High Court orders prison guards to end unofficial 24-hour 'strike'

Staff reporter(wp/es):

Prison officers who walked out in a 24-hour protest have been ordered to go back to work by the High Court.

Up to 10,000 officers in England and Wales had stopped work at midnight on Tuesday in a demonstration against a "surge in violence" in jails.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) protest threw the criminal justice system into chaos with the Jo Cox murder trial at the Old Bailey one of many postponed.

The justice secretary had claimed the action was unnecessary and branded it "unlawful".

And at the High Court on Tuesday afternoon, the Government won an injunction against the walkout.

Mr Justice Kerr heard an urgent application for the injunction to "restrain" the POA from "inducing any form of industrial action".

The judge's order will have immediate effect with prison officers expected to return to work "forthwith".

He said it was a "very urgent" application with evidence of up to 80 per cent of staff taking some sort of action in the majority of prisons.

"A number of incidents have occurred in prisons today and the situation is very concerning indeed," he said.

Stuart Brittenden, counsel for the union, had argued: "The POA's position is that the Secretary of State is in breach of their contract in failing to provide a safe place and a system of work, and, as such, any instruction to them to continue working in those conditions in this environment is an unlawful one."

The POA had directed all its members to take part in the protest on Tuesday morning after negotiations with the Government over safety broke down.

Prison officers cannot by law take part in a strike and Mr Gillan had earlier admitted the action would be interpreted as one.

The protest, which began at midnight, followed a number of high profile incidents, including an alleged murder, a riot and two inmates escaping.

Answering an urgent question in the Commons, Justice Secretary Liz Truss said she met the POA on November 2 and talks with her team over safety measures continued over the next fortnight.

"These talks were due to continue this morning," Ms Truss told MPs. "Instead the POA failed to respond to our proposals and called this unlawful action without giving any notice."

Ms Truss said the union's position is "unnecessary and unlawful" and "will make the situation in our prisons more dangerous".

Announcing the move, the union said the "continued surge in violence and unprecedented levels of suicide and acts of self harm", coupled with the recent alleged murder and escapes "demonstrate that the service is in meltdown".

About 60 guards gathered in the car park within the gates of Pentonville. Dave Todd, POA representative for London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, said conditions in prisons were "volatile and dangerous".

"We need to act to protect ourselves," he said. "It has not come about quickly - it's a build-up over probably years actually.

"It's just unsafe. To me, prison officers taking this type of action speaks volumes for what's happening inside."

thousands of Tube workers vote for walkouts

Staff reporter(wp/es):

Thousands of London Underground staff, including drivers, have voted to go on strike over disputes about staffing, safety and industrial relations.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said station and platform staff backed walkouts by 85 per cent over staffing and safety.

And 84 per cent of Piccadilly Line drivers voted to go ahead with strikes over a "wholesale breakdown" in industrial relations.

Around 3,400 workers are involved in the two disputes.

The news followed an announcement from the Transport Salaried Staffs Association that it held a ballot for hundreds of Tube members for strikes over the closure of ticket offices and now the two unions could co-ordinate any action in the run up to Christmas.

The RMT executive will consider the ballot results before deciding the next move.

General secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT members on the London Underground stations see day in and day out the toxic impact of the job cuts programme and they are reporting back that it is horrific.

"With the constant overcrowding on stations and platforms it is only a matter of time before there is a major tragedy if we don't act decisively.

"Our dispute is about taking action to haul back the cuts machine and put safety back at the top of the agenda.

"In the separate dispute involving drivers on the Piccadilly Line, safety is again a major factor and is tied in with the ripping up of policies and procedures and ignoring warnings from staff.

"Our members have been left exposed and vulnerable and we have no choice but to blow the whistle before lasting damage is done."

The TSSA said its members had been subjected to increased threats and abuse since a programme of ticket office closures started.

