Latest news with #RachelHarrison
Daily Mail
25-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
More pressure on Wes Streeting as nurses and ambulance workers reject pay deal amid militant doctors' strikes
Nurses and ambulance staff have ramped up the pressure on Health Secretary Wes Streeting by rejecting his offer of a 3.6 per cent pay rise. Members of the GMB union voted by a majority of more than two thirds (67 per cent) to go back to the negotiating table. The union has now written to the Secretary of State demanding an 'urgent meeting' to discuss pay and 'other issues of significant importance' to its NHS members. GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: 'We await his reply with interest.' AGMB spokesman said the chances of more strike action were 'very limited' because 'the appetite isn't there', but added: 'Workers are unhappy, which is why they have rejected this offer.' The GMB represents around 50,000 ambulance workers and 30,000 nurses, midwives and other NHS staff. It comes as 50,000 resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - started a five-day walkout over pay. One defied militant union bosses by crossing the picket line and reporting for duty, warning strikes may destroy vital public trust in the NHS. Dr Adam Boggon broke ranks with striking colleagues and claimed the BMA was 'not necessarily in the same place as much of the profession'. The psychiatrist at Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, East London, said he was 'alarmed' that the BMA was willing to lose public support in pursuit of an inflation-busting 29 per cent pay rise. 'I am not willing to pay that price,' he told Times Radio. 'The relationship between the doctor and the patient is based on trust and confidence. If we do damage to that basic relationship, that's bad for everyone.' He added: 'My education was funded by the taxpayer. Negotiation isn't about making unilateral demands and then walking away, or badmouthing a whole profession either. 'I think that both of these protagonists - the union and Mr Streeting - can do a lot better than they are at the moment.' The BMA revealed it had told three members to skip the strike and return to work this weekend for patient safety - a trainee paediatrician on the neonatal intensive care unit at Nottingham City Hospital and two anaesthetists at University Hospital Lewisham in south London. Dr Melissa Ryan, who is leading the BMA strike alongside Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, joined a picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital in Westminster, London. She told members: 'We have a government that wants to divide us, but we are stronger than that. 'I encourage you to hold the line, strike hard, and wait for the government to come back and make the next move with a credible offer.' Striking doctors waved banners including 'Do no harm - except to our bank balances!' and 'Why is my assistant paid more than me?' Dr Emre Karaduman, 27, who works at Ealing Hospital, west London, said: 'Our pay has been degraded since 2008. I know there was a financial crisis, but doctors shouldn't have to pay the price for that. 'If Wes Streeting wants us to help cut the patient waiting list, he needs to give us full pay restoration.' One doctor from Chelsea and Westminster hospital, who gave her name as Naiha, 25, accused Mr Streeting of 'guilt tripping' doctors by claiming lives would be put at risk – and rejected comparisons between doctors and other public officials who have not received such large pay rises. 'It's pointless trying to compare doctors to other professions,' she said. 'If people in other sectors feel hard done by, I would urge them to strike as well. I think everyone deserves to be paid a living wage, and right now ours barely scratches the surface.' Another who gave his name as Joe, 26, added: 'Medicine is an incredibly important career. We go through a massive amount of training and take on a lot of risk and responsibility that people in other sectors don't. But I've got a friend in finance whose bonus last year was more than double my salary.' Mr Streeting condemned the strike as 'reckless, unnecessary and unreasonable', as resident doctors have already received inflation-busting pay rises totalling 28.9 per cent over three years. 'A 28.9 per cent pay rise and a government that was willing to work with them are not grounds for strike action,' he said. 'This government will not allow the BMA to hold the country to ransom. 'We are doing everything we can to minimise the risk to patients, but I want to be honest with people - what we can't do is eliminate disruption or risk. 'However much the BMA try and sugar-coat it, what they are fundamentally doing today is forgetting the three words that should be at the forefront of every doctor's mind every day: Do No Harm.' He added an 'amazing mobilisation' by other NHS staff, including senior doctors cancelling annual leave, had helped 'keep the show on the road'. 'We are also seeing lots of resident doctors turning up to work today, ignoring their union because they want to be there for patients too,' he said. 'This is going to be a disruptive five days, but I am extremely grateful to NHS staff and leaders who are working their socks off to minimise the disruption.' Some elective procedures will have to be cancelled or delayed due to the strikes, extending waiting lists. The BMA has suggested this is no great hardship, but Mr Streeting said patients who have been waiting a long time for such procedures 'do come to harm'. BMA council chairman Dr Tom Dolphin told the Today programme it was 'very disappointing to see a Labour Government taking such a hard line against trade unions'. Resident doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training. They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to five years of working and gaining experience to become a GP. On Friday, NHS chief executive Jim Mackey said he hoped the BMA would come back to the negotiating table. 'I would hope that after this, we will be able to get people in a room and resolve the issue,' he said. 'We could be doing this once a month for the next six months, so we've got to organise ourselves accordingly.'
