMT on April 11 and run until 0659 GMT on April 15. The smaller Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association announced strikes on the same dates. Junior doctors last walked out for three days in March.

A spokesperson for Britain's Department of Health and Social Care said strikes would risk patient safety.

Junior doctors are qualified physicians, often with several years of experience, who work under the guidance of senior doctors and represent a large part of the country's medical community.

Health minister Steve Barclay said talks had been scuppered because unions were demanding a 35 per cent pay rise as a pre-condition of the negotiations. Unions said the government had imposed other unacceptable pre-conditions on the talks.

"My door remains open to constructive conversations, as I have had with other health unions," Barclay said on Twitter.

Unions representing other healthcare workers in England, including nurses and paramedics, have agreed to a new government pay proposal aimed at ending months of strikes. They are currently balloting members on whether to accept it.

(Reuters)

More For You

Sara Sharif e1692881096452

Sara was discovered dead in her bunkbed on 10 August 2023.

Sara was discovered dead in her bunkbed on 10 August 2023.

'Chatterbox with biggest smile': Headteacher pays tribute to Sara Sharif

SARA SHARIF, a ten-year-old girl who suffered fatal abuse at the hands of her father and stepmother, is being remembered as a cheerful and caring pupil with a love for singing.

Her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty on 11 December of her murder at their home in Woking, Surrey, on 8 August 2023. Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Keep ReadingShow less
Healthcare workers hold placards as they demonstrate on Westminster Bridge, near to St Thomas' Hospital in London on May 1, 2023. (Photo: Getty Images)
Healthcare workers hold placards as they demonstrate on Westminster Bridge, near to St Thomas' Hospital in London on May 1, 2023. (Photo: Getty Images)

Teachers, nurses warn of strikes over 2.8 per cent pay rise proposal

TEACHERS and nurses may strike after the government recommended a 2.8 per cent pay rise for public sector workers for the next financial year.

Ministers cautioned that higher pay awards would require cuts in Whitehall budgets.

Keep ReadingShow less
A man walks past a mural that says ‘Northern Ireland’, on Sandy Row in Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 11, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
A man walks past a mural that says ‘Northern Ireland’, on Sandy Row in Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 11, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)

Northern Ireland approves extension of post-Brexit trade rules

NORTHERN Ireland’s devolved government has voted to continue implementing post-Brexit trading arrangements under the Windsor Framework, a deal signed between London and the European Union in February 2023.

The vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont extended the arrangement for four years.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Covid bereavement rates in Scotland highest among Asians'
Ethnic groups were found to be two-and-a-half times more likely to have experienced the loss of a close family member.

'Covid bereavement rates in Scotland highest among Asians'

THE bereavement rates due to Covid in Scotland have been highest among those identifying with ‘Any other’ ethnic group (68 per cent), followed by Indians (44 per cent) and Pakistanis (38 per cent), a new study revealed. This is significantly higher than the national average of around 25 per cent.

Ethnic groups were found to be two-and-a-half times more likely to have experienced the loss of a close family member during the Covid crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Harmeet Dhillon gives a benediction at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,  on July 15, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)
Harmeet Dhillon gives a benediction at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)

Trump nominates Harmeet Dhillon for top Department of Justice role

US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American attorney Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice.

“I am pleased to nominate Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice,” Trump announced on Monday on Truth Social, his social media platform.

Keep ReadingShow less