A strike by nurses will be cut by a day following a legal challenge by the government.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing, Britain’s biggest nursing union, were set to stage a 48-hour walkout from 8pm on Sunday, returning to work on Tuesday evening.
But a High Court judge has ruled the action – which will involve staff in emergency departments, intensive care and cancer care units for the first time – must now end on Bank Holiday Monday.
The judge said the union's mandate for industrial action would have expired by Tuesday, because a ballot of RCN members closed on November 2, 2022, at noon, and a vote to strike is only valid for six months.
NHS Employers said the discrepancy could invalidate the entire strike, but the government only contested the part that fell on May 2. The RCN did not send lawyers to the hearing.
Judge Thomas Linden ruled on Thursday that the RCN's mandate for industrial action ended at midnight on May 1, meaning its planned strike the following day would be unlawful.
The Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay welcomed the ruling, saying the government could not stand by and let "plainly unlawful strike action" to go ahead.
"Both the NHS and my team tried to resolve this without resorting to legal action, but unfortunately, following a request from NHS Employers, we took this step with regret to protect nurses by ensuring they are not asked to take part in an unlawful strike.
“We welcome the decision of the High Court that the Royal College of Nursing’s planned strike on 2 May is illegal.
“The government wants to continue working constructively with the Royal College of Nursing, as was the case when we agreed the pay offer that was endorsed by their leadership.
"We now call on them to do the right thing by patients and agree derogations for their strike action on 30 May and 1 April.”
RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen, speaking outside court before the hearing, said it was a “sad day”.
“Steve Barclay may get a legal win today, but what he has done is he has lost the public and he has certainly lost nursing, so it is a short-term gain,” she said.
She added: "I think if you were to stop any member of public up and down England today, they would say he has got this so, so wrong, to actually push the full weight of the court system on nurses to try and silence them.
"What he should be doing today is getting into a negotiating room with me, not a courtroom, and saying 'what can we do to sort out the nursing crisis, fill the tens of thousands of vacant posts, so that patients get a decent service in this country, and that our nursing staff can be retained in the NHS?'."
Ms Cullen said the government had taken "the most trusted profession through the courts".
"And what a day for nursing. What a day for patients. And what an indictment on this government to do this to the very people that have held this NHS together, not just through the pandemic, but an NHS that has been run into the ground and in crisis, caused by this government."
Downing Street said it was "regrettable" that the government had to take legal action against the RCN.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: "I think, firstly, it is obviously regrettable that it had to come to court action in the first instance.
"The government never wanted to take this to court. We did indeed try every possible way to avoid a court case.
"The NHS presented the RCN with clear legal evidence that their planned strike for May 2 was unlawful. We asked them to call it off. The RCN refused. That's why the NHS asked the government to intervene and seek the view of the court.
UK nurses strike again as patients warned of 'inevitable' impact - in pictures
"Late yesterday, Steve Barclay wrote the RCN, to Pat Cullen again, and asked them to call off their final day of the strike given we were confident that it was not legal, they refused again."
RCN announced the upcoming action after members voted to reject the government's latest pay deal of 5 per cent for 2023-24 and a one-off lump sum.
The offer was accepted by Unison staff. Unite and the GMB trade union will announce the result of their ballots on the same deal within days.
Earlier this month, the leader of RCN warned members could stage regular strikes until December over the long-running pay wrangle.
Ms Cullen reiterated the threat on Thursday, saying it was with a "heavy heart" that strike action could continue in the lead-up to Christmas.
"If Steve Barclay continues to stay in the tunnel that he's in, we will end up with strike action for the next six months because nursing staff are not going to step back now," she said.
Tips on buying property during a pandemic
Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.
While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.
While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar.
Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.
Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities.
Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong.
Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Background: Chemical Weapons
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
The Porpoise
By Mark Haddon
(Penguin Random House)
McIlroy's recent struggles
Last six stroke-play events (First round score in brackets)
Arnold Palmer Invitational Tied for 4th (74)
The US Masters Tied for 7th (72)
The Players Championship Tied for 35th (73)
US Open Missed the cut (78)
Travellers Championship Tied for 17th (67)
Irish Open Missed the cut (72)
RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
This is an info box
- info goes here
- and here
- and here
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
Take Me Apart
Kelela
(Warp)
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