Buzz Feed
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
20 Spooky Books You Haven't Read (But Should)
I get it — life gets wicked busy. Finding time to curl up with a good book, even if it's your favorite spooky genre, can feel impossible. But don't worry — I've got you covered! This list of overlooked horror and thriller reads might have slipped past you while you were out living they just may be worth losing a little sleep over! The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay Set in the BEAUTIFUL state of New Hampshire, this book is one part scary and two parts wild. After strangers show up unexpectedly at their vacation cabin, one family's will to survive has them grappling with faith, love, and the possibility of an imminent apocalypse. Dead Water by C.A. Fletcher A small, remote island community is hit with a possible waterborne disease, unnerving the islanders. Is it an infection, mass hysteria, or a long-buried curse? This one is full of suspense and feelings of dread! Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke This short horror/thriller was super unique and made me think twice about fussy kids at the grocery store. You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann Curious events unfold after one family tucks themselves away in the German mountainside. The father's confidence in his writing goals unravels as he tries to understand what is happening within the what is happening within himself. Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison The main character is invited to her cousin's wedding, which is held at the very home she once escaped from and thought she would never return to. Once reunited, she must confront the sinister family ties that bind her. The Return by Rachel Harrison Okay, I know I am double-dipping on authors here, but Rachel Harrison is fantastic! The main character's best friend goes missing, only to return two years later. And it really her? Edgy and haunting! The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir This eerie yet captivating horror follows a woman who is battling constant fatigue yet cannot figure out the one morning when her watch shows that she walked over 40,000 steps in her sleep. The Screaming Rabbit by Harry Carmichael The main character visits a home on business that's when the gunshots ring out. This classic "whodunit" novel is perfect for any mystery lover! All the Lies by Nicola Sanders The main character is trapped in a nightmare of a marriage and, by chance (and tragedy), is able to take the identity of someone else as an not everyone believes all the lies. Never Lie by Freida McFadden This psychological thriller follows a couple searching for their dream house. Upon touring one, the couple becomes snowed in and slowly discovers the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of the former owner. The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas Honeymoon on a tiny Greek island. Beautiful villa. Beautiful people. What can go wrong? What was thought of as a dream escape quickly becomes a nightmare after learning of the couple who drowned at the hotel recently. Now, even their most telling confessions may not be enough to save them. Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak The main character immediately adores babysitting the sweet, sketchbook-obsessed Teddy. But when his artwork becomes increasingly sinister, she wonders if they are clues to a long-unsolved murder and becomes determined to decipher the sketches. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier What a GORGEOUS gothic, romantic, horror of a novel. I had so much fun reading this one, so try not to be intimidated by the page count! The main character is swept off her feet by a handsome widower and quickly becomes the new lady of a massive estate. But there are shadows those shadows look a lot like his late wife. All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage A beautiful and dark book that I couldn't put down. A family moves into a rural town for the start of a new teaching position. When the wife is found murdered with the daughter safe across the hall, the tight-knit community pushes for answers. Meanwhile, the husband is relentlessly clouded by suspicion and guilt, because sometimes behind one crime, there are others. The Spite House by Johnny Compton Secrets, family, and ghosts! Caretaking a supposedly haunted property with two daughters didn't exactly sound easy, and it most definitely is not. But a father's love might just be enough to keep the grief and death at bay in this gothic thriller. I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir Everyone should read at least one Nordic noir novel in their lifetime. When three friends set to work renovating a house in a remote location, they quickly realize that something else is with them, and that something wants them to leave. Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne A family vacation at a gorgeous (and remote) Italian villa to enjoy some good old-fashioned bonding time, but unsettling events start to occur. The violent past of the villa is reaching out. H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil by Adam Selzer Fun biography time! America's first serial killer is featured in this historical account of one man's need to financially prove himself — and apparently, that required a killing spree. Lizzie Borden: The Untold Story by Edward D. Radin This second biography covers the historical murders that shocked America in 1892 and the stirring trial that followed. Was Lizzie innocent or guilty? It does an excellent job of casting light on all facts. By the end, you don't know which side you are on! The Skull by Jon Klassen Alright, let's end with an easy one that will not necessarily keep you up at night! This Tyrolean folktale tells the story of a brave girl who attempts to save her new friend from old baggage. Have you already read some of these? What are your favorite lesser-known horror novels? Let me know in the comments!
