Dom Trendall

Nursing unions call for UK to back prosecutions for war crimes against health workers Calls come as report shows number of health workers killed in conflicts has risen five-fold in less than a decade

Story: www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

The RCN and other health unions are right to speak out today. Attacks on nursing staff and other health workers in Gaza and beyond are indefensible. These are war crimes, plain and simple. The UK must back ICC prosecutions and stand firm in defence of international law.

‘Lanyard class’ makes no sense. A lanyard doesn’t mark class, it just keeps your pass handy. The people wearing them are the ones grafting — including the staff holding up health and care.

After 40 years, a national inquiry into Orgreave is finally happening. A huge moment for mining communities and everyone who’s fought so hard for truth and justice. Solidarity with the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign—this really matters.

I can’t stress this enough: many of the big hitters came out against the assisted dying bill before it was even published. It’s become fashionable to say “support the principle, oppose the bill” — but the timeline shows most were gearing up to oppose any bill.

The government won in court last week, defeating a bizarre legal challenge from the private school lobby claiming that losing tax breaks breached their human rights. Imagine the fanfare if it had gone the other way—this was a big win for fairness that deserves more attention.

One of the best things about the labour movement is how it brings together people of all ages—people who’d otherwise pass each other in the street, united by a shared passion for the details of a trade dispute or winning a council ward off a nimby independent. It’s enriching for everyone.

The Lib Dems and Rupert Lowe both think firing off loads of questions means you’re doing a great job.

We can all agree they’re about as relevant as each other.

Responding to the US trade deal, Andrew Griffith calls it ‘a Diet Coke deal, not the real thing’.

Can I respectfully submit that Diet Coke is class — and, in all ways, better than 'the real thing.'

“Working people” is a phrase with power—it speaks to those who keep the country going but rarely get the rewards. Pretending it’s an attack on the ill or disabled isn’t just daft, it’s dishonest. Recognising work doesn’t mean denying anyone’s dignity.

An FOI reveals DHSC received the NHS Pay Review Body report on 11 April. It’s now May. The pay rise was due on 1 April.

When will the government lay the report before Parliament—and give NHS staff the pay award they’ve earned and deserve?

@rcn.org.uk

The Greens claimed they were on course in the West of England—even where Labour faced real challenges, they couldn’t come second. That says it all. It’s Labour or Reform. I’m for Labour—not self-indulgent Greenery.

The Supreme Court’s judgment last week was bad enough—and the language used was shocking. But the wilful misinterpretation of what it actually said is, in many ways, worse. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 remains an Act of Parliament. Its provisions still stand.

A health minister attacking the Tories for once acknowledging that trans women are women is a low moment. Trans women are women—just as surely as the sky is blue.

'Still tangled? Rowenna Davis and the evolution of Blue Labour' - LabourList Morgan Jones reviews Tangled up in Blue, the 2011 history of Blue Labour written by Croydon selection candidate Rowenna Davis.

The author of "Tangled Up In Blue: Blue Labour and the Struggle for Labour's Soul" is running to be Labour's candidate for mayor of Croydon. I've written about what her career can tell us about the tendency:

labourlist.org/2025/04/rowe...

This is the same Green Party that made formal pacts with the Lib Dems to oppose Corbyn—and whose elected Deputy Leader was a Lib Dem through the coalition years, only jumping ship when they wouldn’t hand him a safe seat.

The Greens are hardly a panacea.

Poll shows over half of Green voters back a merger with the Lib Dems. The idea that a party with a quarter of its MPs from North Herefordshire is the authentic voice of anything but middle-class liberalism is laughable.

Serving as a Member of Parliament is a privilege. It is incompatible with membership of the Liberal Democrats.

I’m not one for constant BBC-bashing, but headlines like “Union bosses held up Birmingham bin deal” do a lot of heavy lifting. Giving one side of the dispute centre stage, inviting readers to start from their version of events — before you’ve even clicked the link.

Society needs an alternative to the phrase “pick your brains.” It conveys a useful meaning, so I often reach for it—but it does rather conjure the image of a crow picking at a decaying carcass.

There’s no point trying to placate avowed transphobes—their appetite for bigotry is insatiable. Even the mildest recognition of basic dignity is met with incredulous derision.

Amanda Spielman has come out attacking the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, claiming it ‘puts unions and union members ahead of children.’

Her contempt for hardworking teachers and their unions was always clear—now she’s saying it outright. No wonder the feeling is mutual.

Rolling back the Tory-Lib Dem NHS reorganisation is welcome—if you called it dastardly privatisation then, you ought to agree now. But there must be a proper workforce plan. NHSE staff deserve better than chaotic, top-down reform.

I hope the government works with TUs to get this right.

How many Lib Dems backed the Employment Rights Bill at third reading last night?

None.

Sanctimony and bombast over action—Yellow Tories who refused to support bereavement leave and maternity rights.

votes.parliament.uk/votes/common...

9/ I get why the govt frames this as a ‘balanced’ approach, focusing comms on economic productivity rather than fundamental rights or tackling corporate wrongdoing. But what matters is what makes it onto the statute book—and on that front, we are winning the battle.

8/ There were concerns this bill could be watered down, but trade unions have secured real improvements. Some of these wins – especially on zero-hours protections, pregnancy rights, and trade union access – are meaningful, tangible victories for workers.

A good bill just got better.

7/ Umbrella companies now being brought under regulation

Some of the worst abuses in agency work happen through umbrella companies, which have been linked to wage skimming and unfair deductions. This amendment places them under proper regulation for the first time.

5/ Fair Work Agency & tougher enforcement on unpaid wages

Employers who fail to pay workers their full wages – including Statutory Sick Pay and the Minimum Wage – could now face fines of up to £20,000 per worker. The govt will also have new powers to directly enforce wage underpayments.

4/ Strike mandates extended from 6 months to 12 months

Unions won’t have to re-ballot every 6 months anymore – mandates will now last a full year. We had called for a full return to pre-2017 rules, but this is still a big improvement.