LONDON: Health workers in Britain began their largest strike on Monday, as tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance workers walk out in an escalating pay dispute, putting further strain on the state-run National Health Service (NHS).
Nurses and ambulance workers have been striking separately on and off since late last year but Monday’s walkout involving both, largely in England, is the biggest in the 75-year history of the NHS.
Nurses will also strike on Tuesday, while ambulance staff will walk out on Friday and physiotherapists on Thursday, making the week probably the most disruptive in NHS history, its Medical Director Stephen Powis said.
Health workers are demanding a pay rise that reflects the worst inflation in Britain in four decades, while the government says that would be unaffordable and cause more price rises, and in turn, make interest rates and mortgage payments rise.
Around 500,000 workers, many from the public sector, have been staging strikes since last summer, adding to pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to resolve the disputes and limit disruption to public services such as railways and schools.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) trade union wrote to Sunak over the weekend asking him to bring the nursing strike “to a swift close” by making “meaningful” pay offers.
“We’ve got one of the busiest winters we have ever had with record levels of funding going into the NHS to try and manage services,” Maria Caulfield, the minister for mental health and women’s health strategy, told Sky News on Monday.
“So every percent of a pay increase takes money away.”
The government has urged people to continue to access emergency services and attend appointments during the strikes unless they had been canceled but said patients would face disruption and delays.
NURSES LEAVING
The NHS, a source of pride for most Britons, is under extreme pressure with millions of patients on waiting lists for operations and thousands each month failing to receive prompt emergency care.
The RCN says a decade of poor pay has contributed to tens of thousands of nurses leaving the profession — 25,000 over just the last year — with the severe staffing shortages impacting patient care.
The RCN initially asked for a pay rise of 5 percent above inflation and has since said it could meet the government “half way,” but both sides have failed to reach agreement despite weeks of talks.
Meanwhile, thousands of ambulance workers represented by the GMB and Unite trade unions are set to strike on Monday in their own pay dispute. Both unions have announced several more days of industrial action.
Not all ambulance workers will strike at once and emergency calls will be attended to.
In Wales, nurses and some ambulance workers have called off strikes planned for Monday as they review pay offers from the Welsh government.
Sunak said in a TalkTV interview last week he would “love to give the nurses a massive pay rise” but said the government faced tough choices and that it was funding the NHS in other areas such as by providing medical equipment and ambulances.
![]()
British workers stage largest strike in history of health service
Short Url
https://arab.news/z8b8e
British workers stage largest strike in history of health service
- Biggest strike in 75-year history of National Health Service
- Government urges workers to call off walkouts
Afghans mourn villagers killed in Pakistani strikes
- Afghans gathered around a mass grave Sunday to bury villagers killed in overnight air strikes by Pakistan, which said its military targeted militants
BIHSUD: Afghans gathered around a mass grave Sunday to bury villagers killed in overnight air strikes by Pakistan, which said its military targeted militants.
The overnight attacks killed at least 18 people and were the most extensive since border clashes in October, which left more than 70 dead on both sides and wounded hundreds.
“The house was completely destroyed. My children and family members were there. My father and my sons were there. All of them were killed,” said Nezakat, a 35-year-old farmer in Bihsud district, who only gave one name.
Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups, in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Daesh group, a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “people’s homes have been destroyed, they have targeted civilians, they have committed this criminal act” with the bombardment of Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
Residents from around the remote Bihsud district in Nangarhar joined searchers to look for bodies under the rubble, an AFP journalist said, using shovels and a digger.
“People here are ordinary people. The residents of this village are our relatives. When the bombing happened, one person who survived was shouting for help,” said neighbor Amin Gul Amin, 37.
Nangarhar police told AFP the bombardment started at around midnight and hit three districts, with those killed all in a civilian’s house.
“Twenty-three members of his family were buried under the rubble, of whom 18 were killed and five wounded,” said police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad.
Strikes elsewhere in Nangarhar wounded two others, while in Paktika an AFP journalist saw a destroyed guesthouse but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
- ‘Calculated response’ -
Afghanistan’s defense ministry said it will “deliver an appropriate and calculated response” to the Pakistani strikes.
The two countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani military action killed 70 Afghan civilians between October and December, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but they have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
The deteriorating relationship has hit people in both countries, with the land border largely shut for months.
Pakistan said Sunday that despite repeated urging by Islamabad, the Taliban authorities have failed to act against militant groups using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Afghan government has denied harboring militants.
Islamabad launched the strikes after a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other such attacks more recently in northwestern Pakistan.
The Daesh group had claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160 in the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008.
The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, also claimed a deadly suicide bombing at a Kabul restaurant last month.
The overnight attacks killed at least 18 people and were the most extensive since border clashes in October, which left more than 70 dead on both sides and wounded hundreds.
“The house was completely destroyed. My children and family members were there. My father and my sons were there. All of them were killed,” said Nezakat, a 35-year-old farmer in Bihsud district, who only gave one name.
Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups, in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Daesh group, a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “people’s homes have been destroyed, they have targeted civilians, they have committed this criminal act” with the bombardment of Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
Residents from around the remote Bihsud district in Nangarhar joined searchers to look for bodies under the rubble, an AFP journalist said, using shovels and a digger.
“People here are ordinary people. The residents of this village are our relatives. When the bombing happened, one person who survived was shouting for help,” said neighbor Amin Gul Amin, 37.
Nangarhar police told AFP the bombardment started at around midnight and hit three districts, with those killed all in a civilian’s house.
“Twenty-three members of his family were buried under the rubble, of whom 18 were killed and five wounded,” said police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad.
Strikes elsewhere in Nangarhar wounded two others, while in Paktika an AFP journalist saw a destroyed guesthouse but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
- ‘Calculated response’ -
Afghanistan’s defense ministry said it will “deliver an appropriate and calculated response” to the Pakistani strikes.
The two countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani military action killed 70 Afghan civilians between October and December, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but they have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
The deteriorating relationship has hit people in both countries, with the land border largely shut for months.
Pakistan said Sunday that despite repeated urging by Islamabad, the Taliban authorities have failed to act against militant groups using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Afghan government has denied harboring militants.
Islamabad launched the strikes after a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other such attacks more recently in northwestern Pakistan.
The Daesh group had claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160 in the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008.
The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, also claimed a deadly suicide bombing at a Kabul restaurant last month.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.