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‘We’re ready to meet him any time’

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/were-ready-meet-him-any-time

Junior doctors and members of the British Medical Association (BMA) outside St Thomas’ Hospital, London, January 3, 2024

BMA hits back at Streeting’s ‘juvenile delinquency’ and ‘moaning minnies’ accusations

HEALTH SECRETARY Wes Streeting put himself on the warpath with the BMA union today, [yesterday] saying he has “had it” while accusing doctors of “juvenile delinquency” and being “moaning minnies” as they prepare Christmas strikes.

His tantrum came as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that a corridor care crisis could be repeated in English hospitals this winter.

BMA council chair Dr Tom Dolphin said: “It’s disappointing that, despite his comments about wanting to reach an agreement to call off this month’s strikes, the Secretary of State spent the morning making disparaging remarks about our members in the media rather than getting around the table with us.

“We’re surprised at the tone he’s taking, as we’re very much looking forward to meeting with him and his department to settle the various disputes for the good of both doctors and patients. We’re ready to meet him any time.”

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/were-ready-meet-him-any-time

Continue Reading‘We’re ready to meet him any time’

Thames Water faces collapse as crisis talks take ‘longer than expected’

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/03/thames-water-half-year-profit-leaps-to-nearly-400m-even-as-collapse-risk-remains

Thames Water has been on the brink of collapse for more than a year, struggling under the weight of £17bn in net debt, built up over decades since privatisation. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

Debt-ridden utility company warns of ‘material uncertainty’ despite seeing profits rise to more than £400m

Thames Water has said crisis talks to secure its future with lenders are taking “longer than expected” and will drag into 2026 as it faces the prospect of a collapse into government control.

Britain’s biggest water company on Wednesday said it had swung to a profit of £414m for the six months to September helped by bills rising by nearly a third, after losing £149m in the same period in 2024.

Despite the jump in reported profits, the company said there was “material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt” on its status as a going concern. A collapse into government control under a special administration regime (SAR) – a form of temporary nationalisation – “could occur in the very near term” if it is unable to agree the terms of a formal takeover by its controlling lenders.

Those creditors have asked the regulator, Ofwat, and the government for Thames to be let off future fines for pollution, arguing the prospect of hundreds of millions of pounds of extra costs is making a turnaround impossible.

The standoff has already continued for months longer than originally anticipated and the talks were expected to have concluded by the end of the year.

On Wednesday, the company said: “Discussions are taking longer than expected but this is a complex situation and the current phase of the restructuring plan will likely take a number of months to conclude.”

…

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/03/thames-water-half-year-profit-leaps-to-nearly-400m-even-as-collapse-risk-remains

Continue ReadingThames Water faces collapse as crisis talks take ‘longer than expected’

Scrapping juries risks ‘damaging politicisation’ say Greens

Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Siân Berry. Image by Kelly Hill, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0.
Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion Siân Berry. Image by Kelly Hill, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0.

Responding to the announcement from the Justice Secretary, David Lammy, that jury trials in England and Wales for crimes that carry a likely sentence of less than three years are set to be scrapped, Green Party MP, Siân Berry, said:

“The focus on victims’ rights is appreciated, but this Labour Government is taking the wrong steps to try to serve us better, and laying the groundwork for further crackdowns on dissent, whistleblowing and protest if it removes juries from so many charges that have state or corporate victims.

“Juries are also a safeguard against creeping bias and discrimination. Judges are not currently representative of our wider communities and, under these plans, individual decisions will be at risk of damaging politicisation, while individual judges who are women or from minoritised communities risk attacks from the far right.

“More than fifteen years of continuing austerity has caused a backlog in the courts, not juries. Instead of dismantling a centuries-old fundamental legal right, the Government must reverse the neglect and cuts that created this mess in the first place.”

Continue ReadingScrapping juries risks ‘damaging politicisation’ say Greens

Lammy’s jury trial plans are ‘massive mistake’, say Labour MPs and peers

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/02/david-lammy-jury-trials-cuts-labour-mps-peers

The justice secretary, David Lammy, has backed down on previous plans to permit jury trials only for cases carrying sentences of five years. Photograph: House of Commons/PA

Only cases such as murder and rape or offences carrying sentence longer than three years would face jury under plans

David Lammy has been accused of making a “massive mistake” by Labour MPs and peers after announcing radical plans to cut thousands of jury trials across England and Wales.

Defendants will no longer have the option to choose to have their cases heard before a jury, the justice secretary told the Commons. Magistrates’ powers will be extended from dealing with maximum sentences of one year to at least 18 months, he said, and a new judge-led court will be established.

The deputy prime minister has backed down on plans to remove jury trials for all cases involving a maximum jail term of five years after an outcry from MPs, lawyers and campaigners.

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The move means defendants accused of burglary, theft, fraud, sexual assault, stalking, sharing indecent images, drug dealing and criminal damage up to £10,000 could be denied the right to put their case to a jury.

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Labour MPs said the changes would make it harder for defendants and may not reduce the backlog.

Stella Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow, said jury trials only accounted for 3% of cases, asking how much difference curbing them would make. “It’s hard to see how this measure … will address that backlog,” she said.

Clive Efford, the MP for Eltham and Chislehurst and a leading member of the Tribune group, said it could penalise working-class defendants and could lead to an “us-and-them in the criminal justice system”.

Richard Burgon, the left-leaning MP for Leeds East, said the policy sent “a chill through my heart”, and compared it to policies enacted by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

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Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/02/david-lammy-jury-trials-cuts-labour-mps-peers

Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes' concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country's economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
UK Labour Party Foreign Secretary David Lammy repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party's support for and complicity in Israel's genocide of Gaza.
UK Labour Party Foreign Secretary David Lammy repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party’s support for and complicity in Israel’s genocide of Gaza.

Continue ReadingLammy’s jury trial plans are ‘massive mistake’, say Labour MPs and peers