4 Bits Of News You May Have Missed Due To The Tory Civil War
It’s difficult to stay on top of all the news at the best of times, let alone when a Tory civil war is unfolding.
The resignation of Boris Johnson and the battle for his place at No. 10 has definitely dominated the news for the past two weeks.
And while the appointment of the new prime minister is important, the turmoil in government means other stories may have slipped under the radar.
So here are four more pieces of news you may have missed.
1. Russia is making progress in Ukraine
On Thursday, Russia attacked a densely populated area in Kharkiv, killing at least two people and wounding 21 others. It looks like the shelling hit a market, a bus stop, a gym and an apartment building.
It comes after Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Wednesday that Russia is expanding its military targets in Ukraine.
This means that it is essentially trying to take control of all of Ukraine’s southern regions and that Russian forces are moving beyond the so-called “People’s Republics” of Donestk and Luhansk to the east.
The invasion is now in its fifth month and continues to last much longer than originally predicted by Russia. But despite the slow start and strong resistance from Ukrainian forces and repelling Russian troops from other parts of the country (including the capital Kyiv), Putin does not appear to be giving up.
Meanwhile, in response to the Kremlin’s escalating military targets, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that “Russians want blood, not talks,” and called for more help from allies.
Lavrov has warned the West that if NATO allies continue to supply the country with long-range weapons, the Kremlin will further expand its targets.
PA Graphics via PA Graphics/Press Association Images
2. Workers’ strikes continue
The summer of dissatisfaction lingers, with Royal Mail staff voting to strike over pay on Tuesday.
More than 115,000 workers affiliated with the Communication Workers Union supported the action, which, if carried out, could become the largest strike ever by its members.
When Royal Mail tweeted that they were “disappointed” with the strike action, the CWU replied: “Dry your eyes mate.”
Wage disputes are affecting industries across the UK as the cost of living crisis pushes back current wages for railway workers and airport workers.
The CWU is just one of many unions voting to strike lately as inflation soars to a 40-year high.
3. Annual grocery bills rise by £454
Shoppers across the UK will soon see their annual grocery bills for the year increase by £454 due to food and drink inflation.
Grocery price inflation rose to 9.9% in the four weeks ended July 10, up from 8.3% the previous month, according to retail research firm Kantar.
Fuel costs and supply chain issues are passed on to consumers.
Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, told the PA news agency he expected the record for grocery inflation to be broken “in August”.
4. NHS is not coping with Covid
While the worst of the heatwave is over (for now), healthcare is still grappling with Covid infections more than two years after the initial lockdown.
The editor of the British Medical Journal, Dr. Kamran Abbasi, and Health Service Journal editor Alastair McLellan, wrote an alarming editorial on Monday, warning that the NHS could buckle under continued pressure from Covid.
This is due to a number of factors, including periods of underfunding over the past decade, “lack of an adequate workforce plan” and “a cowardly and short-sighted failure to implement welfare reform”.
Now it seems that the Government’s ‘Living with Covid’ strategy could be the last straw if another wave of infections sweeps through Britain.
Abbasi and McLellan claimed that the government is “pretending it’s not happening or implying everything is under control” and said the healthcare system is in fact “dying” of Covid.
They called on the government to “stop gaslighting the public” and be honest the pandemic is still looming very strong over the NHS.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/news-you-missed-due-to-conservative-civil-war_uk_62d91d59e4b06e213fbb6d25 4 Bits Of News You May Have Missed Due To The Tory Civil War
