Union leaders reject chances of last minute talks to avert ambulance strike – British Politics Live | Policy

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Those from Joshua Rozenberg, legal commentator, on the Supreme Court ruling. The court said the Home Office did not properly consider the circumstances of eight people facing deportation, he says, but the policy itself is legal.

Rwanda: The Supreme Court says former Home Minister Priti Patel failed to consider the individual circumstances of the eight asylum seekers who challenged her policy. Their cases should be reconsidered. But the policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is legal in itself.

– Joshua Rozenberg (@JoshuaRozenberg) December 19, 2022

Summary of the judgment on Rwanda: The Court found that it was lawful for the government to arrange for asylum-seekers to be transferred to Rwanda and for their asylum claims to be decided in Rwanda rather than in the UK.

– Joshua Rozenberg (@JoshuaRozenberg) December 19, 2022

Based on the evidence before this Court, the Government has made arrangements with the Government of Rwanda designed to ensure that asylum claims of persons transferred to Rwanda are properly adjudicated in Rwanda.

– Joshua Rozenberg (@JoshuaRozenberg) December 19, 2022

In these circumstances, transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda is consistent with the Refugee Convention and with the statutory and other legal obligations of the government including those under the 1998 Human Rights Act…

— Joshua Rozenberg (@JoshuaRozenberg) December 19, 2022 Government plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda are Supreme Court legal rules

PA Media has just picked up on this.

The Supreme Court ruled that the government’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda were lawful.

I will post more on this when I get it.

The ruling will likely be appealed, so that won’t be the end of the matter, but this still looks like a huge victory for the government.

Updated at 10.42 GMT

Hunt says the next budget will take place on Wednesday, March 15th

One of the many odd features of 2022 was that even though the Treasury Department made multiple budget-style announcements, including Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget, we didn’t have a proper budget all year. In March, when Rishi Sunak was an advisor, he delivered a spring statement, not a budget. And Jeremy Hunt’s latest tax and spending announcement has been officially drafted as the Fall Manifesto.

Hunt announced, but we’ll get an official budget in the spring. In a written statement, the chancellor said:

Today I can report home that I have asked the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to prepare a forecast for March 15, 2023, to accompany the Spring Budget.

These forecasts, in addition to those that occurred in November 2022, will fulfill the Office for Budget Responsibility’s commitment to produce at least two forecasts in the fiscal year, as required by legislation.

This will be the first official budget since October 2021.

Updated at 10.38 GMT

Labor renewed its call for the government to open talks with health unions over wages. Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow work and pensions secretary, told the Radio Times this morning:

I think everyone is very concerned about the NHS staff strike and its impact on patient care. That’s why we want to avoid these strikes.

This is why ministers have to engage in meaningful negotiations to avoid these blows.

Responsibility rests with Rishi Sunak and his government. They are the people who can stop these strikes by engaging in meaningful negotiations about a fair settlement for NHS staff.

NHS faces ‘incredibly challenging and disruptive week’ due to strikes, health chief says

Negotiations are still ongoing between ambulance service leaders and unions over exactly which services will be maintained during Wednesday’s strike in England and Wales, NHS Providers interim chief executive Saffron Cordery told BBC Breakfast this morning.

NHS Providers represent NHS trusts and Cordery said talks are taking place at both a national and local level.

When asked if people should make their own way to the hospital, she replied:

If someone has a life and limb emergency, they should call 999. If it is not this type of emergency, they will be asked to seek different advice.

If they think they have the type of emergency where they usually call 111, they should do so, or they should consult a general practitioner or pharmacist. They should use the usual methods available to them and take this advice. There may be alternative advice available to them that normally would not be the case.

So perhaps they will be advised to take themselves to hospital, but they will have to wait to seek medical advice.

Cordery also said it was going to be an “incredibly difficult and turbulent week” for the NHS because there was another strike by nurses too. She told BBC Breakfast:

This is going to be an incredibly difficult and turbulent week, not only because the Ambulance Service is going on strike in almost every district, but also because we have these consecutive strikes.

