07 April 2023 , 20:25
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Next week’s four-day walkout by junior doctors will cause the NHS severe disruption.
Health chiefs are warning as many as 250,000 operations could be cancelled with potentially catastrophic consequences for patients.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay should be doing everything he can to avoid this calamity but so far he has refused to resume negotiations with the British Medical Association.
The BMA is calling for a 35% pay rise for junior doctors to reflect the 26% real-terms fall in salaries since 2008/09.
At first glance this demand seems extravagant but some newly qualified medics in England start on £14.09 an hour, less than many people who work in a coffee shop.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
(Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)It is not a surprise there has been a 25% increase in British doctors heading abroad.
If Mr Barclay cares about patients and about the health service he would interrupt his Easter break to resolve this dispute.
The BMA says it stands ready to negotiate. It is the Health Secretary who is putting lives at risk by refusing to hold the urgent talks.
Stop stooping
Labour is right to hold the Tories to account for failing to tackle the rise in crime.
In the last year alone, 100,000 burglaries went unsolved in England, knife crime is 34% higher than when they came to power and just 6.6% of robberies resulted in a charge.
It is clear the Tories have failed to keep our streets safe but it was ill-judged of Labour to put out an advertisement claiming Rishi Sunak doesn’t think sexual predators should go to jail.
The Conservatives have a history of publishing equally debased campaign material but that doesn’t mean Labour should join them in the political gutter. They should remember the words of Michelle Obama, “When they go low, we go high.”
People’s party
The Coronation will not just be a public spectacle but one with the public at its heart.
By inviting hundreds of community heroes to attend it will be a ceremony fit for a king – and his kingdom.