New bill means minimum service level must be in place or unions will lose legal protections from damages Liz Truss has published controversial plans to make sure transport workers provide a minimum service level when they strike, ahead of a speech by Keir Starmer pledging to repeal all the Tories’ new anti-trade union laws. As the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union warned of a new wave of rail strikes all winter, Truss brought forward

Sourdough out, white sliced in – Waitrose says shoppers are ‘making little downgrades’ and choosing cheaper cuts The cost of living crisis has put home cooks on a war footing with a new “thrifty” mindset boosting supermarket sales of nostalgic canned foods, including Spam and pilchards, as well as cheap cuts such as fish heads. With official figures showing food price inflation running at nearly 15%, Waitrose said its customers are seeking prudent alternatives for

MPs say unsustainable workloads and low morale of family doctors need to be addressed urgently Ministers are ignoring “unsustainable” workload pressures and a growing shortage of medics in general practice, putting the safety of millions of patients at risk, MPs have said. In a scathing report, the health and social care committee accuses the government and NHS England of being reluctant to acknowledge the enormous problems in the system. As a result, the crisis is

Pubs, hotels and restaurants experienced fastest fall in output of any UK sector on Lloyds tracker Tourism and recreation experienced the fastest fall in output of any UK business sector last month, the latest data shows. Output in the sector, which includes pubs, hotels and restaurants, declined at the fastest pace since February 2021, when the UK was last in lockdown, with a tracker score of 36.3 in September, according to the Lloyds Bank UK

More than 40 Tories fail to back Liz Truss’s government amid allegations MPs were manhandled A crunch Commons vote on the future of fracking has descended into mayhem after more than 40 Conservative MPs failed to back Liz Truss’s government, with MPs alleging ministers physically pulled some wavering Tories into the voting lobbies. Shortly after the vote, there were reports that the chief whip, Wendy Morton, and her deputy, Craig Whittaker, had lost their jobs,

Prime minister at risk of mass exodus of ministers as home secretary forced to resign Liz Truss’s beleaguered government appeared at risk of collapse on Wednesday as Suella Braverman launched a stinging attack on the prime minister after being forced to resign as home secretary. Braverman’s dramatic departure, coming just five days after Truss sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, risks the prime minister experiencing the sort of mass exodus of ministers that forced Boris Johnson

Labour tabled vote on banning shale gas drilling in England, which Tory whips said would be treated as confidence motion in Truss’s government MPs have rejected a Labour motion that would guarantee parliamentary time for a bill to ban fracking. Despite there being 357 Conservative MPs in Parliament, there were just 326 votes against Labour’s motion. Continue reading… ​Labour tabled vote on banning shale gas drilling in England, which Tory whips said would be treated