The Telegraph Frontpage for 2022 Wednesday December 14

By Danny Boyle Yesterday train services have been severely disrupted after rail workers walked out in the first of a wave of 48-hour strikes. But how dedicated to the action are union members? The head of Network Rail has told us why he thinks RMT boss Mick Lynch, above, is lashing out. The big story: Lynch ‘worried that strikes won’t hold’ With neither side willing to blink first, Britain is in the midst of a winter of discontent with strikes meaning trains will be cancelled, Christmas cards and presents delayed and routine hospital appointments pushed back. But how secure is the backing among union members? The head of Network Rail yesterday claimed that Mick Lynch is lashing out because he is worried that his strikes will collapse, as members suffer a heavy blow to their incomes over Christmas. Andrew Haines told chief business correspondent Oliver Gill that Mr Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT, “is worried that strikes won’t hold for 10 days” and “knows he’s got to find a way to do a deal”. Mr Haines spoke after Mr Lynch attacked the BBC in a Radio 4 interview, accusing Today presenter Mishal Husain of “parroting the most Right-wing stuff”. Mr Haines claimed the “heightened level of aggression” from Mr Lynch – who yesterday suggested that working class voters could abandon the Labour Party because of Sir Keir Starmer’s failure to support strikes – was a result of “feeling exposed” following a vote that revealed eroding support for the strikes. The 10 days of strike action began Tuesday. As well as causing transport chaos for commuters and over the Christmas getaway, it means tens of thousands of rail workers are now facing a difficult Christmas as the RMT does not provide strike pay. These are all the dates that services will be disrupted. Andrew Gilligan claims that there is one solution to the rail chaos, but that the government is ignoring it as an option.

Strikes have stepped up a gear today, as Royal Mail workers join rail staff in walking out. We have pictures of the impact on a backlog of mail – and warnings about tomorrow’s nurses’ action.

Foxes and rats ‘gnawing at’ mountain of strike-hit mail

As commuters face a second day of severe strike disruption on the railways, members of the RMT union are joined in walkouts by Royal Mail workers. Postal workers in the Communication Workers Union are staging a fresh 48-hour national walkout today – their third of six days of strikes in the run-up to Christmas. Union sources have claimed that rats and foxes are gnawing at Christmas parcels and letters that have been left outside depots. Photographs show a fox climbing over thousands of undelivered items stranded outside the Royal Mail’s main Bristol base. Workers said rats had also been seen amongst the sacks. Senior news reporter Patrick Sawer reports on how long it might take to clear the backlog. It comes as nurses are due to start unprecedented strike action tomorrow in a row over pay. NHS England’s cancer director has admitted that cancer surgery could be cancelled during the nurses’ action. Meanwhile, union voting figures show that fewer than 10,000 out of 115,000 rail workers are blocking a deal that would end the most disruptive train strikes. The first of 10 days of industrial action on the rail network over Christmas began yesterday with just one in five trains running. The strikes went ahead after members of the RMT union rejected a nine per cent pay rise offer from Network Rail, the state-backed owner of tracks, stations and signals. Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, has claimed there is overwhelming support for industrial action. But Oliver Gill has seen union voting figures showing the percentage of staff that are preventing a deal from being agreed.

Why nurses rejected pay rise

Nurses in England want the Government to dig deeper than the 4.75pc pay increase on offer – in a scenario all across the public sector. High inflation is turning pay rises into real terms cuts. Officials say they cannot afford to pay workers more and the unions say staff cannot afford to be paid less. Even before the recent bout of high inflation, partially spurred by Russia’s war pushing up energy costs, public sector pay had already fallen substantially. Eir Nolsoe crunched the numbers to explain why NHS nurses turned down a pay rise. Meanwhile, midwives in Wales will take industrial action over pay – but not in England.

—

Sunak: I will stop those who get here by cheating Migrants who get to the UK by “cheating” will be barred from claiming asylum, the Prime Minister has pledged. Read Rishi Sunak’s article for The Telegraph, in which he promised legislation early in the new year that will make it “unambiguously clear” that anyone who enters the UK illegally will have no right to remain here. He made the comments after unveiling a five-point plan to tackle the Channel migrant crisis, as Charles Hymas explains. Meanwhile, Gordon Rayner reports Boris Johnson will challenge Mr Sunak to go further on his asylum overhaul by pledging to ignore European rulings over the Rwanda policy.

