Unite leader Sharon Graham says ambulance workers going on strike ‘to save our NHS from government’
The Unite union has given more detail of the NHS strike by its members. It said more than 1,600 workers for ambulance trusts in the West Midlands, the north-west and the north-east will go on strike on Wednesday 21 December.
But it said essential emergency cover would continue while the stoppage was on.
In a statement Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said:
Make no mistake, we are now in the fight of our lives for the very NHS itself. These strikes are a stark warning – our members are taking a stand to save our NHS from this government.
Patients’ lives are already at risk but this government is sitting on the sidelines, dodging its responsibility to sort out the crisis that it has created.
Ministers can’t keep hiding behind the pay review body. They know full well it does not address the desperate need to get huge numbers of NHS workers off the breadline.
Fail to act now to avert these strikes and the blame will rest firmly at the government’s door.
Unite said it was still balloting 10,000 more NHS workers from 38 different employers about strike action, and that in January the strike ballot would be extended to even more NHS staff.
<gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" deferuntil="visible" props="{"keyEvents":[{"id":"638f2fec8f08cb34a8f54352","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
The Unite union has given more detail of the NHS strike by its members. It said more than 1,600 workers for ambulance trusts in the West Midlands, the north-west and the north-east will go on strike on Wednesday 21 December.
","elementId":"3dc15693-6cdb-41ad-99ab-bb0fce81b11e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
But it said essential emergency cover would continue while the stoppage was on.
","elementId":"1a5231c9-5a90-4c54-a102-5d16772d8988"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
In a statement Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said:
","elementId":"c1e2dfdb-8050-49ca-8021-3d3c33005996"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
Make no mistake, we are now in the fight of our lives for the very NHS itself. These strikes are a stark warning – our members are taking a stand to save our NHS from this government.
\n
Patients’ lives are already at risk but this government is sitting on the sidelines, dodging its responsibility to sort out the crisis that it has created.
\n
Ministers can’t keep hiding behind the pay review body. They know full well it does not address the desperate need to get huge numbers of NHS workers off the breadline.
\n
Fail to act now to avert these strikes and the blame will rest firmly at the government’s door.
\n
","elementId":"425bd50b-0d88-4fc2-89c3-3f1abb5cb33c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Unite said it was still balloting 10,000 more NHS workers from 38 different employers about strike action, and that in January the strike ballot would be extended to even more NHS staff.
","elementId":"70cfb8b4-e20d-410c-92d1-b831b6189bcf"}],"attributes":{"pinned":true,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670328300000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"12.05 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670328760000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"12.12 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670328760000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"12.12 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"12.12","title":"Unite leader Sharon Graham says ambulance workers going on strike ‘to save our NHS from government’","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638f2f518f0807b77be5f8b1","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff are to strike on 21 December in a dispute over pay, the GMB, Unison and Unite unions announced.
","elementId":"0150503f-bac3-42c2-a4d2-bf81d4cac509"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
","elementId":"cf4af827-cd2b-4404-8417-5ca830199f46"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670328145000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"12.02 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670328643000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"12.10 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670328277000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"12.04 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"12.04","title":"Ambulance workers and other NHS staff to strike on 21 December, GMB, Unison and Unite unions announce","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638f29568f0819dada4ed797","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
A spokesperson for Tory peer Lady Mone said:
","elementId":"bd689423-7d03-44dc-9a8e-34b195ec0438"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
With immediate effect, Baroness Mone will be taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her.
\n
","elementId":"83454918-7258-491f-8e97-a0cbd13d096f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
As PA Media reports, the leave of absence means Lady Mone will not attend sittings of the House, vote on any proceedings and will not be able to claim any allowance.
","elementId":"fd40a7c7-79cb-49b8-86fb-0af6ecd836a8"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
According to Hansard, Mone has only spoken in the Lords on five occasions since getting her peerage in 2015. She last voted in April.
