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UN agency chief ‘shocked’ as UK and others pause funding over claims staff involved in Hamas attack | World News

The head of the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) has said the decision by nine countries to pause funding for the aid agency is “shocking”.

The suspension of funding by countries including the UK and US followed allegations UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel.

“These decisions threaten our ongoing humanitarian work across the region including and especially in the Gaza Strip,” commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said.

Follow live: ‘Ironclad’ intel shows UN agency staff links to Hamas

“UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over two million people depending on it for their sheer survival,” Mr Lazzarini said.

“Some 3,000 core staff out of 13,000 in Gaza continue to report to work, giving their communities a lifeline which can collapse anytime now due to lack of funding,” he added.

He suggested UNRWA would be “forced to suspend its humanitarian response” if funding was not reinstated.

In the wake of the allegations, the Foreign Office said it was “temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations”.

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Israeli senior adviser says 12 UN members just the ‘tip of the iceberg’

It comes after a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “documented, clear and ironclad” information showing 12 UNRWA staff members were part of the Hamas force that broke into Israel and killed 1,200 civilians.

Mark Regev said a lot of the information that led to the accusations was shared by Hamas on social media.

“Hamas went live on social media and boasted a lot of the material, so you actually see the faces and the people involved in a lot of the crimes,” he told Sky News.

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UK pauses funding to UNRWA over claims staff were involved in Hamas attack | UK News

The UK will temporarily pause funding to the UN’s relief agency in Gaza over claims members were involved in Hamas’ attack on Israel.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said on Friday it sacked “several” employees over accusations by Israel that 12 employees were involved in the 7 October attack.

In the wake of the allegations, the Foreign Office says it is “temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations”.

Follow latest: US destroys Houthi anti-ship missile in Yemen

It said it was “appalled” by the claims, adding: “We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it.”

The UK’s decision comes after the US, Italy, Australia and Canada all also suspended additional funding for the UN aid agency.

Finland also announced it would suspend funding after the FCDO’s announcement.

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The UK will temporarily pause funding to the UN’s relief agency in Gaza over claims members were involved in Hamas’ attack on Israel.

In a statement from the Department of State, the US said it was “extremely troubled” by the allegations, and noted it has “temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them”.

It also said: “There must be complete accountability for anyone who participated in the heinous attacks of 7 October.”

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Ex-Pentagon adviser on UN-Hamas claims

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the decision to sack the staffers was taken “to protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance”.

“Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” he added.

Read more:
Who are the Houthis?
Houthi strikes ‘send clearest message’

Palestinians arrive in Rafah after fleeing an Israeli ground and air offensive in Khan Younis, 26 January, 2024. Pic: AP
Image:
Palestinians arrive in Rafah after fleeing an Israeli ground and air offensive in Khan Younis, 26 January, 2024. Pic: AP

Speaking to the Axios news agency, a senior Israeli official said that the Shin Bet and the IDF provided information which alleged active participation of UNRWA staffers, along with the use of the agency’s vehicles and facilities, on 7 October.

“This was strong and corroborated intelligence,” the official told Axios.

“A lot of the intelligence is a result of interrogations of militants who were arrested during the 7 October attack.”

UNRWA, established in 1949 following the first Arab-Israeli war, has repeatedly said throughout Israel’s war on Hamas that its ability to provide humanitarian aid to people in Gaza is on the verge of collapse.

Authorities including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have previously accused the agency of fuelling anti-Israeli sentiment, which it denies.

Fights, vomiting and abuse: Theatregoers have forgotten how to behave, staff say | Ents & Arts News

Front-of-house workers at leading West End theatres have told Sky News audiences have “forgotten how to behave” – claiming assaults and abuse are a common occurrence.

Agreeing to talk to us anonymously, we heard accounts of drunk audience members projectile vomiting in the auditorium, used condoms being found in the stalls, and ambulances being called to treat bleeding audience members after fights.

One theatre worker – who was fearful speaking out could cost him his job – said he was concerned that top management at some venues are putting “profit over safety”.

He told us how, despite a life-long love of theatre, his job has become intolerable after the COVID pandemic.

