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In its long and venerable history dating back 192 years, the British Medical Association used to shy away from being called a “trades union”.

Collective bargaining was for “trades people”; the doctors were independent professionals. Their association was there to campaign for best practice and to offer advice to the politicians regulating health treatment.

That was when the reflex of most medical practitioners was to subscribe to the Hippocratic principle often paraphrased as “first do no harm”.

Much has changed. Today the BMA has no qualms about being described as the “doctors’ union”.

It has freely employed strong-arm negotiating tactics, familiar from industrial disputes, in pursuit of better pay for its members – including strikes, walkouts, deadlines and work to rules.

These have culminated in the current “unprecedented” six-day strike by junior doctors in England, which is due to end at 7am on Tuesday.

There can be no doubt that the strikes are doing harm to patient care.

More on Nhs

NHS England has just reported that 89,000 “appointments and procedures” had to be put off because of the three-day strike in December.

Since the industrial action started last March, 1.2 million appointments have been cancelled and rescheduled.

The BMA rejected requests from the NHS to keep working in critical areas including fast-progressing cancers, corneal transplants and emergency caesareans.

Heated recriminations broke out as the BMA accused hospital managers of “weaponising” so-called “derogation requests” permitting them to recall staff to work if patient safety is “in jeopardy”.

Meanwhile, some A&E departments declared “critical” incidents with waiting times for treatment stretching as long as 16 hours.

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Patient backs NHS despite cancellations

PM failing to fix waiting list backlog

“Cutting NHS waiting lists” was one of the prime minister’s five pledges and this aim is seriously off track. Opinion polls taken during the dispute suggest that just over half of the public back the strikes (53%).

In a survey four months ago, people were more inclined to blame the government for the dispute (45%) than the BMA (21%), although 25% said they were both responsible.

Yet 11 months into the confrontation, the junior doctors, who lose pay on strike days, must be wondering what they are getting out of it. Their demand for a massive 35.3% pay rise still seems out of reach.

Having walked out of negotiations in December, Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chair of the BMA junior doctors’ committee, now says he might be prepared to engage in more talks, saying “all we want is a credible offer that we can put to our members and we don’t need to strike again”.

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Although discontent over pay is widespread throughout the NHS workforce, most sectors other than junior doctors in England have accepted deals or, at the least, suspended their action.

NHS consultants accepted salary rises of up to 12.8% along with some pay reforms.

The Royal College of Nursing ballot for further strike action failed and a pay rise of 5.5% was imposed.

Health management is devolved. Junior doctors in Scotland accepted a 12.4% pay rise, on top of 4.5% in 2022/23. Junior doctors in Northern Ireland are balloting on a similar offer. In Wales, there is the prospect of a three-day strike from 15-18 January.

When negotiations broke down before Christmas, the government was offering a 3.3% increase on top of the 8.8% already imposed, taking the total for the English juniors above 12%.

A NHS hospital ward
Image:
Junior doctors in Scotland have accepted a 12.4% pay rise

Junior doctors and members of the British Medical Association (BMA) outside Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, as they take to picket lines for six days during their continuing dispute over pay. Picture date: Wednesday January 3, 2024.
Image:
The level of doctors’ real-terms pay cut is disputed

Are the strikes really ‘saving the NHS’?

By the standards of the other disputes, a reasonable settlement should be within touching distance were it not for the sense of grievance, embodied in the claim that pay has been cut in real terms by more than a third since 2008.

Few independent analysts accept the BMA’s calculation, which relies heavily on RPI inflation fluctuations. In line with recent trends for national statistics, the independent Institute for Government says the CPIH, the consumer price index, would be a more appropriate indicator, meaning a cut of 11-16%.

This was in the post-credit crunch, austerity period when wages across the public and private sectors stagnated.

The public is sympathetic to junior doctors who help to keep them well, but should they be an exception?

Over time, pay structures change. The youngest and lowest paid of those now on strike were at primary school in 2008; is it rational to restore their pay levels to what they were then?

“Junior doctors” is an unsatisfactory catch-all term for a wide range of hospital doctors. “Doctors in training” – which some Conservative politicians attempted to popularise – hardly does them justice either.

The term covers all hospital doctors who are not consultants, ranging from those just qualified and still effectively indentured, to senior registrars.

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First-year junior doctors earn £32,398, rising to £37,303 in the second year and £43,923 in the third. Registrars’ basic pay goes up to £58,000. Full-time NHS consultants earn up to £120,000.

On the picket lines, strikers often argue their action is not about their own pay but to save the NHS because, they say, many of their peers are leaving for better terms in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Conversely, as recent special grade immigration figures show, there are many qualified people abroad with conflicting aspirations who are anxious to come here to work in the NHS.

