Steve McGookinAnger over Covid Budget ‘snub’ for nurses
Protests greeted the government’s Covid recovery Budget this week as it was proposed that NHS staff should receive just a 1% pay increase. There were demonstrations across the country, along with warnings of strike action and an exodus from the service, while the move was widely described as a “slap in the face” for employees who have sacrificed so much during the past year of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, it was announced that people in England aged 56 and over were now eligible to make appointments for their Covid vaccinations, with the total of the population now having received at least one dose of the vaccine exceeding 21million.
Elsewhere in the Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the cost of Britain’s Covid response will reach £407bn by the end of next year and outlined how future tax increases, mostly on business and middle-income earners, would redress the balance.
As schools prepare to reopen in England from Monday, the Prime Minister urged people to stick to the rules in a “cautious” approach as the country takes the first step in the government’s roadmap out of national restrictions.
In Northern Ireland, some P1-P3 classes also return tomorrow and Education Minister Peter Weir has said the objective was for a more general return as soon as possible after the Easter break.
See Also:
Catching Your Breath: Lobbying For Lung Health In The Time Of Covid-19
Leaders Need To Lead: The Executive and Covid-19
Life Is Harder Right Now. We Should Be Kinder To Ourselves
The Covid-19 Vaccine Explained
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US moves forward on Covid Relief and vaccine production
The $1.9trillion Covid relief bill cleared the Senate with no Republican support. It now returns to the House of Representatives before heading for President Joe Biden’s signature – the first piece of legislation of his term in office. His next may not be so easy.
President Biden this week announced an historic collaboration between pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson and Merck to produce J&J’s one-shot vaccine. The additional production capacity would create the means for every adult in the country to be offered a vaccination by the end of May.
Texas and Mississippi both withdrew state-wide mask mandates and said their states were “opening up 100%” despite CDC warnings.
This week, the average number of Americans being vaccinated each day is now in excess of 2million, but there are concerns about racial disparities among recipients.
This weekend was the 56th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama, which led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. President Biden signed an executive order on Sunday designed to make it easier for Americans to vote. Meanwhile, in Minneapolis on Monday, the trial is set to begin of Derek Chauvin, the police officer accused in the death of George Floyd.
See Also:
After Trump, What Lies Ahead for the GOP?
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Brexit Protocol continues to outrage some, frustrate others…
But pretty much everyone has something to say.
Talking of having something to say, a new initiative from Prof Pete Shirlow at the University of Liverpool launched this week, aimed at encouraging civic discourse on Northern Ireland’s future.
And at least the papers will have something else to focus on this coming week.
See Also:
Is The UUP’s Response To The NI Protocol A Vote Winner?
The Long Way Home – Finding A Way Through The Brexit Debacle?
Northern Irish Parties And Europe
Reinforcing Northern Ireland’s In-Betweenness
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Pope Francis visits Iraq
The Pope on Sunday wrapped up an historic visit to Iraq by visiting the city of Mosul and praying for reconciliation in the former ISIS stronghold. “How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilization, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow,” the pontiff told the crowd.
On Saturday, The Pope met with Iraq’s top Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani in a “powerful appeal for coexistence in a land torn by sectarianism and violence.”
Elsewhere, new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has proposed steps to restart peace talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, while the US continues to consider a full withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 forces in he country by the existing May 1 deadline.
In Iran, meanwhile, the British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been jailed on spying charges for five years, has had her ankle tag removed at the conclusion of her sentence. The British government continues to press for her permanent release.
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Half The Sky
Finally, Monday is International Women’s Day and there are a number of excellent events across Northern Ireland today and over the next few days.
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See Also Last Week’s Five Points:
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