A survey for the TSSA found that most of the 540 staff felt less safe since they moved from ticket offices on to station concourses and the union said staff were being targeted by frustrated passengers if ticket machines do not work.

Steve Griffiths, Transport for London's chief operating officer for London Underground, said: "Our staff work hard to serve the millions of customers that pass through the Tube and rail network every day.

"Everyone has the right to go about their work without fear or intimidation and we do not tolerate any form of verbal or physical assault on our staff."

London house prices surge by 20 per cent in 'super suburbs'

Staff reporter(wp/es):

Record low mortgage rates are driving massive demand for homes in London’s booming “super suburbs” where property prices are soaring at up to 20 per cent a year.

Latest official figures today revealed a post-Brexit “Tale of Two Cities” with rapid growth in more affordable areas to the east or in outskirts favoured by first-time buyers, while central London’s property market languishes.

The biggest jumps in England were seen in Newham, where average prices rocketed 20.3 per cent to £371,139, and Barking and Dagenham, where they are up by 19.3 per cent at £290,583, according to the Land Registry.

Other areas with strong double-digit increases included Havering (18.6 per cent), Croydon (16.6 per cent) and Redbridge (16.5 per cent).

Jonathan Hopper, managing director of home buying agent Garrington Property Finders, said: “The conclusion is clear — four months on from the shock Brexit result, and the sky has resolutely refused to fall in. In fact, annual rates of price growth remain comfortably above where they were a year ago.”

Property experts said the autumn house market had been turbo-charged by the Bank of England’s decision to drop its interest rate to a record low of 0.25 per cent in August.

The cut dragged down the cost of borrowing for home buyers to levels never seen before. 

The average two-year fixed rate stood last month at 2.34 per cent, a new record low, while average five-year deals are below three per cent for the first time.

Although the 10.9 per cent annual rise for London as a whole was a slowdown from the 12.1 per cent recorded in August, a strong monthly jump of 1.4 per cent was bigger than anywhere else in the country, suggesting that the London market is far from running out of steam.

Ben Madden, managing director of London estate agent Thorgills, said: “London has shown remarkable fortitude in outperforming all other regions of the UK.”

Richard Snook, senior economist at PwC, said: “We now have three months of post-Brexit official housing figures, which show price growth remaining robust, but fewer properties changing hands. 

“At the start of the year, we expected slower house price growth, but in fact it has shown impressive resilience.”  By contrast prices in the once red hot — and most expensive — boroughs of central London, continue to flatline under the pressure of the huge stamp duty burden on properties over £1 million and uncertainty about Britain’s post-Brexit future.

The biggest annual fall in average prices was in Hammersmith & Fulham where they were down 2.9 per cent to £757,131, the fifth biggest annual drop of any local authority area in Britain.

Latest figures today from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that first-time buyers borrowed £4.9 billion through 31,500 home loans in  September, up 14 per cent on September last year. 

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “It was steady as she goes for September with borrowers getting on with it and securing mortgage deals at rock-bottom rates. 

“The cut in base rate in August further pushed mortgage rates, which were already at historic lows, down further still and with lenders keen to do business before the end of the year, the flurry in cheap mortgage products looks unlikely to change anytime soon.”

NHS email blunder 'crashes entire system' after message sent to all 1.2 million employees

Health reporter(wp/es):

An email mistakenly sent to all 1.2miliion NHSemployees caused the entire system to crash, it has been claimed.

Staff raged about the blunder on social media, complaining the message, believed to be a test email sent by a Croydon IT worker, had inadvertently included everyone on the NHSmail system.

Thousands of replies were sent in response from frustrated users, some hitting “reply all” and causing the entire system to grind to a halt.

Staff used social media to encourage others to stop replying to the message, sent on Monday morning. 

NHS employee Colin McDonnell tweeted: "Slow handclap for the individual that sent a test email to the entire NHSmail user base, and bravo to those that 'replied to all'."

