Threatening to sack migrant nursing staff ‘abhorrent beyond words’, says Royal College of Nursing in response to Reform UK
Responding to Reform UK plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain for migrants, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said “Threatening to sack thousands of migrant nursing staff is abhorrent beyond words. These are people who have come to the UK to care for patients and become part of our communities. They deserve so much better than this.
“The policy of retrospectively removing people’s rights in this way would be unprecedented, leaving migrant nursing staff unable to work or access welfare, despite having paid tax. It shows neither compassion nor an understanding of the fundamental role our brilliant migrant nursing staff play in health and care. Without them, services would simply cease to function.
“As the largest nursing union, we are deeply concerned by the increasingly hostile rhetoric shown towards migrants. We urge all political parties to end this race to the bottom and instead acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of those who come to the UK from overseas.”
Nations’ plans to ramp up coal, gas and oil extraction ‘will put climate goals beyond reach’
New data shows governments now planning more fossil fuel production in coming decades than they were in 2023
Governments around the world are ramping up coal, gas and oil extraction which will put climate goals beyond reach, new data has shown.
Far from reducing reliance on fossil fuels, nations are planning higher levels of fossil fuel production for the coming decades than they did in 2023, the last time comparable data was compiled.
This increase goes against the commitments that countries have made at UN climate summits to “transition away from fossil fuels” and phase down production, particularly of coal.
If all of the planned new extraction takes place, the world will produce more than double the quantity of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with holding global temperature rises to 1.5C above preindustrial levels.
Emily Ghosh, a programme director at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) in the US, said: “Fossil fuel production should have peaked and started to fall. Every year of delay [to the peak and rapid fall required] significantly increases the pressure [on the climate].”
She said an urgent “course correction” from governments was needed, but the current and planned overproduction of fossil fuels meant the world was burning through its remaining “carbon budget” – the amount that can be emitted without permanently exceeding the 1.5C threshold – at a rapid rate.
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