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Good morning. Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, working in the NHS have begun their five-day strike.<\/p>\n
At the heart of this dispute is the government\u2019s offer of a 5.4% pay increase this year, after a 22% rise over the previous two years. Ministers say this amounts to a total uplift of 28.9% over three years.<\/p>\n
But the offer has been met with anger from doctors, who argue that nearly two decades of pay restraint have eroded their salaries significantly in real terms. They are striking as part of their campaign for a 29% pay rise, to be delivered over several years.<\/p>\n
But Wes Streeting, the health secretary, denounced the move as \u201ccompletely unreasonable\u201d, stating that \u201cno trade union in British history has seen its members receive a 28.9% pay rise only to immediately respond with strikes\u201d. He argued that a strike by resident doctors \u201cenormously undermines the entire trade union movement\u201d, urging them not to join industrial action this morning.<\/p>\n
The two sides have become deeply entrenched in their positions and are further apart than ever. To understand the ins and outs of this dispute, the political consequences it could have, and whether there is an off-ramp, I spoke to Denis Campbell<\/strong><\/em>, the Guardian\u2019s health policy editor. That\u2019s after the headlines.<\/p>\n Gaza <\/strong><\/em>| The head of the main UN agency serving Palestinians has said his frontline staff are fainting from hunger, as the number of people dying of starvation in Gaza continued to rise and hopes for a ceasefire faded as negotiations collapsed.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n UK <\/strong><\/em>| A man was found guilty of murdering his two-week-old son in a Somerset baby unit, causing skull and neck injuries while nurses worked nearby.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n South-east Asia <\/strong><\/em>| Thailand evacuated more than 100,000 people along the Cambodian border as the two countries fought for a second day in their bloodiest military clashes in over a decade, with 14 dead as of Friday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n UK politics <\/strong><\/em>| Jeremy Corbyn confirmed he is setting up a new political party with ex-Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, to \u201ctake on the rich and powerful\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Russia <\/strong><\/em>| A Soviet-era passenger plane has crashed in Russia\u2019s far-east, killing all 48 people on board.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n <\/span>Wes Streeting will find it hard to meet Labour\u2019s pledge on cutting waiting lists.<\/span> Photograph: House of Commons\/PA<\/p>\n When Labour entered government there was a brief period of calm after years of turbulence between NHS doctors and the Conservatives.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Wes Streeting became the health secretary in July of last year he inherited a really long-running, messy, difficult, protracted dispute involving resident doctors,\u201d Denis Campbell told me.<\/p>\n \u201cIn simple terms, resident doctors in England who belonged to the British Medical Association (BMA) had been seeking for some time a pay rise of 35%. They wanted that sum over a number of years to make up for the significant erosion in the real-terms value of their pay that they had seen since 2008-2009. In pursuit of that goal, they had gone on strike 11 different times, totalling 44 days, under the previous Conservative governments.\u201d<\/p>\n Combined with action by other NHS staff, these walkouts forced the cancellation of about 1.5m appointments and cost the health service an estimated \u00a31.5bn.<\/p>\n \u201cStreeting said resolving the dispute was going to be his first priority as health secretary, and he was as good as his word. He met the junior doctors\u2019 committee of the BMA right away after stepping into office, and a few weeks later they seemed to have resolved things by giving them a pay rise of about 22% spread over two years,\u201d Denis.<\/p>\n That pay rise was backed by a large majority of resident doctors, and for a time it seemed the dispute was over. Until now.<\/p>\n What\u2019s at the heart of this dispute?<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the BMA, resident doctors have seen the real value of their pay fall by nearly 21% over the past 17 years. This is the equivalent, they say, of working one day in every five for free (there is some dispute over these calculations). The resident doctors\u2019 committee of the BMA is now seeking a further 29% pay rise over several years.