RCN suspends 48-hour strike in England after government agrees to "intensive talks" on pay starting tomorrow The Royal College of Nursing has suspended its 48-hour strike in England planned for early March after the government agreed to conduct “intensive talks” on pay. In a rare joint statement, the Department of Health and Social Care and the RCN said: The government and Royal College of Nursing have agreed to enter a process of intensive talks. Both sides are committed to finding a fair and reasonable settlement that recognises the vital role that nurses and nursing play in the National Health Service and the wider economic pressures facing the United Kingdom and the prime minister’s priority to halve inflation. The talks will focus on pay, terms and conditions, and productivity-enhancing reforms. The health secretary will meet with the Royal College of Nursing on Wednesday to begin talks. The Royal College of Nursing will pause strike action during these talks. In the past the government has refused to talk about the pay offer on the table for the 2022-23 financial year, saying that talks must focus on next year’s pay offer. Today’s statement suggests the government is now being more flexible. The RCN went into the dispute asking for a pay rise 5% higher than RPI inflation. At one point the government said this would amount to a 19% rise. But recently the RCN called off its strike action in Wales after the Welsh government offered an extra 3%, on top of the 4.5% already on the table, and that offer is being put to members. Early evening summary The Royal College of Nursing has suspended its 48-hour strike in England planned for early March after the government agreed to conduct “intensive talks” on pay. (See 5.27pm.) The health secretary, Steve Barclay, said the government was committed to a “fair and reasonable settlement”. According to the BBC, other health unions were not aware of the joint RCN/government statement about this issued earlier, which has prompted speculation that ministers might be planning a special offer just for nurses. The European Research Group of Eurosceptic Conservative MPs is demanding to see the full text of any deal on the Northern Ireland protocol, piling pressure on the prime minister to meet their demands of radical changes to the Brexit trading arrangements. SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes has denied her attempt to replace Nicola Sturgeon is over before it has begun, after her comments about her personal opposition to equal marriage prompted an immediate and furious backlash. Minister plays down concern about estimated 2m people not having photo ID needed to vote under new law Lee Rowley, the local government minister, has played down concerns that 2 million people do not have the photo ID they will need to vote under a new law that will come into effect for the first time for the local elections in England in May. As my colleague Peter Walker reports, although the government has set up a scheme enabling people to get photo ID for voting if they do not have an appropriate document already, only around 21,000 people have applied – only 1% of the estimated 2 million voters who do not possess the necessary documents already. In a Commons urgent question on this earlier, Rowley played down the significance of the 2 million figure. He said: Of those two million people, which is an estimate, a large number of those will not have elections in their area this year. Secondly, of that group a number will choose not to vote – much as we would like them to do so – will have chosen never to have voted, and we would encourage them to do so, but ultimately that is what the purpose of a democracy is – people have a right to vote and not to vote, and we’re seeking to encourage them to do so, we’re seeking to guarantee that integrity. For Labour, shadow communities minister Alex Norris noted there are 72 days before polling day and went on: We’re risking widespread disenfranchisement. When is the minister going to wake up and act to prevent these voter ID requirements from locking huge numbers of people out of their democracy at the next election? RCN suspends 48-hour strike in England after government agrees to "intensive talks" on pay starting tomorrow The Royal College of Nursing has suspended its 48-hour strike in England planned for early March after the government agreed to conduct “intensive talks” on pay. In a rare joint statement, the Department of Health and Social Care and the RCN said: The government and Royal College of Nursing have agreed to enter a process of intensive talks. Both sides are committed to finding a fair and reasonable settlement that recognises the vital role that nurses and nursing play in the National Health Service and the wider economic pressures facing the United Kingdom and the prime minister’s priority to halve inflation. The talks will focus on pay, terms and conditions, and productivity-enhancing reforms. The health secretary will meet with the Royal College of Nursing on Wednesday to begin talks. The Royal College of Nursing will pause strike action during these talks. In the past the government has refused to talk about the pay offer on the table for the 2022-23 financial year, saying that talks must focus on next year’s pay offer. Today’s statement suggests the government is now being more flexible. The RCN went into the dispute asking for a pay rise 5% higher than RPI inflation. At one point the government said this would amount to a 19% rise. But recently the RCN called off its strike action in Wales after the Welsh government offered an extra 3%, on top of the 4.5% already on the table, and that offer is being put to members. "At the moment, yes" - Kate Forbes says she is staying in SNP leadership contest, for now Kate Forbes may be having second thoughts about remaining in the contest for the SNP leadership. After a dire 24 hours for her campaign, when asked by STV if she intended to stay in the race, she replied: “At the moment, yes.” Here is the clip. A search of the BBC’s offices in India was a “deliberate act of intimidation” after the broadcaster published an unflattering documentary about the country’s leader, MPs