🚨 Breaking: After a three year battle, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has finally changed its policy on single-sex spaces for staff to bring it in line with the law. It is amazing how simple it is! Now all NHS Trusts must urgently follow suit. Bethany Hutchison, President of the Darlington Nursing Union and lead claimant in the case, said: “This short sentence in a policy has taken women three years of fear, humiliation and extraordinary personal sacrifice to secure. “We were nurses asking for the most basic protection: somewhere private and safe to undress at work, away from members of the opposite sex. Instead of listening, the Trust told us to compromise, broaden our mindset and be more inclusive. We were forced out of our own changing room, placed in inadequate facilities, threatened with disciplinary action and made to fear for our jobs and professional careers. “Vulnerable colleagues were put under intolerable pressure. International nurses feared losing their visas. Women who had experienced domestic abuse were left distressed and afraid. Four of us were reported to our professional regulator simply for speaking publicly about what was happening. “Throughout it all, the Trust defended a policy it had been warned was unlawful. Even after the Supreme Court clarified the law, it refused to change course. It took a full tribunal judgment, an apology, damages and an enormous bill before the Trust finally wrote biological reality into its policy. “We welcome this change because it will protect women across the Trust, but it should never have required a three-year legal battle. No nurse should ever again be treated as we were for asking for dignity, privacy and safety.” See more breaking in the Daily Express and with @CConcern and the Christian Legal Centre who have supported the nurses from the beginning. express.co.uk/news/uk/226004… christianconcern.com/ccpress…

"Reform's alternative budget released today includes many proposals that will finally get Britain's economy growing again. Abolishing the Energy Profits Levy will play a crucial role in ensuring the country's energy security, which a recent ASI index ranked below Romania and Ukraine. Windfall taxes undermine the incentive on firms to be ready to drill when prices are high: without them, the UK's domestic energy supply will be far more secure, and the country will be less vulnerable to price hikes and energy crises. It will also lower electricity costs at a time of eye-wateringly high energy prices, which will cost the average family an extra £206 in the coming year. The alternative budget's proposals will also give a desperately needed boost to housebuilding. Leaving the Aarhus convention, which paralyses planning reviews and raises costs for developers, will make it easier and faster to build new homes. Repealing Biodiversity Net Gain rules will also reduce costs and delays for housebuilders, 94% of which have been hit by delays due to the rule. Taken together, these changes will mean more houses are built faster and for a lower cost - which will go a long way to solving Britain's housing crisis. If done right, planning deregulation like those proposed by this alternative budget could single-handedly raise long-run GDP by 7.05% - a rise of almost £3,000 per person." - Silvia Andreoletti, Head of Communications

Good to see Robert Jenrick’s @RobertJenrick Economic Rescue Plan putting real numbers on the table: £67bn of savings, welfare reform, an end to net zero subsidies, inside the fiscal rules. Credible and costed. A serious start.

REVEALED: Government Document Admits Pay-Per-Mile Tax Coming for All Drivers order-order.com/2026/10/26/r…

Fflint Wrecsam MS calls for 50-metre swimming pool in north Wales wrexham.com/news/fflint-wrec…

A reminder of what Burnham said in May: "I am not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU, I respect the decision that was made at the referendum." Now he wants an "honest" conversation about the EU after he lied? You can’t trust a word he says.