<\/p>\n Supporters of the strike argue that resident doctors are not just asking for more money but highlighting a system on the brink. Many say they are overworked, underpaid, and increasingly unable to deliver the level of care patients need. For them, this dispute is about valuing the people who hold the NHS together day in, day out, often under immense pressure<\/p>\n Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chair of the BMA resident doctors\u2019 committee, tweeted that a new doctor starts on \u00a317.60 an hour: \u201cName one other profession that gets paid less than their assistants. That is how far doctor pay has eroded.\u201d<\/p>\n While these figures are contested, Denis points out that the basic starting salary for a resident doctor is \u00a338,831. On top of that, they typically earn about 15% more for working antisocial hours, including nights and weekends. The best-paid resident doctors this year will earn a basic salary of about \u00a374,000.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is important for people to understand this dispute. The union now believes that all doctors deserve to have the pay they have lost since 2008 restored. They are unshakeable and unwavering and determined in their beliefs that they are going to get that sum of money: starting with resident doctors and potentially extending to all other groups of doctors such as consultants,\u201d Denis said.<\/p>\n How has the government responded?<\/strong><\/p>\n There have been talks between the union and government ministers, but no breakthrough yet. A major sticking point has been that Streeting says this year\u2019s pay deal of 5.4% for 2025\u201326 is final.<\/p>\n \u201cStreeting has said this is completely unaffordable and completely unreasonable. Talks have failed to bridge the gap and, as a result, anything up to about 55,000 resident doctors in England are legally entitled to go on strike from Friday onwards for up to six months,\u201d Denis said.<\/p>\n \u201cStreeting said there\u2019s no money to reopen negotiations. There have been discussions about whether some kind of student loan forgiveness or debt relief might be offered. Resident doctors\u2019 loans can be up to \u00a3100,000. Streeting has also floated the idea of less generous pensions in exchange for higher pay now. But none of these ideas have really got anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The trouble, he added, is that while Streeting is only willing to talk to doctors about other issues, such as their working conditions, access to hot food, issues around leave, and training places, the BMA is absolutely focused on full pay restoration.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there\u2019s very little common ground: one side says they won\u2019t talk about pay, the other says they\u2019ll only talk about pay. It\u2019s hard to see how, after the disruption these strikes will cause, this dispute is going to be resolved,\u201d Denis said. \u201cThe two sides are just too far apart.\u201d<\/p>\n What has the response been within and outside the NHS?<\/strong><\/p>\n Denis canvassed views among senior doctors and hospital bosses last week to gauge the mood about this strike. The response was overwhelming and conclusive: they were against it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe consensus was that the resident doctors were being greedy, out of touch, and failing to read the room. They say the public finances are strained, and that over the last few years at least, these doctors have had good pay rises relative to other public sector workers. No other trade union is seeking anything like these sums. And no other union has a goal of full restoration,\u201d Denis said.<\/p>\n Resident doctors have historically had significant public support, even when they were striking again and again. \u201cYou had 55-65% of the public still seeming to be on the side of the doctors. People believed they deserved a hefty pay rise,\u201d Denis said.<\/p>\n But that support has soured. Recent polling shows that previously strong approval by voters for strikes by resident doctors has dramatically reduced to just 26%.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they seem to have really lost the public support that they enjoyed. Even previously when they were taking the strike action, while they were being vilified and castigated, the public seemed to get it \u2026 that these doctors are the workhorse of the NHS, covering weekends and overnight shifts that consultants don\u2019t want to or don\u2019t have to do any more.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the public view now seems to be that the resident doctors are being unreasonable,\u201d Denis said.<\/p>\n What are the political ramifications?<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a particularly significant moment for the Labour government because of its central NHS pledge is to bring down hospital waiting times to 18 weeks, Denis said. \u201cWe hear every week about the NHS backlog, which is currently around 7.4m operations and treatments. The government has made some modest progress \u2013 getting it down from 7.6m to 7.4m, but these strikes could wreck that limited progress. This key NHS pledge could become unattainable.