The Age
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
I know what you read last summer (and it was probably horror)
In the mid-2010s, moviegoers embraced the so-called 'elevated' horror boom, with films such as The Babadook, Get Out, Midsommar and The Witch at the vanguard – low-budget, high-concept genre fare that used classic horror tropes to probe contemporary societal ills like toxic relationships, racism and mental illness. (The 'elevated' label was a bit of clever rebranding, like slapping an 'organic' sticker on a hamburger; these movies function the same way great horror always has – you just feel a little less dirty about enjoying them.) Now it seems it's literature's turn. In 2023, there was a record number of new horror books both published and sold, and two years on, the trend shows little sign of slowing. Literary agents are reporting submission piles filling up with more tales of the weird and eerie, from eco-horror to folk horror to the aptly named 'femgore' – hyper-violent, female-centric body horror. In the last year alone – and this is but a tiny sliver of what's on offer – we've had Gretchen Felker-Martin's Cuckoo, which made the very real horrors of gay conversion camps manifest in a grotesque body-snatching teen epic. Rachel Harrison's So Thirsty took a big, bloody bite out of 21st-century female friendship with its ultra-gory vampire antics. The Lamb, Lucy Rose's fairytale debut, told the touching story a young girl caring for her mother … by bringing her stray hikers to satiate her cannibalistic urge for human flesh (pair it with Monika Kim's The Eyes are the Best Part for a stomach-churning family-sized feast). And 50 years after the publication of his first novel, Carrie, horror stalwart Stephen King released his latest short story anthology You Like It Darker (just months after a brand-new novel, Holly – also featuring cannibals). King isn't the only elder statesman jostling for shelf space alongside the BookTok generation. George A. Romero, the man responsible for our modern conception of zombies, with films like The Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, released his final novel earlier this year, somewhat fittingly from beyond the grave. Co-written by Daniel Kraus, who discovered the incomplete manuscript in an archive box at the University of Pittsburgh Library in 2019, Pay the Piper is a sweaty, cosmic eco-horror set in the muggy depths of the Louisiana bayou, where a nine-year-old girl named Pontiac and a rag-tag group of townsfolk from her home of Alligator Point come up against an ancient, vengeful evil that's been lurking in the swamp and preying on children. While Romero will forever be remembered primarily as an orchestrator of gnarly kills and ground-breaking special effects, his zombie movies always had more than merely brains on the brain. His seminal Night of the Living Dead is often read as a critique of racial tensions in 1960s America; it features a Black protagonist (played by Duane Jones) who survives an undead horde only to be shot by a white sheriff. The 1978 follow-up, Dawn of the Dead, set entirely in a shopping mall, can only be seen as a satirical indictment of rampant consumerism. Pay the Piper continues this tradition of smuggling hefty themes into seemingly straightforward horror schtick. Young Pontiac's home is under threat from a nefarious character known only as The Oil Man – a phantom-like stand-in for the entire fossil fuel industry – as well as The Piper itself, an aquatic Lovecraftian creature seeking restitution for the thousands of slaves slaughtered and dumped in its waters by the infamous Pirates Lafitte in the 1800s. Romero and Kraus' book mutates from gooey Southern Gothic to a full-throated treatise on human cruelty and environmental calamity; it's spooky, stirring Cajun cli-fi with a healthy dose of tentacles. Closer to home, this March saw the release of Margot McGovern's riveting supernatural YA slasher This Stays Between Us. McGovern's second book boasts a little bit of everything: early 2000s nostalgia, late-night seances, teenage crushes, buried secrets and a predatory entity known only as Smiling Jack that hunts its four young female protagonists as they try to survive year 11 camp in a remote, abandoned mining town. McGovern's first book, Neverland, released in 2018, hewed much closer to magical realism – but a life-long love of horror helped inspire her sophomore stab. 'I've always been a huge horror fan,' says McGovern. 'I read and watched a lot growing up, but there wasn't a lot of Australian horror at that time. Most of the movies came from the US. And with horror books, in the '90s it felt like you had R.L. Stine and then there was this huge gap before you jumped to Stephen King and Clive Barker.' Teen horror films filled that gap for McGovern. 'I always knew I wanted to write a book that was set here in Australia and evoked the Australian landscape and personality, but embodied all the fun of a late-90s slasher,' she says. 