Resident doctors, members of the BMA, form a picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital opposite Parliament on Friday morning © Ron Fassbender
Parliament limped into summer recess, no doubt a relief to beleaguered Government ministers. A total of 34 written statements were snuck out in the lasts two sitting days of the Commons as the Government took advantage of ‘take out the trash day’ by sneaking out less comfortable announcements. During this period, an urgent question on reported criminal activity by migrants at asylum hotels (in relation to ongoing disturbances in Essex) and a ministerial statement by the Foreign Secretary on the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza took place – two issues which in particular look set to cause pain for the Government this summer, parliamentary recess or not.
James Cleverly ended his self-imposed exile when Kemi Badenoch made him Shadow Housing Secretary in her first major Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. What was billed as a minor reshuffle steadily became a larger affair… Shadow Health Secretary Ed Argar returned to the backbenches and was replaced by Stuart Andrew, whose own Culture portfolio was taken up by Nigel Huddleston. Shadow Science Secretary Alan Mak also left the frontbench and was replaced with Julia Lopez. Shadow Transport Secretary Gareth Bacon was replaced with Richard Holden, although Bacon retained his position as Shadow London Minister and has also been made Shadow Housing and Planning Minister. Neil O'Brien also joined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Policy Renewal and Development (raising the prospect of some actual policy development). Cleverly replaced Kevin Hollinrake, who was made Conservative Party Chairman.
£38,831 – The basic salary a first year resident doctor earns in England, for a 40 hour week.
£20.7bn – The amount the UK Government borrowed in June, £6.6bn more than in June 2024. Total borrowing for the financial year to June 2025 reached £57.8bn.
1 – The number of representatives Reform UK has in the Welsh Parliament, following Laura Anne Jones’s defection from the Conservatives.
200,000 – People have registered interest in Jeremey Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new party, which as of 5 pm today, is still without a name.
7,000 – The number of steps a day that may be enough to boost brainpower and help protect against various diseases, according to a study in The Lancet Public Health — challenging the common 10,000-step benchmark.
38 – Days until Parliament is back!
The UK signed a long-awaited trade deal with India which the Government stated will ‘welcome nearly £6 billion in new investment and export wins’ and ‘create over 2,200 British jobs’ in sectors such as aerospace, technology and advanced manufacturing. The free trade agreement removes or reduces tariffs on 90% of tariff lines and will see India’s average tariff on UK products drop from 15% to 3%. It is predicted the FTA will help UK exports to India increase by nearly 60%, UK imports from India increase by 25%, and will add £4.8bn to the UK’s GDP per year, by 2040. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the UK to sign the deal, during which he was hosted by the King at Sandringham, and by the Prime Minister at Chequers.
Junior Doctors have officially gone on strike for the twelfth time in less than two and a half years. Up to 50,000 doctors downed stethoscopes at 7am on Friday morning for a walkout that lasts until 7am next Wednesday. The strike comes after they were awarded a series of cumulative pay rises over the last four years that equates to a 32% pay increase since 2022. The British Medical Association has argued that junior doctors (now called resident doctors) are paid 20% less in real terms than they were before the financial crash in 2008.
Police are readying for multiple protests over the weekend… against migrants hotels in Essex, and Donald Trump visiting Scotland. Following clashes between protesters at a hotel in Epping Forest this week, Epping forest District Council passed a vote on Thursday calling on the Government to close the Bell Hotel and other ‘unsuitable hotels in small towns and rural areas’ used for asylum processing. Meanwhile, police in Scotland are preparing for protests outside the Trump Turnberry Ailsa Golf Course in South Ayrshire ahead of the US President flying in for five days on Friday night.
The Government announced its intention to scrap water regulator Ofwat after the Independent Water Commission recommended scrapping it and replacing it with a single integrated water regulator. The proposals are expected to be consulted on in the autumn and will form the basis of a new Water Reform Bill, which Environment Secretary Steve Reed has said will ‘ensure all regulation is in lock step to deliver for customers and the environment, bringing all water regulation under one roof.’
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband signed the final investment decision for the Sizewell C nuclear power station. The deal will see the government become the largest shareholder in the project through investment via the National Wealth Fund, alongside private investors including Centrica, La Caisse, EDF and Amber Infrastructure. It will be the first time the Government has jointly owned a nuclear power plant alongside private sector partners.
State pensions and the state pension age will be reviewed under new plans set out this week by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall. The Pensions Commission, that reported in 2006, has been revived by the Government under the chairmanship of its original member Baroness Drake, and will assess the pensions system as a whole alongside what is required to 'build a future-proof pensions system that is strong, fair and sustainable.’ The Pensions Policy Institute’s Dr Suzy Morrissey has been asked to prepare an independent report evaluating the factors the government should consider in determining the state pension age.