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s why Streeting has described these strikes as \u201ca gift to Nigel Farage\u201d. He told a meeting of Labour MPs that ministers were \u201cin the fight for the survival of the NHS\u201d and if Labour failed, Farage would argue for it to be replaced by an insurance-style system.<\/p>\n But resident doctors see their fight for fair pay as a fight for the soul of the NHS, citing widespread burnout among colleagues and a growing exodus from the health service.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Denis added: \u201cThe two sides seem very far apart on the fundamentals. I would really worry that we\u2019re back into a groundhog day situation, with strikes by younger doctors that occur so regularly and for such prolonged times as we saw under the last government are back to haunt this one.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>\u2018I love the Kennedy Center \u2013 I\u2019ve performed there \u2013 but no, I won\u2019t go near anything of Trump\u2019<\/span> Photograph: Sean Zanni\/Patrick McMullan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The great actor, playwright, LGBTQ+ activist and now quilter Harvey Feinstein<\/strong> does not mince his words \u2013 especially on the subject of one of Donald Trump\u2019s enablers, Ric Grenell, now boss of the Kennedy Center. \u201cHe proudly says, \u2018I am a gay, married man.\u2019 Who got you those rights, you lowlife little creep\u200b?\u201d Alex Needham, acting head of newsletters<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n This Guardian editorial warning that time is running out to stop a genocide in Gaza<\/strong> feels like an important moment for the British press. Aamna<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n If you\u2019ve got a long journey with kids ahead of you this summer, then waste no time in clicking on this piece from the Filter. Twenty tips to make family journeys<\/strong> go more smoothly. Public service journalism at its finest. Alex<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n This Sunday\u2019s Women\u2019s Euro final<\/strong> between England and Spain is a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final in Sydney. But as Sophie Downey deftly explores, both teams have changed since that fateful encounter. Aamna<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n As I return to my regular job as the Guardian\u2019s arts editor, I was invigorated by this passionate defence of reviews <\/strong>by Richard Body in the New Yorker. Far from being conservative, he says, they\u2019re progressive and soul-stirring, a unique conversation between critic, artist and reader. Alex<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/span>Ben Stokes celebrates his five-wicket haul against India on day two of the fourth Test.<\/span> Photograph: Lee Smith\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n Cricket <\/strong><\/em>| Ben Stokes finished with figures of five for 72 before Zak Crawley struck 84 as England closed the second day on 225 for two, trailing India\u2019s first-innings total by 133 runs.<\/p>\n Cycling <\/strong><\/em>| David Rozman, a long-term Ineos staff member, has left the Tour de France after an investigation was launched by the International Testing Agency (ITA) into alleged messages he exchanged in 2012 with the subsequently convicted German doping doctor Mark Schmidt.<\/p>\n Rugby <\/strong><\/em>| Garry Ringrose has self-reported concussion symptoms, which has forced the British and Irish Lions head coach, Andy Farrell, into a last-minute reshuffle ahead of Saturday\u2019s second Test against the Wallabies.<\/p>\n The Guardian<\/strong> again leads on the Palestinians\u2019 plight: \u201cLet aid in, pleads UN chief, as even his staff faint from hunger in Gaza\u201d. \u201cBritain must do more\u201d says the Mirror<\/strong> and the Labour MP Emily Thornberry is the face of that statement. The i paper<\/strong> has \u201cUK ready to recognise Palestinian state in peace deal\u201d. \u201cFarms close at record rate after IHT raid\u201d is the claim in the Telegraph<\/strong>. The Express<\/strong> has \u201cDoctors\u2019 5-day strike is a \u2018threat to lives\u2019\u201d and the Times<\/strong> goes in that direction as well: \u201cPM: Strikes pose threat to NHS as we know it\u201d. \u201cI won\u2019t cave in to militant doctors\u201d the health secretary is credited with saying on the Mail\u2019s<\/strong> front. The Metro<\/strong> pens a letter to the England women\u2019s coach, Sarina Wiegman, and says \u201cGood luck, let\u2019s go!\u201d. The Financial Times<\/strong> splashes on \u201cTesla shares tumble after Musk warns Trump\u2019s anti-EV agenda will hit profit\u201d.<\/p>\n Our critics\u2019 roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span>Regencyfied to the max \u2026 Sterling K Brown in Washington Black.<\/span> Photograph: Chris Reardon\/AP<\/p>\n TV<\/strong> Film Theatre<\/strong> Music <\/span>Ella Toone and Michelle Agyemang celebrate Agyemang\u2019s goal in England\u2019s semi-final match against Italy.