","elementId":"cc2d2937-894d-4889-8ac8-f115681dc78f"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670326614000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"11.36 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670326912000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"11.41 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670326912000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"11.41 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"11.41","title":"Mone taking leave of abscence from Lords ‘to clear her name’, spokesperson says","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638f28398f0819dada4ed787","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Lady Mone, the Tory peer linked to the PPE Medpro, the firm that won the controversial PPE contracts which are the subject of Labour’s opposition day motion this afternoon (see 11.31am), is taking leave of absence from the Lords, PA Media reports.
","elementId":"a349af59-a270-4f4f-84de-650bff4f503a"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TweetBlockElement","html":"
#Breaking Tory peer Baroness Mone, who is at the centre of controversy over her alleged links to a firm awarded a PPE contract, will take a leave of absence from the House of Lords with immediate effect, the PA news agency understands pic.twitter.com/rekrOZiGDO
— PA Media (@PA) December 6, 2022
\n","url":"https://twitter.com/PA/status/1600089740950536193","id":"1600089740950536193","hasMedia":false,"role":"inline","isThirdPartyTracking":false,"source":"Twitter","elementId":"ed1ec463-a46f-47b4-a505-bbbbe471fbd2"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
In practice, this will have little effect. Mone has not been a regular contributor to the Lords since getting her peerage in 2015.
","elementId":"637bf935-836f-4a11-94e5-b8572ed22d29"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670326329000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"11.32 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670326553000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"11.35 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670326554000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"11.35 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"11.35","title":"Lady Mone to take leave of absence from Lords","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638f25808f0819dada4ed76c","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Tory MPs are not being told to vote against Labour’s “humble address” motion that would force the government to release papers relating to the award of PPE contracts to PPE Medpro, the firm reportedly linked to the Tory peer Lady Mone, the Times’ Steven Swinford reports.
","elementId":"fe789e70-ff18-4922-a842-5256d381b745"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TweetBlockElement","html":"
BREAKING:
Tory MPs have been told that the government *will not* try to vote down Labour's humble address on PPE contracts linked to Michelle Mone
Means that the motion – which is trying to force the publication of texts and emails – will pass unopposed
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) December 6, 2022
\n","url":"https://twitter.com/Steven_Swinford/status/1600085339107909632","id":"1600085339107909632","hasMedia":false,"role":"inline","isThirdPartyTracking":false,"source":"Twitter","elementId":"1f4f7877-da34-4089-affa-a3930c75bcaa"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
That means the motion will be passed, almost certainly unopposed, at 7pm.
","elementId":"bfffc6d8-0ab2-4ad7-b709-e532deafdbc7"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
And because it is a humble address motion, it will be binding on the government (unlike other opposition day motions, which the government sometimes ignores if they get passed).
","elementId":"79048d59-3307-48a6-bc58-1f338dac29ba"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
At least, in theory the motion is binding. Labour got the Commons to pass a humble address motion earlier this year demanding the release of papers relating to the award of a peerge to Evgeny Lebedev, the son of a former KGB officer. But on that occasion the government only released a tiny amount of routine paperwork, which did not reveal anything new about the decision making process that led to Lebedev becoming a lord. Ministers held back other information, citing security concerns.
","elementId":"2a74d2b7-b399-4917-a5c0-3fe9cde2d2a5"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670325632000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"11.20 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670326952000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"11.42 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670326312000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"11.31 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"11.31","title":"MPs likely to pass motion forcing release of PPE contract paperwork after Tories reportedly not ordered to vote against","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638f0f488f08f5eb2e3187f4","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
And here are some more lines from Mick Lynch’s interview this morning on the Today programme.
","elementId":"1ae71c86-9a40-4f30-bbfa-4fbc0f2ab50e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
- \n
-
Lynch, the RMT general secretary, said the government was to blame for not allowing the train companies to make an offer acceptable to his members. He said:
\n
","elementId":"18e9fefd-7ef9-479c-b738-a1bda0ffcfe6"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
The government are running the playbook and the strategy for the railway companies and directing what is going on. They have held back even these paltry offers to the last minute.