“I had a friend who is barely 5ft 2in punched in the face by a man who was 6ft 9in. She’s in her 20s.”

He said he was assaulted by a man who had arrived late and wouldn’t accept that he had to wait for an appropriate moment in the show to take his seat.

“I’d moved myself in front of the doors and he basically slammed me against the wall and then walked in, calling me a f****** w***** for doing my job… security pulled him out and he was made to apologise… but he was allowed to watch the show. I’ve just been assaulted and I’m shaken but that’s a common experience in the West End.”

As well as hearing countless examples of how audience members are routinely drunk and disrespectful, another worker even showed Sky News one theatre group’s internal incident reports.

Analysis:
Audiences behaving badly: An epidemic of anti-social behaviour

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Theatregoers thrown out as crowd boos

“We have to ask people to leave probably at least once a week,” they explained.

There’s a huge amount of people that come to the theatre and it’s just a magical experience for them” we were told – “but there is this small minority of people that have forgotten how to behave”.

Workers told us how incidents are more frequent at jukebox musicals that clearly pitch their tickets at stag and hen dos – advertising “a raucous night out”.

They bring in the crowds and the crowds spend money… there are offers at the bar and it’s money after a lockdown… we’ve got to do bag checks, ticket checks, get them to their seats before the show starts and they all want to go to the bar. I’ve had bar staff being shouted at… some horrible abuse goes on.”

Image:
London’s Shaftsbury Avenue

As an example of how little audience members seem to care, one theatre worker recounted: “I brought the person into the foyer and explained that we had received complaints about them being noisy, that they’d been vaping, to which they replied ‘So what?'”

Speaking to Sky News back in October, musical composer Stephen Schwartz – who has worked in theatre for over five decades on countless Broadway and West End hits from Godspell to Wicked – spoke of how mobile phones are becoming a real problem.

“What’s exasperating is the cell phones, people being on their phones and you want to say to them, you know, just go out in the lobby and text on your phone and let everybody else get on and watch the show!”

Read more:
Police called to ‘disturbance’ at Manchester Palace Theatre
Theatre slams abusive audience behaviour
Staff ‘fear for their safety’ after rise in anti-social behaviour

Stephen Schwartz participates in the curtain call during the 20th anniversary performance of "Wicked" on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, at Gershwin Theater in New York. (Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP)
Image:
Composer Stephen Schwartz. Pic: AP

Theatre union BECTU recently surveyed its members about this. Some 90% of the 15,000 theatre staff who responded said they regularly witnessed bad behaviour – with half saying they were thinking about quitting as a result.

Head of BECTU, Philippa Childs, said some of the stories they heard were “quite incredible”.

“People being threatened with violence, people being told somebody would be waiting for them outside of the theatre at the end of the night… the results were really shocking and what we’ve been saying to theatres is that they need to take some action to make sure their staff are protected.”

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Audience members kicked out of theatre

While Ms Childs says it’s understandable that theatres want to make up for the earnings they lost during COVID lockdowns, she wants to “make sure theatres aren’t encouraging people to arrive tanked-up”.

She adds: “Theatres were the last to open so it’s inevitable that they want to try to claw back some of that lost revenue by selling more alcohol, but I think that is a contributing factor.”

None of the theatre owners Sky News approached wanted to comment for this piece.

Record NHS staff sickness levels in England with mental health biggest issue | UK News

Mental health issues account for almost a quarter of all NHS staff absences in England, with a stark rise in staff taking sick days for anxiety, stress, and burnout since the onset of COVID-19.

The absence rate during 2022 shows the NHS lost some 27 million sick days to absence. This is the equivalent of nearly 75,000 full-time staff and includes some 20,400 nurses and 2,900 doctors.

The figure, analysed by the Nuffield Trust from NHS data for the BBC, is a rise of 29% on 2019 – the last full year before COVID hit.

Mental health issues were the top single issue, with colds, coughs, respiratory problems, and the return of flu, accounting for further big rises.

In total across 2022, some six million working days were lost in total to mental health and wellbeing reasons.

The research also found the level of sickness absence is not equal around the country. By the end of 2022, the reported sickness rate in the North West stood at 7.4%, above the national average for hospital and community services, while London was 5.4%.