'Kevin Williamson's screenplays were a huge influence on me. I love Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer and Teaching Mrs. Tingle – even movies like The Craft.' Of course, the defining feature of all these movies – and many of the books already mentioned – is teenagers. In horror, teens are often the heroes, the hapless victims and the target audience all at once. 'Horror occupies this really interesting liminal space for teenagers,' McGovern says of her passion for writing YA. 'It gives you that last little bit of make-believe. 'It offers a step up into the adult world, where things can be genuinely terrifying and violent. When you're 13 or 14, you feel like things are out of your control – you're going through this huge transition, you're figuring out who you are, your body's changing, all the rules are changing! – and horror not only explores that, but gives you a way to take back some power and agency.' Perhaps that explains our present-day horror boom, then. We're all of us teenagers in a world that feels increasingly out of control – but instead of regressing into childhood and escaping into all-out fantasy, we're ready to confront our fears; to look the monster under the bed, or the creature in the swamp, or the thing in the mirror dead in the eye. 'Horror has always responded to what's happening in the culture,' McGovern says. 'I think that's part of the reason why it's making such a comeback now. In times of uncertainty and upheaval, horror offers a set of familiar tropes that lets you approach your darkest fears in an almost comforting way.'
Sydney Morning Herald
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
I know what you read last summer (and it was probably horror)
In the mid-2010s, moviegoers embraced the so-called 'elevated' horror boom, with films such as The Babadook, Get Out, Midsommar and The Witch at the vanguard – low-budget, high-concept genre fare that used classic horror tropes to probe contemporary societal ills like toxic relationships, racism and mental illness. (The 'elevated' label was a bit of clever rebranding, like slapping an 'organic' sticker on a hamburger; these movies function the same way great horror always has – you just feel a little less dirty about enjoying them.) Now it seems it's literature's turn. In 2023, there was a record number of new horror books both published and sold, and two years on, the trend shows little sign of slowing. Literary agents are reporting submission piles filling up with more tales of the weird and eerie, from eco-horror to folk horror to the aptly named 'femgore' – hyper-violent, female-centric body horror. In the last year alone – and this is but a tiny sliver of what's on offer – we've had Gretchen Felker-Martin's Cuckoo, which made the very real horrors of gay conversion camps manifest in a grotesque body-snatching teen epic. Rachel Harrison's So Thirsty took a big, bloody bite out of 21st-century female friendship with its ultra-gory vampire antics. The Lamb, Lucy Rose's fairytale debut, told the touching story a young girl caring for her mother … by bringing her stray hikers to satiate her cannibalistic urge for human flesh (pair it with Monika Kim's The Eyes are the Best Part for a stomach-churning family-sized feast). And 50 years after the publication of his first novel, Carrie, horror stalwart Stephen King released his latest short story anthology You Like It Darker (just months after a brand-new novel, Holly – also featuring cannibals). King isn't the only elder statesman jostling for shelf space alongside the BookTok generation. George A. Romero, the man responsible for our modern conception of zombies, with films like The Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, released his final novel earlier this year, somewhat fittingly from beyond the grave. Co-written by Daniel Kraus, who discovered the incomplete manuscript in an archive box at the University of Pittsburgh Library in 2019, Pay the Piper is a sweaty, cosmic eco-horror set in the muggy depths of the Louisiana bayou, where a nine-year-old girl named Pontiac and a rag-tag group of townsfolk from her home of Alligator Point come up against an ancient, vengeful evil that's been lurking in the swamp and preying on children. While Romero will forever be remembered primarily as an orchestrator of gnarly kills and ground-breaking special effects, his zombie movies always had more than merely brains on the brain. His seminal Night of the Living Dead is often read as a critique of racial tensions in 1960s America; it features a Black protagonist (played by Duane Jones) who survives an undead horde only to be shot by a white sheriff. The 1978 follow-up, Dawn of the Dead, set entirely in a shopping mall, can only be seen as a satirical indictment of rampant consumerism. Pay the Piper continues this tradition of smuggling hefty themes into seemingly straightforward horror schtick. Young Pontiac's home is under threat from a nefarious character known only as The Oil Man – a phantom-like stand-in for the entire fossil fuel industry – as well as The Piper itself, an aquatic Lovecraftian creature seeking restitution for the thousands of slaves slaughtered and dumped in its waters by the infamous Pirates Lafitte in the 1800s. Romero and Kraus' book mutates from gooey Southern Gothic to a full-throated treatise on human cruelty and environmental calamity; it's spooky, stirring Cajun cli-fi with a healthy dose of tentacles. Closer to home, this March saw the release of Margot McGovern's riveting supernatural YA slasher This Stays Between Us. McGovern's second book boasts a little bit of everything: early 2000s nostalgia, late-night seances, teenage crushes, buried secrets and a predatory entity known only as Smiling Jack that hunts its four young female protagonists as they try to survive year 11 camp in a remote, abandoned mining town. McGovern's first book, Neverland, released in 2018, hewed much closer to magical realism – but a life-long love of horror helped inspire her sophomore stab. 