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Fmr. Obama Econ. Adviser Furman: ‘Credit Crunch’ Will Hit Small Business as Big Companies on Bond Market See Declining Rates

by www.breitbart.com Leave a Comment

On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard University and the Harvard Kennedy School Jason Furman, who served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama and on the Council of Economic Advisers and the National Economic Council under President Bill Clinton, stated that there will be a “credit crunch” that is going to hurt small businesses and people at the bottom getting loans from small, regional banks while big businesses borrowing on the bond market are seeing declining interest rates.

Co-host Poppy Harlow asked, “[Y]ou just said they don’t know how bad the problem with the banks is. But we heard Powell say yesterday, ‘Our banking system is sound and resilient with strong capital and liquidity.’ Is it?”

Furman answered, “Well, I would separate two questions: One is, is your money safe in the bank? Absolutely, first of all, up to $250,000, it’s insured above that. I believe they’re going to make sure that everyone can get all their deposits out. There’s then a separate question, though, of, are banks going to continue lending and how much are they going to continue lending? Certainly less than they were before. How big that credit crunch is for the economy, that’s what they don’t know. That’s what no one knows.”

Harlow then said, “That credit crunch is something that Larry Summers warned about when he was on with us last week. That always hurts — this lending issue is going to hurt the smaller companies, the more vulnerable folks, it’s not the big guys that get hurt in that.”

Furman responded, “Yeah, absolutely. If you’re a big company, you might be borrowing in the bond market. Those interest rates have actually fallen, not risen. If you’re getting your loans from a really big bank, you’re probably okay. But if you’re getting your loans from a regional bank, from a small bank, like so many small businesses are, the interest rate they post may look fine to you, they just may not be willing to make a loan at that interest rate.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

Credit Suisse is an anomaly: Why New Zealand and Australia are safe from ‘bank run’ contagion

by www.stuff.co.nz Leave a Comment

John Hawkins is a senior lecturer at the Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra.

ANALYSIS: There has been a lot of talk about the risk of financial contagion following the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank . Perhaps too much talk.

While the frequency of bank runs in the past shows the power of emotions to move markets, there’s little reason to panic.

We’re not looking at anything like the circumstances that precipitated the global financial crisis of 2008. If you’ve got your savings in any bank or credit union in Australia or New Zealand, the greatest fear is fear itself.

READ MORE: US Federal Reserve raises key interest rate by quarter-point despite banking turmoil Silicon Valley Bank’s loans to insiders tripled to $355m before it failed Swiss banking giant UBS buys rival Credit Suisse in bid to stop global financial crisis

Just two other US banks, the New York-based Signature Bank and First Republic in San Francisco, have been caught up in the trouble. Internationally, the only casualty is Credit Suisse in Switzerland, whose customers have been saved by loans offered from Switzerland’s central bank and takeover by Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS .

It is likely that until a few weeks ago you’d never heard of Silicon Valley Bank (or Signature or First Republic). But Credit Suisse, founded in 1856, is known around the world. It was regarded as one of 30 systemically important global banks .

What does its troubles have to do with Silicon Valley Bank? Not much, except that fear is contagious, and the bank already had problems that made it extra susceptible to panic.

Interest rates and bond debts

Apart from fear, the one common factor in these bank failures is the impact of higher interest rates on government bonds.

Bonds are a form of debt. Governments issue them to raise money in excess of their tax revenue. Bond buyers are paid regular fixed interest (known as a “coupon”) until the bond matures, when the issuer repays what the original buyer paid for the bond.

Banks like bonds, particularly in uncertain times. Even though they pay less interest than on other forms of debt, there’s an extremely low risk of default. Governments rarely go broke. They can always raise funds through taxation, or issuing more bonds, to meet their obligations.

In the early months of Covid, as central banks slashed interest rates as much as possible to sustain economic activity, the already low rate of interest that governments paid on bonds dropped further. In some cases this meant bond yields were even negative . But they were still attractive to banks because of the low default risk compared to, say, lending money to companies facing tough times.

But then came 2022 and unexpected inflation, as economies recovered and Russia’s war on Ukraine pushed up global energy prices. In response, central banks began quickly pushing up interest rates. Bond interest rates rose too. The interest rate on a ten-year US treasury bond, for example, was about 1.5% in November 2021 . A year later it was more than 4%.

These higher yields on new bonds have lowered the value of existing bonds that pay less interest. Any bank wanting to sell those bonds (on a secondary market) must do so for less than what it paid.

What happened with Silicon Valley Bank

This is what happened with Silicon Valley Bank. The early stages of the pandemic were great for it. Deposits by customers, concentrated in northern California’s high-tech industry, tripled . The bank then invested heavily in US government bonds, intending to hold them until they matured.

Then came inflation and the tech industry downturn, with many companies announcing layoffs. Customers started drawing down their deposits to pay their bills.