True absence levels likely to be higher

The trust’s senior fellow Dr Billy Palmer said: “The health service is grappling with a difficult new normal when it comes to staff sickness leave.”

He said while there has been a lot of focus on recruitment, more needed to be done to improve the working conditions of existing staff.

Read more:
Why are so many staff leaving the health service?
NHS consultants vote to strike for two days next month

‘The worst hospital I have ever seen’

“The workforce plan needs to have concrete support to enable employers to improve NHS staff experience if the service is to break this cycle of staff absences, sickness and leaving rates,” he said.

As not every absence would have been recorded, the trust said the figures were likely to be lower than the true numbers.

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The analysis comes days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed his NHS Long Term Workforce Plan which he called the “largest expansion in training and workforce”.

The government is set to publish the long-awaited NHS workforce plan later this week to address the long-term woes in the health service.

Partygate: Conservative Party staff filmed drinking and dancing during COVID lockdown | UK News

Conservative Party staff were filmed celebrating at their London headquarters during the height of the COVID lockdown.

New footage, obtained by The Mirror, shows the workers at a Christmas party dancing, drinking and joking about COVID restrictions while lockdown rules were in place in December 2020.

Two of those at the party were named in Boris Johnson‘s resignation honours list.

One couple can be seen holding hands and dancing animatedly to Fairytale Of New York while twirling around the room, at one point knocking into a table laden with party food and drink.

During the video, one man can be heard asking: “Are you filming this?” while another responds, “it’s for party, erm, party use.”

Someone else quips, “Instagram live!”

The first person then laughs, and says: “As long as we are not streaming that we’re, like, bending the rules.”

It is understood to have been filmed at a time when many families were unable to see one another over Christmas due to the lockdown tier system, restricting the number of people who were able to mix together indoors.

The Mirror said more than 24 people attended the event, and claim at least nine people can be seen in the video.

Read more:
Boris Johnson ‘calling off the dogs’ from attacking privileges committee report
Rishi Sunak facing potentially acrimonious vote on Boris Johnson partygate report

The two people at the event recognised in Mr Johnson’s honours list are former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey (who is understood to have left before the video was taken) – who has been given a peerage – and Ben Mallet, the Tory campaign director for the 2021 London mayoral election, who can be seen in the video wearing brightly coloured braces.

The video is likely to turn the spotlight back onto former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, just days after the privileges committee found he had repeatedly misled MPs with denials over partygate.

The Mirror previously released a photo from the party, which was subsequently investigated by police. No further action was taken at the time due to lack of evidence.

Responding to the video, a Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Senior CCHQ staff became aware of an unauthorised social gathering in the basement of Matthew Parker Street organised by the Bailey campaign on the evening of 14 December 2020.

“Formal disciplinary action was taken against the four CCHQ staff who were seconded to the Bailey campaign.”

Angela Rayner, Labour deputy leader, said the video showed attendees “openly mocked the rules,” adding that the recent honours announcement was a “sickening insult”.

She said: “Revellers at this lockdown Tory booze up openly mocked the rules the British people followed. The Tories think it’s one rule for them and one rule for everyone else.”

“Instead of forcing them to face the consequences, Rishi Sunak has caved into Boris Johnsons’ demands and chosen to reward them with honours. It’s a sickening insult.”

“This Prime Minister is failing to deliver the integrity he promised and showing he’s too weak to turn the page on thirteen years of Tory scandal.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Conservative MPs and ministers should be sick to their stomachs seeing this new Partygate footage.

“While families grieved and NHS staff worked on the front line, Conservative Campaign Headquarters partied.

“What’s worse is the current Prime Minister granted Boris Johnson’s request to give some of these people honours.

“There are thousands of families out there who deserve an apology for this scandal – Rishi Sunak should give them one immediately.”

Tens of thousands of university staff on strike today – with more to come | UK News

Tens of thousands of university staff are set to go on strike today – the first of three walkouts planned for this week.

Some 70,000 members of the University and College Union (UCU) are set to take part in the action, spanning 150 universities across the UK.

Lecturers will be among those not turning up to work as a dispute over pay, contracts, and pensions continues.

