Royal Mail workers are beginning a 48-hour strike that the retail sector warns could cripple the Black Friday discount shopping season.
The strike action is being taken nationwide by 115,000 staff who are represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU).
It is the latest stoppage in a long-running, and increasingly bitter, dispute over pay and the company’s modernisation plans.
The CWU rejected Royal Mail’s “best and final” offer on Wednesday.
The walkouts are deliberately timed to coincide with the core pre-Christmas shopping season – a crucial earnings generator for Royal Mail – as strikes will also hit 30 November and 1 December, affecting Cyber Monday deliveries.
More strikes are planned for 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24 of December.
Retail intelligence firm Springboard has forecast a busy few days ahead as cash-strapped shoppers look to bag some bargains in the midst of the cost of living crisis.
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It predicted that visits to retail venues on Black Friday will be 12.8% higher than on Black Friday 2021.
Fears of disrupted deliveries could force more bargain hunters towards stores rather than online shops.
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The eBay marketplace said a survey of its small business members showed that half saw the impact of the Royal Mail walkout as “disastrous” for demand.
eBay’s UK general manager, Murray Lambell, warned: “The UK boasts one of the world’s most sophisticated ecommerce economies, with small businesses thriving by scaling up their retail operations online.
“But industrial action risks creating chaos at the worst time for businesses and families.
“Astronomical energy prices, rising interest rates, and the blowback from political unrest has made it incredibly challenging for small businesses to operate right now.
“Adding industrial action, which is causing widespread disruption to deliveries and sales, at the most important time of year for trading, risks being the nail in the coffin for many small businesses.”
Michelle Ovens, founder of Small Business Britain, said: “Small businesses are under incredible pressure right now, with every area of business under strain and cash-flow a huge problem.
“The widespread disruption caused by postal strikes will jeopardise a core sales channel for many small businesses during the critical peak period, when every sale counts.
“We need to be doing all we can to support these businesses to recover and grow, and minimise obstacles where possible, not place them under further duress.”
On the bigger picture, Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retailers will be working closely with their delivery providers on contingency plans to ensure customers can get the goods they need, especially on Black Friday and the run up to Christmas which is so important to consumers and retail businesses during this very difficult year.”
The CWU argues that Royal Mail’s proposals mean it is fighting for the very survival of the company as we know it.
It claims the terms on offer would turn Royal Mail into a “gig economy-style parcel courier, reliant on casual labour”.
Royal Mail says it must modernise to survive.
It has sought to be excused its requirement for letter deliveries on Saturdays and wants to be able to deliver more profitable parcels seven days a week.
It says the strikes to date have cost it £100m.
Royal Mail’s parent firm IDS says that without a deal, it could carve the UK operation from IDS and has threatened thousands of job losses on top of 6,000 already out for consultation.
The union conducted a vote of no confidence in Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson this week.
He said of the company’s offer on Wednesday: “Talks have lasted for seven months and we have made numerous improvements and two pay offers, which would now see up to a 9% pay increase over 18 months alongside a host of other enhancements. This is our best and final offer.
“Negotiations involve give and take, but it appears that the CWU’s approach is to just take. We want to reach a deal, but time is running out for the CWU to change their position and avoid further damaging strike action tomorrow.”
CWU general secretary Dave Ward responded: “We are disappointed that instead of reaching a compromise to avoid major disruption, Royal Mail have chosen to pursue such an aggressive strategy.
“We will not accept that 115,000 Royal Mail workers – the people who kept us connected during the pandemic, and made millions in profit for bosses and shareholders – take such a devastating blow to their livelihoods.
“We urge every member of the public to stand with their postie, and back them like never before.”
A 13-year-old girl has been charged with three counts of attempted murder after two teachers and a pupil were stabbed at a school.
The three people were treated in hospital for stab wounds but have now been released.
Pupils at Amman Valley School, also known as Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, went into lockdown just after 11.20am on Wednesday following the attack at the end of morning break in Carmarthenshire.
Amman Valley School, which is in the town of Ammanford, is a comprehensive with around 1,500 students aged between 11 and 18.
In a statement on the school’s website, headteacher James Durbridge said on Wednesday it had been a “very difficult day” for the school.
“It goes without saying that my thoughts are with the three individuals and their families, who have been affected by today’s incident,” he said.
“I wish to commend all staff and pupils for their calm and mature response during today’s lockdown.
