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Health secretary Sajid Javid has said he wondered whether he “could have made a difference” had he been aware of his older brother’s physical health problem before he committed suicide.Mr Javid’s brother, Tariq, a 51-year-old supermarket chain boss, took his own life while the Tory minister was serving as home secretary. Opening up about his brother’s death, Mr Javid said he still wonders “maybe I could have made a difference”, adding: “I guess I will never know the answer to that.”In July 2018, Mr Javid’s brother Tariq took his own life at a hotel in Horsham, West Sussex. He had left two suicide notes, including one that told Sylvia, his partner of 15 years, that she should “carry on and enjoy life”. Speaking as he visited the London headquarters of suicide prevention charity Papyrus on Friday, the health secretary said: “This is something that is deeply personal to me – there are too many families that are left incomplete and too much potential has gone unfulfilled.” More

An emotional portrait of the child Boris Johnson painted by the prime minister’s mother is to star in a new exhibition about mental health. The painting called Where is Mama? by the prime minister’s late mother, Charlotte Johnson Wahl, will hang in the exhibition, A way from home: Bethlem artists on longing and belonging, at Bethlem Museum of the Mind. The museum’s galleries sit in the world’s oldest psychiatric hospital. The painting tells a story of the difficult time the Johnsons’ experienced when Ms Johnson was separated from her four young children – Boris, Rachel, Leo and Jo. More

Britain is braced for a summer of “massive disruption” after British Airways workers voted in favour of strike action on the same day that railways were all but shut down by industrial action.Ground staff at the carrier’s Heathrow hub overwhelmingly backed a walkout in their fight to reverse pay cuts imposed during the Covid pandemic.Up to 1,000 workers will be involved in the strike, which the GMB Union said was “likely to be during the peak summer holiday period”. “Holidaymakers face massive disruption thanks to the pig-headedness of British Airways,” it said.Downing Street said further strikes will “only add to the misery being faced by passengers at airports”. A spokesman promised “to look at what contingency measures BA could put in place” to get around the action.It comes as passengers faced a second full day of strikes by transport workers, while Britain’s biggest education union, the National Education Union (NEU), and junior doctors have also warned they may pursue industrial action later this year or next if the government fails to meet demands for improved pay and conditions. Ministers and business leaders are now weighing the potential fallout from a summer of discontent if workers across public and private services strike and win better pay offers.The government is set to push through laws that allow companies to replace strikers’ labour with agency workers as soon as Monday. However, using casual labour to replace striking workers is unlikely to succeed except against the lowest-paid or less skilled workers. The deepening cost of living crisis could provoke further industrial disputes in the coming months, said Yael Selfin, chief economist at accountancy firm KPMG. If this leads to higher pay offers it would “worry” policymakers who set interest rates at the central bank, she added.“The risk of a recession has increased,” Ms Selfin said, adding that higher energy costs and supply chain disruption due to Russia’s war in Ukraine had piled pressure on UK households.Strike action which triggers higher pay settlements “is going to worry the Bank of England” she said.