\n
","elementId":"1a7ee3ae-5093-492c-8f98-08a5b0300e80"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
He also said he had been told by a rail industry figure: “When I make this proposal I know it will be unacceptable but the government will not allow me to make a suitable proposal.”
","elementId":"9d0e692b-0ceb-4784-87b0-b4d48d14268a"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
- \n
-
He claimed the rail companies were not losing out from strike action, because they were subsidised by the government, and he described this system as “perverse and corrupt”. He explained:
\n
","elementId":"77bc3a09-c52e-4d5b-9a9e-03e95d4485bb"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
They get indemnified for every day of strike action. They are paid the money that they would otherwise have lost, and the only people that lose are my members who lose their wages and the public and these businesses in hospitality who lose their income as well, while the people I negotiate with lose no money whatsoever.
\n
It is the most perverse and corrupt system we have ever seen in British business where those people that are conducting the dispute make no losses whatsoever and the taxpayer subsidises those people by money given directly from the DfT [Department for Transport].
\n
","elementId":"693b86fb-53c4-4f21-ae4e-70a8b95a00c5"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
- \n
-
He said the timing of the latest strikes was “unfortunate”, but he claimed the union was forced to act. He said:
\n
","elementId":"390eea41-0d85-412f-988d-363cc13ad33c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
We have to respond to what the companies are doing, and they’re doing that very deliberately. They’re seeking to ratchet up the dispute.
\n
","elementId":"088aa37b-2280-4d7e-a88b-8df21f61c7f0"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
- \n
-
He accepted that, although the additional strikes were over Christmas, when rail services were very minimal anyway, they would create further disruption for passengers. In the past Lynch had said the RMT wanted to avoid strike action over Christmas.
\n
","elementId":"fda5eff9-688b-4a29-8f0c-12d01e00a7e5"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
- \n
-
He defended the RMT’s decision to object to a move to driver-only trains. Driver-only operation was “less safe”, he said. Women and disabled passengers wanted to see guards on trains, he said, because they felt that was safer and more welcoming. When the presenter, Justin Webb, put it to Lynch that driver-only trains still had another member of staff on board, and that they just did not have a staff member operating the doors, Lynch said that was wrong. He said most of these services did not have anyone else on board, apart from the driver.
\n
","elementId":"0a4e8e47-bac1-4e0c-b1b7-fc55b659e82f"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670319944000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"09.45 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670323516000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"10.45 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670323516000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"10.45 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"10.45","title":"Lynch claims ‘perverse’ system means rail companies don’t lose out from strikes because of government subsidy","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638f169b8f08f5eb2e318832","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Nick Gibb, the schools minister, was giving interviews on behalf of the government this morning. He urged the RMT to call off its Christmas strike, and accused the union of holding the country “to ransom”. He told LBC:
","elementId":"df4013c4-2092-4d5b-9c14-1fe51b422143"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
I would say to the unions, we do understand, of course, the cost that families up and down the country are facing as a consequence of higher energy prices and the cost of living going up, but this is not the way to negotiate.
\n
They need to get around the table, talk to the employers and come up with a settlement, not hold the country to ransom, not disrupt people’s Christmas plans.
\n
This is the one time of the year when families want to get together and causing this kind of disruption in the cold weather is simply not acceptable and there’s no need for it.
\n
","elementId":"21dada58-4847-4dea-84f7-a551aef25fcd"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670321819000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"10.16 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670322091000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"10.21 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670322091000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"10.21 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"10.21","title":"Minister urges RMT to call off strike and ‘not hold country to ransom’","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638f10238f082ef70a245fdf","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, was doing media interviews this morning, ahead of the opposition day debate later on a motion that would force the government to release papers relating to the award of PPE contracts to a firm reportedly linked to the Tory peer Lady Mone. Asked about the rail strikes, she said the “militant government” was responsible for escalating the dispute. She told BBC Breakfast:
","elementId":"ae14cfbd-b187-4ac0-af33-7fa3ead4369b"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
This is a militant government that is not dealing with the issues and not resolving this strike action and it’s frustrating.
