Health Secretary Steve Barclay is expected to meet with members of Unite, Unison and GMB unions tomorrow amid further walkouts by nurses and ambulance workers.
It is understood that Mr Barclay wants assurances from union officials that Category 2 incidents – such as strokes or cases of serious chest pain – will be attended to during industrial action.
Sources say the health secretary will not discuss increasing wages during the fresh talks.
The chief of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), Pat Cullen, had suggested strikes would be called off if Mr Barclay opened up discussions over wages.
But a government source insisted Mr Barclay will only talk about “patient safety and non-pay issues”.
The RCN is demanding an inflation-matching pay rise plus 5% for its members, but the government will only offer around 4%, as recommended in the summer by an independent pay review body – before inflation hit record highs.
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A spokesperson for the GMB union said: “He must start listening to what ambulance workers are saying – he needs to talk pay now.”
Speaking earlier, Rishi Sunak said the government had been “reasonable and fair” throughout negotiations, and increasing the offer would only increase inflation.
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“We’re always happy to sit down and talk to people to try and work through difficult challenges like this,” he said. “That’s always been the case and when it comes to pay, it’s because these things are difficult, that we have an independent process.
“The government accepted those recommendations in full across the public sector, even though in many cases those recommendations were higher than what the government had originally suggested and indeed higher than what many people in the private sector are receiving.
“But the government increased its offer so it could accept those independent recommendations in full. I thought that was the reasonable and the fair thing to do.”
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PM ‘disappointed’ by Christmas strikes
Mr Barclay told reporters on Monday that trade unions should accept the pay review figure, saying nurses he had spoken to had other concerns they wanted addressed.
“They also talk about the estate and our new hospitals building programme being really important to them,” said the health secretary.
“They talk about frustrations often with technology and how we need to invest more in that.
“They talk sometimes about some of the abuse that they receive and issues of safety and how we can work together to improve safety for staff.
“So there’s a range of issues that are raised by nurses with me.
“Pay is a factor and that’s why we have an independent process to look at that, but there’s a range of other things that also matter to staff, and I’m keen to work with the trade unions to address those concerns as well.”
Asked last night about reports Downing Street had blocked the idea of a one-off payment to nurses to prevent the strikes, Mr Barclay told reporters his conversations with Number 10 would remain private.
Meanwhile, the minister questioned the safety of the upcoming ambulance strikes.
Staff will still respond to the highest level of emergencies and are making plans for cover, while the government plans to bring in the armed forces to fill some of the gaps, with 1,200 troops expected to be deployed.
Department heads have also met this morning to discuss the strikes at an emergency government COBRA meeting.
But Mr Barclay claimed “the practical arrangements” had still not been confirmed by the unions at this late stage.
“It’s important that the trade unions honour the commitments that they’ve given to safeguard both life-threatening responses and emergency responses,” he said.
“It’s important that everyone prioritises patient safety, and in particular, those life-threatening and emergency calls.”
Unite leader Sharon Graham, who represents some ambulance workers, said the health secretary would “have to carry the can if patients suffer”, telling the Daily Mirror he was “holding the country to ransom” by refusing to discuss pay.
Senior military officials have also criticised the move, with the head of the armed forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, warning it was “perilous” to expect them to be used routinely to cover for strikes.
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‘Concerns’ over ambulance strikes
However, the Cabinet Office today published a new Resilience Framework, saying it would “strengthen how the UK prepares for and responds to emergencies” – including strike action – and it said it “envisaged” Army Reserves would “play a greater role in resilience operations and MACA (Military Aid to the Civil Authorities)” going forward.
Nurses and ambulances workers aren’t the only sectors taking industrial action this week, with rail workers, Border Force officials, driving examiners, highways workers, postal workers, and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff all staging walkouts.
Earlier, the prime minister’s official spokesman said it was not too late to call the industrial action off, saying: “We would expect, given this late stage, there to be some sort of disruption either way but it is still in the gift of the unions to step back and reconsider their approach.
