The British Medical Association (BMA) has defended a new round of resident doctor walkouts starting on Friday, insisting medics’ pay is still “way down” compared with 2008 and that the government has failed to finish “a journey” towards restoring it.

BMA chair Dr Tom Dolphin told Sky News the dispute remains rooted in years of pay erosion that have left resident doctors far behind other public sector workers.

“When we started the dispute, […] the lowest level of the resident doctors were being paid £14 an hour,” he said.

“There were some pay rises over the last couple of years that brought that partly back to the value it should be at, but not all the way.

“The secretary of state (Wes Streeting) himself called it a journey, implying there were further steps to come, but we haven’t seen that.”

When asked if the row ultimately “comes down to money”, he replied: “In the sense that the secretary of state doesn’t want to or isn’t able to fund the pay increases to match the value that we had in 2008.”

Dr Dolphin argued that while “the general worker in the economy as a whole” has seen pay catch up since the 2008 financial crash, “doctors are still way down”.

The government points out that its 29% settlement last year was one of the largest in the public sector and was intended to draw a line under two years of walkouts.

But Dr Dolphin said the deal still fell short: “The gap was biggest for doctors and needed the biggest amount of restoration, and that’s what we got.”

He defended the BMA’s use of the Retail Price Index (RPI), a metric rejected by the Office for National Statistics, saying it “better reflects the costs people face”.

Should resident doctors get a pay rise? Have your say in the poll at the bottom of this story.

‘Who do you think is treating the patients?’

With Chancellor Rachel Reeves preparing her budget amid warnings of deep cuts, Dr Dolphin said the BMA is not demanding an immediate cash injection.

“We’re quite happy for that money to be deferred with some kind of multi-year pay deal so that we can end the dispute and avoid having further industrial action about pay for several years to come,” he said.

“Money spent in the NHS is returned to the economy. For every pound you spend, you get several pounds back.”

When pressed on whether the £1.7bn cost of previous strike action could have been better spent on treatment and technology for NHS cancer patients, he hit back: “Who do you think is treating the cancer patients? It’s the doctors.”

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Strikes will cause disruption, union boss admits

Dr Dolphin rejected suggestions that the dispute could destabilise the government, calling the idea “implausible”.

He admitted prolonged strikes have tested public patience, but said the government had left doctors with no choice.

“A prolonged industrial dispute makes people annoyed with both sides,” he said. “It is vexing to us that we are still in this dispute.”

“I don’t want patients to suffer,” he added. “I accept that the strikes cause disruption… of course that’s upsetting for them. I completely get that. And I’m sorry that it’s happening.”

Wylfa, on Anglesey, also known as Ynys Mon, has been chosen as the site for the UK’s first small modular reactor nuclear power station, the UK government has confirmed.

Officials estimate the site in north Wales will support hundreds of full-time jobs, as well as 3,000 jobs in the local economy at the height of construction.

Work on the site is due to commence in 2026 with an initial programme involving three reactors. The location has the capacity to accommodate as many as eight small modular power stations in the longer term.

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Sky News understands ministers weighed up Oldbury in Gloucestershire as a possible site before ultimately deciding on Anglesey.

The project will be run by the publicly owned company Great British Energy-Nuclear and is supported by a UK government investment of £2.5bn.

Rolls-Royce SMR is set to design the UK’s first small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), pending final contracts, which are expected to be signed later this year.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Britain was once a world-leader in nuclear power, but years of neglect and inertia has meant places like Anglesey have been let down and left behind.”

He added: “We’re using all the tools in our armoury – cutting red tape, changing planning laws, and backing growth – to deliver the country’s first SMR in North Wales.”

The site is projected to supply electricity for three million homes – more than twice the number of homes in Wales. It is hoped the Wylfa reactors will start supplying power to the grid from the mid-2030s.

Eluned Morgan, the first minister of Wales, said: “This is the moment Ynys Mon and the whole of Wales has been waiting for.”

She added: “New nuclear is a step into the future, with secure jobs and secure energy guaranteed for the next generation. We have been pressing the case at every opportunity for Wylfa’s incredible benefits as a site, and I warmly welcome this major decision to invest in northwest Wales. Wales is once again leading the way.”