\n
The system is absolutely crumbling without the strikes. Anyone who gets on a train now in the north knows that you’re praying if you’re going to get to where you need to get to. Many businesses are now losing staff because they can’t get to work.
\n
It’s a complete shambles of the government’s making and they really need to get off their hands and resolve this.
\n
When I speak to the trade unions they’re very clear they do not want to go on strike, they want to resolve this dispute. It’s this government that seems to want to ratchet it up and want to attack workers’ rights and cause this disruption.
\n
","elementId":"4c1a3518-0e80-4aff-8a86-07d0cf2eafec"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670320163000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"09.49 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670325980000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"11.26 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670320504000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"09.55 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"09.55","title":"Labour’s Angela Rayner claims ‘militant government’ wants to ‘ratchet up’ rail dispute","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638f0cae8f08f5eb2e3187d8","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Yesterday Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, announced that the government is dropping compulsory housebuilding targets in response to pressure from Tory MPs. My colleague Aubrey Allegretti has the story here.
","elementId":"962d920a-404a-4eae-8a87-235ec1b273cb"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/dec/05/sunak-backs-down-on-housebuilding-targets-after-pressure-from-tory-mps","text":"Sunak to scrap housebuilding targets after pressure from Tory MPs","prefix":"Related: ","role":"thumbnail","elementId":"514a8aec-5a6b-4c15-a399-cb547efd3d6e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Labour said this showed that Rishi Sunak was “weak” and “in office but not in power”.
","elementId":"69ede89b-5797-4dcb-a5fc-c44499b07543"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
But Gove has claimed that the climbdown, which will take the form of changes to the levelling up bill, makes the government “look strong”. He told the BBC:
","elementId":"dbb26e09-755d-47ab-b1a7-b637e5e23904"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
I think it makes the government look strong because we are delivering on the planning reform that we promised a year ago.
\n
When I arrived here I said that we wanted to have a planning system that put beauty and local democracy at the heart of our planning system. That is what we have got now thanks to close engagement with MPs who really care about getting the right homes in the right places.
\n
","elementId":"102acf05-6ff8-4b1e-baf4-c499d2370f63"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Here is the levelling up department’s summary of the changes Gove is making to the bill after his discussions with Tory MPs.
","elementId":"021282e1-2b58-41c6-95ee-6dd852a5b37d"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670319278000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"09.34 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670319773000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"09.42 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670319773000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"09.42 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"09.42","title":"Gove claims climbdown over compulsory housebuilding targets ‘makes government look strong’","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"},{"id":"638efdf68f08ec68b6019612","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Good morning. Yesterday the RMT rail union announced further strikes over Christmas, as it advised members to reject a pay offer from Network Rail. My colleague Gywn Topham has the details here.
","elementId":"0efaaccf-a02f-4ba1-84fb-cade8830b1e9"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/05/more-rail-strike-dates-announced-after-rmt-rebuffs-pay-offer","text":"More rail strike dates announced after RMT rebuffs pay offer","prefix":"Related: ","role":"thumbnail","elementId":"a7d1ae99-913f-46f3-9ac2-63fccd6e8b41"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Rishi Sunak is chairing cabinet this morning and it would be surprising if the strikes, organised not just by the RMT, but by unions in other sectors too, were not a major topic of conversation.
","elementId":"96f1d2dc-996d-4a08-895d-f1964baf0131"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, has been giving interviews this morning. On the Today programme he defended the decision to stage more rail strikes over Christmas, saying that unions had a “duty to coordinate” because their members were under attack because “the price of labour” was too low in the UK. He told the programme:
","elementId":"d8e1e09e-2a3d-4db8-898b-97d988d3379e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.BlockquoteBlockElement","html":"
\n
Working people [are] having their wages lowered against inflation, and often their conditions ripped up. You hear in our industry, and in the CWU, the Royal Mail and British Telecom, it’s not just about pay. They’re offering very paltry pay rises in return for chopping up terms and conditions, and changes to working practices.
\n
So it feels like a general attack by the employers and by the government and by organisations that are coordinating what they’re doing. So it would be foolish of unions not to coordinate themselves in response to those attacks.
