Speaking from NHS England\u2019s headquarters in London<\/strong>, where officials are monitoring the impact of the walkout, the health secretary said: \u201cWe are doing everything we can to minimise the risk to patients, minimise disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n But he admitted the disruption could not be completely avoided<\/strong>. \u201cI want to be honest with people what we can\u2019t do is eliminate disruption or risk to patients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Operations, appointments and procedures have already been cancelled, Streeting added, warning of \u201creal challenges<\/strong>\u201d in the days ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is why the prime minister and I are so angry on behalf of patients and other NHS staff who are working hard to keep the show on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.17 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Closing summary<\/p>\n Donald Trump has indicated that he and Sir Keir Starmer could \u201capprove\u201d the US-UK trade deal when they meet in Scotland.<\/strong> Speaking to reporters before he began his travel on Friday, the president said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to be talking about the trade deal that we made and maybe even approve it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Resident doctors in England have begun strike action<\/a> after the British Medical Association and government failed to reach an agreement over pay restoration.<\/strong> Up to 50,000 people went on strike at 7am, with the action intended to last for five days until 7am on Wednesday 30 July. The public have been urged to keep coming forward for NHS care during the strike. GP surgeries are open as usual and urgent care and A&E will continue to be available, alongside 111, NHS England<\/a> said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Dr Melissa Ryan, co-chairwoman of the BMA\u2019s UK resident doctors committee, told the PA news agency that rising living costs are forcing many doctors into debt. <\/strong>She said a first-year doctor with \u00a380,000-100,000 of student debt can expect to lose 9% of their salary for life repaying it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Louise Stead, group chief executive of Ashford and St Peter\u2019s and Royal Surrey NHS<\/a> Foundation Trusts, was asked about NHS trusts refusing catch-up shifts for striking doctors and fellow consultants, which enables them to earn extra cash. <\/strong>It has been suggested the NHS England move to keep as much pre-planned care going as possible means there will be fewer catch-up shifts needed, and therefore doctors will not be able to top up their pay.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Patients at St Thomas\u2019 Hospital have voiced their support for junior doctors taking part in the latest round of strike action over pay and conditions. <\/strong>Jo Irwin, 72, who was attending the London hospital for a blood test before surgery for a hernia, said she had \u201cno hesitation\u201d in backing the walkout.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Around 30 doctors and supporters gathered outside Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) on Friday morning, waving placards and cheering as passing cars beeped horns in support. <\/strong>Cristina Costache, who is a paediatrics registrar at the LGI and a PhD student, said: \u201cIt\u2019s a very difficult decision to make always, because I love my job and that\u2019s the reason I went into it. I get depressed if I\u2019m not in work. My heart is always at work. But I also care about my colleagues and my profession.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Dave Bell, a retired nurse and member of the campaign group Keep Our NHS<\/a> Public, stood in solidarity with striking doctors outside St Thomas\u2019 Hospital. <\/strong>\u201cBritain\u2019s doctors are the backbone of our NHS,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you ask anyone who\u2019s been to a hospital, they\u2019ll tell you those staff work their socks off.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Zack Polanski, the Green party leadership candidate, has said he would be potentially willing to cooperate with a new leftwing party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana<\/a>, after calls for the two groups to form an alliance. <\/strong>Polanski stressed that any decision would be one for Green members, and would depend on the eventual form of a new party that does not as yet officially exist or have a name.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Forth Road Bridge has been closed to traffic due to a Greenpeace protest. <\/strong>The group said 10 of its activists have suspended themselves from the bridge in order to block an Ineos tanker from passing underneath.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Peter Kyle also defended the government\u2019s resistance to calls for immediate UK recognition of a Palestinian state, insisting Keir Starmer wants sovereignty \u201cmore than anyone else\u201d as part of a political process. <\/strong>The technology secretary was repeatedly asked why Britain will not follow France in saying it will recognise a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Former SNP MP Mhairi Black has confirmed she\u2019s left the party, criticising its stance on trans rights and Palestine. <\/strong>Speaking to The Herald<\/a> ahead of her Edinburgh fringe show Work in Progress, the former deputy leader at Westminster said the \u201ccapitulation on LGBT rights, trans rights in particular\u201d had contributed to her decision.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Essex Police said a total of nine people have now been charged following the force\u2019s continuing investigation into incidents of disorder in Epping last week. <\/strong>Assistant chief constable Stuart Hooper said on Friday: \u201cI\u2019m really grateful to the people of Epping who wanted to make their voices heard yesterday and did so peacefully.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A Conservative peer has apologised for breaking the House of Lords rules by helping to secure a meeting with a minister for a Canadian company he advises. <\/strong>Ian Duncan, a deputy speaker of the Lords, was found to have breached the rules by providing a parliamentary service for Terrestrial Energy when he facilitated an introduction between its chief executive and a new energy minister.