Strikes are also set to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It comes after the union’s higher education committee voted to continue action last week, and not to put the latest proposals from employers to a vote of its members.

Unions including the UCU had said that a deal with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) had been reached “on terms of reference for detailed negotiations”, including on pay and workload.

Read more:
Who is going on strike in 2023 and when?

But hopes of a breakthrough were later quashed by the UCU’s higher education committee.

Raj Jethwa, Universities and Colleges Employers Association chief executive, said the agreement “reflected the employers’ genuine desire to positively reset industrial relations in our sector”.

“There is a tangible offer on the table from employers to negotiate on the issues at the heart of this dispute,” he added.

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Monday marks the start of a seventh week of strike action by higher education workers.

British Gas staff feel pressured to force installation of prepayment energy meters on customers in debt, says whistleblower | Business News

A current employee in British Gas’s debt recovery team has told Sky News that staff feel pressured to force the installation of prepayment energy meters on customers in debt.

The employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had seen an increase in the number of indebted customers since the cost of living crisis began, and that debt recovery had become the “be all and end all”.

“My role is predominantly trying to get the most out of that debt collection process. And you know, within the last 18 months, the main focus of that has been the force-fitting of prepayment meters into customers’ homes,” he said.

“A lot of pressure is put on that side of the business to collect more debt, to fit more meters. A lot of time is spent figuring out why, if we haven’t been able to fit a meter, why and what we can do better.

“A lot of the time these customers that you speak to, they physically can’t pay. They don’t have any money. They can’t afford their energy. It is not about them not wanting to pay, they can’t pay.”

British Gas has suspended its use of court warrants to force the installation of prepayment meters following a Times investigation that revealed debt collectors had forced entry into the homes of vulnerable customers.

Energy regulator Ofgem has placed British Gas under investigation and asked all other household suppliers to suspend the practice pending a review.

Forced installation of prepayment meters is intended as a last resort for use against indebted customers who refuse to pay bills, or have failed to respond to attempts by suppliers to engage, usually over a period of more than six months.

The rise in energy prices in the last year has seen an increase in the number of prepayment installations, and ministers and charities have called on companies to stop using the court process.

British Gas whistleblower
Image:
The whistleblower said he had seen an increase in vulnerable customers

The whistleblower said he had seen an increase in vulnerable customers who he believes were simply unable to meet higher energy costs.

“In the past, it’s been the vast majority of people who just avoided paying their energy, whereas now, the majority is people who are going out to work, they’ve got kids at home, and they’re trying their best, and the best isn’t good enough.

“And they’re sort of being forced into this situation where they’re technically at risk of being cut off unless they pile money, put money on their meter.”

Read more:
The claims against British Gas prepayment meters explained
Ofgem tells suppliers to suspend forced installation of prepayment meters
Why problem of prepayment meters won’t go away for vulnerable energy customers

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Centrica boss ‘truly sorry’

In a statement, British Gas’s parent company Centrica said: “We refute this description completely. There has been no increase in the number of prepayment meters we have installed in the last 12 months. Fitting a prepayment meter under warrant has always been a last resort when a customer will not engage with us despite multiple attempts over months.”

The company said installation data supported its position. British Gas supplies 27% of the UK market and has installed 16% of all prepayment meters, some 97,000 out of 600,000 in 2022. Around 20,000 of those installations were through the court warrant process with the balance requested or voluntary.

Sky News has also spoken to a woman who had a prepayment gas meter installed following a forced entry despite not being in debt and being up-to-date with direct debit payments.

The woman, a single mother of two whose identity we are protecting for personal reasons, said she came home to find contractors employed by British Gas had forced a window open.

British Gas customer
Image:
Sky News is protecting the woman’s identity for personal reasons

“I still feel really violated by it,” she said. “I just couldn’t work out how or why they’d come in, or how they got in. Once I realised, I just felt really exposed, really vulnerable and I still feel really vulnerable because the window is still broken.

“And it’s embarrassing. I got given this card that I had to go top up in a shop, it’s only in specific shops you can top it up, so you’re limited to how and when you can top up.

“The gas might run out in the middle of the night, and then you’ve got to go in, it’s 9pm, and you’ve got two children in bed.