Small modular reactors are compact nuclear power stations, built as prefabricated units for on‑site installation, with the aim of being constructed more quickly than sites like Hinkley Point C.

Nuclear power is not new to the Welsh island. A station was first constructed in the 1960s and began generating electricity in 1971. The two reactors operated for decades before being shut down. Reactor 2 was decommissioned in 2012, followed by Reactor 1 in 2015.

Efforts to revive nuclear generation at the site have also been made before. In 2021, proposals to build a new plant were abandoned under the previous UK government.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, Plaid Cymru leader and MS for Ynys Mon, welcomed the investment, but aired caution over previous false hope.

He said: “Today’s announcement is significant for people on Ynys Mon and across Wales. It reflects years of hard work by both the Plaid Cymru-led Anglesey County Council and Llinos Medi – both as the current MP and former council leader.

“Since I was elected over 12 years ago, the future of the Wylfa site has remained a live issue on Ynys Mon. Whilst we’ve learnt from past experience that we need assurances now that this plan will actually be delivered, there’s no doubt that there’s a real opportunity here that we have to take advantage of.”

He added that his priority is “to ensure that the voices and interests of communities on Ynys Mon are represented at every step”, and that he has “always taken the view that we must make the most of the economic growth and job opportunities for young people that come with a new development at Wylfa”, while mitigating “the challenges” that such projects bring.

“The Welsh government also has a crucial role to play in these discussions. I want to make sure that Welsh government has real input, with Welsh interests placed at the heart of the development,” he concluded.

Some of the biggest names in music – including Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Radiohead – have urged the government to honour a pledge to cap ticket resale prices and shutout touts.

They have joined artists including The Cure’s Robert Smith, New Order, Mark Knopfler, Iron Maiden, PJ Harvey and this year’s Mercury Prize winner Sam Fender to sign a statement calling for a cap to “restore faith in the ticketing system” and “help democratise public access to the arts”.

Other signatories include the watchdog Which?, FanFair Alliance, O2, the Football Supporters’ Association and organisations representing the music and theatre industries, venues, managers, and ticket retailers.

In the statement, the coalition says new protections are needed to “help fix elements of the extortionate and pernicious secondary ticketing market that serve the interests of touts, whose exploitative practices are preventing genuine fans from accessing the music, theatre, and sports they love”.

Labour had promised in its manifesto to put a stop to concert-goers being scammed or priced out of events by touts using bots to buy tickets in bulk the moment they go on sale, which they can then sell on for huge mark-ups on secondary ticketing websites.

In government, the party again made that promise – but more than a year after it vowed action, and seven months since its consultation on the issue closed, there has been no clear indication of when new laws will be introduced.

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The campaign comes as a new investigation from Which? found prolific sellers in locations including Brazil, Dubai, Singapore, Spain, and the US hoovering up tickets for popular events in the UK before relisting them at vastly inflated prices on StubHub and Viagogo.

How much?!

Which? found Oasis tickets for Wembley shows listed for £3,498.85 on StubHub and £4,442 on Viagogo.

A seat for the Minnesota Vikings vs Cleveland Browns NFL clash at Tottenham Hotspur was listed for £3,568.39 on StubHub, while a Coldplay ticket, also for Wembley, was £814.52 on StubHub.

And a ticket for the All Points East festival in London’s Victoria Park, headlined by Raye, for £114,666 on Viagogo.

The watchdog found it was often difficult for buyers to establish the seller’s identity or to contact them – despite the Competition and Markets Authority securing a court order in 2018 requiring Viagogo to outline the identity of traders.

And there’s more…

Which? also found evidence of speculative selling – when tickets are listed on secondary sites even though the seller has not bought them yet.

Tickets for a Busted vs McFly show in Glasgow, which were available through Ticketmaster – the original seller – were simultaneously being listed on StubHub and Viagogo at double the price.

Government to set out plans ‘shortly’

Which? consumer law expert Lisa Webb urged Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer to commit to legislation.

A government spokeswoman said it is “fully committed to clamping down on touts,” had listened to comments in response to the consultation earlier this year, and would set out its plans “shortly”.