“We are open to further talks if they are willing to have them. We believe we have taken a fair and reasonable approach throughout, including by accepting the pay body’s recommendation in full.”
Emergency responders are searching for bodies inside stranded cars and buildings following deadly flash floods in Spain that have killed at least 158 people.
Scenes of destruction have been left in the wake of the powerful floodwaters which hit the east of the country late on Tuesday and early Wednesday, marking Spain‘s worst natural disaster this century.
Cars have been piled high on top of each other, homes and businesses have been swept away, trees have been uprooted, and roads and bridges have been left unrecognisable.
At least 92 people have died in the worst-hit region of Valencia, while deaths were also reported in Castilla La Mancha and southern Andalusia.
An unknown number of people remain missing.
“Unfortunately, there are dead people inside some vehicles,” Spain’s transport minister Oscar Puente said.
In the Valencian district of La Torre, nine dead bodies were discovered inside a garage – with a local police officer among the victims.
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Man pulled from deadly floods
Luis Sanchez, a welder, said he saved several people from floodwaters rushing through the V-31 motorway south of Valencia city.
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“I saw bodies floating past. I called out but nothing,” Mr Sanchez said.
“The firefighters took the elderly first, when they could get in. I am from nearby so I tried to help and rescue people. People were crying all over, they were trapped.”
Satellite images from NASA show how severe flooding has impacted Valencia and its surrounding towns.
The images, captured on 30 October, show large areas to the south of the city covered in floodwater.
The Turia river, which runs through the city, can be seen at a much higher level.
The Pobles del Sud, a large lake nearby, overflowed. Much of the area surrounding the lake was covered in floodwater.
The worst of the destruction was concentrated in Paiporta, a municipality next to Valencia city, where 62 people have been reported dead.
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Spanish town ‘worst-hit’ by floods
Mayor Maribel Albalat told national broadcaster RTVE: “We found a lot of elderly people in the town centre. There were also a lot of people who came to get their cars out of their garages… it was a real trap.”
What has caused the devastation?
The flooding events in Spain have been hard to witness. But the rainfall there could never have been anything but devastating.
Chiva, located just to the west of Valencia, received 491mm of rain in an eight-hour window.
Some 100-200mm fell in surrounding areas with the accumulation of running water producing apocalyptic scenes.
In addition there have been over 20,000 lightning strikes.
Whilst the rainfall totals are astounding in themselves, this part of the world is simply not accustomed to huge quantities of water falling from the sky.
In an average year, Spain would expect somewhere between 50 and 100 mm of rain throughout the entire month of October but Valencia and Andalusia would expect far less – just 60–70mm.
So how did this happen? It’s attributable to a DANA, a “depresion aislada en niveles altos” or a “cut-off low”.
This is a low pressure system which becomes slow moving or stationary, blocked by high pressure elsewhere, which can only keep shedding its rain over the same area for long periods of time.
These systems are not that unusual. They occur when cool air from the north is drawn across the Mediterranean in late summer and autumn when the waters are war. The temperature differential enhances storms and rainfall totals.
But whilst not uncommon, this one was certainly extreme.
And it hasn’t gone yet. This same system has continued to bring further heavy rain and thunderstorms today, but it has now moved a little further north and east, heading toward the French border and currently remaining to the west of Barcelona.
The rain and thunderstorms are likely to continue for a few days yet with the Tarragona and Castellon regions still under an amber warning while a yellow warning remains in force for both eastern and western Spain.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday morning that Valencia had been declared a disaster zone and that the priority was to find victims and missing people.
He also urged those affected to stay at home as more torrential rain was forecast.
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“The most important thing is that I know Spanish people are aware that this phenomenon has not finished,” he said.
Sky News’ Europe correspondent Adam Parsons, reporting from Valencia, said the devastation suffered in the region is “enormous”.