To cover those withdrawals, the bank had to sell bonds at a loss. This reduced market confidence in the bank, leading to further withdrawals by depositors worried it might collapse. Fear of a collapse became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But the outcome of a classic “bank run” – with fear spreading through an interconnected financial system – was prevented by the US Federal Reserve stepping in to guarantee deposits.

What happened with Credit Suisse

So what has this to do with Credit Suisse? Like Silicon Valley Bank, which had poor risk controls , it too had specific problems indicative of poor management.

It has been implicated in providing banking services to corrupt and criminal clients . In June 2022 it was convicted in Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court for failing to prevent money-laundering by cocaine trafficker .

In short, Credit Suisse was a disaster waiting for a catalyst. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and the talk of a global banking crisis, was enough to send already jittery customers to the exit. Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank , then bluntly and publicly refused to contribute more capital.

Stronger in Australia and New Zealand

In my view, the chances of any bank in Australia and New Zealand following this trajectory is effectively zero.

There’s a lot of crossover between the two countries’ financial sectors and the principal banking regulators, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. To prevent bank runs developing, the RBNZ and APRA set minimum levels of liquid assets that can be quickly converted to cash to cover withdrawals.

It is almost a century since any depositor in an Australian bank lost even a portion of their money.

This not to say there haven’t been crises. For example, in 1979 the Bank of Adelaide faced collapse . The RBA organised massive loans from other banks. It was then taken over by ANZ Bank. Depositors kept their savings.

In 1990 the troubled State Bank of Victoria was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (then still owned by the Commonwealth government). Again, depositors didn’t lose.

In the very unlikely event a bank did fail, Australian depositors are also protected by a federal government deposit insurance scheme called the Financial Claims Scheme . This was set up during the global financial crisis to protect customers of banks, credit unions, building societies and general insurers. It guarantees that every depositor with up to $250,000 will get their money.

The NZ government has a similar scheme in the works, with legislation expected to become law later in 2023.

This article was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article .

Universal school choice headed to DeSantis’ desk after passing Florida Senate

by www.foxnews.com Leave a Comment

What is it? School Choice

With school choice debates in states across the country, author Neal McCluskey helps us answer important questions such as, ‘what is it’ and ‘why is it controversial?’

Universal school choice legislation is heading to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk after it passed the Republican-led Florida Senate on Thursaday with a large majority.

Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, told Fox News that he believes a universal school choice revolution has ignited.

“The dominoes are falling and there’s nothing the power-hungry teachers unions can do about it,” he said. “We all owe Randi Weingarten and her union allies a special thank you for overplaying their hand and awakening a sleeping giant: parents who want more of a say in their children’s education.”

WHAT IS IT? SCHOOL CHOICE

WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE

If signed into law, the Florida bill will eventually make state-funded vouchers for students universal by removing income caps for eligibility to education savings accounts.

The final vote was 26-12, split among party lines.

Parents who are eligible for the program will get $8,000 education-related expenses including tuition at private schools , homeschooling, tutoring, materials and fees for standardized tests. The vouchers will roll out over time with low and middle income families prioritized.

STATES PASS UNIVERSAL SCHOOL CHOICE AMID PARENTAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT: ‘TEACHERS UNIONS AWAKENED SLEEPING GIANT’

Florida is the fourth state legislature to pass universal school choice in 2023 and would be the sixth to enact school choice for all families in just two years, according to DeAngelis.

“Florida has been a national leader on school choice for many years, but Arizona and West Virginia recently passed up the Sunshine State,” he said .”The passage of this bill helps Florida reclaim its school choice crown.”

EXCLUSIVE: OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR PRAISES PASSAGE OF ‘EMPOWERING’ SCHOOL CHOICE BILL IN STATE’S HOUSE

The bill, HB1, cleared the Florida House last week in an 83-27 vote, with three Democrats voting in favor.

School choice has become increasingly popular in states around the country, with Florida being the most recent legislature the pass a bill providing universal vouchers.

School choice has become increasingly popular in states around the country, with Florida being the most recent legislature the pass a bill providing universal vouchers. (iStock)

“Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative leaders like House Speaker Paul Renner as well as Senate President Kathleen Passidomo deserve great credit for advancing policies that put students and families first,” Lindsey Burke, director of the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, and Jason Bedrick, a research fellow at the center, said in a joint statement provided to Fox News.

KANSAS SCHOOL CHOICE BILL CLEARS MAJOR HURDLE

“By expanding the state’s innovative education savings account policy to all K-12 students, Florida likely will retain its position as one of the best states in the nation for education freedom,” they added.

DeSantis was hesitant to give his full support of universal school choice earlier this month, questioning if wealthy families should receive vouchers.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis questioned if making school choice universal was necessary.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis questioned if making school choice universal was necessary. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

“If you have a family that’s very high income, they have school choice,” he said. “They don’t necessarily need to be eligible for the program. They are eligible. They can go and pay tuition and do it.”