“It’s likely to increase costs and see interest rates going up further and faster. That would spell even deeper weakening, as higher interest rates slow the economy,” Ms Selfin said.Rocketing prices of basic goods and services drove inflation to a fresh 40-year high of 9.1 per cent in the 12 months to May, according to official figures released this week.Wages, meanwhile, grew at around 4 per cent in the three months to April.The pain for households is set to worsen with the Bank of England estimating inflation could reach around 11 per cent later this year.The Heathrow strike involves British Airways ground staff, predominantly low-paid women. Members of the GMB union voted, with 95 per cent in favour of a strike. The turnout was 80 per cent. Members of the Unite union in the same group of workers are also expected to vote for strike action.Insiders have suggested that a first bout of strike action could take place as soon as the weekend of 9 and 10 July, coinciding with the first weekend of summer holidays for many schools in England.”BA have tried to offer our members crumbs from the table in the form of a 10 per cent one-off bonus payment, but this doesn’t cut the mustard,” said Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer. They are demanding that BA reinstates a 10 per cent cut taken from them during the pandemic. They claim “bosses pay has returned to pre-pandemic levels”, with Luis Gallego – chief executive for BA’s parent company IAG – in line for a £4.9m payout this year.”Our members need to be reinstated the 10 per cent they had stolen from them last year with full back pay and the 10 per cent bonus which other colleagues have been paid,” said Ms Houghton.”It’s not too late to save the summer holidays – other BA workers have had their pay cuts reversed,” she said, adding: “Do the same for ground and check-in staff and this industrial action can be nipped in the bud.”Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, whose west London seat is home to many Heathrow workers, told The Independent: “BA used the pandemic to cut wages and so it’s no surprise the workers are seeking to recoup that loss now that operations at the airport are returning to normal and they are facing a cost of living crisis.“The possible use of agency staff will exacerbate this type of dispute and prompt the broadening of any action.”Meanwhile, there was little sign of progress in the rail dispute. “Our members are leading the way in standing up for all working people trying to get a pay rise and some job security,” said RMT general secretary Mick Lynch.”In a modern economy workers need to be properly rewarded for their work, enjoy good conditions and have the peace of mind that their job will not be taken away from them.”It was followed by an announcement that more railway workers are to vote on strikes, threatening fresh disruption in the industry.The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) served notice to ballot dozens of members at TransPennine Express (TPE) for strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security.The ballot opens on 29 June and closes in mid-July, so the earliest that industrial action could be taken is 27 July.The TSSA is also balloting its members in Network Rail, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, Northern, LNER, C2C and Great Western Railway (GWR) in an escalating dispute across the railway.A spokesperson for the TUC said: “Working people are at breaking point after the longest and harshest pay squeeze in 200 years. “Despite the cost of living emergency, ministers are determined to hold down workers’ pay – while they turn a blind eye to shocking City excess. “This is the same government that promised us a high wage economy. Holding down pay and attacking unions isn’t going to achieve that. “With the prospect of a severe decline in living standards, it’s only right that workers come together to defend their pay and conditions.”A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We’re extremely disappointed with the result and that the unions have chosen to take this course of action.“Despite the extremely challenging environment and losses of more than £4bn, we made an offer of a 10 per cent payment which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues.“We are fully committed to work together to find a solution, because to deliver for our customers and rebuild our business we have to work as a team. We will of course keep our customers updated about what this means for them as the situation evolves.”The Independent understands that the 10 per cent offered by BA was a one-off payment that would not be consolidated into basic pay. More

