Wes Streeting considers writing off part of doctors’ student debts to avert strike
Doctors could have some of their student loan debts written off as part of a package of measures being examined by Wes Streeting that may help avert next week’s strike,The Department of Health and Social Care is analysing how a new system of “forgiveness” could be brought in for younger doctors who are paying back student debts of up to £100,000,The health secretary and the co-chairs of the British Medical Association (BMA) resident doctors committee are holding talks on Thursday afternoon aimed at averting the latter’s planned five-day strike starting on 25 July,The health department is considering several different ways such a scheme might work, according to well-placed sources,They include not charging interest on debt accrued by trainee doctors while they were at medical school – in effect, freezing the debt – and cutting the overall debt by a certain sum for every year the doctor works in the NHS in England.
Advocates of debt relief believe it would incentivise doctors to stay in the NHS rather than quit, and would show the government was willing to improve their finances but without giving them big annual pay rises that would prompt other public sector workers to seek the same.The BMA’s resident doctors committee wants Streeting to give a 29% pay rise over the next few years to the 55,000 doctors in training in England that it represents.It has conducted a long-running campaign to restore the full value of salaries to the level they were at in 2008.Streeting has refused to reopen negotiations on the 5.4% award for this year that he imposed on them in May.
The DHSC has begun modelling the practicalities of a debt relief scheme as it explores what steps it, and NHS trusts, which directly employ medics, could take to meet doctors’ concerns about non-pay issues that cause them frustration.It is also looking at whether doctors could have some or all of the costs covered for taking exams needed to progress their careers, and making it easier for younger doctors to take annual leave.Streeting has said doctors are unlikely to encounter a health secretary as sympathetic as he is to their desire to improve their working lives.While he cannot offer resident doctors a bigger pay rise this year, he has said, he is aware that being able to commit to progress on non-pay-related issues – which he has more freedom to deliver – could show them that this is the case.Debt forgiveness is a key priority for the BMA, which may see it becoming an issue on which the two sides can find common ground.
The co-chairs of the resident doctor committee, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, indicated that they would consider any proposal from the government on debt write-off.Crucially, they added that it could act as “an element” of them realising their ambition of restoring the value of doctors’ pay.“If wiping out student loans for doctors in England is something the government is considering, then we would be interested to see the details of what that means in practical terms.“Loan forgiveness is something we would have to consider as a committee as an element of restoring value to doctors’ working lives, and so if the government is serious about this then we look forward to hearing more from the health secretary in today’s meeting.”Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionThey said students could finish five years of medical school with debts of up to £100,000 and then face monthly loan repayments of up to 10% of their salary “for most of their working lives”.
Any student debt write-off scheme for doctors would be complicated for the government, require the Treasury’s approval and encourage other health unions to lobby for their members to be included too,In March the Royal College of Nursing proposed that nurses should have 30% of their students debt written off after working in the NHS for three years, 70% after seven years and the remainder after 10 years service,However, in its response to the RCN report a government spokesperson said that the Department for Education had “no plans” to forgive student debt for “any specific profession”,A DHSC spokesperson said: “We wouldn’t comment on speculation,The secretary of state has always been clear that he is willing to work with the BMA to improve the working conditions of their members and is meeting them today to discuss exactly that and to urge the BMA to step back from their unnecessary industrial action.
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Tour de France 2025: Pogacar blows field away on stage 12 summit finish in Pyrenees – as it happened
That’s the lot for today. Merci for reading, and for your emails. Can anyone stop Pogacar? It’s looking highly unlikely. Bye for now.Tuck into our snap stage 12 report here:On or near the podium, Macron and Pogacar shake hands
Tour de France: Pogacar demolishes rivals with devastating stage 12 win in Pyrenees
Tadej Pogacar dominated Jonas Vingegaard on the slopes of Hautacam to take a commanding lead in the Tour de France. After the first summit finish of 2025, the defending champion’s next overall victory now appears an inevitability. Pogacar beat his rival to the ski station finish by well over two minutes and now leads the Tour by more than three and half minutes, with nine stages remaining.Pas de suspense, the French would say, and after the Slovenian’s eighth career stage win in the Pyrenees, Vingegaard is scrambling to sustain a meaningful challenge. If Pogacar had been scared when crashing in Toulouse, 24 hours earlier, he showed no ill effects as he dealt a lethal blow to Vingegaard’s aspirations under a fierce Pyrenean sun
Twelve-year-old Chinese swimmer takes stunning times to world championships
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Welsh wipeout in Lions squad for first time since 1896 reflects sorry decline
When the British & Irish Lions last won a Test series in 2013, Leigh Halfpenny scored a record 49 points and fellow Wales international Sam Warburton captained the side to glory in Australia with Warren Gatland coaching. Twelve years on, for the first time since 1896, not a single Welsh player will be represented in the Lions’ matchday squad for Saturday’s first Test in Brisbane.Jac Morgan’s omission is a sign of rugby’s decline in Wales in recent years, a far cry from the glorious 1970s when household names like Gareth Edwards, Barry John and JPR Williams were indispensable figures.There was always a distinct possibility of a Welsh wipeout though, with scrum-half Tomos Williams, one of only two Wales players on the plane to Australia, already out with a torn hamstring. However, the Lions coach, Andy Farrell, refused to play into the narrative, claiming Morgan was “as close as you could imagine” to getting selected
Victorian regulator weighs unprecedented intervention in AFL’s fight with bookmakers over gambling revenue
The Victorian gambling regulator is considering whether to make an unprecedented intervention in a dispute between the AFL and bookmakers, which could set a limit on the league’s revenue from wagering.Earlier this year, the AFL proposed a significant increase to the amount of money it receives from each bet placed on its game. The league also proposed a minimum $20,000 annual fee for all bookmakers, including small operators who focus on racing.Leaked documents seen by Guardian Australia revealed the cash grab was justified as a way to address what AFL executives termed an “unprecedented” increase in “integrity risks” posed by the wagering industry, which has exploded in popularity in recent years.The documents outlined concerns the AFL’s integrity system was seriously deficient and struggled to identify whether players, coaches and staff were using inside information to manipulate betting markets, in breach of their contracts
Lions still on red alert despite gaping holes in Australia’s team sheet | Robert Kitson
Sometimes the best place to gauge the mindset of a head coach before a big game is not the training pitch or the press conference room but the pub across the road. Which is where Andy Farrell and his wife, Colleen, were enjoying a relaxing post-team selection drink by an open window when a few of us happened to wander past en route back from dinner.There may be a huge contest looming but, the closer it draws, the more at ease Farrell is beginning to look. While the competitor in him loves the approaching whiff of cordite he is not a man who believes in sitting and fretting in his room before major contests. He likes to be out and about, getting a sense of the local mood and helping to fill the quiet before the storm
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