“I am totally comfortable saying that if everyone in Florida who can afford it can go on their own without getting it, and everyone who can’t get a scholarship, to me, that is still universal,” he added.

Click here to learn more about school choice.

Kassy Dillon is a reporter for Digital Originals. You can reach her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @kassydillon .

‘I was kicked out of university for posing in underwear on Instagram’

by www.independent.co.uk Leave a Comment

Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter

Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter

An influencer claims she was kicked out of university for sharing sexy content of herself on Instagram, including photos posing in lingerie.

Sarah Button hit the headlines late last year after revealing on TikTok that she was caught at the airport with a sex toy filled with her boyfriend’s ashes.

The 23-year-old is no stranger to sharing private details about her life, including photos of her body, with over 124,000 followers across social media, and she’s launched an OnlyFans account too – making £89,000 a month ($110,000 USD).

Now, Sarah, who joined the site in 2021, has revealed her latest controversial experience: allegedly getting told she “wouldn’t be able to continue” her law degree due to the content she shares online.

“They told me I wouldn’t be able to continue on with my course,” she told NudePR.com.

“It was coming up to the time of practical placement, where we were allocated legal firms to do placement hours at, which were necessary for the next academic year.

“I think either a professor through the school recognised me or something.

“I was called into the admin building and they asked if it was me and I said yes but explained that it was under the guise of an alias, but apparently it was against some social media policy I’d signed when applying for the course, even though it’s a completely different name.

“They said I couldn’t continue the course with my online presence.”

“I was angry at first because the course wasn’t easy, getting through the units up to that point was really a lot of effort.

“[…]…they said if I was to change some of the themes of my stuff I could reapply.

“If I was given the option I wouldn’t have altered anything, I’m really proud of my little online world.”

The incident took place in Brisbane, Australia, where the influencer is based, last summer – but this is the first time she has shared her story.

Despite being shocked by what happened and allegedly losing $50,000 she had paid in college fees, Sarah, doesn’t hold a grudge against the university.

However, she has received backlash from family, friends and trolls online.

She said: “I was the first of my family to go to university so it definitely caused a bit of a ripple of people kind of blaming me for my choices, but I know I’ll go back.

“The comments on the internet are either complete outrage for me at the situation or it’s a ‘it’s your own fault’ view.

“A lot of people are encouraging me to fight against it but I accept the consequences of my actions.

“A lot of people feel sex workers continue to be discriminated against, I agree, but also I think in a lot of ways we’re really being incorporated and accepted in society.

“I’m not mad about it, my legal brain more than understands the ramifications.

“I didn’t get any type of refund – I was in $50,000 debt paying for 2.5 years of this course but I’ve paid this off through my OnlyFans.”

Sarah hopes to return to university at some point in the future but has no current plans to re-apply.

She added: “I have been able to keep the credits I accrued while studying and I think that’s pretty cool, so if I decide to wipe my online persona I can reapply but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

”Doing OnlyFans has allowed me to be more independent than I ever dreamed of, I learn so much about myself daily though just exploring my body and mind and the minds of the people I chat to through the site, I’ve bought my own home and I support my younger siblings and parents which is just incredibly enriching for me and I am so beyond grateful.”

Nurses’ strike RECAP: NHS heroes reveal ‘heartbreaking’ plight of ward staff

by www.mirror.co.uk Leave a Comment

Britain saw its hero nurses take strike action for the first time in the entire 16-year history of the Royal College of Nursing on Thursday.

The NHS workers told of colleagues in tears, crippled by burnout and with no time for breaks or something to eat.

Nurses have been forced to eat food leftover by patients, use foodbanks and borrow money.

Tens of thousands of nurses were away or on picket lines today but, as careless Tory ministers appear deaf to the demands to rethink NHS pay talks, RCN General secretary Pat Cullen warned there was a “very strong possibility” fresh strike dates will be announced for January.

Recap all today’s events in our blog below

Antony Thrower

‘We are who people clapped for and yet the Government is forcing us on to the picket line’

Michael Rooney, a nurse of 27 years, said he worries for the next generation of nurses – including his son.

Joining the picket line this morning, he said nurses’ pay has been cut in real terms by 20% over the last decade.

He added: “I’m relatively lucky. I’ve had a very good career over 27 years.

“But my son, Michael, who’s also a mental health nurse, he’s just qualified two years, but he was one of the students who the Government asked to come out of their training and to facilitate help on the ward during Covid.

“Now he’s a brand new staff nurse and he’s currently on £25,600, not the £32,000 the Government says new nurses are on.

“We are the people who everyone clapped for and yet the Government is forcing us on to the picket line today.”