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The UK government\u2019s ban on Palestine Action limits the rights and freedoms of people in the UK and is at odds with international law, the UN human rights chief has said. <\/strong>Volker T\u00fcrk, the UN human rights commissioner, said ministers\u2019 decision to designate the group a terrorist organisation was \u201cdisproportionate and unnecessary\u201d and called on them to rescind it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Dozens of councils have been targeted by campaigners calling for a four-day week after it that emerged one local authority had become Britain\u2019s first to vote to adopt the pattern permanently. <\/strong>The move comes shortly after thousands of private-sector workers were also told they would be staying on shorter working weeks with the same pay after more than 200 businesses decided it worked for them \u2013 in some cases, after lengthy trials.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The International Monetary Fund has said the UK government risks being knocked off course in meeting its targets to repair the public finances and urged Rachel Reeves<\/a> to give herself more leeway through tax or spending measures. <\/strong>In a final version of an annual report on the UK economy, the Washington-based organisation said changes introduced by the chancellor to the government\u2019s deficit reduction plans had enhanced the credibility and effectiveness of fiscal policy.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has accused the government of abandoning workers after it announced the Lindsey Oil Refinery is set to shut. <\/strong>It comes after more than 100 people gathered outside Grimsby Town Hall in protest on Thursday, demanding urgent government intervention to save the plant and protect jobs in north-east Lincolnshire.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A fresh wave of strikes has been announced by drivers at a train company in a long-running dispute over the sacking of a colleague, PA reported. <\/strong>Members of Aslef at Hull Trains have voted to continue taking industrial action after months of walkouts. Unions have to ballot members on industrial action every six months.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The Liberal Democrats have called for an \u2018NHS Strike Resilience Plan\u2019, using private hospitals for some treatments. <\/strong>A spokesperson said that the plan would ensure that the harmful impacts of the strike are kept to a minimum for patients.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The visit of US president Donald Trump to Scotland is in the \u201cpublic interest\u201d, chancellor Rachel Reeves has said. <\/strong>Trump is due to touch down in Scotland on Friday evening ahead of a four-day visit, during which he will meet prime minister Keir Starmer and first minister John Swinney.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Speaking during a visit to a bin strike picket line in Birmingham, Jeremy Corbyn said around 190,000 people had so far \u201csigned up\u201d for the new party launched with Coventry MP Zarah Sultana. <\/strong>Officials said Your Party was an interim name to kickstart a democratic process to decide on the new party\u2019s eventual title.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Donald Trump has indicated that he and Sir Keir Starmer could \u201capprove\u201d the US-UK trade deal when they meet in Scotland.<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking to reporters before he began his travel on Friday, the president said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to be talking about the trade deal that we made and maybe even approve it.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a> A Conservative peer has apologised for breaking the House of Lords rules by helping to secure a meeting with a minister for a Canadian company he advises.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ian Duncan, a deputy speaker of the Lords, was found to have breached the rules by providing a parliamentary service for Terrestrial Energy when he facilitated an introduction between its chief executive and a new energy minister.<\/p>\n His conduct had been reported to the House of Lords standards commissioner following the Guardian\u2019s months-long investigation examining the commercial interests of peers.<\/p>\n As a result of the Lords debate series, four other peers are being investigated to establish whether they breached the house\u2019s code of conduct.<\/p>\n A fifth peer, Iain McNicol, a former general secretary of the Labour<\/a> party, was required to apologise<\/a> in May for breaking the rules by writing to the Treasury to promote a cryptocurrency firm that was paying him.<\/p>\n In a report published on Friday<\/a>, the standards commissioner ruled that Lord Duncan of Springbank had broken the rules which forbid peers from seeking to profit from their membership of the upper chamber.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The business secretary has said the idea of a \u201cmagic wealth tax\u201d to raise funds is \u201cdaft\u201d amid speculation that the chancellor could turn to such a measure to plug holes in the public finances.<\/strong><\/p>\n The government\u2019s U-turns over welfare reform and winter fuel payments have left the Chancellor with a multibillion-pound black hole to fill, fuelling speculation she might target the assets of the wealthy in the next budget.<\/p>\n Rachel Reeves has not ruled out the possibility of a new wealth tax but has been eager to highlight that she will stick to her commitment not to hike tax for \u201cworking people\u201d.<\/p>\n Some in the Labour party, including former leader Lord Neil Kinnock and Wales\u2019s First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan, have called for a wealth tax.<\/p>\n However, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds dismissed the idea.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Labour government has increased taxes on wealth as opposed to income – the taxes on private jets, private schools, changes through inheritance tax, capital gains tax,\u201d he told GB News.