\n
People are being made poorer, and sometimes impoverished, while they’re working, using food banks and having to live on state benefits.
\n
So the price of labour isn’t at the right price in this country and what the unions have got to do is correct that, because if people are living on subsidy and living on food banks and other support mechanisms, they’re not being paid the right amount of money for their work. And that’s exactly what’s happened in the railways.
\n
So the unions have a duty to coordinate what they do.
\n
","elementId":"bd955feb-5cb4-4147-9fc0-480fb8bbcb49"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
I will post more from his interviews shortly.
","elementId":"a28223f0-f41b-4ea0-a343-a09a037cff14"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Here is the agenda for the day.
","elementId":"fd88065a-bc16-4650-ac4c-6fa10b38885f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Morning: Rishi Sunak chairs cabinet.
","elementId":"1fadf677-dd8d-4847-90ac-aafe89e788f9"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
11.30pm: Steve Barclay, the health secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
","elementId":"91431a63-cf64-45bb-acd0-e5dffa30e5e5"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
After 12.30pm: MPs debate a Labour motion on the NHS, calling for the abolition of non-dom tax status to fund an expansion of the NHS workforce.
","elementId":"549594b2-80b2-470c-bced-4c2e37645817"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
2pm: Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, gives evidence to the Commons environment committee.
","elementId":"54411e53-dc7b-46d5-95cb-9ceafaf6f9cc"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
2.30pm: Michelle Donelan, the culture secretary, gives evidence to the Commons culture committee.
","elementId":"3a94da72-d0cd-4da2-95b1-dfe50765737f"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
2.30pm: Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, gives evidence to the international development committee.
","elementId":"1fb78277-3f30-4810-9d3e-91c17e5ca700"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
After 4pm; MPs debate Labour humble address motion that would force the government to release papers relating to the award of PPE contracts to PPE Medpro, the firm reportedly linked to the Tory peer Lady Mone (although in the past she has denied this).
","elementId":"470afc2c-130c-493f-8969-774a016f014d"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
After 6pm: SNP MPs elect a new leader at Westminster to replace Ian Blackford.
","elementId":"23798ff5-f73e-407b-85eb-2024fffa8317"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions and, if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
","elementId":"cf7cc16c-65f9-442f-ba47-5d08af44e1d7"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
","elementId":"319a26ed-912c-4685-a27d-409d7c1b98a7"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com
","elementId":"32f5744e-69d1-4ac5-bf7d-b4f611684380"}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1670319065000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"09.31 GMT","blockLastUpdated":1670319801000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"09.43 GMT","blockFirstPublished":1670319065000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"09.31 GMT","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"09.31","title":"RMT boss Mick Lynch defends extending Christmas strike plans, saying ‘price of labour’ too low","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Tue 6 Dec 2022 12.27 GMT","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.31 GMT"}],"filterKeyEvents":false,"format":{"display":0,"theme":0,"design":10},"id":"key-events-carousel-mobile"}”>
Key events
And the GMB has said that more than 10,000 of its members who are ambulance workers will go on strike on Wednesday 21 December. The strike will affect nine trusts: South West ambulance service; South East Coast ambulance service; North West ambulance service; South Central ambulance service; North East ambulance service; East Midlands ambulance service; West Midlands ambulance service; Welsh ambulance service; and Yorkshire ambulance service.
There will also be a strike by GMB members who are paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers on Wednesday 28 December.
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said:
After 12 years of Conservative cuts to the service and their pay packets, NHS staff have had enough. The last thing they want to do is take strike action but the Government has left them with no choice.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay needs to listen and engage with us about pay. If he can’t talk to us about this most basic workforce issue, what on earth is he health secretary for?
Unite leader Sharon Graham says ambulance workers going on strike ‘to save our NHS from government’
The Unite union has given more detail of the NHS strike by its members. It said more than 1,600 workers for ambulance trusts in the West Midlands, the north-west and the north-east will go on strike on Wednesday 21 December.
But it said essential emergency cover would continue while the stoppage was on.