(

Image:

Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Antony Thrower

Hundreds of appointments and procedures in Northern Ireland postponed because of action

Today’s strike action caused the postponement of hundreds of appointments and procedures in Northern Ireland, it has been revealed.

Health trusts across Northern Ireland announced the postponement of hundreds of appointments, including 587 outpatient appointments at the Western Trust where eight planned inpatient and day case procedures were also cancelled.

Rita Devlin, director of the RCN in Northern Ireland, said: “Those working in the service are the same staff that have just carried us through a pandemic and are now being expected to deal with unsafe staffing levels, leaving them unable to provide the care for patients that they want to.

“We simply cannot continue like this for much longer.”

A picket line outside Great Ormond Street Hospital in London this morning (

Image:

PA)

Antony Thrower

‘Strike went as expected but government cannot sit back and let future action happen’

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the strike “went as expected”.

He added: “This is thanks to the cooperation between the union representatives, nurses and NHS organisations at local levels, which health leaders hope will continue next week.

“It is disappointing that some non-urgent and routine appointments and services have had to be either postponed or scaled down in the 44 NHS trusts in England where the RCN has focused its strike action in December. Patient safety and staffing the most critical services has had to be the number one priority.

“No health leader wanted to be in this situation and the strikes could have been avoided had the government attempted to find more common ground with the RCN on pay. The government cannot just sit back and let future strikes happen when patient care is on the line.”

Matthew Taylor from the NHS Confederation (

Image:

Sky News)

KEY EVENT

‘We were heroes at one time’ – Nurses on picket line speak out during biggest NHS strike in history

“We were heroes at one time.”

Nurses on the RCN picket line raise concerns about patient safety, staffing levels, and mental health during the biggest NHS strike in history.

“We were heroes at one time.” @theRCN picket line raise concerns about patient safety, staffing levels, and mental health during the biggest NHS strike in history. pic.twitter.com/tgYjGJJTw6

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 15, 2022

Joseph Wilkes

‘Our patients are everything for us’

“Our patients are everything for us, they are our be all and end all. We just want enough staff on the ward to do our job effectively.”

– Michelle Showell, trauma nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham

“Our patients are everything for us, they are our be all and end all. We just want enough staff on the ward to do our job effectively.” pic.twitter.com/sl8yWDqhgb

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 15, 2022

Joseph Wilkes

Nurse associate Zoe says she’d get more stacking shelves at Aldi than saving lives

Nurse associate Zoe says she’d get more stacking shelves at Aldi than saving lives. pic.twitter.com/wk6AO5QF5V

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 15, 2022

Martin Fricker

‘Nurses go to university to qualify and end up having to use foodbanks’

Melissa Magson, 33, a specialist nurse, said: “It’s a really sad feeling to have to strike.

“But our patients and their relatives have been really supportive of what we’re doing.

“Staffing levels are so much worse than when I started nursing eleven years ago.

“Wages haven’t gone up and we’re losing staff because of it.

“Nurses go to university to qualify and end up having to use food banks. That’s terrible.

“I have two children and I always thought I’d want them to become nurses when they are older.

“It breaks my heart that, right now, I’d tell them to find another career.”

– Melissa Magson, 33, specialist nurse

“I could cry. I’m devastated that I’ve had to leave my patients.. but we’re doing this on behalf of the NHS” pic.twitter.com/BSMrgO2e3p

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 15, 2022

Joseph Wilkes

‘Some days you don’t get a chance to even talk to the patients’

“Nurses are supposed to provide compassion and sympathy but on some days you don’t get a chance to even talk to the patients, other than giving them their medication.”

– Reema Cyriac

“Nurses are supposed to provide compassion and sympathy but on some days you don’t get a chance to even talk to the patients, other than giving them their medication.” pic.twitter.com/lqyY4T8uPX

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 15, 2022

Joseph Wilkes

‘Nurses are sleeping in their cars’

“It’s embarrassing for nurses. I use a food bank to get food and take it to my colleagues who are too embarrassed to go to the food bank. It’s so bad, we can’t pay our mortgages and nurses are sleeping in their cars.”

Olga Leach-Walters, endoscopy nurse at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, says nurses are having to use foodbanks.

“It’s embarrassing for nurses. I use a food bank to get food and take it to my colleagues who are too embarrassed to go to the food bank. We can’t pay our mortgages and nurses are sleeping in their cars.” pic.twitter.com/VuWcz6q2ZK

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 15, 2022

Joseph Wilkes

‘We don’t get breaks, we don’t eat all day’

“Staffing is ridiculous. We’re understaffed, we’re overworked, we don’t get breaks, we don’t eat all day and it’s just not good enough.”

