GMB union to consider up to six more ambulance strike dates after failed talks with health secretary
The GMB union will meet ambulance representatives on Monday to discuss up to six more strike dates, Sky News understands.
It comes after talks with Health Secretary Stephen Barclay failed to reach an agreement earlier this week.
Yesterday, about 25,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales went on strike in a dispute with the government over pay.
Staggered walkouts by paramedics, call handlers, drivers and technicians from the Unison and GMB unions took place over a 24-hour period.
Union leader brands talks with minister a ‘complete farce’ – politics latest
NHS England warned that some people would have to make their own way to hospital.
While members of the armed forces and private providers were once again drafted in to help cover services, as was the case during the first strike day on 21 December.
Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, has warned that strike action can lead to “pent-up demand” in the days after walkouts.
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More strikes are scheduled, with nurses due to walk out next Wednesday and Thursday, and another ambulance strike the week after, on 23 January.
Despite no deal being reached following the talks with Mr Barclay on Monday, the health secretary did agree to look into a suggestion to backdate next year’s NHS pay deal to this January.
But it is understood representatives of the GMB union are set to meet again next week to discuss whether industrial action should escalate.
It comes as new NHS figures show ambulances in England took an average of one hour, 32 minutes and 54 seconds in December to respond to emergency calls such as burns, epilepsy and strokes – the longest on record and well above the target of 18 minutes.
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Ambulance response times worst on record
Strikes ‘in protest at unsafe care’
The figures for England also showed a record 54,532 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E departments last month from a decision to admit to actually being admitted.
And the proportion of patients seen within four hours in England’s A&Es fell to a record low of 65% in December.
Read more
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NHS strikes to go ahead after talks break down
Who is striking and when?
Responding to the latest NHS England performance data, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “Today’s figures suggest this picture is only going to get worse. Hospitals are full, many patients face very long waits to be admitted from A&E and the waiting list for routine treatment remains sky high.
“The government has had months and months to address this but has not acted. They must row back on years of underinvestment in nursing, starting with an immediate pay rise.
“Nursing is saying enough is enough and standing up for their patients. Next week’s strikes are in protest at unsafe care.”
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Why is the NHS struggling so much?
Talks ‘collaborative’, not ‘confrontational’
Mr Barclay held further talks this morning with medical unions which were described as “constructive” by the chair of council at the British Medical Association (BMA).
Ahead of the discussions, the health secretary was urged by interim chief executive of NHS Providers Saffron Cordery to “come to the table and talk about pay”.
Speaking after the meeting, Professor Philip Banfield told reporters the tone of the meeting with Mr Barclay was “not confrontational” but “collaborative”.
“The secretary of state was a consummate politician in listening mode. It’s what happens next that’s the important thing.”
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Health secretary Steve Barclay: ‘We’re engaging’
Professor Banfield said doctors feel they have been “driven” to the point of considering strike action because “no-one is listening to us”.
“We’ve got about six weeks, haven’t we, to sit down and try and resolve the situation. None of our doctors want to strike, they would prefer that this was resolved before we got into that situation,” he said.
Others present at the talks were representatives of the hospital doctors’ union HCSA and the British Dental Association.
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The meetings came after 14 health unions announced that they will not be submitting evidence to the NHS pay review body for the next wage round while the current industrial disputes remain unresolved.
The 14 unions, representing more than one million ambulance staff, nurses, porters, healthcare assistants, physiotherapists and other NHS workers in England, said they believe the lengthy pay review body process is not able to deliver a deal that resolves the current pay and staffing dispute.
They have called for direct pay talks with ministers.
The government says most ambulance staff have received a pay rise of at least 4%.