In a statement Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, said:
Make no mistake, we are now in the fight of our lives for the very NHS itself. These strikes are a stark warning – our members are taking a stand to save our NHS from this government.
Patients’ lives are already at risk but this government is sitting on the sidelines, dodging its responsibility to sort out the crisis that it has created.
Ministers can’t keep hiding behind the pay review body. They know full well it does not address the desperate need to get huge numbers of NHS workers off the breadline.
Fail to act now to avert these strikes and the blame will rest firmly at the government’s door.
Unite said it was still balloting 10,000 more NHS workers from 38 different employers about strike action, and that in January the strike ballot would be extended to even more NHS staff.
Ambulance workers and other NHS staff to strike on 21 December, GMB, Unison and Unite unions announce
Thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff are to strike on 21 December in a dispute over pay, the GMB, Unison and Unite unions announced.
Mone taking leave of abscence from Lords ‘to clear her name’, spokesperson says
A spokesperson for Tory peer Lady Mone said:
With immediate effect, Baroness Mone will be taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her.
As PA Media reports, the leave of absence means Lady Mone will not attend sittings of the House, vote on any proceedings and will not be able to claim any allowance.
According to Hansard, Mone has only spoken in the Lords on five occasions since getting her peerage in 2015. She last voted in April.
Lady Mone to take leave of absence from Lords
Lady Mone, the Tory peer linked to the PPE Medpro, the firm that won the controversial PPE contracts which are the subject of Labour’s opposition day motion this afternoon (see 11.31am), is taking leave of absence from the Lords, PA Media reports.
#Breaking Tory peer Baroness Mone, who is at the centre of controversy over her alleged links to a firm awarded a PPE contract, will take a leave of absence from the House of Lords with immediate effect, the PA news agency understands pic.twitter.com/rekrOZiGDO
— PA Media (@PA) December 6, 2022
\n","url":"https://twitter.com/PA/status/1600089740950536193","id":"1600089740950536193","hasMedia":false,"role":"inline","isThirdPartyTracking":false,"source":"Twitter","elementId":"a3b459e4-0b39-4263-869b-7ffcd6e23d0d"}}”>
#Breaking Tory peer Baroness Mone, who is at the centre of controversy over her alleged links to a firm awarded a PPE contract, will take a leave of absence from the House of Lords with immediate effect, the PA news agency understands pic.twitter.com/rekrOZiGDO
— PA Media (@PA) December 6, 2022
In practice, this will have little effect. Mone has not been a regular contributor to the Lords since getting her peerage in 2015.
MPs likely to pass motion forcing release of PPE contract paperwork after Tories reportedly not ordered to vote against
Tory MPs are not being told to vote against Labour’s “humble address” motion that would force the government to release papers relating to the award of PPE contracts to PPE Medpro, the firm reportedly linked to the Tory peer Lady Mone, the Times’ Steven Swinford reports.
BREAKING:
Tory MPs have been told that the government *will not* try to vote down Labour's humble address on PPE contracts linked to Michelle Mone
Means that the motion – which is trying to force the publication of texts and emails – will pass unopposed
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) December 6, 2022
\n","url":"https://twitter.com/Steven_Swinford/status/1600085339107909632","id":"1600085339107909632","hasMedia":false,"role":"inline","isThirdPartyTracking":false,"source":"Twitter","elementId":"22c192d9-6126-4f75-9c6d-23769cf63a60"}}”>
BREAKING:
Tory MPs have been told that the government *will not* try to vote down Labour’s humble address on PPE contracts linked to Michelle Mone
Means that the motion – which is trying to force the publication of texts and emails – will pass unopposed
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) December 6, 2022
That means the motion will be passed, almost certainly unopposed, at 7pm.
And because it is a humble address motion, it will be binding on the government (unlike other opposition day motions, which the government sometimes ignores if they get passed).
