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A crucial meeting between unions and NHS employers is expected to pave the way towards a resolution of the long-running pay dispute, which has led to numerous strikes.

The NHS Staff Council will today hear reports from unions to decide whether to accept the government’s offer of a 5% pay rise and cash sum for last year.

Having recently balloted hundreds of thousands of health workers, members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite on Monday rejected the offer, with other unions, including Unison and GMB, accepting the offer.

If accepted by the Health Department today, it would be a key step forward in the government implementing the pay rise to all health workers covered by the agreement, including members of the RCN and Unite.

It comes on the same day that members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England will stage a 24-hour strike, in a continuing dispute over pay.

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Strikes: Huge crowds march through London

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said on Monday that he was “cautiously optimistic” that the council will vote in favour of the deal, but the RCN is already pressing ahead with a fresh ballot – regardless of the council’s decision.

“We will continue to lose a day’s pay standing on picket lines for our patients so that’s how important it is to them and they want to have their voice heard,” said Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary.

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“How are they going to have their voice heard and have this brought to a conclusion without the Secretary of State getting into a room and starting to negotiate again with me.”

She warned that members could be forced out onto picket lines right up until Christmas if the government does not address the nursing crisis.

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Nurses’ strikes could last ‘until Xmas’

As discussions within the council take place, Unite members at South Central, South East Coast and West Midlands ambulance trusts alongside workers at Christies NHS Foundation Trust, Christies Pathology Partnership, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust will all take part in industrial action.

Onay Kasab, Unite national officer, said the government’s offer does not go far enough to address “massive problems facing the NHS due to overworked and underpaid workers”.

The government is also being urged to hold fresh talks with the NEU to avoid any more classroom closures, which force parents to keep their children at home.

Staff at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) including members of Unison, Unite and the Public and Commercial Services union will also walk out today, including those working in inspection teams, call centres and data analysis.

Members voted to strike after they received a pay increase of between 2.75% and 3.5%, and a one-off payment of £100 or £150 in December, depending on their salary, an offer leaders said does not “reflect its essential work”.

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McIlroy wins Masters to complete career Grand Slam – follow latest reaction

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Rory McIlroy claims career Grand Slam with US Masters win

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Rory McIlroy claims career Grand Slam with US Masters win

Rory McIlroy has completed a career Grand Slam in golf with his win at the US Masters tournament.

The Masters was the last major tournament left for McIlroy to complete the modern golf Grand Slam – a feat only five others have managed before him.

McIlroy, who was making his 11th attempt at completing the Grand Slam, faced off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to decide the Masters champion, after they finished tied on 11 under at the end of regulation on Sunday.

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after winning in a playoff against Justin Rose after the final round at the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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McIlroy reacts as he wins. Pic: AP

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after winning in a playoff against Justin Rose after the final round at the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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McIlroy reacts after winning against Justin Rose at the Masters. Pic: AP

“It’s my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said just before slipping on the Green Jacket during the presentation ceremony.

“I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”

McIlroy had missed his six-foot putt for par, a bogey which dropped him back to 11 under, where he joined Rose – leading to a dramatic play-off between the two.

Only five other golfers have been able to complete a career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.

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Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

McIlroy is a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, claiming the prize in 2012 and 2014.

The 35-year-old also won his first major title, the US Open, in 2011, and won The Open Championship in 2014.

How did McIlroy get to the victory?

McIlroy recovered from losing his overnight two-shot advantage with an opening-hole double bogey to initially take control at Augusta National, only to blow a four-shot lead over his closing six holes.

The world No 2 bogeyed the last to close a one-over 73 and slip back to 11 under alongside Rose, who overturned a seven-stroke deficit and posted a stunning final-round 66 to force a play-off.

The players returned to the 18th for the play-off, where McIlroy made amends for his 72nd-hole blunder by firing a stunning approach to within three feet of the pin and making the birdie putt required for a life-changing win.

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Race to keep British Steel furnaces running with last-minute efforts to secure raw materials under way

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Race to keep British Steel furnaces running with last-minute efforts to secure raw materials under way

Last-minute efforts to keep British Steel operating are to be carried out today, as the plant races to secure a supply of raw materials.

The Department for Business and Trade said officials are working to secure supplies of materials, including coking coal, to keep British Steel operational, as well as to ensure all staff will be paid.

It added that setting up new supply chains was “crucial” as a fall in blast furnace temperature could risk “irreparable damage to the site, with the steel setting and scarring the machinery”.

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British Steel: What happens next?

Companies including Tata – which ran the now-closed Port Talbot steelworks – and Rainham Steel have offered managerial support and materials to keep the Lincolnshire site running.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that “when I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it”.

“Steel is vital for our national security and our ambitious plans for the housing, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the UK,” he added.

“We will set out a long-term plan to co-invest with the private sector to ensure steel in the UK has a bright and sustainable future.”

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British Steel Ltd steelworks in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire
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Unions said Jingye decided to cancel orders of key materials for the steelworks

Earlier this month, unions said the steelwork’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, decided to cancel future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.

It meant the Scunthorpe plant had been on course to close down by May, bit it sparked urgent calls for government intervention.

Emergency legislation was passed on Saturday bringing the steelworks into effective government control, and officials were on site as soon as the new legislation came into force.

However, the business secretary has warned that does not mean the plant is guaranteed to survive.

Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds also said he would not bring a Chinese company into the “sensitive” steel sector again.

“I don’t know… the Boris Johnson government when they did this, what exactly the situation was,” he added. “But I think it’s a sensitive area.”

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‘I wouldn’t bring a Chinese company into our steel sector’

Jingye stepped in with a deal to buy British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant out of insolvency in 2020, when Mr Johnson was prime minister.

The minister added that while The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill stops short of the full nationalisation of British Steel, “to be frank, as I said to parliament yesterday, it is perhaps at this stage the likely option”.

The Conservatives accused the government of acting “too late” and implementing a “botched nationalisation” after ignoring warnings about the risk to the steelworks.

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A sticking plaster, not a solution: What next for British Steel?
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Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “The Labour Government have landed themselves in a steel crisis entirely of their own making.

“They’ve made poor decisions and let the unions dictate their actions.”

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