Catherine Dickson, 25, staff nurse at Alder Hey hospital with her baby striker:

“Staffing is ridiculous. We’re understaffed, we’re overworked, we don’t get breaks, we don’t eat all day and it’s just not good enough.” #NursesStrike pic.twitter.com/Ef7C7Mo97c

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 15, 2022

Hollie Bone

‘My electric bill looks like mortgage bill now’

Mercy Mbuyongha, 51, specialist nurse at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, said: “I’ve really felt the pinch, my electric bill looks like mortgage bill now, it’s doubled. I’ve cut down on loads of things and I haven’t been on holiday for the past 3/4 years. I’m barely surviving.

“It’s gut wrenching to come on strike but we have done this not for us but for our patients and for the future of the health service, if we don’t do this more people are going to die. I’m doing this for my children because I fear for their healthcare and whether there will be nurses in future to look after them.

“You’re worried when you’re looking after patients that you can’t give them your all because there is not enough staff to do be able to that. When you come home you worry about that patient and that you haven’t done enough for them which is appalling really because you want to look after people the way you would like to be cared for.

Hollie Bone

“Every single day I see nurses eating food left by the patients’

Tom Joseph, 38, a clinical nurse specialist had put on his work scrubs this morning before deciding to join the picket line.

He said: “When I started to think about it I thought if I go to work I’m not really doing anything to change it.

“It’s very stressful to see our new starters coming in and not even having a week to settle in just getting thrown in to the deep end because there’s not enough people.

“Every single day I see staff who can’t afford to heat their homes, nurses coming into work hungry and eating food left by the patients.

“It’s heartbreaking and terrifying.”

Clinical Nurse Specialist Tom Joseph (L) with Staff Nurse David Rolleston (R), outside the Royal Liverpool Hospital in Merseyside (

Image:

Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Hollie Bone

‘You look at the UK and think the health care system would be excellent but it’s far from the truth’

Shaiju Joseph, 34, a staff nurse, came over from India in December last year to be a nurse but said he was shocked by the state of the NHS when he arrived.

He said: “Before I left India I never could have imagined how bad it would be over here. You look at the UK and think the health care system would be excellent but it’s far from the truth.

“We are not able to do our jobs safely and properly and we won’t be able to until we get fair pay and better support. If the support doesn’t come patients are going to die because we cannot effectively care for them.”

Hollie Bone

‘I wouldn’t want my baby girl to be a nurse now and it makes me not want to bring her to hospital’

Catherine Dickson, 25, a nurse at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital is on maternity leave but turned up on the picket line to support her colleagues with her 7 month baby, Maeve.

She said: “We need safe staffing and to be appreciated, the burnout is real.

“I went off last March on Mat leave and I dread coming back because the staffing is ridiculous we’re understaffed we’re overworked we don’t get breaks we don’t eat all day and it’s just not good enough.

“When I went into nursing I didn’t think it would be as bad as it is. I wouldn’t want Maeve to be a nurse now and it makes me not want to bring her to hospital because I know the struggle for the staff, it’s that bad. ”

NHS worker Catherine Dickson with her baby daughter Maeve, 7 months, outside Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool (

Image:

Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Hollie Bone

‘Disgusting the Government won’t even entertain talks’

Ross Sheridan, 32, learning disabilities nurse at Alder Hey Children’s hospital in Liverpool, said that seeing children waiting for autism and Aspergers diagnosis on waitlists up to two years long was the hardest part of his job.

He said: “It was no easy decision to strike today, there was a lot of soul searching to do because you have to think of patient safety at the end of the day but its our own safety and the safety of our colleagues as well, hearing colleagues going to food banks is not acceptable.

“The waitlists are the hardest part, children trying and get a diagnosis for Aspergers or autism even with an adult you’re talking waitlists of over a year or two.

“It’s at this young age that we want to give them that diagnosis so they can get the support straight away, but because there are so many vacancies in our workforce we can’t do the assessments quick enough, we’ve got so many nurses doing extra to try and get the waitlist down but we’re just fighting a losing battle.

“I think it’s disgusting the Government won’t even entertain talks with Pat Cullen.”

Asked about the government’s decision to lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses but not pay nurses a fair wage, Ross said it made him sick as he recalled the most heart wrenching memories from the pandemic.

He said: “I even at points couldn’t see my own son for three months for his safety and mine, and his mum. It was heartbreaking, I was having to pull up in my car onto the driveway and he wanted me to wind the window down but I couldn’t. It was horrible.

“Seeing all these budgets and the spending, tax payer money wasted, it’s sickened us to see all this money that could gone towards giving nurses a fair wage. I’ve got bills to pay and food to put on the table.”

(

Image:

Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Sue Middleton, 53, senior mental health nurse at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and works in the kids’ crisis mental health team. She too has struggled with endless waiting lists – of suicidal children desperate for help.

She said: “It’s so distressing, we go to see them in A&E and they are at their lowest they would ever be, hearing their stories is heartbreaking you just want to do something.