At least, in theory the motion is binding. Labour got the Commons to pass a humble address motion earlier this year demanding the release of papers relating to the award of a peerge to Evgeny Lebedev, the son of a former KGB officer. But on that occasion the government only released a tiny amount of routine paperwork, which did not reveal anything new about the decision making process that led to Lebedev becoming a lord. Ministers held back other information, citing security concerns.
Labour received £4.7m in donations between July and September, more than any other party, PA Media reports. PA says:
The sum received by Labour is significantly greater than that donated to the Conservatives, which, according to Electoral Commission data, received £2.9m over the same period.
The Liberal Democrats recorded about £1.7m, according to returns submitted to the Electoral Commission, with more than £11m in total donated to 19 separate UK political parties.
Generally the Conservative party finds it easier to raise money through donatations than Labour. But donations also tend to go up when a party is seen as well placed to win the next general election, and over the summer the Tories were holding a leadership contest, which may have discouraged donors put off by the infighting, or uncertain as to the outcome.
Lynch claims ‘perverse’ system means rail companies don’t lose out from strikes because of government subsidy
And here are some more lines from Mick Lynch’s interview this morning on the Today programme.
-
Lynch, the RMT general secretary, said the government was to blame for not allowing the train companies to make an offer acceptable to his members. He said:
The government are running the playbook and the strategy for the railway companies and directing what is going on. They have held back even these paltry offers to the last minute.
He also said he had been told by a rail industry figure: “When I make this proposal I know it will be unacceptable but the government will not allow me to make a suitable proposal.”
-
He claimed the rail companies were not losing out from strike action, because they were subsidised by the government, and he described this system as “perverse and corrupt”. He explained:
They get indemnified for every day of strike action. They are paid the money that they would otherwise have lost, and the only people that lose are my members who lose their wages and the public and these businesses in hospitality who lose their income as well, while the people I negotiate with lose no money whatsoever.
It is the most perverse and corrupt system we have ever seen in British business where those people that are conducting the dispute make no losses whatsoever and the taxpayer subsidises those people by money given directly from the DfT [Department for Transport].
We have to respond to what the companies are doing, and they’re doing that very deliberately. They’re seeking to ratchet up the dispute.
-
He accepted that, although the additional strikes were over Christmas, when rail services were very minimal anyway, they would create further disruption for passengers. In the past Lynch had said the RMT wanted to avoid strike action over Christmas.
-
He defended the RMT’s decision to object to a move to driver-only trains. Driver-only operation was “less safe”, he said. Women and disabled passengers wanted to see guards on trains, he said, because they felt that was safer and more welcoming. When the presenter, Justin Webb, put it to Lynch that driver-only trains still had another member of staff on board, and that they just did not have a staff member operating the doors, Lynch said that was wrong. He said most of these services did not have anyone else on board, apart from the driver.
Minister urges RMT to call off strike and ‘not hold country to ransom’
Nick Gibb, the schools minister, was giving interviews on behalf of the government this morning. He urged the RMT to call off its Christmas strike, and accused the union of holding the country “to ransom”. He told LBC:
I would say to the unions, we do understand, of course, the cost that families up and down the country are facing as a consequence of higher energy prices and the cost of living going up, but this is not the way to negotiate.
They need to get around the table, talk to the employers and come up with a settlement, not hold the country to ransom, not disrupt people’s Christmas plans.
This is the one time of the year when families want to get together and causing this kind of disruption in the cold weather is simply not acceptable and there’s no need for it.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, told the Today programme this morning that the existence of the so-called “VIP lane”, which allowed people with links to government ministers to get their bids for PPE contracts fast-tracked for consideration during Covid, was “a scandal of epic proportions”. She said it enabled some Tories to get rich from the pandemic.
Explaining why Labour has tabled a humble address motion, which would force the government to release paperwork relating to the award of PPE contracts to PPE Medpro, the firm reportedly linked to the Tory peer Lady Mone, Rayner said:
Those documents need to come out and it needs to be out in the open.
PPE Medpro has denied that the kit it supplied was at fault, although Neil O’Brien, a health minister, told MPs recently that the government was trying to recover money from the firm in relation to one of its PPE contracts judged as “underperforming”.
