Up to 100,000 nurses will go on strike next month in a dispute over pay.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will stage their biggest-ever walkout on 15 and 20 December after voting in favour in a ballot.
Nurses and other nursing staff will take action at half of the locations in England where the legal mandate for strikes was secured in November, while there will be strike action at every NHS employer in Wales except one and throughout Northern Ireland.
The RCN said the number of NHS employers affected would increase in January unless negotiations were held.
The Scottish government has made a separate pay offer.
The union said it had repeatedly called on the UK government to accept its request for negotiations to resolve the dispute over pay and patient safety.
RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “Ministers have declined my offer of formal pay negotiations and instead chosen strike action.
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“It has left us with no choice but to announce where our members will be going on strike in December.
“Nursing is standing up for the profession and their patients. We’ve had enough of being taken for granted and being unable to provide the care patients deserve.
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“Ministers still have the power and the means to stop this by opening negotiations that address our dispute.”
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0:45
‘Nurses driven to strike by the government’
Nurses 20% worse off in real terms
The RCN said despite this year’s pay award of £1,400, experienced nurses were 20% worse off in real terms due to successive below-inflation awards since 2010.
It is calling for a pay rise of 5% above RPI inflation, saying the economic argument for paying nursing staff fairly is clear when billions of pounds is being spent on agency staff to plug workforce gaps.
The RCN said in the last year 25,000 nursing staff around the UK left the Nursing and Midwifery Council register, with 47,000 unfilled registered nurse posts in England’s NHS alone.
Workers from several different industries are set to walk out over pay and conditions this winter, while unions representing ambulance crews, midwives and hospital cleaners are also balloting their members on strikes.
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Here is where the strikes on 15 and 20 December will take place:
England
East Midlands: • Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust • NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB • Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust • Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust • Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Eastern: • Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust • Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust • Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust • Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust • NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB • Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
London: • Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust • Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust • Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust • NHS North Central London ICB • Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
North West: • Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust • Health Education England • Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Found Trust • Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust • Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust • Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust • The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Found Trust • The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
Northern: • Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust • Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust • The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
South East: • Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust • Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
South West: • Devon Partnership NHS Trust • Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust • Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust • Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust • NHS Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB (BSW Together) • NHS Devon ICB (One Devon) • NHS Gloucestershire ICB (One Gloucestershire) • North Bristol NHS Trust • Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust • Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust • Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust • University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust • University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
West Midlands: • Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust • Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust • NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB (BSol ICB) • The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust • University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust • Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Yorkshire and the Humber: • Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust • Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust • Yorkshire & Humber NHS England • The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Wales
• Cardiff and Vale University Health Board • Powys Teaching Local Health Board • Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust Headquarters • Hywel Dda University Health Board • Swansea Bay University Health Board • Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board • Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board • Velindre NHS Trust • Public Health Wales • Health Education and Improvement Wales Health Authority • NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership • Digital Health and Care Wales
Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council • Southern Health and Social Care Trust • Western Health and Social Care Trust • Belfast Health and Social Care Trust • Business Services Organisation • Regulation & Quality Improvement Authority • Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service • Public Health Agency • Northern Health and Social Care Trust • South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust • Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
An MP has told Sky News she was attacked online by the Tate brothers after she participated in a debate in the House of Commons about violence against women.
The controversial duo, Andrew and Tristan Tate, are facing charges of rape and human trafficking in the UK – all of which they deny.
But they are still very active online, and according to Sorcha Eastwood, the MP for Lagan Valley, are targeting her.
In a document seen by Sky News, Tristan Tate has highlighted one of the MP’s tweets and writes in private correspondence: “MP, nice target, can we sue her?”
Sorcha Eastwood says at first she thought the replies were from parody accounts and not the Tate brothers.
Her original tweet was about Elon Musk, not the Tate brothers. The MP said Musk’s tweets should be looked at through a counter-extremism lens.
“I was really concerned, I was concerned because to me that is a direct attack for want of a better phrase on me serving my constituents.
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“I couldn’t believe that they decided to pick this random Northern Irish MP. The fact that it wasn’t even about them. This is something I didn’t go looking for.
“I think from my perspective, it’s a very, very sinister attempt to shut down important voices in public life, political discourse.”
It was only when she started noticing an uptick in abuse from other accounts she realised she had encountered some of the brothers’ followers.