Junior doctor and members of the British Medical Association (BMA) on the picket line outside Leeds General Infirmary at the start a five-day strike amid the continuing dispute over pay, the longest walkout of its kind in the history of the NHS. Picture date: Thursday July 13, 2023. PA Photo.  See PA story INDUSTRY Strikes Doctors. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Much to ponder on how the NHS should work

The additional crisis brought on by the strikes has inevitably prompted some rethinking about how the NHS is working.

Speaking to Sarah-Jane Mee on the Sky News Daily’s How To Fix The NHS mini-podcast series, Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, observed “that everything flowed better” in A&E departments because senior doctors providing cover had more direct contact with patients and “there were fewer people coming into hospital for elective work and this meant more beds”.

Those statements about organisation in the NHS should provide consultants, junior doctors and potential patients with a lot to ponder.

The same goes for politicians, who the public holds primarily responsible for delivering their healthcare.

Steve Barclay took an abrasively inactive approach to the various NHS disputes when he was health secretary. In November he was moved to make way for the more emollient Victoria Atkins.

She says she wants “a fair and reasonable settlement” to end the strikes and is open to further negotiations provided the threat of more strikes is withdrawn.

 Victoria Atkins MP
Image:
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting speaking during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Picture date: Wednesday October 11, 2023.
Image:
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting

Is the NHS broken – and would Labour do any better?

Atkins’ position is not much different from Wes Streeting, her Labour opposite number.

He has said for months that the disputes should be sorted out by negotiations with ministers and that a Labour government would not meet the 35% pay claim.

Streeting is of the view that reform, likely to discomfort some of the NHS’s vested interests, is more needed than extra cash.

Whatever view they take of the doctors’ actions, public pessimism about the NHS is on the rise.

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Labour won’t match doctors’ demands

Much as they love the NHS, growing numbers of the public say it is “broken” or “not fit for purpose”. There is also a live debate about whether doctors should lose the right to strike, just like the police and members of the armed services.

The pollsters regularly ask the question “should doctors be allowed to strike?”

Last summer, at the height of the consultants’ dispute, 50% said yes, 42% no. By November, support for doctors’ right to strike had dropped to 47% yes, 46% no.

The asking of that question alone would have astonished the founders of the BMA’s precursor, the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, back in 1832.

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SEC and Gemini ask to pause lawsuit to explore ‘potential resolution’

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SEC and Gemini ask to pause lawsuit to explore ‘potential resolution’

SEC and Gemini ask to pause lawsuit to explore ‘potential resolution’

The US Securities and Exchange Commission and crypto exchange Gemini have asked to pause the regulator’s suit over the exchange’s Gemini Earn program, saying they want to discuss a potential resolution. 

In an April 1 letter to New York federal court judge Edgardo Ramos, lawyers representing the SEC and Genesis requested a 60-day hold on the case and that all deadlines be pulled “to allow the parties to explore a potential resolution.” 

“In this case, the parties submit that it is in each of their interests to stay this matter while they consider a potential resolution and agree that no party or non-party would be prejudiced by a stay,” the letter states.

The lawyers added that a stay was in the court’s interest as “a resolution would conserve judicial resources” and proposed that a joint status report be submitted within 60 days after the entry of the stay.

The SEC sued Gemini and crypto lending firm Genesis Global Capital in January 2023, alleging they offered unregistered securities through the Gemini Earn program.

In March 2024, Genesis agreed to pay $21 million to settle charges related to the lending program, but the enforcement case against Gemini remains outstanding.

SEC and Gemini ask to pause lawsuit to explore ‘potential resolution’

Letter from SEC and Genesis Global requesting extension of stay. Source: CourtListener

The letter did not specify what a possible resolution would entail, but the SEC has dropped several lawsuits it launched against crypto companies under the Biden administration, including against Coinbase, Ripple and Kraken.

Related: Will new US SEC rules bring crypto companies onshore?

In February, Gemini said the SEC closed a separate investigation into the firm as the regulator winds back its crypto enforcement under President Donald Trump. 

“The SEC cost us tens of millions of dollars in legal bills alone and hundreds of millions in lost productivity, creativity, and innovation. Of course, Gemini is not alone,” Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss said at the time.

OpenSea, Crypto.com and Uniswap, among others, have also recently reported that the SEC had closed similar probes into their companies that were investigating alleged breaches of securities laws.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

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Crypto PAC-backed Republicans win US House seats in Florida special elections

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Crypto PAC-backed Republicans win US House seats in Florida special elections

Crypto PAC-backed Republicans win US House seats in Florida special elections

Two Republicans who received a combined $1.5 million from the crypto-backed political action committee (PAC) Fairshake will enter the US House after winning special elections in Florida.