“What we’re witnessing now are the locals here who are waking up and seeing what’s happened to their town and what has happened is something almost apocalyptic,” he said.
A nearby shop was left “absolutely wrecked” and looked like a “bomb has gone off in there”, he added.
Three days of mourning has been declared in Spain, beginning on Thursday.
Spain’s Mediterranean coast is used to autumn storms that can cause flooding, but this was the most powerful flash flood event in recent memory, and scientists have linked its strength to climate change.
“When the alert came the water was already two metres high,” Carolina shouts from her balcony. “There were no police, firefighters or the mayor. No one came to rescue us.”
The distress is echoed street after street.
Carmen puts her head in her hands and weeps.
“They have lost everything,” she says, pointing at her neighbours’ houses.
Every home is in ruins and their owners are heartbroken.
Dolores shows us inside her house. She says the flood was up to the ceiling but because no help came, they have had to hammer holes in the walls to clear the water.
“I feel awful. I’m terrified and very afraid. My husband is sick – we need more help,” she says.
The level of destruction is immense.
On the street, we meet Noel with his children. The youngest toddler barefoot in the mud.
Yesterday, Noel and his wife had nothing to eat. He feels helpless.
“Right now, there are people who are trapped. The mud is up to their waists, so they can’t open their doors,” he says.
“I live on a high floor so I didn’t have problems with the flooding in my home, but I don’t have water, light, or food.”
There’s a growing feeling of desperation in this suburb.
At one point, someone shouts “food!” and people rush to grab what they can from a nearby shop.
It’s not clear if they have been let in by the owner or are looting.
The devastation is so great and at a time when people are at their most in need, they feel frustrated and alone.
In a nearby shelter we meet people from Algemesi who have been made homeless by the flood.
Carol says she has never felt so hopeless.
“There was a tree trunk that came into the front of my house. There are no walls, no ceiling. I don’t have anything. There’s nothing left,” she explains, beginning to cry.
For many, the initial trauma of this natural disaster has been compounded in the aftermath by a feeling of loss and loneliness.
Thousands of North Korean soldiers are now positioned near Ukraine’s border and likely to enter combat in the coming days, the US says.
Russian troops have been training them in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing”, said US secretary of state Antony Blinken.
He said it strongly indicated they would be used on the front line and would therefore become legitimate targets for Ukraine.
Some 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, including up to 8,000 in the Kursk border region, Mr Blinken said.
The troops are wearing Russian uniforms and carrying Russian gear, according to US defence secretary Lloyd Austin.
“We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days,” Mr Blinken said on Thursday.
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America’s top diplomat said the recruitment of troops from North Korea to Russia’s “meat grinder” was a “clear sign of weakness”.
Mr Blinken made the assessment after he and Mr Austin met their South Korean counterparts in Washington DC.
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Foreign minister Cho Tae-yul called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean soldiers from Russia and condemned it “in the strongest possible terms”.
They also all agreed China should do more to rein in North Korea, Mr Blinken said, adding that he’d had a “robust conversation” with Beijing this week.
Mr Austin also announced that – with the US election just days away – America would soon be announcing new security assistance for Ukraine.
The deployment of troops to Russia is down to the close relationship between President Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
A mutual defence pact was agreed during their summit, meaning the countries will help each other if they are attacked.
The US says North Korea has also given munitions to Russia as it continues its grinding effort to take more territory in Ukraine’s east.
The White House published images earlier this month which it said showed 1,000 containers of equipment being sent to Russia by rail.
There are concerns about what military aid Russia will now provide in exchange.
North Korea test-fired an an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time in almost a year on Thursday and there is speculation Russia may have provided technological help.
In a statement, the US, Japan and South Korea condemned the launch as a “flagrant violation” of UN resolutions.
“We strongly urge (North Korea) to immediately cease its series of provocative and destabilising actions that threaten peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” they said.