'I've always been a huge horror fan,' says McGovern. 'I read and watched a lot growing up, but there wasn't a lot of Australian horror at that time. Most of the movies came from the US. And with horror books, in the '90s it felt like you had R.L. Stine and then there was this huge gap before you jumped to Stephen King and Clive Barker.' Teen horror films filled that gap for McGovern. 'I always knew I wanted to write a book that was set here in Australia and evoked the Australian landscape and personality, but embodied all the fun of a late-90s slasher,' she says. 'Kevin Williamson's screenplays were a huge influence on me. I love Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer and Teaching Mrs. Tingle – even movies like The Craft.' Of course, the defining feature of all these movies – and many of the books already mentioned – is teenagers. In horror, teens are often the heroes, the hapless victims and the target audience all at once. 'Horror occupies this really interesting liminal space for teenagers,' McGovern says of her passion for writing YA. 'It gives you that last little bit of make-believe. 'It offers a step up into the adult world, where things can be genuinely terrifying and violent. When you're 13 or 14, you feel like things are out of your control – you're going through this huge transition, you're figuring out who you are, your body's changing, all the rules are changing! – and horror not only explores that, but gives you a way to take back some power and agency.' Perhaps that explains our present-day horror boom, then. We're all of us teenagers in a world that feels increasingly out of control – but instead of regressing into childhood and escaping into all-out fantasy, we're ready to confront our fears; to look the monster under the bed, or the creature in the swamp, or the thing in the mirror dead in the eye. 'Horror has always responded to what's happening in the culture,' McGovern says. 'I think that's part of the reason why it's making such a comeback now. In times of uncertainty and upheaval, horror offers a set of familiar tropes that lets you approach your darkest fears in an almost comforting way.' Loading As a genre, horror has a very structured framework. 'But then inside that, chaos and creativity abound,' McGovern says. 'We're all looking for an invitation to play – but also a safe place where we can process what's going on. And horror gives us both.'
Glasgow Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Union membership increases in Reform-led councils
The GMB said workers were 'flocking' to join unions amid fears of cuts to pay, jobs and conditions by Reform. Councils where the GMB has seen an increase in membership include Durham, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Doncaster. GMB national officer Rachel Harrison told the PA news agency: 'Reform spouts a lot of nonsense about being on the side of workers, but these figures show people aren't buying it. 'Workers in Reform-led councils are flocking to join unions because they know the first thing Farage and his cronies will do is attack low-paid staff's terms and conditions.' GMB general secretary Gary Smith launched an angry attack against Reform in a speech to the union's annual conference in Brighton at the weekend, saying Nigel Farage and his 'ex-Tory soulmates' were no friends of workers. 'They've spent a political lifetime attacking trade unions and the rights we have all fought so hard for. Decent pay, better conditions, protections we cherish. 'Why is it always the posh, private schoolboys who want act like they're working-class heroes? 'Do they really think we can't see the bankers, the chancers, the anti-union blowhards? 'If Reform are so pro-worker, why did they just vote against protections against fire and rehire? Why did they vote against sick pay for all workers? Why did they vote against fair pay for carers? Why did they vote against trade union rights to access and organise in places like Amazon? 'Now they are going to run town halls, and the first thing they want to do is sack council workers. 'It's high time they were called out for their sneering, snooty attitude about so-called 'gold-plated' pensions. Go ask a local authority care worker, refuse collector, street cleaner, school support staff member if they think their meagre pension is gold-plated. 'Reform's abuse and name-calling of low-paid public sector workers is an utter disgrace.'
