DAILY MAIL COMMENTS: Reckless doctor’s strike only punishes patients

Just when it seemed the public sector unrest over wages was finally abating, junior doctors are embarking on perhaps the most damaging strike of all.

The four-day strike called for by the perennially hostile British Medical Association, which begins next Tuesday, is deliberately intended to health service still reeling from the pandemic.

During its reckless campaign of interruptions, the doctors’ union has claimed to want to protect patient safety. That turned out to be a lie yesterday.

By advising individual members not to say whether or not they are picking, the BMA is making it more difficult for administrators to draw up contingency rosters for strike days.

Such actions are abhorrent. They will increase chaos in hospitals and cause immense suffering for critically ill patients.

It will bring the number of urgently needed operations canceled this winter due to strikes to more than half a million. It is likely that people will die needlessly.

Yet young doctors’ demands for a 35 percent pay rise are utterly ludicrous in a time of fiscal restraint. The hardline approach, however, is being orchestrated by a cabal of Corbynites who have hijacked the BMA – and who are refusing to negotiate seriously with a Tory government they want to overthrow.

The doctors rightly believe that they are held in high esteem by the public. But that prestige will be severely tested if they continue this selfish and destructive assault.

The moneyless curse

Searching for a parking spot can be a stressful ordeal at the best of times.

But with parking operators increasingly ripping out coin machines and making people pay with clunky phone apps, the problem has gotten immeasurably worse.

More than two million people in Britain will soon be living in ‘parking meter deserts’ as councils turn to cashless options to cut costs, deter thieves and reduce carbon emissions.

For younger generations, that’s not skin off their noses. But it marginalizes older drivers who may not own a smartphone or feel less comfortable navigating the digital world. The result? Chaos, unjust fines, missed appointments and sky-high blood pressure.

Some say the switch has even prevented them from going into town to shop or meet friends, giving them the independence they value so highly.

And that, of course, is another hammer blow for struggling high street stores.

Councils should ensure there is an alternative to cash or card – not to make it frighteningly difficult for those who are not tech-savvy to go about their daily lives.

Race to beat fanatics

Thanks to the efforts of our sister newspaper, The Mail on Sunday, police are under no illusions that eco-zeavers are planning to disrupt the Grand National on April 15.

But the big question is, will agents actually do anything to stop Animal Rebellion from sabotaging this beloved horse race?

Given the recent data from the police, we are not holding our breath. When fanatics have blocked highways or caused other mayhem, awakened cops have treated them with sympathy – not as the criminals they really are.

When these idiots break into Aintree, supposedly in the name of animal welfare, they endanger both horses and people.

It’s time the police do what they’re paid to do: stand up for the law-abiding majority.

n THE Royal Mail’s insane response to the decline in letters, cards and parcels being sent is to raise the price of a first-class postage stamp to over £1 for the first time. But it’s depressing that there’s no guarantee that important mail will arrive on time – even without strikes. If bosses want to keep the few customers who haven’t switched to instant emails and texts, or e-cards and video calls, they should definitely lower the price instead.