Rishi Sunak opts against Christmas message – and instead phones public servants
Rishi Sunak has opted against a traditional Christmas message and has instead thanked public servants as his government remains deadlocked in bitter industrial disputes with striking workers.
The prime minister made four apparently surprise calls to diplomats and the crew of a naval ship to express his gratitude for their “sacrifices” after an “extraordinary year” – in a break with tradition from the usual Christmas broadcast to the nation.
Footage of the calls published on Friday comes during a winter being strained by widespread public sector walkouts hitting the NHS, the postal service and transport networks.
PM ‘personally grateful for sacrifice’
By calling the HMS Protector crew and diplomats in Pakistan, Somalia and Ukraine, and a holiday activities and food programme in London, Mr Sunak was seeking to portray the value he places on public service.
The PM made surprise calls to thank them for their hard work
In a statement, he said: “Whether you are working in Mogadishu or Milton Keynes this Christmas, I want you to know that I am personally grateful for your sacrifice.”
He added: “Those who have checked on friends and neighbours, volunteers, public servants and essential service staff all working over Christmas – I am truly humbled by your dedication and I know your selflessness this festive season will spread cheer across the country.”
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Mr Sunak will spend his first Christmas as prime minister in his constituency of Richmond in North Yorkshire, with Downing Street saying he will be updated on any urgent issues while taking some time off.
He has faced a tumultuous two months in office, first characterised by trying to rectify the economic chaos created by his predecessor Liz Truss, scandals in his new cabinet and now by the wave of industrial action.
His message comes as thousands of Border Force staff started the first of a series of strikes at airports, joining national highways workers and Royal Mail staff in demands for better pay as the cost of living crisis worsens.
Christmas getaways were also impacted by a surge in journeys as people sought to avoid a rush on the roads on Christmas Eve, when rail strikes by the RMT union will resume.
Armed forces personnel have been drafted in to minimise disruption and will be paid £20 daily bonuses for standing in for striking workers over the festive period, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced on Friday.
It followed warnings about treating military personnel as “spare capacity” – with industrial action set to continue next year as the government stands firm that it can’t afford to meet demands for inflation-busting pay rises.
Earlier on Friday, nurses announced that they are planning walkouts on two consecutive days next month, compounding pressure on the health service that has already faced strikes by nurses and ambulance staff.
And the leader of the striking Border Force staff has warned travellers could face months of disruption unless the government makes an improved pay offer, saying there is a “crisis of poverty” within the civil service.
Starmer takes a more traditional approach
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Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has delivered a Christmas message
In a more traditional address, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer reflected on the hardship being faced by Ukrainians as Russian President Vladimir Putin bombards the power grid with missiles as the war grinds into its second year.
“I hope this Christmas is a joyous and relaxing time for you, however you are spending it. I’m looking forward to sharing time with my family, away from the day-to-day of work,” he said.
“But as I do I will be keeping in my heart all those who are working to keep us safe.
“Those looking after the less fortunate, and our friends in Ukraine, facing the horror of Putin’s appalling attacks. Their struggle for freedom inspires us all.”
Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.
Speaking with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.
“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States,” he added, “going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”
Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.
Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.
It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump against Vladimir Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.
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Trump says Putin ‘talks nice and then bombs everybody’
During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call,” but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.
“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.
Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.
After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”
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Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.
He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.
At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.
Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.
The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.
It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.
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In March, Sky’s Stuart Ramsay described escalating violence within Syria
The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.
Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.
But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.
It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.
Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.
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UK aims to build relationship with Syria
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Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.
That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.
The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.
The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.
Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.
He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.
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Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.
Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.
The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.
(L-R) Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. File pic: AP
Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.
Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.
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