Prince and Princess of Wales show business as usual Hand-in-hand, and seemingly without a care, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children have sent their annual Christmas card into the world. The message? Take your pick. Unity, business-as-usual and fuss free, here is the future of the Royal family in all its smiling glory. The Prince and Princess are “delighted” to share the image with the public, they say. Royal editor Hannah Furness explains the meaning set against the unfolding revelations of the Sussexes’ Netflix docu-drama. PS: The Charity Commission is examining a series of claims over the running of Sistah Space, whose founder was in a palace race row.

Also in the news this morning BBC row | Gary Lineker has branded the US “an extraordinarily racist country”, as the BBC became embroiled in a new row over the former England striker-turned-TV presenter’s political pronouncements. He had already angered current World Cup hosts Qatar by voicing concerns over its human rights record. Now he has shown that he is prepared to do the same with the next tournament. For more Qatar coverage, scroll to Sport.

Ukraine latest | Kyiv wakes to blasts booming through capital Explosions blasted through Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv this morning, prompting a number of emergency services to be dispatched.Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the blasts hit the city’s central Shevchenkivskyi district early on Wednesday. +Chornobaivka in Kherson Oblast was struck hard during the invasion and the village has been working hard to restore normalcy following Russia’s withdrawal. Working from morning til night, the village’s mayor Ihor Dudar has arranged assistance and support, met with locals, and hopes that every day brings more and more positive news. Student officer | ‘Hero’ Pc punched ice trying to save lake boys The “hero” policeman who punched through the ice in an attempt to save three children who died after falling into a lake is a student officer who will be back at work within days.The response officer, in his early 20s, was on one of his first rotations when he risked his life to try and save Jack Johnson, 10, and two other boys aged eight and 11, who died after the ice cracked at Babbs Mill nature reserve in Solihull, West Midlands. Ad campaign | Turn the heat down, Government to tell Britons A nationwide advertising campaign urging Britons to save energy by turning down boilers and radiators, despite the recent cold snap, will be launched by the Government this weekend.Posters attached to the sides of buses, commercials on television and messages broadcast on radio will all feature this winter under plans to be revealed by ministers. Post-Covid | Pupils requiring catch-up help tagged ‘special needs’ Children are being wrongly diagnosed as having special educational needs because they have fallen behind after pandemic lockdowns, the head of Ofsted has warned.Teachers and parents should not “automatically” assume there is an “inherent problem in the child themselves” if a youngster needs significant extra help after the pandemic, said Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools. … Nearly 1.5 million pupils in England have been identified as having special educational needs and disabilities (Send) – an increase of 77,000 in a year. Can you solve the puzzle? | GCHQ releases children’s challenge GCHQ has set a festive puzzle for schoolchildren, aimed at demonstrating the importance of perseverance.The puzzle, which features on the Christmas card sent by Sir Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, is designed to test not only schoolchildren’s knowledge of key subjects but also their ability to work as a team.

Around the world: How an Outback ambush unfolded

A bloody siege has left six people dead and Australia asking how one of the attackers had gone from respected school principal, Nathaniel Train to conspiracy theorist involved in the killing of two police officers. The young constables had no warning of the ambush that was lying in wait when they pulled up at the tree-lined property near the small town of Wieambilla, to carry out a routine investigation into a man’s disappearance. James Crisp takes up the story of the deadly gun battle.

Police at the remote property in Wieambilla where the attack unfolded

Comment and analysis

Allison Pearson | Smartphones ruin children – let’s ban them It becomes clearer by the day that the damn things make kids sadder, lonelier and more inclined to end their precious young lives … How much more evidence do we need that smartphones are the nicotine of our age? Designed to be highly addictive, they are cool, pleasurable and rewarding at first, but eventually become ruinous of health. A study by King’s College London estimated that one in four children and young people use their phones “in a way that is consistent with behavioural addiction”. Philip Johnston | Strike-hit Tories face defeat like Labour in 1979 The public will blame the Government, not Starmer or the unions, for this chaos and industrial strife + The Conservatives have a Commons majority of 69, so why aren’t they getting on with it? The Prime Minister would have been better advised addressing this matter today instead of trotting out another series of doomed measures designed to stop illegal immigration. Tim Stanley | Rishi Sunak gets his loudest roar of approval yet PM’s big dead cat strategy to deal with asylum problem is cheered, but his predecessor Theresa May has a legacy to defend Telegraph View | Firm and fair steps needed on illegal immigration The Prime Minister’s supporters claim that he will deliver rather than grandstand. Today, as he set out a five-point plan for tackling illegal immigration, he began making good on this promise Reader letters | How strikers undermined their cause with public To co-ordinate strikes so as to cause maximum disruption around Christmas is punishing the public, not just employers. (Ian Phillips)

