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Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has refused to get back round the table with junior doctors until they call off their industrial action.

The medics, who make up nearly half of all doctors in NHS England, began their second of three strike days on Thursday over pay and conditions, with a further six walkouts planned for January.

Talks between their union, the British Medical Association (BMA), and the government collapsed earlier this month when ministers failed to put a final offer on the table before the union’s deadline – leading to strike dates being set.

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Junior doctors and consultants on the picket line outside University College Hospital, London

Reports suggested an additional pay rise of around 3% – on top of the 8.8% recommended by the independent pay review body in April – was put on the table by the government.

But the BMA said that would amount to real-term pay cuts for its members following years of below-inflation pay rises, with only a rise of 35% bringing pay back to 2008 levels.

And while both sides say they are willing to negotiate, the government is standing by its position of not holding talks while strikes are on the table, and the BMA will not cancel the action, branding ministers “an irrational partner”.

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Speaking to Sky News, Ms Atkins said she was “very much keen to negotiate with junior doctors”, adding: “If they call off the strikes, we will get straight back around that table and continue to negotiate.

“Because, of course, there isn’t just an economic cost to these strikes. There is also a very human cost to this, and there will be people at home watching this programme who are in pain, who are in distress and whose appointments have been cancelled over these three-day periods.”

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins

Asked if there would be extra money for junior doctors, the health secretary said “yes”, and that she wanted to “find fair and reasonable settlements with those parts of the workforce who have either taken part in industrial action or who are concerned”.

But pushed over why, if there is cash available, she won’t kick off talks immediately, Ms Atkins said: “NHS England is a little bit like an oil tanker. The moment that a strike is called, that has very very serious consequences for the whole of the system.

“So for the last week and a half, managers, medical directors, clinicians up and down the country have been devoting days and days of preparation to try to keep the system stable during these strikes and we have to have certainty from the junior doctors committee whereby they call off the strikes, then we can go into negotiation.”

She added: “I cannot flick NHS England on and off like a switch. And by the way, this is the principle we apply across the public sector. And so it is right that we treat people… when unions are having discussions with government, it’s right that we treat people the same.

“And we have always said if there are strikes happening at the moment, affecting patients, affecting the public, we will not negotiate, but the moment they call them off I will be back around that table.”

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Junior doctors brand government ‘irrational’

Co-chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, Dr Robert Laurenson, told Sky News on Wednesday that it was “completely reckless” for the government to have an offer they were willing to make, but refuse to do so during the strikes.

“It’s actually madness and it’s the behaviour of an irrational partner,” he said. “The government have the power to sort this out by giving us something sensible to put to our members, and until they do that, we have nothing to put to our members.”

Elsewhere in the UK, junior doctors in Wales are planning a 72-hour strike from 15 January, while junior doctors in Northern Ireland are being balloted for potential strike action.

Staff in Scotland have already come to an agreement with the Scottish government.

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Border Force to stage more strikes at Heathrow Airport during half term

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Border Force to stage more strikes at Heathrow Airport during half term

More strikes have been announced by Border Force staff at Heathrow Airport at the back end of half term.

The strike action will take place on 31 May and 1 and 2 June.

It will be followed by three weeks of action short of a strike, including staff working to rule and a ban on overtime running from 4 until 25 June.

More than 500 members of the PCS (public and commercial services) union will take part in the strikes, which come following a dispute over a new staff roster.

The PCS said it expects the walkouts to disrupt passport checks for travellers coming into the UK at the airport.

The staff, who work in terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5, started four days of strike action last month.

The union said it had written to the Home Office following the previous industrial action “highlighting the many problems raised” with the new system.

Its general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “We are keen to resolve this dispute but the Home Office must first put something on the table for our members to consider.

“The Home Office has said it is ‘open to discuss’ a resolution but it only responded to our request for a meeting after we threatened further action.

“Until it comes back with changes to the roster that will benefit our members then the dispute will continue.”

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A spokeswoman for Heathrow Airport said it would be working with the Home Office on contingency plans to minimise disruption to passengers.

She told Sky News that past strikes had been “dealt with well” and “managed successfully”.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We are disappointed with the union’s decision to strike but remain open to discussing a resolution with PCS union.

“The changes we are implementing will bring the working arrangements for Border Force Heathrow staff in line with the way staff work at all other major ports, provide them with more certainty on working patterns, and improve the service to the travelling public.

“We have robust plans in place to minimise disruption where possible, but we urge passengers to check the latest advice from operators before they travel.”

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Rebecca Joynes: Teacher found guilty of sexual activity with two schoolboys

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Rebecca Joynes: Teacher found guilty of sexual activity with two schoolboys

A “predator” teacher has been found guilty of having sex with two schoolboys.

Rebecca Joynes, 30, was found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust, following a two-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Joynes had denied she had sex with one schoolboy, boy A, and insisted in court that her relationship with a second teenager, boy B, only began once he had left school and she had been fired from her job – so it wasn’t illegal.

Jurors heard that both boys sent Joynes flirty Snapchat messages, and hid the interactions from their parents.

She took boy A – who lied about going to a friend’s house after school finished on a Friday – shopping and bought him a £350 Gucci belt before they went back to her flat in Salford Quays, where they had sex twice, the court was told.

Joynes told the boy, “No one had better find out”.

The next day the court heard the boy’s mother noticed a love-bite on her son’s neck which he dismissed as, “nothing”.