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the idea there\u2019s a magic wealth tax, some sort of levy… that doesn\u2019t exist anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cSwitzerland has a levy but they don\u2019t have capital gains or inheritance tax.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no kind of magic (tax). We\u2019re not going to do anything daft like that.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I say to people: \u2018Be serious about this.\u2019 The idea you can just levy everyone… What if your wealth was not in your bank account, (what if it was) in fine wine or art?<\/p>\n \u201cHow would we tax that? This is why this doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Zack Polanski, the Green party leadership candidate, has said he would be potentially willing to cooperate with a new leftwing party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana<\/a>, after calls for the two groups to form an alliance.<\/strong><\/p>\n Polanski stressed that any decision would be one for Green members, and would depend on the eventual form of a new party that does not as yet officially exist or have a name.<\/p>\n His comments to the Guardian open up a divide on the issue with his competitors for the leadership, Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, who have warned against the Greens becoming \u201ca Jeremy Corbyn<\/a> support act\u201d.<\/p>\n A day after Corbyn and Sultana jointly launched<\/a> a new website for people to register interest, with the interim title of Your party, a leftwing campaign group called for it to seek a formal alliance with the Greens in England and Wales.<\/p>\n We Deserve Better, which argues for electoral pacts on the left, said a united ticket for the Greens and the new party could potentially unseat dozens of Labour MPs, whereas both running could split the vote.<\/p>\n Polanski, currently the Greens\u2019 deputy leader, has built his push for the leadership around the idea of<\/a> making the party a mass-membership \u201ceco-populism\u201d organisation, which could take on not just Labour but also Reform UK.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m open to working with anyone who\u2019s up for challenging the far right threat of Reform and this unpopular Labour government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cExactly what this might possibly look like with regard to any sort of arrangement is a bridge I\u2019ll cross further down the line and will be in the hands of Green party<\/a> members. The new party doesn\u2019t exist yet, and 2029 is some way off.<\/p>\n \u201cIf anyone\u2019s looking for a leftwing vehicle for power and change in this country, the Greens are here right now, we\u2019re surging, we have well established party infrastructure and we have hundreds of elected representatives across the country. Join us.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Essex Police said a total of nine people have now been charged following the force\u2019s continuing investigation into incidents of disorder in Epping last week.<\/strong><\/p>\n The force said Shaun Thompson, 37, of Western Avenue, Epping, has been charged with violent disorder and criminal damage in relation to disorder in Epping on 17 July.<\/p>\n He appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates\u2019 Court on Friday and was bailed to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on August 18 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.<\/p>\n Essex Police said Dean Walters, 65, of Corner Meadow, Harlow, has been charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour and he is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates\u2019 Court on Wednesday September 24. He remains on bail.<\/p>\n Assistant chief constable Stuart Hooper said on Friday: \u201cI\u2019m really grateful to the people of Epping who wanted to make their voices heard yesterday and did so peacefully.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll take this opportunity to thank them again. As people will have seen, we had a really robust police operation around the protest.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to ensure everyone could safely go about their business, minimising disruption, while facilitating peaceful protest.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are continuing to investigate those few intent on exploiting peaceful protests to launch assaults on officers, cause criminal damage, or commit disorder.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can expect a knock on the door.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The Forth Road Bridge has been closed to traffic due to a Greenpeace protest.<\/strong><\/p>\n The group said 10 of its activists have suspended themselves from the bridge in order to block an Ineos tanker from passing underneath.<\/p>\n Police Scotland said they were alerted at 1.05pm and officers were \u201cengaged with those involved\u201d. The public were asked to avoid the area.<\/p>\n The bridge is one of three crossing the Firth of Forth in central Scotland which links Edinburgh to Fife.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The UK government\u2019s ban on Palestine Action limits the rights and freedoms of people in the UK and is at odds with international law, the UN human rights chief has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n Volker T\u00fcrk, the UN human rights commissioner, said ministers\u2019 decision to designate the group a terrorist organisation was \u201cdisproportionate and unnecessary\u201d and called on them to rescind it.<\/p>\n In a statement on Friday<\/a>, he said the ban amounted to an \u201cimpermissible restriction\u201d of people\u2019s rights to freedom of expression and assembly that was \u201cat odds with the UK\u2019s obligations under international human rights law\u201d.<\/p>\n He added that the decision restricted the rights of people involved with Palestine Action \u201cwho have not themselves engaged in any underlying criminal activity but rather exercised their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association\u201d.