6 h. ago NHS bosses fear fresh strikes in England as resident doctors seek 29% pay rise

Hundreds of thousands of hospital appointments could be cancelled if BMA members vote for series of stoppagesHospitals are bracing for a fresh round of strikes by resident doctors seeking a 29% pay rise, amid warnings that stoppages could lead to hundreds of thousands of appointments and operations being cancelled.NHS leaders fear that a ballot of resident doctors, formerly junior doctors in England, which closes on Monday will produce a majority backing renewed industrial action. Continue reading...

Economics

3 d. ago King Charles to land £100million pay rise after significant issue

Despite economic pressures affecting thousands of households in the UK, the Royal Family is set to see a boost to their Sovereign Grant to fix a significant problem

Economics

3 d. ago P&O Ferries boss got pay rise of at least 55% after firing almost 800 workers

Delayed 2023 accounts show Peter Hebblethwaite was paid £683,000 despite public outrage over dismissalsThe boss of P&O Ferries was paid £683,000 in the financial year after the cross-Channel operator outraged the public and parliament by dismissing almost 800 mainly British workers.The windfall, revealed in much delayed 2023 accounts seen by the Guardian and ITV News that report more than £90m of annual losses, represents a pay rise of at least 55% for Peter Hebblethwaite, who was the company’s highest-paid director. Continue reading...

Economics

4 d. ago ‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational

Alberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker realityThe first time Dalia* took ayahuasca nothing happened. The second time it changed her life. It was 2017, and she had joined a dozen strangers in a chalet outside Barcelona. Everyone was searching for something. For many it was a way out of misery: an escape from years of addiction, or a last-ditch attempt to survive crippling depression. Dalia, a therapist in her early 30s, hoped ayahuasca would help her process the recent death of her mother. “I felt completely alone at that time,” she said. “And I think in some form that’s how everyone there felt.”The retreat, run by a wellness company called Inner Mastery, began with the two dozen participants talking about their expectations, before imbibing ayahuasca. The Amazonian plant brew, which contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a powerful naturally occurring psychoactive, induces an a...

Politics

1 week ago Fury as doctors say they are 'excited' by the prospect of more strikes

Leading doctors have sparked fury by admitting they are 'excited' by the prospect of further strikes despite the risk of patient harm.

Events

2 w. ago Tube drivers threatening to strike if 'bosses refuse to pay them £76,000 a year'

The RMT trade union is allegedly urging members to take action if Transport for London (TfL) does not offer them a pay rise of 4.5 per cent.

Economics

3 w. ago Rachel Reeves seized her moment – whatever the future brings, Labour’s economic course is now set | Martin Kettle

The chancellor is no mere technocrat: her spending review revealed a visceral commitment to social and economic mobilityThe consensus has long been that the 2025 spending review would be a defining moment for Keir Starmer’s government. For once, the consensus proved spot-on. The government’s main priorities were set out on Wednesday in a blizzard of Commons announcements from Rachel Reeves, some economically substantive, others more for show. The upshot is that the shape of the British state, as Labour intends it, is now decided until the eve of the next election.There are further crossroads still to come, some of them major, as the years covered by the review unroll. Taxes are likely to rise, probably as soon as the autumn budget, to pay for Reeves’s big ticket boosts on Wednesday for defence, health and housing. Council tax could rise too, with possibly dramatic results. The review’s emphasis on capital spending means current spending could be squeezed again, perhaps heralding pay...

Economics

3 w. ago The full details of the teachers pay increase in Wales as independent recommendation rejected

Teachers are being offered a 4% pay rise in Wales

Politics