So we have an industrial strike for nurses on Tuesday, and then the ambulance services on Wednesday, and I think one will influence the other.

Updated at 10.05 GMT

Sunak arrives in Latvia for a summit with fellow leaders from the JEF Military Partnership

Rishi Sunak has landed in the Latvian capital, where he will meet northern European allies to discuss countering Russian aggression, the Palestinian News Agency reported. PA says:

The prime minister landed in snowy Riga at 11.20 local time, exiting the plane to 4 degrees Celsius.

And he will urge his fellow Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) commanders to stand firm in their support for Ukraine, after announcing a major new artillery package for the war-torn country.

He will continue his tour with a short plane ride to Estonia later on Monday, where he will meet British forces and sign a new technology partnership.

Here’s News Release #10 about the visit. And here’s the story of the night’s preview by my colleague Jessica Elgott:

Rishi Sunak disembarks from his plane at Riga International Airport in Latvia this morning. Photograph: Henry Nichols/Reuters

Updated at 10.05 GMT

good morning. We are in the last week before Christmas and strikes affecting public services are set to become even more serious. The Royal College of Nursing’s strike last week was unprecedented, as the RCN had never called a strike before, but ministers fear that a strike by ambulance staff in England and Wales on Wednesday could be even more serious because of its impact on this. Patients who need emergency care.

As Jessica Elgott and Andrew Gregory report in their overnight story, Steve Barclay, the health secretary, has indicated he’s open to further talks in hopes of averting a strike this week.

But this morning the leaders of Britain’s two largest unions, Unison and Unite, which represent ambulance workers, played down the prospect of any meaningful talks, saying the government’s refusal to discuss wages made discussion pointless.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Sharon Graham, Secretary General of Unite, said that Barclay himself is the one paying the country the ransom. She said:

Look at Scotland. The government there returned to the negotiating table, made a new offer, and the strikes were called off. But in England they refuse to negotiate a new deal with the unions or to return to the Wage Review Board.

Steve Barclay is holding the country to ransom. He will have to carry the can if the patients suffer because he believes this is the Thatcher moment.

And on Today this morning, Christina McNea, the federation’s general secretary, said ministers are impossible. She said:

The government has been very intransigent here. We’ve been calling them for weeks and weeks to talk to us about this, actually sit down and have a proper discussion before we try to resolve this dispute, and they have flatly refused to do so.

I don’t know how strong myself or Pat Cullen are [the RCN general secretary] Or Gary Smith from GMB [need to be] – We all say the same thing, we’re willing to talk to you, but they won’t talk to us about the elephant in the room, which is fare.

McNea said she last met Barclay herself five weeks ago, for about 15 minutes. She said there was “no trust left” between the unions and the government, and that in order for the ambulance strike to be called off on Wednesday, ministers would have to pledge to open negotiations over wages. She said:

It was a very strict commitment. There is no trust between us and the government. They had to come up with something more than just “let’s talk about this” to call off the strike on Wednesday.

Of course, the ambulance strike is not the only public service strike coming this week. Here is the strike advent calendar for this month.

Here is today’s agenda.

10:30 a.m.: The Supreme Court issues rulings on legal challenges to Rwanda’s government’s deportation policy.

Morning: Rishi Sunak arrives in Riga, Latvia, for a meeting of leaders of the Combined Expeditionary Force, a UK-led defense group made up mostly of Nordic and Baltic nations. After that he will go to Estonia to meet the British forces stationed there.

11:30 am: Downing Street holds a briefing in the Lobby.

2.30pm: Soella Braverman, Home Secretary, takes questions in the House of Commons.

I’ll try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it’s impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, include “Andrew” somewhere and I’ll be more likely to find it. I try to answer questions, and if they’re of general interest, I’ll post the question and response above the line (ATL), though I can’t promise this to everyone.

If you want to quickly get my attention, you’d better use Twitter. I’m on AndrewSparrow.

Alternatively, you can email me at [email protected].

Updated at 09.48 GMT

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