Doctors will be on strike for 6 days in November over unemployment and lack of training opportunities, unless the government resumes talks in good faith. The BMA ballot result showed strong support for the action.

We hear a great deal from government ministers about growth: in housing, infrastructure, construction and so on. This would need a vast amount of concrete – but there’s a problem.

Last year the Labour government acknowledged the need for a critical minerals strategy. It said a new strategy would be ready in the spring. But there’s no sign of it – and the delay is damaging Britain’s industrial interests.

The government plans to “crack down on fraud” by introducing new legislation which includes powers to access private bank accounts. This authoritarian move is being criticised.

London City Airport is now effectively under the control of investment giant Macquarie. In October the Australian-based multinational group moved to acquire 50 per cent of the business just four months after an initial 25 per cent stake.

In September 2022, three of the four pipelines connecting Germany and Russia were blown up. At the time this was blamed on Russia, which had invaded Ukraine a few months earlier. That may not be the case.

London Underground workers have been on strike over pay and conditions, bringing travel on the tube to a halt for a week. They say TfL has ignored their concerns for too long.

Electricity prices are high and liable to further increase. The regulator isn’t tackling the government policy behind this.

A book, The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht, has been banned from an exhibition at the National Library of Scotland, despite oringinally being selected to be part of it.

The government’s trade deal with the US has led to the closure of Britain’s largest bioethanol plant on Humberside. Trade unions and companies in the industry have criticised the closure.