“To strike today was not an easy decision. The children are our priority but we need to get our voice heard, the government need to listen, they’re not even having talks.

“You don’t go into nursing to be wealthy. You go into it because you care and you want to make a difference.”

Amy-Clare Martin

‘We aren’t appreciated as a profession’

Kevin Galinato, 40, from Staines, made the reluctant decision to leave nursing to retrain after struggling with poor pay and conditions, adding: “We deserve better.”

Supporting his former colleagues at the picket line at St Thomas’, central London, he said: “I think the nursing profession is under appreciated and under valued. Not just in this country but around the world.

“Nurses feel like we don’t matter. We aren’t appreciated as a profession.

“Because we are paid so little people are now looking for alternatives to earn better than this and as a result they are leaving the system. They are moving somewhere else or doing agency work. With the work that we do I never know why we don’t get the pay that we deserve.

“They leave to find other jobs because safety is now compromised.”

When he first started in the NHS, he was taking home just £900 a month.

He added: “That’s not even enough to pay my rent.

“I left to study for an MBA to go into business because I don’t feel like nursing has any opportunities. I don’t feel I can manage as a nurse.”

He added: “I’m really glad this strike has happened and I hope this will help nurses who are undervalued to get their voices heard. I think we deserve better.”

Lucy Thornton

‘I’m nervous about the situation I’m going back to’

A&E sister, Rachel, 31, from LGI who is due to return from maternity leave in April said she’s looking forward to seeing her colleagues but “nervous”’

“Before I left it was bad but according to my colleagues it’s even worse now.

“When the first qualified in 2017 we were well staffed but as the years have gone on there are so many vacancies and we are relying on agencies.

“We are trying to give the best care we can but it’s compromised.

“It’s exhausting. At the end of a shift you feel you have nothing left to give. I’m nervous about the situation I’m going back to.“

A&E sister Rachel is due to return from maternity leave in April

Amy-Clare Martin

‘I can’t afford to be a nurse anymore’

Mum of two Penny Taylor, 39, from Wallington, south London, who has 20 years of nursing experience, said: “It’s got to the point where I can’t afford to be a nurse anymore.”

On the picket line outside St Thomas’, she told the Mirror: “Over the next year or so I will probably have to think about working outside nursing in the private sector.

“When I first qualified as a nurse it felt like quite a lot of money because I was renting a one bedroom flat. But now I have got two children I might have to go because I can’t afford to bring up my family. Every month I have to borrow money from my parents even though we have two incomes in our household.

“During the pandemic I was leaving the house at 4am. I was happy and proud to do it. But enough is enough. I think they just have to tax big companies properly and pay us properly.

“They need to make nursing attractive to get people interested in nursing – because it’s absolutely amazing.”

Mum-of-two Penny Taylor has 20 years of nursing experience

Amy-Clare Martin

Pressure has only got worse since pandemic for new nurse

Ellen Wood, 27, from Brockley, southeast London, qualified during the pandemic.

She had expected pressure to ease after the pandemic, but said it’s only got worse.

Although she joined a new ward six months ago, almost half of the nursing staff have left in that time.

She told the Mirror: “It’s quite emotional to be honest that it’s actually happening and there’s so many people here.

“There’s not enough nurses to safely look after patients. You are leaving on average two hours late from every shift.

“It’s got to the point where people can’t continue. It’s exhausting. At every shift you rock up to – people say it’s like going into battle and it sounds extreme – but you are run off your feet and you don’t have breaks. You work a 14 or 15 hour day and then go home and sleep for five or six hours and come back.

”I thought it would get after Covid but it’s got worse. Half my colleagues have left and they just aren’t recruiting fast enough to replace the number of people leaving.”

Although she loves her job, she said unless conditions improve she “can’t imagine having a family or being able to buy a house” in the future.

“It’s just not sustainable,” she added.

She called for government ministers to spend the day doing a shift on the ward to see how nurses are struggling.

Calling for better pay, she said: “It’s such a simple fix. Pay your nurses more and you will save money on agencies and the level of cover will just go up.”

Ellen Wood qualified during the pandemic

Joseph Wilkes

International nurses ‘leaving the NHS in droves’ and can double wages down under

International nurses who had flown to the UK to work have also been leaving the NHS in droves, it has been claimed.

Nurses from countries like India have left because they can double the wages in Australia, pickets claimed today.

NHS assessors on the picket line outside LGI said bad pay and stressful working conditions are scaring away these vital workers.

Frank Icy, 46, a nurse at LGI, who now assesses exams for international nurses, said: “I was the ward manager before and I lost a lot of staff. Most went to work for the banks who offered more money.

“They also went to agencies rather than the NHS because of the better pay. I really struggled to keep the staff.

“I am striking because we need to staff our wards properly. It will also improve patient safety.

“It’s very stressful. ”

His colleague, Reeba Cyriac, 36, said she left a ward because “patient safety was compromised.”