<\/p>\n T\u00fcrk said it could \u201clead to further chilling effect on the lawful exercise of these rights by many people\u201d and that the UK government should halt any police and legal proceedings against protesters who have been arrested on the basis of the proscription.<\/p>\n The Guardian has contacted the Home Office<\/a> for comment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Kevin Rawlinson<\/p>\n Dozens of councils have been targeted by campaigners calling for a four-day week after it that emerged one local authority had become Britain\u2019s first to vote to adopt the pattern permanently.<\/strong><\/p>\n The move comes shortly after thousands of private-sector workers were also told they would be staying on shorter working weeks with the same pay after more than 200 businesses decided it worked for them \u2013 in some cases, after lengthy trials.<\/p>\n \u201cAs hundreds of British companies in the private sector have already shown, a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for both businesses and workers,\u201d said Joe Ryle, the campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation.<\/p>\n Ryle spoke after it was confirmed that South Cambridgeshire<\/a> district council had voted to become the first local authority in the UK to permanently adopt the four-day week. The Liberal Democrats-led council said independent analysis had shown \u201cmost services got better or were maintained, with significant improvements to recruitment and retention\u201d.<\/p>\n Now, the campaigners have said they have compiled a target-list of at least 24 more councils, in the hope of setting off a wave of new announcements. They said they believed as many as six councils were close to taking the step in the near future.<\/p>\n The move towards more modern working practices has been gaining momentum recently. In February 2023, more than 50 companies opted to continue<\/a> with the new working pattern after conducting the world\u2019s largest trial of a four-day week up to that point. Campaigners hailed it as an indication that the working pattern could be adopted in the wider economy.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The International Monetary Fund has said the UK government risks being knocked off course in meeting its targets to repair the public finances and urged Rachel Reeves<\/a> to give herself more leeway through tax or spending measures.<\/strong><\/p>\n In a final version of an annual report on the UK economy, the Washington-based organisation said changes introduced by the chancellor to the government\u2019s deficit reduction plans had enhanced the credibility and effectiveness of fiscal policy.<\/p>\n \u201cRisks to this strategy must be carefully managed. In an uncertain global environment and with limited fiscal headroom, fiscal rules could easily be breached if growth disappoints or interest rate shocks materialise,\u201d the IMF said.<\/p>\n The fund also said the risk of overly frequent changes to tax and spending policy could be reduced by measures including the creation of more fiscal room for manoeuvre by Reeves to meet her targets.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first best (option) would be to maintain more headroom under the rules, so that small changes in the outlook do not compromise assessments of rule compliance,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Zarah Sultana<\/strong> has claimed the new left-wing party she launched with Jeremy Corbyn has already attracted more \u201csign-ups\u201d than Reform UK\u2019s total membership.<\/p>\n Posting on X, the Coventry South MP wrote:<\/p>\n We\u2019ve reached 230,000 sign ups! That\u2019s more than Reform\u2019s membership. Nigel Farage, Zia Yusuf, Richard Tice, Lee Anderson\u2026 your boys are taking one hell of a beating. Labour, you\u2019re next.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It follows the launch of what Jeremy Corbyn<\/strong> and Sultana described as \u201ca new kind of political party, one that belongs to you\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier today, during a visit to a bin strike picket line in Birmingham, the former Labour leader told reporters the party had already attracted around 190,000 sign-ups.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has accused the government of abandoning workers after it announced the Lindsey Oil Refinery is set to shut.<\/strong><\/p>\n It comes after more than 100 people gathered outside Grimsby Town Hall in protest on Thursday, demanding urgent government intervention to save the plant and protect jobs in north-east Lincolnshire.<\/p>\n The Unite general secretary said the site\u2019s closure has left livelihoods hanging in the balance. \u201cOver a thousand workers rely on the future of the oil refinery, their jobs are now at immediate risk<\/strong>, through no fault of their own,\u201d Unite\u2019s official X account said, citing Graham\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the government fails to act then workers at Lindsey and much further afield will rightly feel abandoned by it.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.55 EDT<\/p>\n Mhairi Black confirms she has left SNP<\/p>\n Former SNP MP Mhairi Black has confirmed she\u2019s left the party, criticising its stance on trans rights and Palestine.<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking to The Herald<\/a> ahead of her Edinburgh fringe show Work in Progress, the former deputy leader at Westminster said the \u201ccapitulation on LGBT rights, trans rights in particular\u201d had contributed to her decision.<\/p>\n I thought the party could be doing better about Palestine as well.<\/p>\n There have just been too many times when I\u2019ve thought, \u2018I don\u2019t agree with what you\u2019ve done there\u2019 or the decision or strategy that has been arrived at.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Black, who did not stand in last year\u2019s general election citing online abuse, said she remains \u201cjust as pro-independence\u201d and considers herself \u201cprobably a bit more left wing\u201d<\/strong> than before.<\/p>\n\n
![\"Rob](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Rob-Evans,-L.png\")
Rob Evans<\/p>\n![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Peter_Walker.png\")
Peter Walker<\/p>\n\n
\n