were told. As PA Media reports, the DUP MP Jim Shannon used an urgent question in the Commons to hit out at the Indian government after its tax authorities spent three days searching the BBC’s New Delhi and Mumbai offices last week. Shannon said: Let’s be very clear, this was a deliberate act of intimidation following the release of an unflattering documentary about the country’s leader.” Since its release, there has been a concerted effort to prevent the documentary screening in India … the suppression of freedom of expression in media and with journalists. In resposne David Rutley, a Foreign Office minister, kept any criticism of India to a minimum. Telling MPs that the goverment was monitoring the matter closely, he said: “Respect for the rule of law is an essential element of an effective democracy, so too is an independent media and freedom of speech.” Šefčovič and Cleverly say they will speak again "soon" as announcement about NI protocol deal continues to be delayed Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice president who deals with Brexit-related negotiatons with the UK, and James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, have had another conversation about the Northern Ireland protocol. On the basis of what they are both tweeting about the call, they still cannot say when a deal may be announced. Away from the SNP leadership race, the final stage debate for the Scottish budget is under way. The finance secretary, John Swinney – who is standing in for leadership hopeful Kate Forbes while she is on maternity leave – has announced an additional £100m for local authorities to help them settle pay disputes and reversed cuts to the Creative Scotland arts budget but still facing heaving criticism from opposition parties. The budget includes an income tax rise for everyone earning more than £43,662, which the Scottish Tories say is “creating substantial disincentives to living and working in Scotland”. Scottish Labour’s Daniel Johnson criticised Swinney for continuing with the government’s “flawed plan for a national care service” – a proposal which local authorities have urged him to suspend, arguing it would be unjustifiably costly and disruptive during a time of financial crisis. They say it represents money wasted on “plans and centralisation rather than delivering care”. Hunt says surplus in public finances for January does not mean he can improve public sector pay offers Jeremy Hunt has said that today’s better-than-expected figures for the government finances in January, showing a surplus, do not mean he can afford to give public sector workers a better pay rise. Speaking to reporters in Stratford, east London, and echoing what No 10 said earlier (see 12.56pm), Hunt insisted there was no windfall. Of course the fall in energy prices means the numbers are different to what they were two months ago, but unfortunately even though the cost of the [energy price guarantee] has gone down, so too have the windfall taxes that we were expecting to collect to pay for them. So, the net difference is marginal, but the most important thing is this was a one-off, one-year cost only. To make permanent changes in tax and spending that are recurring, year-in year-out, you need a more fundamental change in national finances, which I’m afraid we haven’t seen. Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, said the new figures made it harder for Hunt to justify not improving pay offers to public sector workers. But Hunt did not accept this. He said: Pay rises are recurrent and they have a recurrent cost on the exchequer, and what we see in today’s numbers is not a recurrent change in our national finances. It’s also not anything like as significant as the numbers people are talking about because of the corresponding reduction in windfall taxes. So, it doesn’t change the fundamental outlook and the need for responsibility in public finances. Eurosceptic Tory MPs demand to see full text of Northern Ireland deal The European Research Group of Eurosceptic Conservative MPs are demanding to see the full text of any deal on the Northern Ireland protocol, piling the pressure on the prime minister to meet their demands of radical changes to the Brexit trading arrangements, my colleagues Lisa O’Carroll, Pippa Crera and Jessica Elgot report. Asked about the retained EU law (revocation and reform) bill, Victoria Prentis, the attorney general, said the government would be tabling an amendment in the House of Lords saying that the sunset clause in the bill – which says EU laws should lapse at the end of December 2023, unless a deliberate decision is taken to retain or replace them – will not apply to tertiary legislation, such as licences. Sunak thinks UK can resolve its migration issues without having to leave EHCR, attorney general tells MPs Maria Eagle (Lab) goes next. Q: If you considered that a government bill would be against international law, would you just say so? Or would you find a way round it? Victoria Prentis says of course she would say the law must be upheld. But she says she cannot comment on particular cases. Q: If a policy were against the European convention on human rights, would you just say you cannot do it? Or would you suggest a way round that? Prentis says she cannot comment on the specifics. But she says her advice is to explain the law. It is not always simple, she says. Q: There have been hints from No 10 that the government could leave the European convention on human rights. Is that right? Prentis says the government is committed to the ECHR. At the European court of human rights, the UK has the fewest infractions of any country. It is a valued member. The government remains committed to it, she says. She says there is an issue with migration. But the PM believes that other nations can deal with their migration issues within the ECHR, and the UK should be able to too. Q: Would leaving the EHCR break the Good Friday agreement? Prentis says the convention is embedded in the Good Friday agreement. She says, if necessary, “work could be done to look at that”. But since the government is committed to the convention, that is not even something they need to say, she says.