<\/span><\/p>\n Euros 25: Can the Lionesses bring it home again? \u2013 podcast<\/strong><\/p>\n What can the tournament so far tell us about England\u2019s chances on Sunday? Faye Carruthers reports<\/p>\n <\/span> Illustration: Ben Jennings\/The Guardian<\/p>\n A bit of good news to remind you that the world\u2019s not all bad<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span>The Barbados threadsnake had been on a list of 4,800 plants, animals and fungi thought to be lost to science.<\/span> Photograph: Photo by Connor Blades<\/p>\n The world\u2019s smallest snake, as thin as a strand of spaghetti, has been rediscovered in Barbados 20 years after its last sighting. The Barbados threadsnake, thought to be extinct, was found under a rock in the centre of the island during an ecological survey by conservation organisation Re:wild.<\/p>\n During the survey in March, Justin Springer, who had been looking for the threadsnake among other reptiles for more than a year, jokingly told his colleague: \u201cI smell a threadsnake,\u201d while turning over a rock trapped under a tree root. And there it was.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are so accustomed to looking for things and you don\u2019t see them, you are shocked when you actually find it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday<\/strong><\/p>\n And finally, the Guardian\u2019s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good morning. Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, working in the NHS have begun their five-day strike. At the heart of this dispute is the government\u2019s offer of a 5.4% pay increase this year, after a 22% rise over the previous two years. Ministers say this amounts to a total uplift of 28.9% over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[1043,366,1042,134,1229,3001,1349,2640],"class_list":{"0":"post-12202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-briefing","9":"tag-doctors","10":"tag-friday","11":"tag-labour","12":"tag-nhs","13":"tag-resident","14":"tag-strike","15":"tag-survive"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Five big stories<\/h2>\n
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In depth: How did we get here?<\/h2>\n
What else we\u2019ve been reading<\/h2>\n
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Sport<\/h2>\n
The front pages<\/h2>\n
Something for the weekend<\/h2>\n
Washington Black<\/strong> | \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606<\/strong>
Atrocious dialogue, ludicrous plot, nausea-inducing love scenes: this adaptation of Esi Edugyan\u2019s novel about the era of transatlantic slavery is highly wobbly. But the stunning scenery of Nova Scotia, strong performances \u2013 especially from Sterling K Brown \u2013 and world-building make it highly watchable. Hannah J Davies<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Gazer | \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606
<\/strong>A paranoid noir chiller shot on 16mm in Jersey City, Gazer is a fascinatingly uneasy debut from Ryan J Sloan. Co-writer Ariella Mastroianni stars as Frankie, a woman with a neurodegenerative condition who can\u2019t judge the passing of time and finds herself caught in a disturbing plot involving a stranger\u2019s plea for help. Unbearably tense and ineffably creepy, it\u2019s a genuinely skin-crawling, hallucinatory ride, with hints of Lynch and Cronenberg. Peter Bradshaw<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Inter Alia | \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606<\/strong>
Rosamund Pike rules in Suzie Miller\u2019s companion drama to Prima Facie, playing a crown court judge whose world is upended by an accusation close to home. Directed by Justin Martin, with music ratcheting up the tension, it\u2019s a searing commentary on the justice system and a purposefully uncomfortable insight into contemporary parenting. Pike is in constant motion, juggling career, motherhood and emotional labour, but can\u2019t protect her son from peer pressure \u2013 or, in the end, himself. Emma John<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Tyler, the Creator: Don\u2019t Tap the Glass | \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606
<\/strong>Tyler, the Creator\u2019s ninth album expels \u2013 for the most part \u2013 the soul-searching of last year\u2019s Chromakopia in favour of half an hour of early 80s rhythms and slick one-liners. The musical reference points are deployed with an evident love of the source material; the hooks work. But it\u2019s not the whole story: on the concluding Tell Me What It Is, Tyler drops the boasts in favour of heartsore self-examination. Fourteen years on, he still reserves the right to be contradictory. Alexis Petridis<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nToday in Focus<\/h2>\n
Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings<\/h2>\n
The Upside<\/h2>\n
Bored at work?<\/h2>\n