“I’m a single mum, I can’t go out at 9pm and top up a gas card particularly not when it’s not in all the local shops, so it’s just been really difficult. I feel like for the last six months, all I’ve spoken about is British Gas.”

British Gas acknowledged it had made a mistake with the forced fitting and after five months an engineer swapped her back to a credit meter.

Centrica said it would investigate her case.

In a statement, it said: “We are very sorry to read these details and we will ensure her case is looked at as part of our investigation.

“As we made clear yesterday, the allegations around our third-party contractor Arvato are unacceptable and that’s why we immediately suspended their warrant activity.”

Thousands of university staff to strike for 18 days between February and March | UK News

Full list of UK universities affected by upcoming UCU strike

Aberdeen, The University of

Abertay University

Aberystwyth University

Anglia Ruskin University

Arts University Bournemouth

Aston University

Bangor University

Bath Spa University

Bath, University of

Bedfordshire, University of

Birkbeck, University of London

Birmingham City University

Birmingham, The University of

Bishop Grosseteste University

Bolton, The University of

Bournemouth University

Bradford, University of

Brighton, University of

Bristol, University of

Brunel University

Buckinghamshire New University

Cambridge, University of

Canterbury Christ Church University

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Cardiff University

Central Lancashire, University of

Chester, University of

Chichester, University of

City, University of London

Courtauld Institute of Art

Coventry University

Cranfield University

Cumbria, University of

De Montfort University

Derby, University of

Dundee, The University of

Durham University

East Anglia, University of

East London, University of

Edge Hill University

Edinburgh Napier University

Edinburgh, University of

Essex, University of

Exeter, University of

Falmouth University

Glasgow Caledonian University

Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow, University of

Gloucestershire, University of

Goldsmiths, University of London

Greenwich, University of

Harper Adams University

Heriot-Watt University

Hertfordshire, University of

Huddersfield, The University of

Hull, The University of

Imperial College London

Institute of Development Studies (IDS)

Keele University

Kent, The University of

King’s College London

Kingston University

Lancaster, University of

Leeds Arts University

Leeds Beckett University

Leeds Trinity University

Leeds, The University of

Leicester, University of

Lincoln, University of

Liverpool Hope University

Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA)

Liverpool John Moores University

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Liverpool, University of

London Metropolitan University

London School of Economics

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

London South Bank University

Loughborough University

Manchester Metropolitan University

Manchester, The University of

Middlesex University

Newcastle University

Newman University

Northampton, The University of

Northumbria University

Norwich University of the Arts

Nottingham Trent University

Nottingham, The University of

Open University

Oxford Brookes University

Oxford, University of

Plymouth Marjon University

Plymouth, University of

Portsmouth, University of

Queen Margaret University

Queen Mary, University of London

Queen’s University Belfast

Reading, University of

Robert Gordon University

Roehampton University

Rose Bruford College

Royal Academy of Music

Royal Agricultural University

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Royal College of Art

Royal College of Music

Royal Holloway, University of London

Royal Northern College of Music

Royal Veterinary College, University of London

Ruskin College

Salford, The University of

SAMS at University of the Highlands and Islands

Senate House, University of London

Sheffield Hallam University

Sheffield, The University of

SOAS, University of London

Solent University

South Wales, University of

Southampton, University of

St Andrews, University of

St George’s, University of London

St Mary’s University College, Belfast

St Mary’s University, Twickenham

Staffordshire University

Stirling, The University of

Stranmillis University College

Strathclyde, University of

Suffolk, University of

Sunderland, University of

Surrey, University of

Sussex, University of

Swansea University

Teesside, University of

Trinity Laban

UCA University for the Creative Arts

Ulster University

University College Birmingham

University College London

University of the Arts London

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Warwick, University of

West London, University of

West of England, University of the

West of Scotland, University of the

Westminster, University of

Winchester, The University of

Wolverhampton, University of

Worcester, University of

Wrexham Glyndwr University

Writtle University College

York, University of

York St John University

Rail workers, Border Force staff and driving examiners resume strike action | UK News

Rail workers, Border Force staff and driving examiners are resuming strike action today, with commuters warned of serious delays as they return to work.