And Graham Hyde wrote: “1.2 million people have received approx 151 emails in error this morning. That's 186 million needless emails so far today.”

In a statement - sent via text message due to the email system problems - an NHS Digital spokeswoman said: "Some users have experienced short delays in the NHSmail system this morning.

“Action has been taken to resolve this issue.

"A number of email accounts have been operating slower than normal due to an NHSmail user setting up an email distribution list which inadvertently included everyone on the NHSmail system.

"As soon as we became aware of the issue, we deleted the distribution list so that no one else could respond to it. We anticipate that the issue will be rectified very soon."

A message sent to NHSmail users and seen by The Guardian described the email as a "high severity service incident".

It said that an "issue" with a distribution list meant that test emails had been more widely circulated than planned, which, combined with the replies, had left some users with "slow performance" of their emails.

It also confirmed that the distribution list had now been removed, and that "associated emails are being traced and cleared".

Alton Towers to cut up to 70 jobs after Smiler horror crash

Pic:Between 60 and 70 staff at Alton Towers face redundancy
Staff reporter(wp/es):

As many as 70 staff at Alton Towers will face redundancy next year after the theme park was hit with £5million fine following a horror rollercoaster crash.

Teenagers Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17, each lost a leg on the Smiler ride in June last year.

Stafford Crown Court heard the victims watched with "disbelief and horror" before ploughing into an empty carriage on the track, with the impact likened to a 90mph car crash.

Merlin, the entertainment company behind the themepark, was fined after the court heard an engineer "felt pressure" to get Smiler back into service after it developed a fault shortly before the devastating crash.

Alton Towers confirmed that between 60 – 70 people working at the resort would be at risk of redundancy before the 2017 season.

A spokeswoman said the resort had been looking at ways to improve its “operating model”.

She added: “A detailed review of operations has been undertaken across the business to seek further efficiencies and increase flexibility. 

“As a result of this review, Alton Towers Resort can confirm that it expects to make between 60-70 redundancies ahead of the 2017 season. 

“Alton Towers will work closely with all those affected in order to support them through the consultation process and any subsequent requirement for alternative employment and job search activities.

“This was an incredibly difficult proposal to make and it has not been taken lightly. 

“However, we are committed to the long term development of the Resort and believe that this action now, together with a continuous programme of investment, will ensure its future growth, which is so vital to the local economy."

Bond Street Tube station evacuated after man is hit by train

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A busy Tube station was evacuated today after a man was hit by a train.

Passengers were forced to leave Bond Street station after the man was struck by a Jubilee line service.

Emergency services were called to the incident at 10.30am.

Medics are currently treating the man at the scene, a British Transport Police spokesman said.

Police, ambulance and fire crews swarmed on Oxford Street after the incident.

Bystanders took to social media to report seeing a large emergency services presence in the area.

Ann Ockham tweeted: "Something big at Bond Street police fire ambulances."

One man, tweeting under the name H, wrote: "Something major going on at #bondstreet station, police, fire, ambulance crews all in."

Another named Tim said: "My heart goes out to the soul who was hit at #bondstreet underground station just now."

Transport for London said the Jubilee line was suspended between Finchley Road and Waterloo.

Central line services were not stopping at the station, TfL said.

Man fighting for life after late night attack in high street

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A man is fighting for life after a late night attack in a high street in south-west London.

The man was discovered in the early hours of Monday morning by a member of the public outside stationary shop Ryman in Sutton High Street.

Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service attended the scene and called the Met Police at 12.38am.

The man, who had suffered a head injury, was rushed to hospital.

A police spokesman said: "We were called to an injured male found by a member of the public next to a bench opposite Ryman, the stationery shop.

"His injuries are described as life threatening. Police are investigating."

An LAS spokeswoman added: “We treated a man at the scene for a head injury and took him as a priority to a major trauma centre in south London.” 

A police cordon was put in place and stores in the area reportedly ceased trading until about 10am.