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Key occasions
College employees and ambulance employees proceed strike motion
College employees and ambulance employees are staging extra strikes immediately because the wave of commercial unrest over points together with pay, staffing and jobs continues to comb throughout the nation, PA Media experiences. PA says:
College employees are persevering with a 48-hour strike regardless of an announcement of recent talks on the conciliation service Acas subsequent week.
Members of the College and School Union (UCU) are on strike at about 150 universities.
Ambulance employees in England are staging a recent strike within the long-running dispute over pay and staffing, with no signal of a breakthrough within the more and more bitter row.
About 15,000 members of Unison in 5 areas are concerned within the motion, with officers warning of escalating motion within the coming weeks until the impasse is damaged.
Unison is balloting one other 10,000 of its ambulance members in England for industrial motion, so any future strikes could possibly be the largest but for the union.
Hunt guidelines out pay rises for employees that might ‘entrench excessive inflation’ – however claims that is ‘not a no’ to any new provide
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has been giving interviews about immediately’s progress figures, which present the UK has narrowly averted going into recession.
As my colleague Graeme Wearden experiences on his enterprise dwell weblog, Hunt says the UK economic system is “not out of the woods but” however he says it has “underlying resilience”.
In an interview with Sky’s Paul Kelso, Hunt was additionally requested about public sector pay. He didn’t provide any concessions, however he did sound barely extra open to the prospect of enhancing pay affords than maybe he did previously. He mentioned he would refuse something that might “entrench excessive inflation”. However, when requested if he was saying “no” to more cash, he mentioned: “It’s not a no.”
Requested what he would say to public sector employees, Hunt mentioned:
We’ll speak about completely something to resolve these strikes – besides measures that can entrench excessive inflation. We don’t suppose strikes are useful. They’ve very damaging and really disruptive.
We predict one of the simplest ways to resolve these points is to take a seat and discuss and discover a resolution which doesn’t entrench the very inflation that’s upsetting so many individuals.
When requested if this meant employees wouldn’t be supplied extra pay, Hunt mentioned that Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Financial institution of England mentioned yesterday that funding greater wage settlements by borrowing can be inflationary. He went on:
We need to get again right into a state of affairs the place folks’s actual wages are rising. However the one factor that we shouldn’t do if you’d like that to occur is to do one thing that digs on this excessive inflation.
Requested if that was a “no” to more cash, he mentioned:
It’s not a no, it’s saying we’ll speak about completely something, besides issues that can dig within the very excessive inflation that’s inflicting folks to see the price of their weekly store go up and the worth of their wages erode.
FDA senior civil servants’ union renews name for Raab to suspended till bullying inquiry concluded
Dave Penman, the chief of the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, advised the Right this moment programme this morning that Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy PM, shouldn’t be commenting on the inquiry into the bully allegations about him. He mentioned:
What we want is for this inquiry to conclude as rapidly as doable and for the protagonist in it, who has been reminded about confidentiality, to cease giving feedback to the general public.
This demonstrates ably the difficulty of why the prime minister ought to have suspended Dominic Raab as a result of, whereas these allegations are hanging over him, he’s nonetheless serving as a minister, there are nonetheless issues about somebody who conducts themselves doubtlessly in that means nonetheless being in control of civil servants.
Requested if it was proper for somebody to be prevented from being a minister simply because they have been “troublesome” to work with, Penman identified that bullying was towards the ministerial code. And he mentioned:
What it’s important to bear in mind right here is bullies usually are not good managers.
Bullies are ineffective. What you find yourself with is sweet folks leaving – it isn’t truly a solution to get folks to work.
Full outcomes from West Lancashire byelection
Right here is my colleague Safi Bugel’s story about Labour holding West Lancashire within the byelection yesterday.
It was a protected Labour seat, and there was no reasonable prospect of the get together shedding, which is why it didn’t obtain a lot consideration.
Listed below are the total outcomes, from PA Media.