“I was worried because I didn’t want to put my patients at risk so that’s the reason I left the ward and went into education.

“I was supposed to be looking after 12 and had been looking after 16 to 18 patients on a day shift. You never got a chance to talk to the patients. ”

Now she works with international nurses. Last December, she said they had 514 recruited from India, the Middle East and the Philippines.

But she said they are losing those nurses too.

“Some are using the UK as a channel to get to Australia because the pay is better. It’s literally double the wages of the UK.”

National nurses strike today at st Thomas ’s hospital London (

Image:

Humphrey Nemar/ daily mirror)

Dave Burke

‘Straight away after my salary has been paid I’m in my overdraft – and I’m a senior nurse’

On the picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in central London, Kafeelat Adekunle, a community matron, said: “Nurses are burnt out, we are tired, fatigued.

“Why? Because one nurse is doing the work of three nurses and we have been telling the Government that safe staffing saves lives, but they are still not listening.

“Nurses can’t even afford a meal. First-hand I have seen it, a nurse not even able to buy herself lunch. Nurses not being able to afford petrol in their tank because as a community matron you drive to people’s houses to see them.

“I pay £70 weekly to fill up my tank and use it to go to patients’ houses. How much am I getting paid for my mileage?

“45p per mile, which is nothing. I have to maintain my car but we still do it because of the love of the job, because of the good will in our heart, but it seems the Government is taking it for granted.

“”How can we cope in this economic crisis? We are not going to cope. By the 24th of every month I get an alert, my salary’s been paid, straight away everything goes out by direct debit and it goes into my overdraft and I’m a senior nurse, 37 years of experience. So, you can imagine the junior nurses, what they’re going through.”

A picket line outside St Thomas’s Hospital in central London today (

Image:

Humphrey Nemar/ daily mirror)

Dave Burke

Tory MP calls on government to make an improved pay offer

A Tory MP has said there is a “good economic case” for making an improved pay offer to nurses, piling more pressure on Rishi Sunak.

Dr Dan Poulter, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, who has worked in the NHS, told The Guardian : “In normal times, it is right for the government to follow the advice of the independent pay review bodies.

“But these are not normal times and inflation has significantly eroded real-terms pay since the review bodies made their recommendations earlier in the year.”

He said the Royal College of Nursing’s 19% demand is “unrealistic”, but said the government should come forward with a better offer.

“Suppressing pay well below the rate of inflation will encourage more NHS staff to do less contracted hours and either work as expensive agency or locum staff or to leave the NHS to work elsewhere – perhaps for private healthcare providers, both of which cost the NHS money,” he said.

(

Image:

Channel 4)

Dave Burke

Nurse says she wishes she could strike as staff are choosing between heating and eating

A nurse says she “wishes” she was striking today – but a low voting turnout meant she has been had to work.

Victoria Read wanted to join tens of thousands of her colleagues across the UK on the picket line – but only 28% of nurses voted in her area – below the threshold of 50%.

At least half of members eligible to vote must turn out and vote in favour for action for it to be legal. Victoria, 28, says she will instead be on the picket line as soon as she has a day off.

Victoria said: “I love my job. But if we don’t get the recognition for the job that we do then people are going to leave in their droves.

“I think it’s important to strike as I feel nurses are being exploited because they are expected to do so much more outside the realms of the role.”

Victoria claims nurses are being forced to put patient care at risk due to how short staffed they are – and says the pressure they find themselves under is “awful”.

And she revealed that a staff food bank has been launched at the hospital she works at – something she says “is outrageous”.

According to the RCN, nurses have seen a real term pay cut of 20 per cent in the last 10 years and Victoria feels that nurses are being “exploited”.

Victoria, from the Midlands, said: “We’re in a deficit of 47,000 nurses and we’re not going to meet that 47,000 deficit if we’re not paying people appropriately for the job.

“There seems to be this rhetoric in the media that the nursing salary starts at £27k which is rubbish as the average is £24.5k.

“[That salary is] fine, but then when you consider everything to do with cost of living it makes it difficult. We’re having to choose between heating and eating.”

Victoria Read said she was unable to strike because of low turnout in her area (

Image:

Victoria Read / SWNS)

KEY EVENT

Veteran nurse says ‘I’ve never seen it like this and I’ve been through nine Prime Ministers’

Sarah Dykes, 51, has been a nurse since 1989 and left the job she “adored” because of the stress she was under.

She is now in charge of educating nurses at LGI.

“Nurses are leaving in droves. I’ve never seen it like this and I’ve been through nine Prime Ministers,” she told The Mirror.

“Covid broke me and I left clinical nursing to go into education. I was breaking bad news over the phone, sitting with people when they were dying, which is a privilege but people were dying every day.

“For the relatives not to be able to sit with their dying loved ones is not natural.

