I used to think it was a waste of money keeping an old dog alive
I resolved then not to make the same mistake. 'When Floss is old we're not going to spend a fortune keeping her alive for our benefit,' I announced, all man of the house. Harriet and the kids seemed to take it well.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
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'Thanks to Labour's weakness, we are now facing a summer of discontent.' Tory grandee Sir Jeremy Hunt, who was health secretary from 2012 to 2018, said: 'It 's totally ridiculous, having had a 22 per cent pay rise [last year]... for them to be going on strike.' Millions of patients could be affected by a drawn-out conflict, with five having died because of previous strikes in 2023 and 2024. There are around 70,000 resident doctors working in the NHS. Mr Streeting has branded the strikes 'unconscionable'. Talks last week were described as 'constructive', but the BMA has not called off the strikes and said there was only a 'small' chance of a deal. In a bid to get a deal over the line and head off the strikes, Mr Streeting has pledged that British doctors would be prioritised over foreign counterparts for NHS jobs. It comes amid wider fears about a 'summer of discontent', with the Birmingham bin strikes set to last beyond summer and teachers threatening to strike. Hospital consultant doctors are also threatening to join resident doctors. The BMA is demanding they separately get a 35 per cent pay rise. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: 'The unions are Labour's paymasters at the end of the day. They're getting their payback by being allowed to run riot. 'If we're not careful, we're heading towards all the lessons learned in the 1970s being reversed and the unions just being able to hold the country to ransom and take a wrecking ball to the economy.' The BMA's accounts detail how the union is gearing up for potentially months-long strike action. Under the heading 'Industrial action reserve', it adds: 'This reserve was created to ring-fence funds identified to contribute towards industrial action.' The documents also say: 'Contingency plans are in place to fund any long-term industrial action from reserves.' The money could help to cover lost pay or costs incurred by striking doctors. A BMA spokesman said: 'The BMA has held reserves for industrial action for several years and they are there to contribute towards the costs of industrial action. 'The 'other reserves' outlined in the BMA's annual report to December 2024 are those of the entire BMA Group, not connected to industrial action and have fluctuated little from the previous year.'