Republican Jimmy Patronis won the vacant seat in Florida’s 1st Congressional District to replace Matt Gaetz, taking 57% of the vote to defeat Democrat Gay Valimont, according to AP News data.

Randy Fine also took Florida’s 6th Congressional District with 56.7% of the vote to beat his Democratic rival, public school teacher Josh Weil, and fill a seat left vacant by Mike Waltz, who took a job as White House national security adviser.

Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts — located in Florida’s western panhandle and along the state’s northeast coast — have been controlled by Republicans for roughly 30 years, but their lead has narrowed in recent years.

Fairshake, a PAC backed by crypto industry giants including Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz, gave Fine around $1.16 million in advertising spending and funneled $347,000 to Patronis to support his campaign.

Both Republicans have expressed support for the crypto industry, with Fine stating in a Jan. 14 X post that “Floridians want crypto innovation!”

Crypto PAC-backed Republicans win US House seats in Florida special elections

Source: Randy Fine

Fairshake and its affiliates poured around $170 million into the 2024 US presidential and congressional elections to back candidates who committed to supporting the crypto industry.

The wins by Patronis and Fine increased Republican representation in the House to 220 seats, with the Democrats holding 213 seats.

There are two vacant seats to be filled after Texas and Arizona Democrats Sylvester Turner and Raúl Grijalva died on March 5 and March 13, respectively.

Florida can expect to see a crypto-friendly regulatory environment 

The victories for Patronis and Fine likely mean that crypto legislation will continue to see support in the US capital.

The Republican Party would have maintained its House majority even if it lost both seats in Florida, but it would have made it more difficult for some of the recently introduced Republican-backed crypto bills to pass through the House and Senate.

Related: Florida bill proposes strict rules against online gambling

At the Digital Assets Summit on March 18, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna said he believes Congress “should be able to get” both a stablecoin and crypto market structure bill done this year.

Bills that could eventually make their way to the House include the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which passed the Senate Banking Committee in an 18-6 vote on March 13.

Senator Cynthia Lummis also reintroduced a Bitcoin reserve bill about a week after the Trump administration announced the establishment of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve on March 6, with the legislation referred to the Senate Banking Committee on March 11.

Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

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UK trade bodies ask government to make crypto a ‘strategic priority’

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UK trade bodies ask government to make crypto a ‘strategic priority’

UK trade bodies ask government to make crypto a ‘strategic priority’

Several British trade associations have asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office to appoint a special envoy dedicated to crypto and for a dedicated action plan for digital assets and blockchain technology.

In a March 31 letter, the coalition of six UK digital economy trade bodies urged Starmer’s special adviser on business and investment, Varun Chandra, for a “greater strategic focus and alignment to deliver investment, growth and jobs” for the crypto industry. 

The group, which consisted of the UK Cryptoasset Business Council, Global Digital Finance, The Payments Association, Digital Currencies Governance Group, the Crypto Council for Innovation and techUK, noted the US policy shift on crypto under President Donald Trump and his appointment of a crypto czar.

Britain’s commitment to an economic trade deal focused on technological cooperation with the US “presents a significant opportunity to mirror the United States’ ambition in fostering leadership in blockchain, digital assets, and other emerging financial technologies,” the letter stated. 

The group recommended that the UK appoint a blockchain special envoy, similar to the US, to coordinate policy, foster innovation, and position the country competitively in global markets.

The trade bodies also called for the development of a dedicated government action plan for crypto and blockchain technology, including a concierge service to attract high-potential firms.

They added that the government should acknowledge and leverage the commonalities between blockchain, quantum computing and artificial intelligence technologies, including potential applications for government services.

Another recommendation was to create a high-level industry-government-regulator engagement forum to ensure informed decision-making and cross-sector collaboration.

UK trade bodies ask government to make crypto a ‘strategic priority’

The UK crypto and tech associations lobbying the government for a policy shift. Source: LinkedIn

“With deep pools of talent, access to capital, world-class academic institutions, and sophisticated regulators, the UK provides an environment where digital assets and blockchain innovation can thrive,” they stated. 

Related: UK should tax crypto buyers to boost stock investing, economy, says banker

The coalition argues that crypto and blockchain technology could boost the UK economy by 57 billion British pounds ($73.6 billion) over the next decade, with the sector potentially increasing global gross domestic product by 1.39 trillion pounds ($1.8 trillion) by 2030.

Tom Griffiths, the co-founder and managing partner of crypto compliance advisory firm BitCompli, said in response to the letter on LinkedIn that the Financial Conduct Authority “has a lot of talent and a good sight of future plans, but the UK is definitely losing pace with Dubai, Singapore, and other EU jurisdictions.”

“Now is the time for the FCA to act, or the UK will lose out on this huge opportunity, which is digital assets and all the benefits this sector can bring, not only now but over the next 20 years,” he added.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

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