However, rumours began circulating and on the Monday morning police officers were at the school along with boy A’s “distraught” mother who stormed into reception after being told her son had spent the night with a teacher.

Joynes was bailed on condition she have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18.

The teenager’s semen was later recovered from her bedsheets by police.

Boy B said sexual activity began when he was 15, with kissing and full sex when he was 16 – and still a pupil.

Joynes was already suspended from her high school job when she allegedly kissed and fondled the second, boy B, after sending him a photo of her bottom wearing just a thong, the jury heard.

Boy B later told officers he viewed the relationship as “friends with benefits” and said they regularly had sex while he was still at school.

He said Joynes had told him she could not have a baby and they had unprotected sex.

Boy B told officers the day before Joynes was arrested for a second time, she had planned a “date night”, with “surprises” around the flat – to which he played along with and followed.

At the end it was a baby grow, saying, ‘Best Dad’ on the front.

“I was like, ‘What the f***!'”, boy B told police.

Joynes told the jury she had ruined her “dream job” with stupid “mistakes” by meeting up with the two teenagers and having them back at her flat, but had denied under-age sex.

She said she had come out of a nine-year relationship, was lonely and flattered by the attention.

During the trial, she appeared in court with a pink baby’s bonnet visibly tucked into her trousers.

It belonged to the child she had with boy B.

Joynes wept as she told jurors the baby she had with boy B was taken away from her hours after giving birth and she now has only limited access, three times a week.

Talking about the baby bonnet, prosecutor Joe Allman told the jury in his closing speech: “That was a pretty naked attempt to garner your sympathy.”

Jane Wilson, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West, described Joynes as a “sexual predator”.

“Joynes was entrusted with the responsibility of teaching and safeguarding children. She abused her position to groom and ultimately sexually exploit schoolboys. Her behaviour has had a lasting impact on them.”

Neither teen can be identified for legal reasons.

Joynes will be sentenced on 4 July.

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Devon: Confirmed cases of disease more than double to 46 after parasite found in drinking water

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Devon: Confirmed cases of disease more than double to 46 after parasite found in drinking water

The confirmed cases of a waterborne disease caused by a parasite have more than doubled.

There are now 46 confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis, a diarrhoeal illness, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said – with more than 100 further people reporting similar symptoms in the Brixham area.

Other reported cases of diarrhoea and vomiting in residents and visitors to the south Devon town are also under investigation. Hundreds of locals have also reported feeling unwell over the last two weeks on social media.

MPs and South West Water officials have confirmed the parasite most likely entered water supplies through animal faeces, but an investigation is still ongoing.

What is cryptosporidiosis disease?

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‘Cow faeces’ infected Devon water

The UKHSA first confirmed cases of the disease at around midday on Wednesday, while locals were initially told by South West Water that their tap water was uncontaminated and safe to drink.

But after testing supplies in the Hillhead reservoir, the water company found “small traces” of the parasite cryptosporidium – which causes cryptosporidiosis – and told residents in parts of Brixham and Alston to boil their drinking water on Wednesday.

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A total of 16,000 households and businesses in Brixham, Boohay, Kingswear, Roseland and North West Paignton were impacted and offered £15 compensation at first.

Over the next two days, South West Water apologised to those affected and increased the offer to £115. Amid the chaos, one primary school closed its doors on Thursday due to not having safe running drinking water.

An area around Brixham, Devon, affected by a 'boil your tap water' warning. Pic: South West Water
Image:
16,000 businesses and residents are affected by the boil water notice. Pic: South West Water

‘Very hard questions for water company’

Speaking to Sky News yesterday, South West Water’s chief customer officer Laura Flowerdew confirmed it was likely a broken air valve contaminated by animal faeces that had caused the outbreak.

However, she refused to give a timeframe on how long the incident would be ongoing – leaving thousands of residents facing an uncertain future.

Speaking on Friday at the University of Exeter, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said there will be “very, very hard questions” for South West Water over the outbreak.

“At the moment I think we probably need to give them the space to conduct their investigation; we know that they have identified the source,” she said.

“The public will want to know how on earth that source happened, what was the chain of events that led to this, because of course we all understand the expectation that we all have when we turn our taps on is that [we get] clean drinking water and we want to be able to trust it.”

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File pic: Dr_Microbe/iStock

Release of sporozoites from Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst, 3D illustration. Cryptosporidium is a protozoan, microscopic parasite, the causative agent of the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis
Image:
Most cases of cryptosporidiosis pass in two weeks. Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. File pic: Dr_Microbe/iStock

‘Expect to see more cases’

Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall also warned the boil notice could last “at least a further six or seven days” and called for more transparency.

Professor Paul Hunter, a specialist in medical microbiology at the University of East Anglia, told Sky News if the parasite was “a continuous thing” present in water supplies for a prolonged period, then “you’d expect to see more cases” for another two weeks.

It comes as hotel owners in the area told Sky News the outbreak has led to people cancelling their stay, while a head chef said “I can’t wash salad in the sink”.

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‘Destroyed our business’

Stephen Colemansfield, owner of Redlands Guest House in Brixham, told Sky News the outbreak has “destroyed our business at the moment”.

“Our guests have cancelled because of the mixed messages that are being sent out by South West Water.”

Rob, head chef at the Steam Packet Inn in Kingswear near Dartmouth, also said his brother-in-law is one of the 46 confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis and has been sick for two weeks.

The UKHSA is working with Torbay Council, South West Water, NHS Devon and the Environment Agency on the incident.

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