Millions of rail passengers across Britain face fresh disruption on Thursday after the RMT union accused the government of “wrecking” negotiations.Rail services are being severely disrupted this week after around 40,000 members of the union, working for Network Rail and 13 train operators, voted to stage walkouts in a row over jobs, pay and conditions. Talks were held on Wednesday between the union and industry bosses in a bid to break the deadlock, but they ended without agreement.Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, said: “Grant Shapps has wrecked these negotiations by not allowing Network Rail to withdraw their letter threatening redundancy for 2,900 of our members.“Until the government unshackle Network Rail and the train operating companies, it is not going to be possible for a negotiated settlement to be agreed.”He added: “We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost of living crisis.”Just 60 per cent of trains are running on Wednesday, and some operators will wind down services earlier than normal ahead of the next round of action.The third and final strike of the week is planned for Saturday.However, in a breakthrough, members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association working for Merseyrail have accepted a pay offer that the union’s leaders say is worth 7.1 per cent.General secretary Manuel Cortes described it as “a sensible outcome to a reasonable offer”.A survey of more than 2,300 people by Savanta ComRes showed that more than half (58 per cent) thought the industrial action was justified. More

New asylum seekers are being locked up in order to be deported to Rwanda even after court challenges raised questions about whether the controversial removal flights would ever be able to begin.Campaigners accused ministers of being “untethered from any sense of morality or legality” after it emerged that people seeking refuge in Britain have been placed in detention centres following the grounding of last week’s planned flight.The Rwanda policy will be subject to a judicial review hearing on 18 July, where a High Court judge will assess whether it is lawful.On Wednesday, the most senior civil servant in the Home Office admitted that the policy may even fail in its stated aim of deterring migrants from attempting the dangerous journey across the Channel by small boat.It comes as Boris Johnson flew to Rwanda to attend a commonwealth summit. He is set to meet Prince Charles in Kigali for the first time since it was revealed that the heir to the throne had described the deportation plan as “appalling” in private remarks.The first planned flight in support of the policy, under which the government hopes to “relocate” asylum seekers to the central African country in a bid to deter them from using small boats to cross the Channel, was thwarted last week following an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).A total of 979 people have crossed the Channel since the flight was cancelled at the last minute, according to Home Office data.The government had detained around 130 asylum seekers ahead of the flight, but only issued removal tickets to 47 of them. The majority of the 130 are thought to remain in detention, and detainees are only being released upon submitting a successful bail application to the court.Despite no further flights being scheduled at this stage, new asylum seekers have continued to be detained and informed that they may be removed to Rwanda. The Independent is aware of at least 18 such cases.Clare Mosely, founder of Care4Calais, said the charity was in touch with a number of people in this situation. She said: “[The government is] ploughing ahead with this plan while totally ignoring the human consequences.“I imagine it just wants to deport some people as soon as possible. They don’t care how they do it, but they want the headline. I think they’re just hedging their bets.”Steve Crawshaw, director of policy and advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said it was “deeply disturbing” that the government was continuing to detain refugees and threaten them with removal to Rwanda.“We know from our work with torture survivors how traumatising the experience of detention can be. Given the ECHR’s ruling blocked removals until outstanding legal challenges can be heard, this seems to be a cruel attempt to intimidate vulnerable people by a government untethered from any sense of morality or legality,” he added. More

Retirees are set to see pensions rise by 10 per cent next year – despite the government insisting public sector workers receive below-inflation pay rises.The government confirmed the state pension triple lock will return next year, meaning it will rise by inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest.Pensioners will see double-digit payments increases in April next year as the state pension will be determined based on September’s CPI inflation – which is expected to be 10 per cent.This could bring a boost of almost £1,000 a year to retirees.The triple lock was introduced by the coalition government in 2010 help give pensioners a decent minimum level of income which would keep pace with growth in workers’ earnings.The wages measure within the triple lock was temporarily suspended for a year during the Covid-19 pandemic but it is now being reinstated.Downing Street has defended restoring the pensions triple lock, which will see the benefit rise in line with inflation, at a time when the government is arguing against wages keeping pace with rising prices.Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab on Wednesday told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “They (pensioners) are particularly vulnerable and they are disproportionately affected by the increase in energy costs which we know everyone is facing.”The government had committed £37bn to help people cope with rising costs, he said, but “at the same time we have got to stop making the problem worse by fuelling pay demands that will only see inflation stay higher for longer and that only hurts the poorest the worst”.Asked why state pensions will rise with inflation but not public sector pay, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Pensioners, particularly those who receive state pensions, are disproportionately impacted by high energy costs.“They can’t always increase their incomes through work and they are more vulnerable to cost-of-living pressures”. More