“I used to get to work with a smile on my face to be told there’s only two of you on. I was doing the job of two nurses.

“I was continually working after shifts, not even having a toilet break or a drink. By the end of the day you’d end up dehydrated. I would go home unable to sleep worried if I’d done any harm to a patient. It made me ill.

“I adored my job but I had to leave it.”

She said when Boris Johnson went into hospital he would see what they are dealing with but instead they were “abandoned”.

Sarah Dykes, 51, has been a nurse since 1989

Dave Burke

Tory MP says sending pay offer back to review body would be ‘sensible answer’

The chairman of the Commons Health Committee has added to calls for ministers to ask the NHS pay review body to rethink their recommended pay rise for nurses.

onservative MP Steve Brine told the BBC’s World At One programme: “I think the way out is to protect the integrity of the process, go back and ask them to look again.

“Everyone needs to cool it and I think sending it back to the pay review body to have a look would be a sensible answer.”

Pressed if movement on pay from the Government could resolve the situation, Mr Brine said: “I would agree. That’s the elegant way to make that movement.”

NHS staff across England, Wales and Northern Ireland have made their feelings clear today (

Image:

Getty Images)

Lucy Thornton

Ward felt like ‘warzone front line’

One nurse Hannah, 33, told how she left one ward in LGI because it felt like “the front line of a war zone”.

“I had to leave after two years on the ward because I could not take it. My mental health suffered. I was left with dying patients without any staff.”

Lucy Thornton

Nurse placed in charge of ward of 28 only qualified two years ago

One nurse told how she has been placed in charge of a ward of 28 people despite only qualifying two years ago.

Grace Plumb, 26, striking outside the LGI, told The Mirror: “It’s really scary. There’s me and one other nurse on night shift and we manage because we have to.

“But I am petrified about what I’m going to face when I go to work with the staffing and if you’re going to give enough care.

“We are under so much pressure and worried that you could forget something.

“I had a night shift and at 9pm I was supposed to give out the tablets – including pain killers – but I did not get to give them until two or three hours later. ”

Joseph Wilkes

‘It was incredibly difficult to walk off my shift this morning’

By Amy-Clare Martin, at St Thomas’s Hospital London

Lesley Gyampo, from Streatham, south London, said: “It was incredibly difficult to walk off my shift this morning.

“To leave was really, really hard. But if we can make even the slightest bit of difference it will help the NHS.”

The 35-year-old has been nursing for 13 years.

She added: “It has been a hard few years. I have been a nurse for since 2009 and nursing has never been easy but we might get a couple of months where you have time to regroup and collect yourself. But we have been going full tilt for years now and it’s never been harder.

“There’s no breathing room. Every shift it feels like you are running on the spot.

“I can’t describe the feeling when you feel like you can’t do your best for your patients on your shift. No one deserves to feel like that.”

She added: “I just about make ends meet but I love by myself and I don’t have any dependents. I just about make it from month to month. But if I had a single dependent I would t be able to survive.

“Luckily I have a very nice landlord who didn’t put up my rent because I’m a nurse.”

Lesley Gyampo has been nursing for 13 years (

Image:

Humphrey Nemar/ daily mirror)

Dave Burke

Health Secretary asked whether it’s right that nurses use food banks

Health Secretary Steve Barclay was today asked whether it was right nurses are using food banks and reliant on Universal Credit.

In response he said during a TV interview: “Well we have an independent process that looks at these issues in the round, looks at the pressure many viewers are faced with, high taxes, cost-of-living pressures, and balances those with the needs of our NHS as well.

“And that independent pay review looks at these issues and we have accepted their recommendations in full.

“But we also recognise the huge contribution that we saw from nurses during the pandemic and that’s why last year we made a special case where nurses got an extra 3% when others in the public sector did not.

“But we’ve got to balance that against what is affordable to the wider economy and asking for 19% pay rise, way above what most viewers themselves are receiving, is not affordable given the many other economic pressures that we face.”

The Health Secretary has been heavily criticised over his handling of the crisis (

Image:

Simon Walker / No10 Downing Street)

Lucy Thornton

Nurses would ‘get more stacking shelves at Aldi than saving lives’

By Lucy Thornton in Leeds

Nurses have told how they could earn more “stacking shelves than saving lives.”

Zoe Good, 31, is a nurse associate on the cardiology ward in LGI, and said: “We are unappreciated.

“I could earn more at Aldi, stacking shelves. They get better pay than me. We could simply stack shelves and walk away instead of saving lives.

Nurse associate Zoe says she’d ‘get more stacking shelves at Aldi than saving lives’

“I have contemplated leaving and I only qualified in February.

“It’s the stress of the job. You go home worried that you have forgotten something. If they paid us better there would be more staff on the ward. It will be safer for the patients. We are just asking to be valued, we are not asking a lot.”