PM Rishi Sunak refuses to rule out ban on strikes by emergency services
Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out banning emergency services from going on strike, saying he will “do what I need to do in order to keep people safe”.
A raft of public sector workers are set to take industrial action in the coming days and weeks, including nurses, ambulance workers and fire services, as they argue for better pay and working conditions amid the cost of living crisis and soaring inflation.
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PMQs Unwrapped
The PM has pledged a number of times that he will bring in tougher laws to curb the walkouts, saying earlier at Prime Minister’s Questions that it was his “duty” to act to “protect people”.
But the details of any legislation are still unknown and he is facing increasing pressure to set out his plans amid daily industrial action from various sectors.
Asked in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday whether he would consider banning strikes by emergency services, Mr Sunak said: “My priority is making sure that I keep people safe and that I minimise the disruption on their lives, and I will do what is required to do that.”
Pushed a second time, the PM still refused to rule the move out, saying: “We’ve been very reasonable in how we’ve approached these pay settlements. We’ve accepted the recommendations of independent bodies.
“But if union leaders are not going to be reasonable, then I need to do what I need to do in order to keep people safe, and to ensure that people can go about their day to day lives free of the enormous disruption that these strikes are going to cause.”
However, Labour’s shadow justice secretary Steve Reed put the blame for the strikes at the government’s door.
The PM says it is his ‘duty’ to act over strikes, but Labour puts the blame at his door
‘Terrified for the future’
Speaking to Sky News’ The Take programme, Mr Reed said: “What we are seeing is a Tory winter of discontent and it is happening because under this government for the last decade they have been in power, we have had the worst 10 years for wage growth since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
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‘Trade unions to decide strike cover’
“Frankly, people can’t make ends meet, people can’t afford to heat their homes this winter… people are frightened to put their heating on, people can’t afford to buy food. We have got nurses… who are having to go to foodbanks to get food to feed themselves and their families.
“It should just not be the case that in a country like this people cannot afford to make ends meet and what that has resulted in is a wave of industrial action from people who are angry and terrified about the future.”
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Airports announce December strikes
Mr Reed said Labour would “get the sides together and start talking about a way forward”, urging ministers to do the same.
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
In mid-May, the World Health Organisation assessed that there were “nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death”.
“This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” its report concluded.
Warning: This article contains images of an emaciated child which some readers may find distressing
Israel‘s decision this week to reverse the siege and allow “a basic level of aid” into Gaza should help ease the immediate crisis.
But the number of aid trucks getting in, so far fewer than 100 per day, is considered dramatically too few by aid organisations working in Gaza, and the United Nations accuses Israel of continuing to block vital items.
Israel-Gaza latest: Gaza enduring ‘atrocious death and destruction’, UN boss warns
“Strict quotas are being imposed on the goods we distribute, along with unnecessary delay procedures,” said UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in New York on Friday.
“Essentials, including fuel, shelter, cooking gas and water purification supplies, are prohibited. Nothing has reached the besieged north.”
Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies.
Baby Aya at Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza is dangerously thin
“Today, we receive between 300 to 500 cases daily, with approximately 10% requiring admission. This volume of inpatient cases far exceeds the capacity of Rantisi hospital, as the facility is not equipped to accommodate such large numbers,” Jall al Barawi, a doctor at the hospital, told us.
At least 94% of the hospitals have sustained some damage, some considerable, according to the UN.
Jall al Barawi, a doctor at Rantisi hospital
Paramedic crews are close to running out of fuel to drive ambulances.
The lack of food, after an 11-week blockade, has left thousands malnourished and increasingly vulnerable to surviving injuries or recovering from other conditions.
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Children are the worst affected.
Our team in Gaza filmed with baby Aya at the Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza. She is now three months old and dangerously thin.
Her skin stretches over her cheekbones and eye sockets on her gaunt, pale face. Her nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.
Aya’s nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.
Lethal spiral
Her mother Sundush, who is only 19 herself, cannot get enough food to produce breastmilk. Baby formula is scarce.
Aya, like so many other young children, cannot get the vital nutrition she needs to grow and develop.
It’s a lethal spiral.
This is what Aya looked like shortly after she was born
“My daughter was born at a normal weight, 3.5kg,” Sundush tells us.
“But as the war went on, her weight dropped significantly. I would breastfeed her, she’d get diarrhoea. I tried formula – same result. With the borders closed and no food coming in, I can’t eat enough to give her the nutrients she needs.”
“I brought her to the hospital for treatment, but the care she needs isn’t available.
“The doctor said her condition is very serious. I really don’t want to lose her, because I lost my husband and she’s all I have left of him. I don’t want to lose her.”
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Aya and her mother Sundush
Some of the aid entering Gaza now is being looted. It is hard to know whether that is by Hamas or desperate civilians. Maybe a combination of the two.
The lack of aid creates an atmosphere of desperation, which eventually leads to a breakdown in security as everyone fights to secure food for themselves and their families.
Only by alleviating the desperation can the security situation improve, and the risk of famine abate.
World
Police launch ‘major operation’ after 12 people injured in knife attack at Hamburg train station
Twelve people are reported to have been injured after a knife attack at Hamburg’s central train station.
A “major operation” has been launched and a suspect was arrested, police said in a post on X.
The identity of the suspect has not been revealed.
Reports in Germany said the suspected attacker was a woman.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
Bild newspaper said the motive for the attack was so far unknown.
Hamburg is Germany’s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
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