Britain’s children are suffering a mental health emergency, with rising numbers self-harming and having suicidal thoughts because of the cost of living crisis, a report claims.Researchers found millions of youngsters are “at breaking point”, with stress and anxiety among children reaching “alarming” levels because of the effect of rising bills.Children are so worried that nearly one in 10 (9 per cent) has started self-harming, and 8 per cent have shown suicidal tendencies, according to the study.At least half (53 per cent) of people questioned by researchers said they knew someone who had taken their own lives, had attempted it or had thought about it.A nine-year-old girl told the study team: “Your emotions just drown you and the only emotion that’s left is sad.”A seven-year-old said: “When I feel hungry, I ask my mother if we have any food and then she’ll tell me if there’s enough money or not. If there isn’t, I just go in the cupboards and see if there’s something and if there’s a snack, then I’ll just eat it and try to go to bed. Tomorrow she might have some more money.”The Childhood Trust, a London child poverty charity, said the persistent anxiety for both their own and their parents’ wellbeing, as well as a lack of basics such as food and toiletries, was taking a “highly emotional toll” on children and had long-term impacts on their mental health.The trust collected data from a national survey, other London charities, and interviews with parents and children living in poverty to compile the report. In all, 2,002 adults were interviewed, of whom 1,468 were parents.Nearly half of the parents questioned – 47 per cent – said their children were stressed out about the cost of living.A third said their children had raised concerns about it and a quarter said they needed to sacrifice fun activities to afford essentials.One in five parents – 21 per cent – said their children smile less now.Children already in poverty before the Covid pandemic feel unable to further burden their already stressed parents with their own worries, the trust said.Nine out of 10 London charities questioned said the financial situation of their most vulnerable clients had worsened in the past six months.Some 85 per cent of charities predicted more demand for their services due to food poverty over the next six months.Laurence Guinness, chief executive of the Childhood Trust, said: “Ever-increasing numbers of children are going hungry and can’t sleep at night because they’re worried and anxious about their futures.“It’s only thanks to the generosity of donors and the thousands of charities supporting children that we aren’t facing a humanitarian crisis on our own doorsteps.”The government says eight million of the most vulnerable UK households will benefit from a new £15bn package of targeted support, worth at least £1,200 this year, including a new one-off £650 cost-of-living payment.The October discount on energy bills has been doubled as part of a £37bn support package, and universal credit claimants are being allowed to keep £1,000 more of what they earn, the Treasury says.Last month chancellor Rishi Sunak also announced a £500m increase in the Household Support Fund, extending it from October until March next year.If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you. More

Experts have warned the government that next week’s rail strikes could devastate Britain’s post-Covid recovery and cost key industries over a billion pounds.The tourism and leisure industry has already been severely impacted after pandemic lockdowns and would take a “big hit”, said Kate Nicholls, chief executive of industry group UK Hospitality.It comes after the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) confirmed industrial action would go ahead on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, although disruption is possible for the rest of the week.According to the RMT, next week’s planned strike action will be “the biggest dispute on the network since 1989” and will involve 40,000 workers.Speaking to Times Radio, Ms Nicholls said: “At the best, we think it’s going to take a hit to hospitality revenues of over half a billion pounds.“But that presupposes that many people will travel on those shoulder days when the trains and the Tubes will still be disrupted – it could be more significant than that.“And if you look across the whole tourism, and leisure and theatre industries as a whole, you are definitely looking at an economic hit of over a billion pounds.”Strikes on Network Rail and 13 other train operators are expected on three days next week, while London Underground workers will walk out on Tuesday.During the strikes, only 22 per cent of passenger train services will run, with most of them on key links to and from London.Coach services have seen a spike in bookings as a result of the planned strike. Stagecoach, the country’s biggest bus and coach operator said that next week’s bookings for its Megabus service rose by 85 per cent.Ms Nicholls said tourism and hospitality businesses had already been damaged by the cost of living crisis and urged the government, rail networks and the RMT to reach an agreement.“Next week’s strikes are so devastating because… we were starting to get back on our feet, starting to rebuild those cash reserves,” she said.“This is a big hit next week where we will lose the best part of a week’s income for many of those town centre, and particularly central London, businesses.“We would urge all sides in this dispute to try and come together to resolve this issue so that we don’t put commuters, visitors, tourists at a disadvantage and we don’t damage our businesses.”Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “With the upcoming train strikes fast approaching, many people will be wondering what to do if they bought a ticket and have now had their train cancelled.“If you can’t travel and you have an unused ticket, you should be able to cancel and get a fee-free refund.“A full refund also applies if you have started your journey but are unable to complete it due to delay or cancellations, and so have returned to your departure point.” More