Sir Keir Starmer has joined other European leaders in Kyiv to press Russia to agree an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The prime minister is attending the summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It is the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled to Ukraine at the same time – arriving in the capital by train – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Leaders arrive in Kyiv by train. Pic: PA
It comes after Donald Trump called for “ideally” a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, and warned that if any pause in the fighting is not respected “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions”.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Samantha Washington the European leaders are “rowing in behind” the US president, who referred to his “European allies” for the first time in this context in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“So this meeting is all about heaping pressure on the Russians to go along with the American proposal,” he said.
“It’s the closest the Europeans and the US have been for about three months on this issue.”
Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron among world leaders in Kyiv. Pic: AP
Trump calls for ceasefire. Pic: Truth Social
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” for at least 30 days starting on Monday.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement.
European leaders show solidarity – but await Trump’s backing
The hope is Russia’s unilateral ceasefire, such as it’s worth, can be extended for a month to give peace a chance.
But ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian sources told Sky News they are still waiting for President Donald Trump to put his full weight behind the idea.
The US leader has said a 30-day ceasefire would be ideal, but has shown no willingness yet for putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to agree.
The Russians say a ceasefire can only come after a peace deal can be reached.
European allies are still putting their hopes in a negotiated end to the war despite Moscow’s intransigence and President Trump’s apparent one-sided approach favouring Russia.
Ukrainians would prefer to be given enough economic and military support to secure victory.
But in over three years, despite its massive economic superiority to Russia and its access to more advanced military technology, Europe has not found the political will to give Kyiv the means to win.
Until they do, Vladimir Putin may decide it is still worth pursuing this war despite its massive cost in men and materiel on both sides.
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for a coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
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This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
A special constable has been jailed after taking pictures on his phone from bodycam footage showing a dying man.
Former police volunteer William Heggs, 23, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court on Friday after showing the photos of victim William Harty, 28, to a female colleague and storing them on his Snapchat account.
Mr Harty was found seriously injured in a residential street in Leicester on 25 October 2021 and Heggs had attended the scene, helping with CPR before paramedics arrived.
Mr Harty died in hospital a day later and the man responsible for his injuries, his brother-in-law Martin Casey, was subsequently convicted of his manslaughter.
Heggs showed the pictures he had taken of bodycam footage of Mr Harty’s body to a Leicestershire Police constable, who reported Heggs and said she did not like seeing blood.
His phone was seized and officers discovered other photographs and video clips of bodyworn footage of incidents Heggs had attended on duty, including of a knife seizure, use of baton and pepper spray, and a man with an injured hand receiving first aid.
He also took pictures of a police computer screen, showing details of crimes and suspects, without consent.
Heggs stored the materials in a Snapchat folder and disclosed graphic details – most of which were not in the public domain – about the injuries to a woman who was killed in a road traffic collision he had attended, to a friend on the social media platform.
Heggs was suspended from the force in November 2021 and resigned in October 2024 before pleading guilty to 11 computer misuse and data protection offences this March.
William Harty’s widow Mandy Casey. Pic: PA
‘He has traumatised me’
Mr Harty’s widow, Mandy Casey, said in a victim impact statement read to the court that Heggs “took (her) husband’s dignity when he was most vulnerable”.
“You don’t take someone’s dignity and pride from them on their deathbed.”
She continued: “When I found out special constable Heggs had done this, I just wanted to ask why. He has traumatised me. I feel I will never know if he showed them to others.”
Ms Casey said she was still scared that photos of her husband’s body might appear on social media.
She added that she had lost trust in the police.
Public trust in police ‘significantly undermined’
Judge Timothy Spencer told Heggs, who has autism and ADHD, that he was “probably too immature to be working as a police officer” as he handed down the sentence.
He said Heggs had received “extensive training”, including on the importance of data protection, and knew he should only share materials for “a genuine policing purpose”.
Heggs’s actions had “significantly undermined” public trust and confidence in police, according to the judge.
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Malcolm McHaffie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “William Heggs abused the public’s trust in the office he held as a special police constable.
“He violated the dignity of the deceased victims for no apparent reason other than what could be considered personal fascination and to gain credibility among his peers.”
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