It comes after a day of travel chaos despite a rail strike by the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers’ Union (RMT) coming to an end, with crowds of people left waiting at major train stations across London and many journeys delayed due to the late handover of engineering works.

Here is a list of those striking today:
Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) at Great Western Railway will walk out from noon to 11.59am on Thursday
• West Midlands Trains will strike for 24 hours from noon until the same time on Thursday
• Driving examiners from the Public and Commerical services (PCS) union at 71 test centres will launch a five-day strike
• Border Force officers at the same union will begin a four-day strike at six airports

Rail unions have launched strike action over a dispute with the government and rail companies about pay, job cuts and changes to terms and conditions, saying they should be given a pay offer to reflect the rising cost of living.

West Midlands Trains said that none of its services would be running from Wednesday morning as a result of the TSSA strike.

TSSA organising director Nadine Rae said its members are “sick and tired of being taken for granted” and “deserve a pay rise to manage the escalating cost of living”.

“The company, like all the train operators under the control of the Department for Transport, need to face up to the fact that only serious offers which meet our aspirations will end this dispute,” she said.

‘Put some money on the table’

Network Rail has told passengers to prepare for “significantly disrupted” travel into the new year amid the wave of industrial unrest.

At the same time, driving instructors, who are part of the PCS union and employed by the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency, will walk out of test centres across eastern England and the Midlands.

They are set to return to work on 1 January.

“Our members have been offered a pay rise of just 2% at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is above 10%,” PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said.

“These strikes could be called off tomorrow if Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt put some money on the table.”

Border Force officers at Gatwick, Heathrow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow airports and the port of Newhaven will resume strikes in the same dispute, and will return to work on New Year’s Eve.

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What is industrial action?

Unions trying to find ways to stage more strikes

Meanwhile, unions are looking at ways to stage further strikes by splitting ballots by job titles rather than holding a single vote, according to reports.

The i newspaper reported that the TSSA is poised to let different sections of its membership vote at different times in order to carry out multiple walkouts per week.

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The Department for Transport has described the reports as “incredibly disappointing” and urged unions to “step back, reconsider and get back around the table”.

“After two years of virtual Christmases, the British public deserve better than to have their festive celebrations impacted by strikes,” a spokesman said.

“The transport secretary and rail minister have worked hard to facilitate a fair and reasonable offer, which two unions have accepted, and it is incredibly disappointing that some continue to strike.”

‘NHS staff are worked to the bone’: Health secretary Steve Barclay challenged by mother during hospital visit | Politics News

A mother has challenged health secretary Steve Barclay during a hospital visit, telling him that NHS staff are being “worked to the bone”.

Sarah Pinnington-Auld said her three-year-old daughter Lucy, who has cystic fibrosis, was pushed off the “absolutely horrific” waiting list at King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill, London, because of “the obscene number of people who came through and the lack of resources”.

“That’s what is really upsetting actually because we have a daughter with a life-limiting, life-shortening condition,” she told Mr Barclay.

“We have brilliant experts that are being worked to the bone and the level of care… they’re not being able to provide it in the way they want to provide it.

“The staff are amazing, the NHS staff are incredible, and they are particularly even more incredible because they are working under such rough conditions.”

Politics live: Health secretary says he is keen to talk to unions

She cited the pressures facing King’s College Hospital and added that “it’s not fair to blame it on the pandemic anymore is it, because actually we have problems in the NHS before we went into the pandemic”.

She added: “We were short of doctors, we were short of beds going into the pandemic so I think it is really wrong to blame it on the pandemic.”

And on bed shortages, she told the health secretary: “We have people who can’t get into health and social care and are taking up beds.

“So until you as a government prioritise health and social care, we are not going to free up the already limited number of beds.”

The mother-of-two said Mr Barclay responded to her concerns by saying the government was investing more money into the health service

Ms Pinnington-Auld has previously posted on social media about her support for the Labour Party.

Mr Barclay is understood to be writing to the unions to request fresh talks over strike action – but sources say he still won’t discuss increasing their wages.

Both nurses and ambulance workers are set to stage walkouts this week amid ongoing anger over pay and working conditions.