good to talk to you, mark serwotka. you've been i you, mark serwotka.h of england and wales, heavy burst of rain. it lingers across the south and the southwest. further north, a bit quieter for much of scotland. it will be cold, subzero values here. 7-10 in will be cold, subzero values here. 7—10 in the south. thursday, that weather front affecting southern parts of the uk. it stays wet, windy across the far south. sunshine in between. it turns very windy with plenty of showers across scotland and northern ireland. temperatures ranging from 7—13 celsius. handlers go on strike in england and wales. nhs bosses tell people not to call 999 unless it's a life—threatening emergency. what's terrifying is that right now, people not knowing whether, when they call 999, they will get the treatment that they need. i know there's a lot of controversy about us striking, and that we're not kind of getting those calls and getting to patients today, but in realistic terms, day—to—day, we're not getting to patients. and tonight more strikes are announced. 100,000 civil

i'm joined now by mark serwotka, the general secretary of the public and commercial services union —oon. it certainly takes a lot more than a farce we i takes a lot more than a farce we went through this morning, i attended in good faith with the minister on the back of the prime minister on the back of the prime minister telling the people of this country he wanted meaningful discussions to avert industrial action, and the minister confirmed that not a single penny would be made available to avert the cost of living crisis for his own staff. even though we reminded him 40,000 food banks, 45,000 claimed benefits, yesterday tens of thousands got an e—mail saying their pay would go up because they are now on the national minimum wage even though they do skilled job dealing with asylum claims, universal credit, people's tax. ~ , ., claims, universal credit, people's tax. , ., ,, ., tax. why would you spit your union to be any more _ tax. why would you spit your union to be any more successful - tax. why would you spit your union to be any more successful when i tax. why would you spit y