“I had rape threats. I had death threats. I had people saying I should be hung from a lamppost. I had people saying I should be chopped into liver. I also had people then who were like we’ll waste 15 minutes raping Sorcha Eastwood.”
Image: A representative for the Tate brothers told Sky News that there was no targeted campaign against Sorcha Eastwood
A representative for the Tate brothers told Sky News that there was no targeted campaign against her.
They said: “Ms Eastwood has a distorted view regarding social media if she believes one is required to ‘invite or ask’ people to interact.
“Tristan Tate is entitled to his view in relation to her tweet regarding Elon Musk.”
The self-styled “misogynist influencer” Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have both been charged with human trafficking, face allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering in Romania.
There is also a European arrest warrant for them as they are facing separate, unrelated charges of rape and human trafficking in the UK. They deny all charges.
Ms Eastwood now worries for others who don’t have a platform like her and who may not feel like they can speak out.
“If this is what has happened to me I have absolutely no doubt that this has happened to others where they have been attempted to be silenced.”
Keir Starmer has previously commented on the Tate brothers’ case in the Commons saying it is “a live issue”, but adding that “the principle is absolutely clear” in relation to whether the brothers should face justice.
Sorcha Eastwood says she wants to see the government do much more to protect against abuse online.
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Tate brothers deny wrongdoing
“I think ultimately the government has taken the wrong course on this. They need to step up.
“This should be an issue of national security as far as the radicalisation of young people online. It should be an issue in terms of the levels of misinformation, disinformation and the lack of trust that is had in our politics right across the UK and Europe.
“I want the government to help me, help every other person to crack down on this and get serious about it. And the only way they’ll be able to do that, is by hitting these tech companies in the only language which they understand, which is money and via robust legislation.”
A government spokesperson said: “Violence against women and girls is a scourge on our society which is why we have set out an unprecedented mission to halve these crimes within a decade.
“Tackling illegal abuse both online and offline is central to supporting victims and preventing harm in our communities and we will not hesitate to strengthen laws to deliver this mission.
“Last month, parts of the Online Safety Act came into force meaning companies must take action to protect users from illegal material including extreme sexual violence.
“Further protections from this summer will require platforms to protect children from harmful, misogynistic, and violent content.”
In parts of Birmingham, the stench is overwhelming – enough to make you heave.
At a block of flats in Highgate, in Birmingham city centre, we find a mountain of bin liners full of rubbish spewing out of the cavernous bin store, which is normally locked.
Mickel comes out to speak to us, while all around bin liners lie open, with the contents for all to see, including used nappies and rotting food.
Image: Mickel says they’ve had ‘foxes and rats, literally the size of cats’
Image: Outside Mickel’s flat in Highgate, bin liners lie open, spewing out rubbish
We both find it hard to keep talking amid the awful smell.
“We’ve had foxes and rats, literally the size of cats, flies, it’s just nasty, something needs to be done,” he says.
Image: Chris says the situation is ‘overwhelming’ as she’s ‘terrified of rats’
Around the corner, I meet Chris, in her dressing gown, popping the bins into her bin store beneath her flat before work.
She unlocks it, and although it isn’t bursting out on to the street yet, it is getting full.
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She says the situation is “overwhelming” as she’s “terrified of rats”. But, even so, she has sympathy for the striking bin workers.
“It’s not an easy job; they must have a heart of gold to do that job,” she says.
“Pay them whatever they need, they deserve it.”
Image: Striking bin workers at Lifford Lane tip, south of the city centre
Image: There’s an awful smell coming from a mountain of bin liners outside Mickel’s flat in Highgate
At Lifford Lane tip, south of the city centre, Brigette has pulled up alongside picketing workers. The back seat of her car is full of rubbish.
She apologises for the terrible waft, mixed with air freshener.
“It’s very pungent, isn’t it? Not nice,” she admits.
“It’s unfortunate, I have some sympathies for all the parties, but, equally, we have a duty of care to stay clean and tidy.”
She says she has her rubbish and that of her elderly aunt and plans to make weekly trips to the tip until a resolution in this pay dispute between the council and the Unite union is found.
The US is “our closest ally” but “nothing is off the table” in response to Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on imports from the UK, the business secretary has said.
In a statement following the US president’s nearly hour-long address to the world, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “We will always act in the best interests of UK businesses and consumers.
“That’s why, throughout the last few weeks, the government has been fully focused on negotiating an economic deal with the United States that strengthens our existing fair and balanced trading relationship.”
