Commons People Politics Podcast: Jeremy Hunt, Junior Doctors, Trident and Brexit

Commons People Politics Podcast: Jeremy Hunt, Junior Doctors, Trident and Brexit

Jeremy Hunt today imposed a new contract on junior doctors, just hours after the second mass walkout by medics.

The contract will see junior doctors get a 13.5 per cent pay rise, but they will no longer get additional cash for working Saturdays.

The Health Secretary blamed the British Medical Association’s refusal to negotiate on the key issue of whether Saturday should become part of a normal working week as the reason for his move.

One junior doctor claimed there would now be a “mass exodus” of medical talent from England as doctors head to wales, Scotland or even overseas.

To the casual observer, it may have seemed that something approaching unity had broken out in the Labour Party in the last few weeks.

But normal service was resumed at this week’s Parliamentary Labour Party meeting.

A presentation on whether the UK should replace its independent nuclear deterrent quickly opened up old wounds.

Shadow Defence Secretary Emily Thornberry was described as “waffly and incoherent…cringeworthy” by former defence minister Kevan Jones.

Her claim that Trident would become outdated just as Second World War Spitfire’s had was picked up by David Cameron in PMQs, who had great fun reading out a Tweet from a disaffected Labour MP.

MPs today gave Google top brass a grilling over the company's UK tax affairs amid anger over its £130million settlement with HMRC.

Members of the Public Accounts Committee, in effect Parliament’s financial watchdog, wanted to know why the final bill was so modest.

The MPs also quizzed the Google representatives on whether they used tax arrangements such as the ‘Double Irish’, and how much they got paid themselves – something Google’s Europe president Matt Brittan hesitated to reveal.

If David Cameron had the guts, he could have wiped out pretty much all of the Eurosceptic movement with one tactical missile strike on Wednesday.

Whereas most of the speakers focused on the issues of democracy, sovereignty, security and business, Ukip leader Nigel Farage claimed immigration was the key topic which could deliver victory for the Brexiters.

Not everyone in the room welcomed his strong words, with one person pleading with him to discuss the issue in a “temperate” way.

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