HMRC will build a new online PAYE service for the 35 million UK taxpayers who pay tax as they earn. Under the plans – that will see 90% of customer interactions with HMRC will be digital by 2030 – HMRC will save £50m ‘by moving customer letters and reminders to a digital first approach, reducing the reliance on paper correspondence, by the 2028 to 2029 tax year.’ The measure were announced in HMRC’s Transformation Roadmap which also announced it will digitise the Inheritance Tax system; deliver a Digital Disclosure Service; and introduce an electronic trade documentation pilot.
The Government are considering bringing in a two-hour screen-time curfew for under-16s later this year, under new plans revealed by Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle this week. In an interview with Sky News he argued teens are spending hours viewing content “which isn’t criminal but it’s unhealthy”, calling it “madness” that children are routinely contacted by strangers online.
The UK signed a defence agreement with Türkiye this week, that it has stated takes the UK “a significant step close” to agreeing a multi-billion deal to export Typhoon fighter jets to the NATO country. The memorandum of understanding was signed by Defence Secretary John Healey at the International Defence Fair in Istanbul, and if taken further, would be the first export order signed for Typhoon since 2017.
It’s been a quieter week in the Commons, as MPs only sat on Monday and Tuesday before breaking up for Summer recess. Environment Secretary Steve Reed MP delivered a statement to the House, after the publication of the Independent Water Commission report. On Tuesday afternoon, the Sir David Amess summer adjournment debate gave MPs the opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics, including SEND reform, water pollution, the transition to renewable energy and affordable housing.
It’s been a slightly busier week in the House of Lords, who were sitting until Thursday. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill had its committee stage, where peers debated amendments around carbon capture, green energy, and biodiversity. The Government successfully avoided most of the proposed amendments during the session. However, earlier in the week, it announced plans to table amendments around nature and wildlife that closely mirrored those previously put forward in the Commons by newly independent (formerly Labour) MP Chris Hinchliff. We'll have to wait and see how this unfolds when the Bill returns to the floor after the recess. In other news, the Employment Rights Bill completed its Report Stage and will now go to a final debate when Parliament comes back in September.
Strikes by the BMA are set to severely disrupt NHS services, warns new analysis from Policy Exchange. The report draws on NHS England data from 2023/24 to estimate that nearly 250,000 appointments could be affected in England at the end of July alone. It projects that, if similar strike action continues throughout 2025, as allowed under the current BMA mandate, more than 2 million appointments may be impacted nationwide. The report highlights a potential drop in inpatient activity of 4.5% and outpatient activity of 8.7%, threatening NHS England’s ability to meet its target of completing 65% of patient pathways within 18 weeks. Financially, the cost of covering strike days with consultants is estimated to reach £17.5 million per day, potentially rising to £87.46 million over July and exceeding £367 million across the entire year.
Against this backdrop, reaction to the 10 Year Health Plan is cautiously positive, with new Ipsos polling demonstrating that Britons are more likely to say it will improve care (35%) than make it worse (9%). Support is particularly strong among Labour voters, and individual measures such as creating a single patient record and banning energy drinks for under-16s are widely backed. That said, over half of the public had not heard of the plan when polled, suggesting the Government’s communications may need a whole new strategy itself, and significant doubts still remain, particularly regarding improved GP access as well as the plan’s overall impact.
Ever wondered how the Leader of the Opposition keeps her head in times of stress? The New Stateman this week claimed to have the answers, having allegedly seen a notebook with Badenoch’s handwriting from a post-election Shadow Cabinet meeting last year. Sharing a few of the affirmations on the pages, the magazine details that under the heading “personal improvement” phrases like “breathe, breathe, breathe”; “you are a serious person who does big things” and “pivot to attacking Labour when uncomfortable” can be found. One to keep hold of for the next PMQs, eh?
Spare a thought for Zarah Sultana MP, who made the You’ve Got to Laugh section just earlier this month for launching her new political party before it was ready, as she again today makes the You’ve Got to Laugh section, for…. you guessed it….. launching her political party before it’s fully ready. Taking to X, she and her co-founder Jeremy Corbyn MP announced a new party – the so called Your Party – which inevitably the media started to report on. Only, it turns out, the duo’s new party is not called Your Party, despite what it’s website might suggest… and is in fact not yet named. We’re no Alastair Campbell but think it’s safe to assume one of the first steps for party political comms is to have a name.
Annnnnd…. those of us in London are no stranger to a pesky little furry friend entering our house now and again, and it seems the Palace of Westminster is no different… During an Environmental Audit Committee evidence session on Monday, the Minister for Nature was briefly interrupted by a mouse scurrying along the floor in front of her desk. You couldn’t make this stuff up.