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“We are proud to have witnessed pupils embodying the school’s core values while supporting their peers and staff.”
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Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy has been arrested and remains in custody on suspicion of making threats referencing the school attack, Dyfed-Powys Police has said.
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Superintendent Ross Evans said: “Following [the stabbing incident], yesterday evening our control room received a number of calls reporting concerns about messages being shared on social media which had references to the incident here at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman.
“Officers swiftly carried out a warrant at the home of the person believed to be responsible for this content and a 15-year-old male has been arrested.
“He also remains in police custody while we investigate these allegations.”
Two horses which bolted and charged through central London are in a “serious condition”, a minister has said.
The Household Cavalry said the animals – which were taking part in what the Army called a “routine exercise” in the Belgravia area on Wednesday – were spooked by builders dropping rubble from a height “right next to them”.
Defence minister James Cartlidge told Sky News on Thursday morning: “There were five horses. They have all been recovered.
“Three of them are fine, two of them are unfortunately in a relatively serious condition and obviously we will be monitoring that condition.”
He added: “They are in a serious condition, but as I understand, still alive.”
The minister also confirmed the names of the two animals, Vida and Quaker.
“This is extremely unlikely, this scenario,” he told LBC.
“Unfortunately we have seen what has happened, but all I can say is the crucial thing… no serious injuries to the public as far as we aware, and of course we will be keeping an eye on the situation.”
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Four service personnel were thrown from their horses and the animals that ran loose smashed into vehicles, including a taxi and a tour bus.
Paramedics treated four people in three separate incidents in Buckingham Palace Road, Belgrave Square, and at the junction of Chancery Lane and Fleet Street, in the space of just 10 minutes.
Some of the soldiers were taken to hospital for treatment for their injuries, which were not thought to be serious.
One witness got off a bus and described seeing two horses, one black and the other white, “flying past”.
“The white one was drenched in blood from the chest down and they were galloping through the traffic at speed,” she said.
“People were stopping in the street shocked. The horses were running into fast-moving traffic and seemed terrified. Some unmarked police cars were chasing after them, which didn’t seem to be helping.
“I felt shocked. It was pretty gruesome. Felt like a weird dream.”
The horses were eventually recaptured by City of London Police and taken away to be assessed by Army vets.
The animals are all receiving care from vets at Hyde Park barracks.
Commanding Officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Matt Woodward said in a video statement posted on X the unit exercises around 150 horses on the roads and in parks every morning, partly to help desensitise them to city noise.
He said the “shock” of building materials being dropped from a height near them caused the horses to bolt and unseat some riders
He added: “Thankfully, considering the frequency of exercise and numbers of horses involved, this type of incident is extremely rare, we continue to strive to minimise the risk of this recurring.
“As ever we are grateful for due consideration given by the members of the public to not making loud noises around our horses.”
When temperatures hit nearly 22C in parts of England earlier this month, people might have thought that spring had finally sprung.
But with May fast approaching, temperatures have suddenly dropped, forcing some back into their winter coats and others to switch the heating on once again.
So what has caused the mercury to drop to near-freezing in some parts?
According to Sky News weather presenter Jo Wheeler, an area of high pressure to the west of the UK is behind it.
“High pressure to the west of the UK and Ireland gave hopes for a few days of settled weather, even though it was forecast to be a ‘cloudy high’,” she says.
“And that is pretty much what we have seen, although the positioning of the high brought cold northerly winds – and eastern counties can vouch for this.
“The high was also weak enough to allow frontal systems (a collision of cold and warm air) to move through it, so we didn’t see entirely dry weather either.
“And, winds were strong enough to give a significant wind chill along the North Sea coasts, which was pretty bitter.”
However, the next few days could still be relatively cold, particularly overnight on Friday and potentially Saturday, when temperatures in parts of northern and eastern England could drop to near or even below freezing, according to the Met Office.
And while they say temperatures are likely to “trend upwards” from Sunday, rain and cloudier weather is set to dominate next week, particularly in the south.
According to the Met Office’s forecast for next week, there will be drier weather in northern parts of the UK and a chance of rain or even thundery showers for a time in the east.
“Temperatures [are] likely to trend upwards, with the chance of a warm to very warm spell in some southern and eastern parts, before conditions probably turn drier, cooler and more settled from the west towards the end of the period,” they say.