Mr Reynolds reiterated the statements from the prime minister and his cabinet over the past few days, saying the US is “our closest ally”, and the government’s approach is to “remain calm and committed to doing this deal, which we hope will mitigate the impact of what has been announced today”.
Image: Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds says “nothing is off the table” following the tariffs announcement. Pic: PA
But he continued: “We have a range of tools at our disposal, and we will not hesitate to act. We will continue to engage with UK businesses, including on their assessment of the impact of any further steps we take.
“Nobody wants a trade war, and our intention remains to secure a deal. But nothing is off the table, and the government will do everything necessary to defend the UK’s national interest.”
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‘Get back round the negotiating table’, say Tories
The Conservative Party’s shadow business and trade secretary described the US president’s announcement as “disappointing news which will worry working families across the country”.
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Sky’s Ed Conway examines how economies across the world are impacted by tariffs
Andrew Griffith hit out at the government for having “failed to negotiate with President Trump’s team for too many months after the election, failed to keep our experienced top trade negotiator, and failed to get a deal to avoid the imposition of these tariffs by our closest trading partner”.
“The chancellor’s emergency budget of just a week ago with its inadequate headroom is now at risk, casting uncertainty about more taxes or spending cuts,” he continued. “Sadly, it is British businesses and workers who will pay the price for Labour’s failure.”
He called on ministers to “swallow their pride” and “get back round the negotiating table to agree a fair deal to protect jobs and consumers in both the UK and the US alike”.
Relief in Westminster – but concessions to Trump to come
It has been quite a rollercoaster for the government, where they went from the hope that they could avoid tariffs, that they could get that economic deal, to the realisation that was not going to happen, and then the anticipation of how hard would the UK be hit.
In Westminster tonight, there is actual relief because the UK is going to have a 10% baseline tariff – but that is the least onerous of all the tariffs we saw President Trump announce.
He held up a chart of the worst offenders, and the UK was well at the bottom of that list.
No 10 sources were telling me as President Trump was in the Rose Garden that while no tariffs are good, and it’s not what they want, the fact the UK has tariffs that are lower than others vindicates their approach.
They say it’s important because the difference between a 20% tariff and a 10% tariff is thousands of jobs.
Where to next? No 10 says it will “keep negotiating, keep cool and calm”, and reiterated Sir Keir Starmer’s desire to “negotiate a sustainable trade deal”.
“Of course want to get tariffs lowered. Tomorrow we will continue with that work,” a source added.
Another source said the 10% tariff shows that “the UK is in the friendlies club, as much as that is worth anything”.
Overnight, people will be number-crunching, trying to work out what it means for the UK. There is a 25% tariff on cars which could hit billions in UK exports, in addition to the blanket 10% tariff.
But despite this being lower than many other countries, GDP will take a hit, with forecasts being downgraded probably as we speak.
I think the government’s approach will be to not retaliate and try to speed up that economic deal in the hope that they can lower the tariffs even further.
There will be concessions. For example, the UK could lower the Digital Services Tax, which is imposed on the UK profits of tech giants. Will they loosen regulation on social media companies or agricultural products?
But for now, there is relief the UK has not been hit as hard as many others.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has reacted furiously to Mr Trump’s announcement of a “destructive trade war”, and called on the government to stand up against “Trump’s attempts to divide and rule”.
“The prime minister should bring our Commonwealth and European partners together in a coalition of the willing against Trump’s tariffs, using retaliatory tariffs where necessary and signing new trade deals with each other where possible.”
Speaking on Wednesday evening at a White House event entitled ‘Make America Wealthy Again’, the US president unleashed sweeping tariffs across the globe.
Mr Trump held up a chart detailing the worst offenders – which also showed the new tariffs the US would be imposing.
The UK’s rate of 10% was perhaps a shot across the bow over the 20% VAT rate, though the president’s suggested a 10% tariff imbalance between the two nations. Nonetheless, tariffs of 10% could directly reduce UK GDP by between 0.01% and 0.06%, according to Capital Economics.
A 25% duty on all car imports from around the world is also being imposed from midnight in the US – 5am on Thursday, UK time.
The UK government had been hoping to negotiate an economic deal with the US in a bid to avoid the tariffs, but to no avail. The government says negotiations will continue.
The Confederation of British Industry said “negotiating stronger trading relationships with all like-minded partners will be foundational to any success”.
The business secretary is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday, and we are also expecting to hear from the prime minister.