Labour’s Angela Rayner claims ‘militant government’ wants to ‘ratchet up’ rail dispute
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, was doing media interviews this morning, ahead of the opposition day debate later on a motion that would force the government to release papers relating to the award of PPE contracts to a firm reportedly linked to the Tory peer Lady Mone. Asked about the rail strikes, she said the “militant government” was responsible for escalating the dispute. She told BBC Breakfast:
This is a militant government that is not dealing with the issues and not resolving this strike action and it’s frustrating.
The system is absolutely crumbling without the strikes. Anyone who gets on a train now in the north knows that you’re praying if you’re going to get to where you need to get to. Many businesses are now losing staff because they can’t get to work.
It’s a complete shambles of the government’s making and they really need to get off their hands and resolve this.
When I speak to the trade unions they’re very clear they do not want to go on strike, they want to resolve this dispute. It’s this government that seems to want to ratchet it up and want to attack workers’ rights and cause this disruption.
Gove claims climbdown over compulsory housebuilding targets ‘makes government look strong’
Yesterday Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, announced that the government is dropping compulsory housebuilding targets in response to pressure from Tory MPs. My colleague Aubrey Allegretti has the story here.
Labour said this showed that Rishi Sunak was “weak” and “in office but not in power”.
But Gove has claimed that the climbdown, which will take the form of changes to the levelling up bill, makes the government “look strong”. He told the BBC:
I think it makes the government look strong because we are delivering on the planning reform that we promised a year ago.
When I arrived here I said that we wanted to have a planning system that put beauty and local democracy at the heart of our planning system. That is what we have got now thanks to close engagement with MPs who really care about getting the right homes in the right places.
Here is the levelling up department’s summary of the changes Gove is making to the bill after his discussions with Tory MPs.
RMT boss Mick Lynch defends extending Christmas strike plans, saying ‘price of labour’ too low
Good morning. Yesterday the RMT rail union announced further strikes over Christmas, as it advised members to reject a pay offer from Network Rail. My colleague Gywn Topham has the details here.
Rishi Sunak is chairing cabinet this morning and it would be surprising if the strikes, organised not just by the RMT, but by unions in other sectors too, were not a major topic of conversation.
Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, has been giving interviews this morning. On the Today programme he defended the decision to stage more rail strikes over Christmas, saying that unions had a “duty to coordinate” because their members were under attack because “the price of labour” was too low in the UK. He told the programme:
Working people [are] having their wages lowered against inflation, and often their conditions ripped up. You hear in our industry, and in the CWU, the Royal Mail and British Telecom, it’s not just about pay. They’re offering very paltry pay rises in return for chopping up terms and conditions, and changes to working practices.
So it feels like a general attack by the employers and by the government and by organisations that are coordinating what they’re doing. So it would be foolish of unions not to coordinate themselves in response to those attacks.
People are being made poorer, and sometimes impoverished, while they’re working, using food banks and having to live on state benefits.
So the price of labour isn’t at the right price in this country and what the unions have got to do is correct that, because if people are living on subsidy and living on food banks and other support mechanisms, they’re not being paid the right amount of money for their work. And that’s exactly what’s happened in the railways.
So the unions have a duty to coordinate what they do.
I will post more from his interviews shortly.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Rishi Sunak chairs cabinet.
11.30pm: Steve Barclay, the health secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
After 12.30pm: MPs debate a Labour motion on the NHS, calling for the abolition of non-dom tax status to fund an expansion of the NHS workforce.
2pm: Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, gives evidence to the Commons environment committee.
2.30pm: Michelle Donelan, the culture secretary, gives evidence to the Commons culture committee.
2.30pm: Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, gives evidence to the international development committee.
After 4pm; MPs debate Labour humble address motion that would force the government to release papers relating to the award of PPE contracts to PPE Medpro, the firm reportedly linked to the Tory peer Lady Mone (although in the past she has denied this).
After 6pm: SNP MPs elect a new leader at Westminster to replace Ian Blackford.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions and, if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
Alternatively, you can email me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Guardian
