Ransomware ban won’t save councils or NHS without urgent cyber investment July 27, 2025 The UK government’s recent ban on ransomware payments by the public sector is a pivotal moment in cybercrime policy. While hailed as a decisive step, experts caution that without parallel investment in resilience, hospitals, councils, and schools remain dangerously exposed. Announced on 22 June, the policy prohibits pay-outs by NHS trusts, local authorities, and other [...]
Five day doctors’ strikes begin as Wes Streeting-BMA talks break down July 25, 2025 Resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – led by the British Medical Association (BMA) began a five-day strike on Friday morning, set to last until 7am on Wednesday. Health secretary Wes Streeting said on Thursday evening that strike action should have been a “last resort”, and “we did not need to be in [...]
Doctors strike: Streeting floats student loan write-off in BMA meeting July 18, 2025 Wes Streeting could offer to write off student loan debt for doctors to persuade the British Medical Association (BMA) to call off a planned strike. The idea came up in an extended meeting between the health secretary and the medical union, just a week out from a five day walkout which could involve as many [...]
ABPI: UK aims high on life sciences, but investment lags behind July 16, 2025 The government’s newly unveiled Life Sciences Sector Plan lays out an ambition to position the UK as a global life sciences leader by 2030. But the pharmaceutical industry has pushed back, warning that without major reforms to medicine funding and pricing, the strategy risks underdelivering. Published on Wednesday as part of government’s Industrial Strategy, the [...]
Doctors’ strikes prove militant BMA is prepared to put patients’ lives at risk July 16, 2025 Resident doctors are endangering their patients’ lives with immoral strikes based on distorted calculations. The British public must finally see their militant union for what it really is, says Alys Denby “Resident doctors” as we must now call them (‘junior’ being a term fit for barristers but far too demeaning for these life savers) will [...]
The NHS is in terminal decline – a social insurance model is the only cure July 16, 2025 Compared to similar countries, the NHS ranks second to last in terms of life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and preventable and treatable mortality. There is a better way, says Ben Ramanauskas The NHS is not fit for purpose and is in urgent need of reform. That is the conclusion of a new report from Policy [...]
Sajid Javid joins calls to replace ‘unfit’ NHS with insurance model July 14, 2025 Former health secretary Sajid Javid has joined calls for a major overhaul of the National Health Service (NHS) that would see it replaced by a universal social insurance-based model. Javid said a “serious conversation with taxpayers” about how to fund the institution was “long overdue,” throwing his weight behind a paper by Policy Exchange which [...]
What do civil servants really think about the state? July 11, 2025 Civil servants feel stifled by cumbersome processes, weak talent progression and ineffective procurement, according to a new survey that casts doubt on the government’s ability to deliver on the transformative “missions” it’s promised, says Joe Hill The Government took office a year ago pledging to change the country with five big “missions”. This approach was [...]
Brits back spending cuts over tax rises July 8, 2025 Voters prefer spending cuts over tax rises, fresh polling has found, putting Chancellor Rachel Reeves at odds with an electorate that has become frustrated with her economic policies. Rachel Reeves set spending pledges in stone in June when she confirmed Labour would boost day-to-day departmental and capital spending, with the NHS receiving a fresh three-year [...]
Wes Streeting accused of issuing ‘misleading’ plan on NHS staffing July 3, 2025 Health secretary Wes Streeting has been accused of issuing “misleading information” on staffing practice at the NHS, with plans to end the use of agencies by 2030 a “short-sighted” move that could push up costs for the taxpayer. Streeting today unveiled Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS focussed on rolling out weight-loss drugs, reducing people’s [...]