Ashley Dalton (Labour) 14,068 (62.30%, +10.16%)
Mike Prendergast (Conservative) 5,742 (25.43%, -10.88%)
Jonathan Kay (Reform UK) 997 (4.42%)
Jo Barton (Liberal Democrat) 918 (4.07%, -0.80%)
Peter Cranie (Inexperienced) 646 (2.86%, +0.49%)
Howling Laud Hope (Official Monster Raving Loony Occasion) 210 (0.93%)
Labour majority 8,326 (36.87%)
10.52% swing Conservative to Labour
Citizens 72,218;
Turnout 22,581 (31.27%, -40.53%)
2019: Lab maj 8,336 (15.83%) – Turnout 52,663 (71.80%)
Cooper (Lab) 27,458 (52.14%); Gilmore (C) 19,122 (36.31%); Thomson
(LD) 2,560 (4.86%); Stanton (Brexit) 2,275 (4.32%); Puddifer (Inexperienced)
1,248 (2.37%)
The important thing determine right here is the ten.5% swing to Labour. That is very wholesome, and positively ok to supply a majority for Keir Starmer’s get together at a basic election. However it isn’t as massive because the swing to Labour prompt by polling. In 2019, the Tories obtained 44.7% of the GB vote, and Labour 33%. The newest Politico ballot of polls has Labour on 48% and the Tories on 26% – implying a swing of 16.8%.
That is the third byelection in a row that has seen Labour maintain a protected seat. Within the Metropolis of Chester byelection in December final yr, Labour received with a swing of 13.5% from the Conservatives. And within the Stretford and Urmston byelection (additionally in December final yr) Labour received with a ten% swing from the Tories.
Dominic Raab says ‘setting excessive requirements’ not identical as bullying as he sidesteps resignation query
Good morning. Dominic Raab, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, has repeatedly denied the a number of allegations – now the topic of an inquiry – that he has bullied officers within the three authorities departments that he has led, however usually he has issued denials by a spokesperson. Now, although, he has gone on the report himself, with two denials that set out his case with a bit extra readability.
Earlier this week, Newsnight broadcast a report primarily based on an interview with an unnamed former senior civil servant who had labored with Raab. The official, who has not submitted a proper grievance, described Raab as “nasty and troublesome” and gave examples of why his conduct could possibly be seen as “bullying”.
Raab has responded to that. In an interview with the BBC, he mentioned:
I’m not going to touch upon nameless experiences within the media – my expertise is that they’re principally incorrect. I’m assured I’ve behaved professionally always.
“Behaved professionally” is the road that Raab’s spokesperson has used since these allegations first surfaced, however this reply means that Raab believes folks could low cost allegations made anonymously.
Raab has additionally given an interview to the Day by day Telegraph (primarily to debate drug coverage in prisons) and that was extra revealing. Requested if he was assured that he would nonetheless be in submit in the summertime, Raab didn’t give a agency sure. As an alternative he replied:
I’m assured I’ve behaved professionally always. And I’ll interact with the inquiry, and naturally I might not need to say something that prejudiced it.
Raab was then requested if he was extra strong than, say, Margaret Thatcher. He replied:
I believe it’s troublesome to check totally different eras. However I believe requirements of professionalism, whether or not they’re within the enterprise sector, the voluntary sector or the general public sector, ought to contain setting excessive requirements and nil bullying, and people two issues are completely reconcilable.
(That was an odd query. Thatcher was famously strong with colleagues, and fairly intimidating if they didn’t know their temporary, however nobody ever accused her of bullying officers.)
In his response, Raab appears to be accepting that he was demanding. However he’s saying that setting excessive requirements is just not the identical as bullying.
Dave Penman, the chief of the FDA union that represents senior civil servants, has been commenting on Raab’s interview. I’ll submit what he mentioned shortly, and some other response.
The Commons is in recess, and there may be not a lot within the diary for immediately. However I can be overlaying response to final evening’s byelection, and reporting a number of the political response to the expansion figures, though the primary protection of that’s on our enterprise dwell weblog.
I’ll attempt to monitor the feedback under the road (BTL) however it’s inconceivable to learn all of them. In case you have a direct query, do embrace “Andrew” in it someplace and I’m extra prone to discover it. I do attempt to reply questions, and if they’re of basic curiosity I’ll submit the query and reply above the road (ATL), though I can’t promise to do that for everybody.
If you wish to appeal to my consideration rapidly, it’s most likely higher to make use of Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
Alternatively, you’ll be able to e-mail me at andrew.sparrow@theguardian.com
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