Sport briefing: Messi books date with destiny Lionel Messi will have the chance to crown his glittering career with a World Cup winner’s medal after opening the scoring in a magical display that helped Argentina comprehensively beat Croatia 3-0 and reach Sunday’s final. Chief football correspondent Jason Burt has our match report from the Lusail stadium and this is the best world reaction. Meanwhile, Leicester Tigers want compensation of up to £1 million for Steve Borthwick to become the England head coach.

Editor’s choice

	Theatre | Can panto save our theatres? Oh yes it can, says Dominic Cavendish Despite finding ourselves in a dark realm of grim tidings this year, is there a fairytale ending for pantomime? After two Decembers on the trot marred by Covid-related closures and upsets, the evidence emerging as the 2022 season gets under way looks like a cue for roof-raising cheers.
	Style and enigma | World’s hottest duo? Why it is Anna Wintour and Bill Nighy at 73 Trust it to the over-70s to show us how it’s done – what’s appealing about them is not so much their style as the enigma that surrounds them
	Avatar 2 review | Robbie Collin: ‘It’s like being waterboarded with turquoise cement’ James Cameron’s decade-in-the-making The Way of Water has no plot, no stakes and atrocious dialogue. What happened to this great director? One of the chief criticisms of James Cameron’s Avatar was that its tale of a soldier going native had been told many times before: it was just Dances with Wolves in space, or Pocahontas with Cirque du Soleil-trained Smurfs. As complaints go, it was an odd one – plots attain classic status for a reason. But it certainly can’t be levelled at this decade-in-the-making sequel, which has almost no plot whatsoever to speak of, original or otherwise.

Business briefing: ‘Great Unretirement’ accelerates Thousands of early retirees who gave up work during the pandemic are returning to the labour market as inflation eats into their savings. New figures show tens of thousands of 50- to 64-year olds “unretired” in recent months. Eir Nolsoe reports on the much-needed workforce boost. Meanwhile, an official review has warned the BBC is suffering a damaging “brain drain” that threatens its survival in the digital age.

Here is a selection of articles we think you’ll be interested in today.

Taxis could be used as makeshift ambulances in paramedics’ strike Turn the heat down, Government to tell Britons in national ad campaign Rishi Sunak unveils new plans to tackle migrant crisis Labour on track for 314-seat majority at next general election, new poll finds Mick Lynch claims working-class voters will abandon Labour over strikes stance

	How Angelo Badalamenti gave Twin Peaks its dark, beautiful heart Badalamenti, who has died age 85, became Lynch’s great foil. Five years after Blue Velvet, they would create some of the most gorgeously disturbing music ever set to film with the score to Lynch’s Twin Peaks. The score and the story of doomed small town girl Laura Palmer weren’t just complementary – they were entwined, one intimately informing the other. To this day, it is impossible to listen to Badalamenti’s Laura Palmer’s Theme or the Twin Peaks theme, reworked from Cruise’s Falling, without being reminded of the show’s mingling of beauty and terror. You may perhaps experience a shudder or feel a chill, even on a warm day.
	For comedians, being cancelled is good for business – and 2022 proved it Soul-baring is out, nudity is in: our comedy critic looks over the trends of 2022 – and picks out the year’s best and worst shows + There seemed to be even more nudity than usual at Edinburgh this year, but exposing oneself figuratively – rather than literally – is going out of style. While the 2010s were the decade of soul-baring confessional comedy, in 2022 sincerity is passé. America’s millennial self-satirists (Kate Berlant, Catherine Cohen, Bo Burnham) have become touchstones for an even younger generation for UK comics, whose every line comes wrapped in inverted commas.
	Opera was on top form in 2022 – but the Arts Council might kill it off Our companies have made extraordinary efforts to innovate this year yet the funding body’s punishing cuts mean the art form is under threat In 2021, opera struggled back against the external attack of the pandemic. In 2022, it was viciously attacked by a virus from within: the body-blow of a threatened 30 per cent funding cut in Arts Council England’s November review. Someone had been reading The Sun: opera was just for toffs, apparently; a superfluous art form that could safely be penalised nationwide